Opinion by Jim Felder: President Biden needs to refocus on real issues facing Americans
As President Biden prepares for his State of the Union address, our nation is at a very important crossroads. First, let me say that I am absolutely for President Joe Biden. We have met on more than one occasion, and I have had the opportunity to speak with and support him throughout the years. I plan to vote for President Biden and support him again come November; however, I want to help him focus more on what truly matters to me and to thousands of senior citizens like me. In order to win reelection, he needs to refocus on critical, relevant issues and reconnect with the people who elected him in the first place.
Right now, I hear more about niche issues driven by special interests than I hear about the issues my family and friends are discussing at the kitchen tables. Economic stability, inflation and interest rates make buying groceries more expensive. Health care costs and prescription drug prices continue to increase, making it more expensive to stay healthy. As an 82-year-old, I am part of an increasingly large population of seniors who are living longer. As life expectancy has become increasingly longer in recent decades, measuring how healthy these extra years are has become even more crucial. Affordable, accessible health care and medicines are critical issues.
As a former prosecutor for the Fifth Circuit Solicitor's Office, I know first-hand the far-reaching impact of violence on a community. Today, violent crime is worse than I can ever remember. Cities around the country are more dangerous places primarily due to gun violence.
And it's not just what's going on here at home. Our foreign policy has become a concern that's creating controversy that reminds me of the Vietnam Era. The horrible conflict in the Gaza Strip has created more division in our nation and more confusion among young people wondering what we stand for as a nation. Every day, President Biden and Vice President Harris are facing angry demonstrations at public speaking events as college students protest America's role in the terrible Middle Eastern conflict. Many Americans may be too young to remember this, but in the 1960s, the Vietnam War protests began among peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses but gained national prominence in 1965 after the United States began bombing North Vietnam in earnest. Antiwar marches and other protests, such as the ones organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), attracted a widening base of support, peaking in early 1968.
Unfortunately, instead of hearing a clear and focused plan for addressing these important kitchen table issues that are facing me and my family: health care, the cost of medicine, violence in our community, gun laws, and foreign conflict, I hear more about niche issues driven by special interests. Take, for example, the debate around menthol cigarettes that will seemingly never die. I don't know who told the president that banning menthol cigarettes should be a policy priority, but I can't imagine this issue being as important as the ones I just mentioned. Yet, every day, I feel like I see a headline or hear a radio ad about the fight over menthol cigarettes. I think more attention should be paid to educational programs, health awareness and advocacy campaigns that inform, not policies that ban.
The issue itself has me scratching my head. Indeed, I have worn many hats as an attorney, executive director, state legislator and author, and I am not a public health expert by any means, but I've lived a long time and can read statistics. I know that the numbers show smoking rates are the lowest they've ever been in my lifetime. People just don't smoke cigarettes the way they used to do, which is a public health success. No smoking in restaurants or bars. No clothes smelling like smoke after a night out with friends. To me, that's a good thing!
And why the focus on menthol cigarettes? I understand that African American smokers typically choose menthols, but won't banning them push Black smokers to regular cigarettes? Why would we only ban cigarettes that members of one community prefer? This kind of misguided policy idea gives Washington a bad name. It's the type of gross characterization that makes the civil rights attorney in me take notice. And quite honestly, it seems driven by special interest groups pushing pet projects.
We need to stop the obsession with issues like menthol cigarettes, gas stoves and plastic grocery bags, shift our priorities and begin to refocus on making the quality of life better for all Americans, especially the elderly. What I want to hear from President Biden is a clear vision and a solid plan to stabilize our economy, make groceries and prescription drugs cheaper, make housing affordable for first-time home buyers and get control of our borders and our international diplomacy.
The more I talk to my friends and family, the more I see waning confidence in the federal government's ability to deliver on the fundamental promise of a better tomorrow. I hope the president can use this opportunity to show a renewed concentration on issues of importance to the young and the old and give us all confidence that he has a plan for the future.
President Biden has earned the support of voters like me over the years. For nearly 45 years, the turnout of voters over age 45 has significantly outpaced that of younger Americans. People over 65 continue to show up at the polls far more than any other age group. If this administration hopes to keep supporters like me come November, now is the time for President Biden to remind America that he has a vision and a plan to tackle the problems that matter most and lead America forward for the young and the old.
Jim Felder is a native of Sumter, South Carolina, and he is a former state legislator, assistant solicitor and educator. He is the author of five books and the director of the South Carolina Voter Education Project.