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pan6467 · 05-28-2004, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by clavus
I am Republican. I have certain beliefs. And with the GOP in charge of the White House and Congress, I thought I would see thought I would see those beliefs move from mere ideas, to reality. Let’s see what George and the rest have done for me.

I believe in a balanced budget. Under Bush, we went from balanced budget to the largest deficit in the history…and his plan appears to be to make it worse.

I believe in lower taxes. But the GOP has plunged the country into such dire financial times, taxes will need to be raised dramatically, and soon. The few hundred bucks I saved this year on my federal taxes were more than consumed by the higher prices on things like education, insurance, and local taxes.

I believe in the less government, not more. But right out of the gate, Bush grew our government to a record size. And that was before he continued the governmental expansion in the name of the “War on Terror.”

I believe in personal freedoms. Yet George Bush and his ilk are obsessed with what I do with my crotch, what my wife does with her uterus, and what my gay friends choose to do with their lives. John Ashcroft works to deny terminally ill Americans the right to die. It doesn’t get much more personal than that.

I believe in a foreign policy that keeps my country safe and our enemies at bay. But Bush’s policy seems to do just the opposite. Pakistan sells nukes to North Korea and Iran; George does nothing. North Korea threatens us with nuclear attack; George sends negotiators. Iraq, contained and neutralized, is attacked, and thereby turns millions against us. Money and resources that should be spent fighting terrorists I Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afganistan are squandered in Iraq.

And then there are those other beliefs I have; those I attribute to the GOP, but maybe I should not.

Maybe, because I am a Republican, I’ve always felt that those in the GOP have more integrity than those in the Democratic Party. When Clinton lied about sex, he embarrassed my nation. He cost the taxpayers millions. I smirked to myself “Typical Democrat.”

But George lied about Iraq. It cost our country billions. It cost hundreds of American lives. And the embarrassment it caused is the least of our problems.

And then there is the environment. I grew up with guns and fishing poles. I loved, respected and feared mother nature, but I did not consider myself an “environmentalist.” Environmentalists were hippies and liberals from the city. They killed jobs to save a few trees. I was a Republican. After all, the Republicans founded the national park system. They poured money into environmental preservation through Ducks Unlimited and fishing license fees. And while we all owned chainsaws, we all thought clear-cutting was an abomination.

And so, I foolishly hoped that with Republicans in power, our natural resources would be managed sensibly. Now we are facing 500 clear-cuts in parts of Alaska that used to be protected. Mountain tops are being torn off in search of cheap coal. Corporations who illegally foul the air we breathe and water we drink are let off the hook; charges dropped. Cases are dismissed. This isn’t resource management. It’s rape.

I believe that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to keep Americans employed. But the GOP gave tax breaks to those companies who shipped tens of thousands of jobs overseas, rather than using a payroll tax cut to reward those companies who employ Americans.

I am a Republican. And that is why I will vote AGAINST George W Bush.

EXCELLENT POST.