PULSE OF THE VOTERS: The Great Divide: GOP, Dems agree on critical party divide

Jun. 22--Although their opinions may differ on some topics, several members of both the Republican and Democratic parties in Madison County agree, that in regards to political happenings at a national level, problems aren't being addressed because of the major strain in party lines and the unwillingness for anyone to meet in the middle.

Larry Bailey, a member of the Republican Party of Madison County, said that he describes the political happenings as "mostly chaos."

"Most people see gridlock but I see chaos and I don't see any movement to fix that," he said. "I don't believe that in the major issues, the two parties are light years apart, but there doesn't seem to be any effort to close the gap because politicians are more focused on the next election as opposed to fixing the problems that we have now."

Tracy McCoy-Powell, a retired Richmond teacher and member of the Richmond Democratic Women's Club, said that in her opinion, the Trump Administration is riddled with hypocrisy and is not being held accountable to do what is right.

"I think that what is happening in our country at the national level is appalling," she said. "We have a party in control of the senate and they think that rules no longer apply to them and don't follow them and no one is holding them accountable."

James Kirby Easterling, another member of RPMC and business professor at EKU, said that the divide between the two parties was the worst he's ever seen, and that their unwillingness to work together was "unfortunate."

Sarah Gump, also a Democratic Women's Club member and current teacher, says that nationally, many fundamental things within our democracy are at stake.

"We are at a moment where a lot of things are going to change," Gump explained. "Things are very unstable and I'm not sure what is going to happen."

Issues to address

In Bailey's opinion, he thinks a priority issue to address is immigration, an issue that has been a frontrunner during Trump's campaign.

"I think we have to address the immigration issue, there are good arguments on both sides but the current system is not working," he said. "I believe there is a crisis at the border and both positions are making the crisis worse."

He noted that with the parties already unwilling to give or take in any compromise in the situation, that it will just carry over into the next election cycle.

"Everything has become a four-year election cycle and it never stops, it is like going from one to the other without any work getting done," he said. "And the cable networks are making it impossible for sides to work together."

Easterling echoed similar statements about the threat to the U.S. border, specifically the southern border, but noted that it wasn't just immigrants from Mexico and South America but from all over the world as well.

For Gump, she believes that factors of the voting process, allowing felons to vote and the electoral college are things that will need to see change in order to better serve the American people.

"I think that there should be changes with regard to the Supreme Court and its makeup because it is too political and it is supposed to not be that way," Gump said. "Something is going to have to give."

While Powell-McCoy and Gump both agree change is imminent, the first priorities that needs to be addressed within the Trump Administration, according to Powell-McCoy, is calling out the "the lies and fabrication" in the what she deems has been morphed into a "reality show."

She noted that the government has allowed our political process to become entertainment when it isn't and that the matters our country faces affect people's everyday lives.

"The Republican party is very good at manipulating people, using fear as a way to manipulate voters," she said. "Some laws that are being enacted, like abortion, is a control and manipulation of women and it is just wrong. They are purposely manipulating people for votes, calling it patriotism but then they are interfering with other people's freedoms."

She brought up the abortion bans that are threatening several states across the nation, which would ban abortions after five weeks, before women even know they are expecting. In Ohio, their abortion ban bill would also consider contraceptives such as IUDs, birth control and implants as an abortion, making those illegal as well.

"Just because you are pro-choice doesn't mean you have to have an abortion," she said. "If you believe in personal choices and freedoms, interfering with people's medical decisions and someone's patient and doctors is not something that we need to be worried about. We are supposed to have freedom of religion and from religion. These things are deeply personal and not other people's business."

Kentucky Pensions

At a local level, Powell-McCoy said their is a "pension crisis." She says that she sees a lot of parallels with the state and federal government, noting that it is "all about who can make the quickest buck."

"We should be funding the pensions, and funding revenues," she said. "This shouldn't be a party thing, but just a people thing. We need to vote what is best for not only your family, but everyone's families."

"I miss the days of the good old moderate Republicans and Democrats that could work together for the better of society," Powell-McCoy added. "We have lost the ability to compromise with what we do agree on and then work outwards and that is what is destroying us at state and federal levels."

Gump, who is a strong advocate for Kentuckians pensions, says that providing them is one of the most important issues and that the state government has more effect on individuals than that of the nation.

"Kentuckians need to separate from national and state," she said. "There are different issues than who you vote for nationally and at the state level. The state affects our daily lives and much more important than the national scope of things."

She made note that the so called "pension crisis" is something "intentionally created" by Governor Matt Bevin to seem bigger than it truly is saying that the Center for Economic Policy has shown that there are no necessary structural changes to the Kentucky Retirement System but that it just needs to be funded.

"Education is one of the most fundamental things that we have because our state has a lot of poverty," Gump said. "But if you have a free public education system for students, that is healthy, that can do a lot in combating issues relating to poverty. So taking care of our teachers well is part of that, and part of doing that is our pension and we rely on that."

Gump is a fourth generation teacher, saying that all throughout growing up, she knew she wanted to have a career in education because she heard from her family how reliable the system was, and how well they were treated.

"I grew up hearing how great it was to be a teacher, but if we continue down this path of making structural changes and insulting teachers, it will no longer be true I am afraid," she said. "It is really important that everyone vote and vote on issues that affect their lives like healthcare and education and forget what was talked about on the media. Vote on what really matters."

Easterling, who is a business professor and was raised by educators, believes that instead of cutting teacher pensions, there needs to be reform and hopes the state would try to raise revenues and raise taxes so that the teacher retirement would be made whole.

"I think it is a shame that our beautiful commonwealth would have one of the worst funded teacher pension programs in the country, and I think about coming from a family of educators that I don't fault teachers for protesting at all," he said.

He said that relating to the pension crisis and looking at Kentucky's financial standing, the state is seeing a reduction in the amount being awarded to public universities, and students are now incurring higher tuition rates and taking on more debt.

"For a state that is one of the bottom five in the nation, we need to invest in public education," Easterling said. "This is something partly associated with pensions but our funding going to universities at an all time low and the effect that that could have our state in the long run, is something that is really concerning to me."

Reach Taylor Six at 624-6623 or follow her on Twitter at @TaylorSixRR.

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