What Republicans Stand For

Plenty to write about these days...my next letter for local papers, with reference to Fairfield County, CT candidates for state and federal office:

It’s clear from their actions that Republicans have elevated
obstructionism over doing what’s right for the country. As the
midterm election nears, I ask Independents and others on the fence to
be sure they understand the motivations of candidates from the two
parties. I think you’ll find that Jim Himes, Dick Blumenthal and
Democratic candidates for state office have positive ideas for
rebuilding our economy and improving economic security. In contrast,
Republicans are motivated by obstruction and protecting the wealthy at
the expense of the middle class. Just listen to what they’re
saying.

John Boehner, Republican House minority leader, is so unconcerned with
the plight of ordinary Americans that he called financial reform
legislation “killing an ant with a nuclear weapon.” In Boehner’s
world, millions of lost jobs, and trillions in lost savings is
inconsequential. All but three House Republicans voted against
financial reform, decrying it as a threat to free markets. The same
free markets that needed Bush’s $700 billion taxpayer-financed
bailout.

Senator Jim DeMint, Republican from South Carolina, would rather lose
a senate seat than see a moderate elected who would cross party lines.
Congressional candidate Dan Debicella wants to repeal healthcare
reform, with no cogent plan on how to cover 50 million Americans who
lack health insurance. Representative Joe Barton, ranking Republican
on the House energy committee, was “ashamed” that the Obama
administration secured $20 billion from BP to cover the unprecedented
economic and environmental damage the company inflicted on the Gulf,
calling it a “shakedown.” This is the person who would take over
leadership on energy policy if Democrats lose control of the House.

Senate Republicans stood in the way of an additional $34 billion in
unemployment benefits, claiming the government can’t afford additional
deficit spending. The same Republicans who are willing to spend $700
billion to extend Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.
Over in Alaska, Republicans are trying to “roll back the federal
government” while they take in federal stimulus money at nearly three
times the per capita rate as other states.

This is what Republicans are about. Hopefully it’s not what the
voters of Fairfield County want.

In Response to Greenwich's Former Mayor re "Liberal Politicians"

The former mayor of Greenwich, CT (where I live), wrote a letter to the editor in our local paper lambasting "liberal politicians" for everything they've done.

My response:

To the editor (Greenwich Post):

In his letter on September 9th, former Selectman Peter Crumbine assailed “liberal politicians” in Washington and Hartford for trillion-dollar deficits, sky-high unemployment and health care reform. The problem with Mr. Crumbine—and the Republican establishment—is that they love to play fast and loose with the facts.

They conveniently ignore that President Bush added nearly $5 trillion to the federal debt, reversing budget surpluses left to us by Clinton economic policies. The unemployment rate started its steady march upward well before President Obama took office. While it has continued to climb, the trend in job losses reversed itself after the Obama stimulus package was passed, supporting the perspective that the stimulus is achieving its goal of restoring the economy to health. If Republicans are so masterful at managing the economy, how is it that under Clinton, four times as many jobs were created as during the following Bush years?

Republicans appear to be pleased with the current state of health care, since they did everything in their power to block any attempt at reform. Apparently 45 million non-elderly uninsured (four out of five of whom are in working households), a steady decline in employer-based coverage and premiums growing four times faster over the past decade than wage increases are facts that don’t matter.

Mr. Crumbine encourages us to send “free market business executives with proven records of success” to Washington and Hartford. The same successful business executives, no doubt, that brought the global economy to its knees with their “fiscally conservative” risk taking and whose banks had to be bailed out by Bush with a $700 billion rescue package.

I suggest the next time a Republican asserts facts about how bad Democrats are for the economy, take the time to do some fact checking. You’ll be surprised at what you find.