Last week, I mentioned 11 issues that Republicans and Democrats could potentially agree upon.

There were many responses, and, for the most part, a good amount of agreement.

This week I want to cite 10 things I suspect Democrats and Republicans will not agree upon, some creating serious problems for the country.

1. To be fair many Republicans have never embraced either Social Security or Medicare either for ideological reasons or funding structures. But the Ryan plan, currently embraced by most Republicans in congress, is a step towards ending Medicare.

The CBO estimates that, by 2030, Medicare clients would pay 68 percent of their medical expenses compared to 25 percent today.

For many that would make their financial conditions near impossible. Democrats support Social Security and Medicare. The parties seem unable to agree here.

2. Republican presidential candidates at a debate in New Hampshire this week could, to a person, not find anything the government does that they like, even NASA or the EPA.

Republicans nationally have made a mantra of “all government is bad.”

Democrats know government to be flawed, in much the same ways that all human organizations are flawed. But we are Americans together in this society, and government permits us ways to reach out to each other to build a stronger nation.

3. One lesson from Iraq and Afghanistan should be that fielding an army to oppose terrorists is not a successful strategy. What will work is shared Intel with other nations, informed police forces, an alert public, and the smart use of technology.

Yet Republicans seem to oppose cutting the military to re-shape it for a future without landing troops in foreign fields. This harms us both strategically and fiscally.

4. Endlessly cutting taxes for the rich and corporations may be the worst idea in my lifetime. Because of tax law breaks and lower taxes on dividends, the richest Americans pay about 18 percent in taxes, less than working middle class wage earners.

And our effective corporate tax rate is among the lowest in the industrialized world. Corporate taxes currently comprise less of our tax revenue than at any time in the past 30 years.

So our deficits rise and Republicans demand lower taxes. It is senseless policy.

5. States really cannot have individualized immigration policies. Our borders are not sealed, but they are more secure, with more border agents and technology, than any time in our past.

And fewer illegal immigrants are coming across the border than any time in the last five years.

6. Refusing the raise the debt ceiling, for any reason, invites chaos. If Republicans want to threaten that, they can. But if they should act on it the fiscal consequences of their actions will harm the nation as much as a losing a war.

7. Many Republican governed states have decided to seek more restrictive voting laws to counter fraud at the polls.

But there is virtually no fraud at the polls and the ID requirements will effectively deny 11 percent of voter’s access to the ballot. Why advance such a concept? The voters, who are denied, Republicans think, will vote Democratic.

Wisconsin, for example, wants to deny students IDs because students tend to vote for Democrats.

8. The federal budget cannot, and will not, be balanced without both spending cuts and tax increases. Republicans refuse to acknowledge that simple truth.

9. All regulations are not evil as Republicans believe them to be. Because banks were not properly regulated, they brought us the latest financial crisis, which continues to impede our economic recovery.

Regulations protect consumers and fair business practices.

10. The Affordable Care Act is our last great chance at creating a health care system for virtually all Americans.

It is a good beginning and hated by the Right. Get over it.

Jim Crawford is retired educator and political enthusiast living here in the Tri-State.