It has been a tumultuous year in national politics.
In 2019, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump on two charges, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Trump became only the third U.S. president to be impeached. Before Trump, only two presidents had been impeached in U.S. history. Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Neither was removed from office.
Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 after articles of impeachment were drafted but before the House could vote on them.
Trump is now set to face a Senate trial that will determine whether he is removed. The Republican-controlled Senate is highly unlikely to impeach him.
Trump’s ouster will likely be left up to the voters who will get a chance to remove him from office in November.
Our wish for the New Year is that a new president is elected.
Our nation and the globe will benefit when the world’s most technologically powerful economy is no longer led by a leader as corrupt, divisive and reckless as Trump.
Trump needs to be defeated in a clear and decisive win in both the popular vote and Electoral College.
Along with the removal of Trump in November, there are many other wishes for 2020.
We wish in the New Year that Congress seriously tackles gun violence. Hopefully, a new president and new Congress will pass new common-sense gun control laws including stricter background checks for gun purchasers and making it a felony to sell, manufacture, purchase or possess assault weapons and certain magazines.
We also wish in 2020 that our elected officials work to expand upon the progress made under the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. The ACA has brought health coverage to 20 million people and millions more whose health care and coverage have been affected by changes in the 2010 law including such popular provisions as protections for those with pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion and the ability for children under the age of 26 to remain on their parents’ insurance.
We wish for a health care plan in 2020 that will lower costs and cover millions more.
We wish that lawmakers and policy makers seriously address widening income inequality, a problem that further divides the nation by race and class. Despite a surging economy, the gap between the richest and the poorest U.S. households is now the largest it’s been in the past 50 years—despite the median U.S. income hitting a new record in 2018, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
There are many other serious problems facing the nation, including the rising astronomical cost of higher education, excessive police force, gentrification and increasing homelessness. There are also international problems that the U.S. should lead the world in addressing, such as the climate change crisis.
Significant progress can be made in solving these problems if acted upon by committed and courageous political leaders. What has been lacking is the political will.
Yet as the central message of the holiday season reminds us, we can never give up hope.
Jan. 1, 2020, marked the beginning of a New Year and a new decade.
We get another chance to get it right.
Happy New Year!
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
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