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as outdated and unimportant that has turned the electorate against them.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 a 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.
