Before putting money into campaign chests became paramount, both parties used to work together for the good of the country. Occasionally a party might go off the tracks with a radical idea so far off the rail the other side couldn’t support it, but they usually found common ground for the country’s good.

Both ideologies used to find a place where moderates from both parties could see a place where the rails merged into one law. It meant that moderates could merge their ideals into one forming something both could live with. That is how Congress used to work before we voted out the moderates and voted in radicals who want to destroy governments and safety nets. When that happened the super rich of both sides (thanks to the Citizens United Decision) pumped money into the election process demanding the receipients do as their masters demand. Today we have many tracks but seldom do any of them merge on the horizon.

The parties used to have socials and games on weekends in Washington because governing meant 4 1/2 day work week. As the need to raise money became the greater need over legislating they have cut the number of work weeks and days to three. Some of the leadership may stay until Friday because their position and funding is secure. We now know they all leave the building to go to the phone banks each party has set up for pleading for more money.

Too often the rails do not seem to merge on the horizon but stay separated as we disappear into the setting sun.

I get a lot of feedback on my opinions. Most are from the right but nearly as many from the left. I claim the center which is where a person should be with views toward both sides. I try to use facts as the basis for my opinions even when they are not stated.

I often call experts (not text, e-mail, FaceBook, Tweet, or any other son-verbal communication) to get information that I use to form my opinion. I have consulted physicians, astronomers, climatologist, military, senators, state and federal agencies, and friends with experience and special knowledge on a topic.

An example is when one climate denier wrote in that the sun was expanding and that was the reason for our climate getting warmer. I knew it was ridiculous but I talked with an astronomer at Adler Planetarium who laughed so hard he gasped for air. As most students in my 1960s high school science class knew, the earth’s orbit is about 93 million miles because of the oval orbit. It is an average of 94.5 and 91.4 million miles. We have gotten more accurate but the sun is probably the same size as when humanity left Africa.

I also use the World Almanac but not Wikipedia or any other subjective or fake social media sites designed to cater to those siloed people who are so easily manipulated. Another source is the people themselves. I try not to use President Trump as an official source because he seldom is right with facts and can change those facts around within hours. To him real news facts come from the script writers on FOX. Even then he screws those stories up.

The left doesn’t like my immigration stance and the right doesn’t like my stance on paying off debt before tax cuts. Seeing both sides of an issue is something Americans have forgotten how to do.