Posted on 10/25/2006 7:02:29 AM PDT by 13Sisters76
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Holding my nose and voting Republican By Linda Chavez Wednesday, October 25, 2006
I am not happy with the Republican Party, but on Nov. 7 I will cast my vote for my incumbent Republican congressman and senator nonetheless. I don't feel I have any choice -- and it's not just that the Democrats running in my state are particularly unappealing candidates.
I'm angry at Republicans for abandoning their principles. This Republican president, aided and abetted by Congress, has increased federal spending at a reckless rate, even when the costs of the war in Iraq are taken out of the equation. I'm embarrassed by the scandals that have plagued some Republicans and by the abject failure of the leadership to do anything meaningful on lobbying reform.
I'm sickened by the cronyism that protected former Congressman Mark Foley and put children at risk. I'm disappointed that after years of claiming to be the party of colorblind equal opportunity, Republicans have actually expanded racial preferences in federal programs. I'm disheartened by the demagoguery on immigration and the refusal to do the one thing guaranteed to stop illegal immigration, namely, enact a broad guest worker program.
But none of these issues will make me stay home, much less vote Democratic. The fact is I don't trust the Democratic Party to lead this country in a time of uncertainty and war. While the Democrats say they want to refocus the nation's energy on the war on terror, they've demonstrated time and again that they oppose the most effective means of fighting terrorism.
Democrats would interfere with the National Security Agency's ability to intercept communications between terrorists abroad and their agents in the United States. They would extend to terrorists being held overseas access to the U.S. civilian court system, which could jeopardize national security by making classified intelligence available to the terrorists and their attorneys. They would treat terrorists like common criminals rather than as combatants who are at war with us.
Nor do I trust that Democrats would do the right thing in Iraq -- not that the current administration has had a stellar record there, either. I'm tired of debating whether we should or should not have gone into Iraq -- both Republicans and half the Democrats in the Senate voted to authorize the war in 2003. The question is what the United States should do now. It's clear the war is going very badly and that Iraq is on the verge of a civil war. Democrats have offered no clear plan except to leave Iraq as quickly as possible, regardless of the consequences.
And I don't think the Democrats would back tough measures if Iran and North Korea continue to pursue nuclear weapons either. Certainly the Clinton administration's record with respect to North Korea doesn't inspire confidence. Democrats like carrots a lot better than sticks and are more concerned with "world opinion" than American interests.
Democratic control of Congress also worries me when it comes to the economy. Democrats always want to raise taxes in order to pay for social programs, transferring money out of the hands of ordinary people and turning it over to bureaucrats. Most Democrats are also infatuated with government regulation and rarely find a government directive they don't like. Higher taxes and more regulations are a recipe to cool our healthy economy. Democrats seem to want to punish businesses rather than encourage the creation of more wealth. And they have a nasty propensity to encourage envy and class warfare, which benefits no one.
Politics is sometimes about making the least bad choice. I know some of my fellow Republicans will stay home on Election Day, hoping to send the party a message that they're fed up with the current leadership. But putting the Democrats in control won't bring about needed changes -- it will make matters even worse. The place for revolt is within the party itself, by urging the elected representatives to pick carefully when they choose House and Senate leadership in January and by challenging incumbents in primaries next time if they don't stand up for basic Republican principles.
Linda Chavez is chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity and author of Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics .
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Copyright © 2006 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.
Be nice.
However, political parties are about power, not priciples.
"Real" conservatives make up, say, 20-25% of the voters (which is probably well above our proportion in the population). Thats nice, but the 'Pubbies need another 25-30% (plus 1) to win. Plus a little extra to beat fraud, gerrymandering, etc.
The remaining 30% has to come from the "moderate" and / or "undecided" voters, or, basically, from people too stupid to make up their minds or to think independently. Since being "Republican" is about power, not principles, the party lurches left to pick up these voters. This POs the conservatives, but, hey!, where else can they go? (Don't waste my time with third parties...) In extremis, the GOP might lurch EVEN FURTHER LEFT, because the Democrats, by radicalizing, have uncovered a bunch of votes in the middle and it might be worth jettisoning conservatives to pick them up (after all, where else can we go?).
This is why I'm stuck voting against candidate, instead of for 'em.
Defeat the Democommies! VOTE!!! More depends on it than you would believe!
"Real" conservatives make up, say, 20-25% of the voters (which is probably well above our proportion in the population)."
Where did you get those figures? If they're true, then we are really in deep doo-doo.
I'm not blaming anyone for anything, I was just explaining that no matter how much someone hates voing for a certain party, whichever party wins, will assume that what they are doing is ok.
They spend many millions of dollars attempting to learn how the voters feel about political issues and they do learn.
GHWB signed gun control and broke his "no new taxes" pledge. Since his reelection loss, no national Republican has come out supporting tax increases or gun control.
Talk about holding your nose, I get a choice between Mike 'milktoast' Dewhiner and sHerrod Brown here in Ohio.
If Dewhiner loses he's got nobody to blame but himself. Beat by sHerrod Brown, how revolting. And Brown was the congresscommie from my district. The people here are stuck on stupid and have voted this leech into office time and time again.
Gang of 14..... LOSERS
--GHWB signed gun control and broke his "no new taxes" pledge. Since his reelection loss, no national Republican has come out supporting tax increases or gun control--
Paging John McCain, paging John McCain!
Sorry, but that's untrue. I remember Hassert himself attempting to push a gun control bill through. Also lets not forget President Bush's vocal support of extending the AWB.
It was the pro-gun turnout of the 2000 elections that has scared "both" parties into line. Not some kind of heartfelt ideology. People were sick and tired of their elected officials selling off their rights to the Sarah Brady crowd.
No argument here. I was thinking of John McCain as the major antigun, protax republican, but you came up with better examples, at least regarding the 2nd Amendment.
Sister, it seems to me that the US has been in fact encouraging low skilled immigration, with nearly looking through your fingers when people pass through your southern borders and fill the manual jobs. But people that come abroad to study, are chased out of the country and have no way of extending their stay and work and live like many would like to do.
I think such people would not consider becoming americans until they have one day found out they have stayed for 7 years and like it so much that they don´t see any more any reason to go back. But as they always have to go back, even though they higly skilled labor. It suits my nation fine, because we of course need our people to return, but it seems strange, because as you say, the US is an immigrant country and the most succesful one, because of that.
I must agree with the following statement, though my understanding of your immigration situation is nominal at best, not beeing american:
"Personally I think a combination of all the tough enforcement measures proposed in the House with a guest worker program, possibly even with an amnesty that allows those here illegally w/o other criminal records to be regularized as guest workers (who have to go home after some specified time), but definitely with no amnesty provision that puts them on a track to citizenship, was, and is, the way to go."
These things have not been followed up by our media, what is the situation of the immigration policy of the US now?
Just vote Republican. I don't care whether anyone holds their nose--or anything else for that matter--while they do it.
Sorry you got confused and thought that's what I meant.
Then, evidently, I must have been responding to the dastardly individual usurping your rightful FReeper ID, re: Posting #36. Let's hope they catch him.
Leifur,
I do NOT care HOW long they have lived here and like it. IF they have come in ILLEGALLY, we MUST make them leave until they come in the right way. Law breakers do NOT good citizens make. It is just that simple.
Well said, post #21.
There is no conceivable way to trump your argument. My hat, sir. :)
I understand your position, and would propably hold a similar one here, if we ever had any illegali immigrant here.
But would you be opposed to a guest workers program that would include that those allready in the US with work could register in that particular work, go home for some days and return to that work within the guest workers program quicly?
But that could only be possible for like the next couple of years (to stretch the travels of 11 million people over some period) and after that, each illegal found in the country, that was not registered in the guest worker program would be automatically shipped off?
That would of course have to mean that law enforcement agencies would get access to all kinds of local information registeries, and cross reference them to other informations.
Would americans accept such an Europeanism, an all seeing government?
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