Absent Issues!

The first debate was on domestic policy. What do you think of when you think of domestic policy?

I think of issues such as gas prices and energy issues, transportation and infrastructure, healthcare and medicare, as well as taxes and the economy. Yet all the first debate cover was the economy and healthcare. I feel that the issues with jobs and taxes have squeezed out many other issues that are plaguing Americans everyday.

What do you think?

Even with all this talk of jobs and the economy there is little focus on issues that are pressing and immediate concerns to many Americans living in rural communities. I have been researching the issues that congress left on the docket for after the election and found that many of the issues have received very little press. Issues that have been brought on by the summer drought such as corn yields coming in at a 6 year low as well waterway and infrastructure issues.

After a quick Google search of locks and dam issues i found hundreds of sites and articles that go in to detail on how far our water way infrastructure has fallen. Here in Illinois almost all of the locks and dams haven't been upgraded since the 1980's.  One sight in particular showed some interesting statistics about the importance of locks and dams that i have never heard about. Check it out here!

I bet that many of you haven't even heard about the Farm Bill struggles that have been going on in Washington D.C. all summer. Even if you had heard about it it has surprisingly disappeared from the major media sources. This along with the dilapidated conditions of our locks and damns are two major issues that i would have expected to be apart of the debate last Wednesday.

For more information on the rural economy and the effects of the Farm Bill expiration check out this NPR article.


Are there more issues you believe that should be focused on more in the last 30 days???