As a one time Republican, and what used to be called Conservative, I've thought about a post on why I finally gave up on the Republican Party. I haven't gotten around to drafting that yet, but I just received two letters that reminded me of some reasons for leaving that party.
Both letters are from the Republican National Committee. The first letter reminded me how important it is to keep the Democrats out of office. Let me extract some quotes.
"But I am not writing to you today only to seek your support for our Party this fall."
No, the request for money was in the other letter received on the same day.
"Our opponents rely on the financial backing of leftist billionaires...., radical groups..., Hollywood elites, and Big Labor...
If the terrorists don't get you, then the leftist billionaires, radical groups, Hollywood elites, and Big Labor will destroy you! Scare tactics perfected since Reagan. This is insulting and I hope we've come to a time when the average voter sees through the use of scare tactics to hide the lack of a party platform. Also, we just lost a famous Hollywood elite - Charlton Heston.
"They (Democrats) promised "reforms" last November, but what have they delivered?
- Groundless partisan investigations of the Bush Administration;"
- A budget with the largest tax hike in American history;
- Conditions on funding for our troops fighting to protect us and winning the War on Terror
- Parliamentary procedure games instead of meaningful legislation; and,
- Unofficial attempts at backdoor diplomacy with tyrants.
Groundless investigations? The facts are there. There is more than enough justification to proceed with those investigations which, by the war are hardly partisan since responsible Republicans are also asking for those investigations. There is also sufficient evidence to begin impeachment hearings but none of us really want another partisan circus.
Tax hike: There is no tax hike proposed. Instead the Democrats want the temporary tax cuts to expire as the Republicans promised and wrote into the bills at the time they were passed. Again this is fact, but Republicans would want you to forget that the tax cuts were temporary. They do not want you to hear that temporary tax cuts can help, but long-term/permanent tax cuts damage the economy, especially increasing unemployment, in a few short years. Most economists agree that the our economy is hurting and that the Iraq War is a very small part of the cause. Tax cuts are the primary cause.
War on Terror: Democrats have never put conditions on fighting the War on Terror; they have attempted to put conditions of funding troops in Iraq which responds to the wishes of about 70% of Americans.
Parliament procedures: The rise of crippling parliamentary procedures occurred mostly during the Clinton and Bush II periods. If one wants to consider meaningful legislation, I suggest you look at about any Congress other than those serving while Bush II reigned. Backdoor diplomacy must refer to Pelosi's trips, possibly even Carter's. The moral here is that anyone who talks to evildoers are committing treason. All administrations since 1945 have talked to and negotiated with the USSR. Nixon began serious dialogue with evildoer China. The list goes on. Any President who does not negotiate with the enemy is courting war. Talking is good. Talking is not equal to agreeing. Negotiating is essential.
"The Democrats' lineup of liberal presidential candidates ... promises of punitive taxation, massive spending, abandonment of our tough national security policies,, and far-reaching intrusion into the lives and liberty of the American people."
Those bulleted points, in a nutshell, would have been the platform of the Republican Party of old. These terms are now a very good description of the Republican Party today, with the exception of punitive taxation. They like to call Democrats as "tax and spend" which has some truth to it. I would call the Republicans of today as "spend like no Democrat ever conceived possible, but make our children and grandchildren pay for it."
The second letter asks for $1,000, or amounts smaller to $25. I chose an even smaller amount of $0. They wonder if I have "abandoned the Republican Party." Maybe they know?
Then the letter goes on to list diatribe similar to or exactly the same as the first letter. They also wonder "Have you given up?" No, I haven't. I'm not a Democrat and don't think I could ever buy their platform in toto. I hope the moderate Republicans retain a measure of the integrity and true financial conservatism of the Grand OLD Party and that they may once again control the party. But for now moderate Republicans and myself do not feel welcome in a party that's gone off the deep end.
I believe that this is my first really angry post. I am angry at a Party that has rubbed its traditional values in crap. I am angry at a Party that claims budgetary responsibility but has outspent previous administrations with glee. I am angry at a Party that once really believed in less government into private lives, but now spies on us and tries to push a narrow-minded morality into our homes. I am angry at a Party that once participated in the world rather than ignoring the Geneva Conventions, ridiculing once friendly nations because they disagreed on a war that has proven them right, and moving us away from an inherently moral superiority.
I have one more angry post coming but it will not be about war or politics. It's about Verizon.
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