PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

A key plank in the platform of Democrats running for president is to have government do much more for all Americans. In fact, dispensing government largesse is almost the entire platform.

Socialism? Yes.

Can we afford it? No.

Are the proposals fair? No.

A fascinating aspect of this came to light over the weekend as Senator Elizabeth Warren, even while the impeachment process was grinding away in Congress, found time to attend an event in Grimes, Iowa, only a couple weeks before the Iowa Caucus vote.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “a man approached Warren and said, I just wanted to ask one question. My daughter’s getting out of school. I’ve saved all my money. She doesn’t have any student loans.

“Then the shoe drops. Am I going to get my money back? the man asks.”

As part of her “government can and should do anything platform,” Warren has proposed to cancel $640 billion in student loans, up to $50,000 a person.

She says this would help 42 million Americans. But, the Wall Street Journal avers, “there’s no provision to reimburse the millions of others who worked hard, saved money, and put themselves or their children through college.”

In response to Warren’s comment that he would not get his money back, the man retorted: “So you’re going to pay for people who didn’t save any money, and those of us who did the right thing get screwed. My buddy had fun, bought a car, went on vacations. I saved my money. He made more than I did, but I worked a double shift, worked extra. My daughter’s worked since she was 10.”

On the stump, the Journal reported that Warren had no answer to the man’s challenge.

Later, she rallied with this comment: “We build a future going forward by making it better. By that same logic what would we have done? Not started Social Security because we didn’t start it last week for you, or last month for you?”

I suppose that’s decent answer, but it doesn’t convince me of anything.

Most of the D proposals – health care, student debt, “green buildings” – all rest on government doing more. Little attention is paid to the cost of the proposals, nor more basically, to the benefit of individual enterprise and effort.

Plus, where individual enterprise and effort has occurred, there is no recognition or reward, just a penalty.

Makes me continue to want someone – I don’t care about party affiliation – who will campaign from the center, arguing for a balance between the role of government and role of the individual.

Too much to hope for you, you might say. Probably. But hope perseveres as we head toward the 2020 election.