Top Issues and Challenges Facing American in 2020

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure Domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Several hundred years have passed since the Constitution of the United States was written and adopted. The issues of creating a more perfect Union, establishing Justice, Domestic Tranquility, our common Defense, promoting the general Welfare, and securing the Blessings of Liberty are still cherished by most Americans.

This article summarizes the top issues or concerns of the American people in 2020 based on a series of recent polls, studies, and position papers. The following links are provided to them so you can read the detailed content for yourselves.

• America's Biggest Issues | The Heritage Foundation

• Solutions to America's 7 Biggest Problems by "We, The People Movement"

• Most Important Problems | Gallup Historical Trends - Gallup Poll

• Views of the Major Problems Facing the Country – Pew Research Center

• State of the Union 2019: How Americans see Major Issues – Pew Research Center

• Worries and Priorities about America's future | Pew Research Center

• Top 10 Issues to Watch in 2019 – National Conference of State Legislatures

• Statista: The Most Important Issues Facing The U.S. Today

Findings: Issues & Problems

The following is a list of the many major issues or problems that are facing the US in 2020 based on the series of recent polls, studies, and position papers identified above:

Economy Jobs & Unemployment Low Wages & Wealth Disparity Corporate Corruption Corporate Welfare & Taxes General Welfare Programs Education Public Schools Higher Education Online Education Charter Schools Student Debt Environment Pollution Climate Change Energy Policies Clean Energy Healthcare Healthcare Costs Health Insurance Medicare/Medicaid Prescription Drug Costs Drug Abuse & Opiod Crisis Domestic Issues Abortion & Adoption Marriage & Divorce Hunger & Poverty Homelessness Racism & Civil Rights Womens Rights LGBTQ Rights Immigration Reform Religious Freedoms Media & Press Freedoms

Crime Human Trafficking Illegal Drug Trafficking Marijuana Reforms School Shootings & Gun Control Domestic Hate Crimes & Extremism Government Taxes National Debt Election Reforms Justice System Reforms Poor Political Leadership Political Partisanship Excessive Regulation Social Security Voter Suppression Foreign Relations Foreign Policy Global Trade International Treaties Tariffs & Trade Wars National Infrastructure Information Technology Telecommunication Networks Transportation Systems Privacy & Security National Defense Wars Terrorism Homeland Security US Space Force Foreign Cyber Attacks Foreign Election Interference

It turns out the challenge of creating a more perfect Union, establishing Justice, Domestic Tranquility, our common Defense, promoting the general Welfare, and securing the Blessings of Liberty as we head deeper into the 21^st Century are not that simple anymore. The only way this is all going to work out well is if we all learn to better pull together. Remember, we’re all in the same boat. You would think we could address and solve a number of these problems.

Other Selected Links The Heritage Foundation Gallup Pew Research Center National Conference of State Legislatures

Republican Party 2020: Overview and Links to Key Web Sites

The national Republican Party, commonly referred to as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. It was founded by anti-slavery activists and members of the Whig Party back in 1854.

Politics is defined as the art or science of government. In other words, it encompasses a wide range of activities that relate to influencing the actions and policies of governments and its use of its resources.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is responsible for overseeing and promoting Republican campaign activities. This includes managing the process of writing the Republican Party National Platform. The RNC also organizes and supervises the activities of the RepublicanNational Convention.

• US Republican Party - GOP National Web Site
• US House of Representatives GOP Web Site
• US Senate GOP Web Site
• Young Republicans- National Federation Web Site
• Republican Governors Association

The South Carolina (SC) Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party. It is headquartered in Columbia, S.C.

While the GOP came into being back in 1854, the SC Republican Party only came to dominate state politics over the past 50 years. The Democratic Part was dominant from 1880 through 1948. It was the 1948 Presidential Election that marked the beginning of the winds of political change in the state when Senator Strom Thurmond broke away from the national Democratic Party and ran for office as a State's Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrat) candidate. The shift in political climate continued with President Lyndon B. Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This finally led to the current domination of the state's political landscape by the conservative Republican Party.

• SCRepublican Party - Web Site
• SC Republican Party - Facebook Page
• SC Senate Republican Caucus - Web Site
• SCHouse Republican Caucus - Web Site
• SCRepublican Party County Officials

 
The Clarendon County Republican Party is the local county affiliate of the SC Republican Party. Key web sites include:

• ClarendonCounty Republican Party - Facebook Page

2020 Republican National Convention - The gathering at which delegates of the U.S. Republican Party will choose the party's nominees for President and Vice President of the United States of America that will run in the 2020 national election. The Republican National Convention will next convene in Charlotte, North Carolina in July 2020.

No matter what your political party affiliation, it's time to start getting ready for the 2020 nation-wide elections. Pay attention to the candidates and their stance on the major issues facing the US. Also, check out the political platforms of both major parties.

Democratic Party 2020: An Overview and Links to Key Web Sites

The national Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. It was founded back in 1828, making it the oldest political party in the U.S.

Politics is defined as the art or science of government. In other words, it encompasses a wide range of activities that relate to influencing the actions and policies of governments and its use of its resources.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is responsible for overseeing and promoting Democratic campaign activities. This includes managing the process of writing the Democratic Party National Platform. The DNC also organizes and supervises the activities of the Democratic National Convention.

• Democratic National Party
• Democratic National Party - Twitter Site
• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
• Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
• Young Democrats of America (YDA)
• Democratic Governors Association
• National Conference of Democratic Mayors
• National Federation of Democratic Women
• Links to State Democratic Parties

The South Carolina (SC) Democratic Party is the state affiliate of the national Democratic Party. It is headquartered in Columbia, S.C.

The SC Democratic Party dominated state politics from 1880 through 1948. It was the 1948 Presidential Election that marked the beginning of the winds of political change in the state when Senator Strom Thurmond broke away from the national Democratic Party and ran for office as a State's Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrat) candidate. The shift in political climate continued with President Lyndon B. Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This led to the current domination of the state's political landscape by the conservative Republican Party.

• SC Democratic Party - Web Site
• SC DemocraticParty - Facebook Page
• SC Democratic Party - Twitter Site

• SC Senate Democratic Caucus - Web Site

• SC House Democrats- Facebook Page
• SC House Democratic Caucus - Web Site
• SC Democratic Party Web Sites by County
• SCDP Affiliated Groups Across the State

The Clarendon County Democratic Party is the local county affiliate of the SC Democratic Party. Within the county, there are 26 precincts.

• Clarendon County Democratic Party - Facebook Page
• Senator Kevin Johnson - Web Site
• Senator Kevin Johnson - Facebook Page
• Representative Robert Ridgeway III - Web Site

2020 Democratic National Convention - The gathering at which delegates of the U.S. Democratic Party will officially choose the party's nominees for President and Vice President of the United States of America. The convention will be held in August 2020.

No matter what your political party affiliation, it's time to start getting ready for the next nation-wide elections. Pay attention to the candidates and their stance on the major issues facing the US. Also, check out the political platforms of both major parties.

 

The Changing Online Church – Long After COVID-19 is History

The Church always keeps changing and adapting to the future. The message is the same, but our changing society and technology demands that we change how we do church – how we help spread God’s word.

“If you could do anything to help the church be more fruitful over the next 30 years, what would it be?” - Read The Great Opportunity: The American Church in 2050

We may be facing the largest missions opportunity ever in American history, and if we move quickly, we can help introduce tens of millions of young people to Jesus over the next 30 years. This holds true for pastors, ministry heads, lay people, funders, theologians, academics, missionaries... whether they be Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, African American, post-denominational Charismatics, or many others.

The numbers show that the American church needs to plant more than 200,000 churches in the next 30 years to maintain status quo and even grow its membership. However, does that mean 200,000 physical church buildings or…? The church will need to find new models for lowering the cost of planting the churches of the future.

More specifically, the church must transform its approach to youth discipleship. The models that served us for the last fifty years are becoming increasingly less effective in this 21^st Century ‘Information Age’. Strangely, the current COVID-19 crisis is helping to show us new ways to move forward using innovative technologies and online social networking.

If you are interested in this topic, go online and do some research on how Religion and Churches will Change by 2050.

New Challenging Events for Today’s Modern Sports-Minded Families

I recently read an article published by the Post & Courier in their Tideline Magazine entitled “Golf With Shotguns” about a South Carolina club for outdoor enthusiasts. They combined a mixture of two activities - traveling in golf carts over a course of 14 shooting stations, they shoot and try to break as many clay pigeon targets as possible.

This inspired me to think and write about a whole new range of challenging events for modern sports-minded families in the 21^st Century. For example:

• Sporting Triathlon - Building on ‘Golf With Shotguns’, what about combining ATV racing with skeet shooting and golf? You combine your golf score with your skeet shooting score and the time you take to race around a course.
• Sporting Pentathlon – This event might consist of ATV racing, skeet shooting, and golf with a kayak race, and a one mile run.
• Two-day Sporting Decathlon – Day 1 for this event would include ATV racing, skeet shooting, golf, kayak racing, and a one mile swimming race. Day 2 might include a jet ski race, a 1 hour fishing tournament, a 5 mile bike race, a 10 minute hot dog eating contest, followed by a one mile run.

It might take a while to officially determine whether to substitute a pistol shooting competition, an archery contest, a dove hunt, horse riding… or some other agree upon sporting event for those I have proposed.

You get the idea. Forget your traditional sporting events we inherited from the ancient Greeks like discuss throwing, javelin, long jump, or running a marathon. Let’s liven things up and move into the 21^st Century.

In the words of Larry the Cable Guy, Let’s ‘Get ‘er done!’

* What other combination of events can you think of that ought to exist.