For the first time in, -
- well, ever, there is a Republican President, both
houses of congress are controlled by Republicans,
the Governor is a Republican, and the entire state
legislature is controlled by Republicans. They are
definitely in charge, but do their ideas represent
your ideas?
As a preface to my
remarks let me say three things – firstly, I have
voted for and supported Republicans for almost
thirty years and will for the foreseeable future
most likely continue to do so. So I am no attack dog
for the democrats. But I have supported Republicans
and will continue to do so because I see them as the
lesser of two evils, not because they fully express
may dream of what American government ought to be.
Now don’t for a minute think I am espousing a third
party, I am not. In the current system a third party
does more harm than good. (Read my articles on the
Electoral College, you can find them online at
viewsandnews.ucan.us.)
Secondly, there is a
great and terrible reality to our government, and
that is that there is little difference between the
extremes of one party and another. This is great
because it protects us from an over zealous nut that
might other wise cause immense damage to the nation.
It is terrible because is also prevents a great
leader from making monumental changes for the good,
or at least from making those changes rapidly.
And lastly – having said there is little difference,
there is one thing which might make a big
difference- terrorist or rogue nations with weapons
of mass destruction. With the wrong Commander and
Chief, millions of American lives may one day be
needlessly lost.
The rise of the
Republican Party, particularly in the south is not
so much a result of the party’s fiscal, that is
monetary, policy, as it is the party’s social
policies. Most hardworking Americans recognize that
much of the Republican platform disproportionately
favors the very wealthy individuals and large
corporations over the common man and small business.
But they also recognize that the Democrats are
equally bias against them in favor of those who want
something for nothing. Be all this as it may, it is
not these money issues which have relegated the
democratic parity to minority status. It is the
democrats’ willingness to scorn Christianity,
marriage, honor, chastity, and traditional moral
values as outdated and unimportant that has turned
the electorate against them.
Does the Republican
Party Really Represent You? Will odds are that it
does much more closely represent your views of right
and wrong than does the democratic party, but there
is still much we could hope for. The wealth gap and
the income gap is forever widening in this country.
The poor are getting poorer and the rich getting
richer. While it is naive to really expect to one
day live in a world that has no rich and no poor, it
is realistic to expect that one day the major
factors determining if you are rich or poor have to
do with your work and savings habits, not the origin
of your genes. The Wal-marts have driven most
independent store owners out of business. Huge
corporate farms are displacing family farms. Over
half the population of the country receive some form
of unearned government aid. We are rapidly ceasing
to be a manufacturing power.
It is not the
Republicans alone to blame for these and other ills
we face. The democrats were more than willing to
support NAFT and any other legislation which force
American companies to either go broke or move
manufacturing operations overseas. Both parties are
gung-ho to eliminate the inheritance tax, a move
which will only help the richest of the rich. While
most Americans agree with them on this it is only
because they don’t fully understand the facts about
the tax. Most of us, more than 99.6% of us that is,
will not have estates large enough to be taxed at
all. In 2009 the first $3.5 million is not taxed at
all.
The democrats ranted and
raved about the republicans cutting the capital
gains tax, calling it a break for the rich. Never
mind that it actually greatly helped the average
working family directly and indirectly. It saved the
average family money when they sold their home and
saved for their retirement, and it helped them
indirectly by encouraging companies to expand and
invest in new equipment, creating a better economy.
All the while, they were going right along with the
republicans in working to end the inheritance tax, a
benefit only for multi-millionaires and
billionaires.
More than anything else,
we are stuck with the republicans because the
democrats are “crazy Eddie.” Crazy Eddie can be best
explained with an example. Suppose there is a large
ship sinking in the icy North Atlantic. They have no
lifeboats, but a rescue ship is on the way. All they
have to do is stay afloat until it arrives. If they
run their bilge pumps at the maximum they can do
this. However the bilge pump operators decide it
would be a good time to go on strike for more money
and better working conditions. They do, and they and
everyone else onboard either drown or freeze to
death.
That’s crazy Eddie. In a real world example:
the republicans say that raising the minimum wage
causes an inflationary spiral that actually hurts
the lowest wage earners. I think this is more the
rich trying to keep the poor poor, than anything
else, but for our example let us suppose it is true.
The democrats would still do it. Even though it
would hurt the ones they claim to champion, they
would still do it. That is crazy Eddie.
