Horowitz: 5 Reasons for New Year’s Optimism

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Rob Horowitz, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

For the past three years, I’ve written a New Year’s column listing reasons for optimism(click here to see how I did last year). This year I do the same. It remains the nature of news and opinion writing that positive developments get short shrift. As 2016: nears, 5 reasons for optimism are outlined below:

1) Paris agreement puts the world on the right path to avoid the worst consequences of global warming: For the first time, nearly all the nations of the world--- developed and developing nations alike,--- have agreed to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
While the commitments in Paris don’t get us all the way to limiting global temperature rise beyond pre-industrial levels to the 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit scientists say is required to make the negative impacts manageable, they establish a strong foundation upon which to build.. And the agreement mandates that nations set more ambitious carbon reduction targets every 5 years and provides robust reporting and information-sharing requirements. Most importantly, the Paris agreement sends a strong signal to the energy marketplace that renewable energy is a good bet for venture capitalist and other investors.

2) Most Americans dislike Donald Trump: Nearly, 6-in 10 likely general election voters have an unfavorable impression of Donald Trump, according to recent polls. And almost one-in-two likely general election voters have a very unfavorable impression of the bombastic businessman, according to the highly regarded Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll. The tiresome and breathless refrain of too many pundits that no matter how inaccurate and outrageous Trump’s comments are his poll numbers continue to go up is only partially accurate. While his appeal to a substantial minority of Republican primary voters make him the front-runner for the Republican nomination given the crowded field, the rest of America has heard the same blatant demagoguery, complete disregard for the truth, appeals to racism, and plain unwillingness to ever admit a mistake and the good news is that for most people it is a turn-off. That not only makes him a weak general election candidate; it says something good about our nation.

3) Rhode Island begins to make progress on economic development: Seizing on the momentum and extra tax revenue generated by the national economic recovery, Governor Raimondo is smartly putting the building blocks in place to make Rhode Island more economically competitive for the long-term. Raimondo’s sound and innovative economic development strategy-- based in large measure on evidence and best practices --is beginning to pay off. Targeted tax incentives to encourage businesses to locate here, an overhaul of job training, and long-overdue investments in infrastructure, among other initiatives, will pay major dividends.

4) Speaker Ryan is making the House of Representatives work: Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) productive first two months as Speaker, in which he skillfully guided bi-partisan bills funding the government through close to the end of Obama’s Presidency, funding transportation for 5 years, and overhauling No Child Left Behind through the House, bodes well for forging more productive compromises in 2016 and avoiding deadlocks on issues such as the debt ceiling that can damage our economy and international credibility.

5 ) The solidifying bi-partisan consensus on reforming our criminal justice system means progress on this important issue is likely. Calling itself the nation’s largest partnership dedicated to reducing the prison population, the newly formed Coalition for Public Safety demonstrates how reducing prison sentences for non-violent offenders and easing the path to re-entry for prisoners now cuts across party and ideological lines. The new Coalition brings conservative groups and businesses such as Koch Industries and American s for Tax Reform together with liberal organizations such as the Center for American Progress and the Americans Civil Liberties Union. With President Obama as well as Republican and Democratic members of Congress already working towards the adoption of legislation, landmark criminal justice reform is likely to become the law of the land in 2016.

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.

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Horowitz: 5 Reasons for New Year’s Optimism

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