Around Town: Principles are a matter of convenience for politicians

It seems that for many in government, the principles they espouse to attain elective or appointed positions of great influence are often at odds with the actual policies and actions they carry out or promote when given the levers of power.

There is great concern right now over the Supreme Court’s review of cases that, if decided one way or another, could impact the Roe v Wade precedent, which granted a constitutional right to women to end their pregnancies before the third trimester. The hew and cry over the “right-to-choose” is a bedrock of the liberal belief system.

Yet, these same abortion rights supporters and the current federal administration see no right-to-choose regarding vaccines mandates in the workplace. Both the decision to abort your baby and to receive a potentially life-saving vaccine are personal ones that have consequences for all involved. Yet, the government dictates one set of decisions must be respected, and the other disregarded. Principles and belief systems are malleable if appealing to a broader voter base.

There continues to be a great debate in America 156 years after the Civil War about racism and civil rights. The new buzzword is “equity." One political party has made the argument that systemic racism is a significant problem in 21st Century America. It informs their policies, their spending priorities, and their regulatory zeal.

Yet, President Biden's United States Justice Department has weighed in against sending a suit to the Supreme Court that declares Harvard University violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by using race in college admissions. This is the second time the young Biden Administration has acted to prevent this action against an Ivy League university.

Why isn’t the current administration behind this anti-discrimination suit? Because it has been brought on the behest of anti-affirmative action advocates and Asian-American students who say they are being denied entry into Harvard because Latino and African-American students are given preferential treatment in the enrollment process.

Higher learning institutions have long favored racial preferences as proof they care about racial balance and equity. But they also have admittance standards, and as it turns out, a high percentage of top students are Asian-Americans.

How can a leader or a party that badly wants to end discrimination continue to reinforce it through rhetoric and public policy positions? Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and African Americans seem to be slowly waking to the reality that abandoning core principles for votes is dishonest.

A 2019 Pew Research Center survey reported that a sizable majority of African Americans and Latinos believe that “colleges and universities should not consider race or ethnicity when making decisions about student admissions." And here in California, we overwhelmingly defeated a recent state proposition to reinstall racial preferences to state hiring and university admission policies.

The Biden Adminstriation's failures go beyond the way it handles racial issues. His administration seems oblivious that sending folks money for not going to work increases demand products no one is in the factory to produce and makes the prices rise for what is available. Instead, he says inflation is “transitory," and the Biden White House has declared he is “delivering the fastest growing economy in history.” Apparently, the country has missed that based on his poll ratings for handling the economy.

There is a real danger now that Biden, like former President Barack Obama before him, will keep spending money to boost the economy on one hand while stifling growth with new taxes and regulations on the other hand.

Many of Biden’s appointees to key government positions are historically and openly hostile to the industries they are tasked to oversee. Whether it is the broadcast, broadband, or oil and gas businesses — all have avowed enemies in line to regulate them.

How can you continue to say you will “build back a better economy” as you nominate folks who are on record as wanting to stifle the industries important to America’s growth and prosperity?

Lastly, you may have read that Biden recently signed his 73rd Executive Order to “make government work more effectively." The intent is to put a more “customer service” attitude into federal agencies that deal directly with the public.

About four million Americans are added to the Social Security roles each year, and the Social Security Administration is one of those agencies being targeted to improve service and communication. It would be nice if the same focus was on the Veterans Administration or the U.S. Postal Service.

Again, we must watch the money to separate rhetoric from reality. The Internal Revenue Service is slated for a massive increase in manpower and technical upgrades so they can collect billions in taxes from us to balance the proposed spending being considered. Which agency do you think will be quicker to contact you if they have a question, the I.R.S. or the SSA?

Ambrose Bierce was a writer, journalist, poet, and Civil War veteran who joined the Mexican Revolution on the rebel side in 1913 he so believed in freedom. His view seems an appropriate summation of this topic: “Politics, a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.”

Contact Pat Orr at avreviewopinion@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Around Town: Principles are a matter of convenience for politicians