You would think that the Build Back Better legislation was a Halloween ghoul, the way the Republicans abhor it and Democrats wrestle with it.  A great deal of its provisions have already been stripped down or sucked out.  Thank the GOP, who sat in the bleachers and let Ghostbusters, Manchin, Sinema and company eradicate the supernatural proposals.  It appears that the most feared pieces of this proposal have been tamed and some kind of still-robust human infrastructure bill will be enacted.  This “going big” proposal will probably be remembered for the internal political mayhem it caused in the Democratic Party.  But a longer-range view might herald it as the first proposal in decades where America confronted the right questions.- Should children be hungry in America?
- Should we provide Pre-School when we know it vastly increases the chances people will succeed?
- Should we try to incentivize the transition to a sustainable planet?
- Should we assure we address job displacement from climate change transitions?
- Should senior home care be recognized as a job and be compensated? 
- Should we assure modest-cost home construction when the construction industry won’t?
- Should a college education or technical degree be guaranteed in a globally competitive world?
- Should Medicare cover important health care issues like dental care, vision, hearing, etc.?
- Should the super-wealthy pay a fair share of the cost of addressing the common needs?
- Should workers have a right to organize without fear, intimidation or coercion?
- Should we assure paid family and medical leave to handle personal emergencies?
- Should we negotiate Rx prices and lower the nation’s drug bill?
- Should we assure safe and quality child care now that so many families have one parent?These are the questions that the Build Back Better proposal put before Congress and the American people.  They address the biblical question of “are we our brothers’ keeper”?  They don’t delve into war, health mandates, race relations, religion, educational direction, trade or the myriad of other splinter issues that keep us divided and at a standstill.  Yet to the extent the final legislation even partly answers these questions, it will impact all our cultural and economic dysfunction.  They are “root” questions about the role of government and our obligations to each other.  They also happen to be the questions that will determine if the American experiment, as Lincoln asked, will long endure.igh  11-1-2021
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