After the election Tuesday, James Comer took the congressional spot for Kentucky’s first district.
How will Comer affect Murray State and the community?
Comer is very pro-agriculture, which is great for Murray State and Kentuckians in general. According to his website, Comer wants to help farmers “operate, compete and succeed.” Murray State has a fairly large agricultural program, and with so many students going into that field, an advocate on the House Committee on Agriculture can’t be bad.
Health care is a divisive issue in Kentucky and beyond. Comer supports restoring competition in the marketplace and ending the “one-size-fits-all approach” to health care.
Too many Americans struggle to pay for health care. Many don’t have insurance at all. Blue-collar workers struggle to make ends meet in a country where “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps” is supposed to be the norm.
Regardless of what Comer does to solve the health care issue, if it doesn’t help the working class citizens of Kentucky, it’s not a good plan.
According to Comer’s website, he supports increasing defense funding, improving the VA and ensuring benefits for veterans.
Considering one-sixth of federal spending goes to defense, according to the Congressional Budget Office website, it probably isn’t necessary to increase defense spending.
Comer is also an incumbent and the VA hasn’t been improved yet. What will he do this term that he didn’t do last time?
Comer wants to “promote greater government transparency and accountability.” Corruption in the government and lack of communication between constituents and their representatives need to be resolved. If he can pull this off, the U.S. would be much better off.
The second amendment is another contentious issue, and not even close friends agree on what should happen. Comer has promised to protect the second amendment and push for “common sense gun laws.” Shootings do happen in Kentucky, so while no one recomeends taking guns away, common sense gun laws sound like a great idea.
Murray is home to a lot of small businesses, so a representative who wants to help them is obviously preferable. Comer plams to reduce taxes, which many small business owners agree with.
Comer wants to invest in transportation infrastructure, which will boost the economy. What this means for Murray State students is a possible improvement of the local roads. They’re in awful shape and there isn’t much funding to solve the issue.
Federal funding for schools is so important right now. Murray State receives essentially nothing next to other Kentucky universities and even less compared to schools across the nation.
When state funding is absent, it falls on the shoulders of the students to keep the school afloat. Time will tell if Comer has any real plans to solve this issue. His website doesn’t mention education, and while he will work at the federal level and education is a state concern, he is the representative in Congress for this University and most of western Kentucky. Students need a voice at the national level to fight for their education.
Even if Comer isn’t who you voted for, there are positives to be found.
And, of course, if you’re dissatisfied with any of the results from this election season, go vote in 2020.