In The Wall Street Journal, dated January 26, 2021, on the opinion page (A17) I noticed an editorial, “What are Republicans For?” By Joseph Edstein. Having read the editorial, knowing that it favors the Republican Party, I would like to respond.
The full text can be found by clicking the address below:
Some of these points in this editorial, which I will cover, are right. They are legitimate and I always have been in agreement with them. My parents were Republican, and having grown up being taught them, in the early 1970s, they’ve always made a lot of sense.
The problem is that today, the party has gone to extremes, as to what happened on January 6, 2021. The Republican Party today have started to disregard the U.S. Constitution, and have openly admitted that they will go as far as to lie, cheat, and steal to win elections. It is because of this that I have become a Democrat.
They weren’t always like this, which I will explain.
I will also take quotes from Mr. Epstein’s opinions, and will either agree or challenge them one at a time. Before going any further, I recommend that you click the above address and read the article in its entirety, then continue with this article.
“We know what the Republicans are against, which includes the crime currently rampant on our big cities’ streets, the want of anything resembling order on our southern border, the melange of progressive giveaway programs, and more.”
Agreed; on all three counts! (I’ll leave out the ‘and more.’)
We have crimes such as looters and shoplifters coming into stores in broad daylight, stealing what they want, in large quantities, and running off and getting away with it.
This action cannot be tolerated, and law enforcement needs to come in and deal with this, using force, lethal force if necessary, and imposing severe penalties, such as long term jail sentences.
I know many policemen are unjustly and unfairly killing Blacks, igniting anger nationally, and this problem does have to be confronted. Many organizations are doing just that.
However, we cannot tolerate looters, vandals and rapists and allow them to get away with what they do, either. This also must be confront and the guilty parties involved must have the law come down hard on them, regardless of race, color or national origin. All must be punished equally, no excuses.
The southern border with Mexico needs to be upgraded. I am, however, against “the wall” and I am glad Biden stopped construction on it and is tearing it down. We do need more passionate immigration laws and we should let more refugees come. One proposal is, “let them in, but don’t give them welfare,” of which I am in agreement.
Here’s why.
FIrst, we need to let them in in a swift but orderly manner. More entrances are needed to prevent them from crossing the desert, risking their lives or being subjected to smugglers.
This country is in want of unskilled labor, and these immigrants are willing to do them. They are not taking jobs from Americans, they are taking jobs Americans will not take, but needs to be done nonetheless.
The advantage to this is that our markets will function and the families of these immigrants grow up to be productive and law-abiding citizens. They will go to colleges and universities and contribute greatly to the American economy, in turn compete with the rest of the world.
As for no welfare, their customs of family and community have people working and living together and helping each other, without welfare.
I have seen all this. It’s been happening for years, and the people assimilate and become Americans. All this prejudice and racial fear of them is unfounded.
“…the melange of progressive giveaway programs…”
This makes a lot of sense, and this is why we have such a huge deficit.
I was once a member of “Citizens Against Government Waste,” and we do waste billions of dollars each year in our annual budget.
For example, tax money goes to an indoor rain forest in Iowa, a museum of porcelain dishes, or just advertising “Free Money”. This has got to stop.
We cannot have welfare addicts either, where able-bodied people collect welfare “because they can.”
There are V.A. programs that fund disabled veterans, but many of these veterans fought for their country and are permanently disabled because of it.
I do favor government work programs, such as rebuilding the infrastructure, which is an absolute necessity. However, funding pet projects by a politician so he can remain in office, i.e. buying votes, we cannot have.
This is just a very small list here, and it is in reality magnified thousands of times, but I think you get the point here.
So for the above mentioned facts I am basically in full agreement. The Republican Party, believe it or not, once did stand for the worker.
Back in the 1970s, there were “Nixon Republicans.” As bad as he was, Nixon did work his way up the ladder, and wanted to set an example for others to do the same.
It was when Reagan became President that the party changed, becoming a party for the rich. Many working Republicans did not see that at the time, and many still don’t to this day. Many still think that the party still stands for the working man, and that is no longer true. Those in the upper echelons simply don’t care about them, other than wooing them for their votes.
“But what is the party, what in general, are American Conservatives actually for? The standard answer would include free enterprise, freedom from interference from big government, equality of opportunity if not necessarily of results, the wisdom of our Founding Fathers as embodied in our Constitution, and now, more recently, an unlocked down economy, fairness in reporting in the media, on politics, generally.”
This is an earful. Some of these I agree with up to a point, others such as open schools (no masks necessary - this essay was written during the Covid pandemic) and an unlocked down economy, I am against, because with Covid-19, this could be fatal to a lot of people. How, catching the virus from others and at times, leading to hospitalization and death. This has been happening.
Free enterprise I am in agreement. Freedom from interference from big government I agree with up to a point. We have to have safety for workers, because many jobs are dangerous, and if safety and protection measures aren’t put in place, many more workers will suffer on-the-job injuries, dismemberment, and death.
These industries also have to pay their fair share of the taxes, which many of them don’t do. Some go as far as outsourcing to other countries for lower taxes and cheap labor, leaving the American workers out of a job, in poverty, and in the welfare line.
Affirmative action is good up to a point, until everything, meaning all races can finally balance out fairly. One drawback is what my brother-in-law once asked me, “Would you like to have a doctor who was educated on Affirmative Action perform a quadruple bypass on you?”
Opportunity should be available to all, but only the best in that field should be hired regardless of race, creed, color, religion, or national origin.
“…the wisdom of our Founding Fathers as embodied in our Constitution.”
Not anymore, and it’s deteriorating fast. Many Republicans today have no regard for the Constitution and many either want to change it in their favor, or abolish it completely.
Here’s proof.
When Mitch McConnell, back in 2016, refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland, nominated by President Obama for Supreme Court Justice, he replied, “I know it’s written in the Constitution, but I don’t care. Make me!”
That says it all. For McConnell, this is grounds for treason on his part, who is a Republican. Are we going to allow this. Of what worth is our Constitution if nobody cares? This is the beginning of the road to tyranny, and this is no exaggeration.
“…open schools, and un-locked down economy…”
We still have a pandemic and we have to take protective measures, and that includes inoculations and wearing a mask. This is not politics, it’s a matter of human survival. I don’t understand why so many people are against vaccinations when so many people are dying. Sadder yet, there is a way to escape this, but these anti-vaxxers will not budge.
Some do change their minds, when it is too late. They refuse to get vaccinated, catch Covid, and then die on a hospital bed. As they lay dying, they admitted they were not vaccinated and then urge everyone to get vaccinated before it’s too late.
Then they die.
Unfortunately, many still don’t get the message.
“…fairness in reporting in the media on politics, generally.”
They aren’t fair.
First of all, they believe the big lie that Trump was cheated out of the 2020 election. He wasn’t; Biden won fair and square.
Some of the media, such as FOX News, praises the Republican Party and justifies everything they do no matter how bad they are.
Up until this point, this editorial, rebuttal to an editorial, really, supposedly told of the virtues of the Republican. I must admit, they still have a few of these, all of which you can count on one hand, but they are losing them, fast.
One example is the federal budget. The Republicans use to be thrifty or conservative with federal income. Not anymore, and what occurred during the Clinton Administration proves it.
President Bill Clinton had a budget surplus in the late 1990s, and Vice-President Al Gore, when he ran in 2000, want this surplus to continue, and use it to pay down the national debt. Both were Democrats.
Unfortunately, the office was given to George W. Bush. When he cut taxes for the rich, the surplus was wiped out, and the deficit returned and heavily increased, to which we, the U.S., never recovered.
So much for the Republicans wanting to preserve the economy.
“Democrats care about social justice, they care about climate change, they care about women and almost all minorities, they care about voting rights — they, not to put a fine point on it, care!”
Yes they do, and they should — so should the Republicans. How can they not care? If they want a safe and stable society, they should care!
Anyone, no matter who they are, with a good job, living in a good home, with the promise of a future, with the right to vote and justice whenever it is needed, will not want to go out and commit any crimes. This is the recipe for a peaceful and stable society.
The alternative would be riots, looting, vandalism, and mobs. Just look at South America or the Middle East, any society that doesn’t have a middle class, just rich and poor.
How can these Republicans not see this?
There needs to be a return to working across the aisle. If the polarization of Democrats and Republicans ignoring each other continues like this, the U.S. will be well on its way to collapse. It’s happening already, and it’s all because of their oppression of women, minorities, and voter suppression.
President John F. Kennedy once said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.”
We would do well to remember those words.
Climate change is not political, it’s a proven fact and a threat to the entire human race.
It has been stated that Republicans do not believe in climate change, but I think many of them do. They’re just afraid to admit it because they are being paid off by polluting industries for their re-election campaigns. In order for them to continue to receive this support, they are “asked” to vote against any bill that would place more restrictions on these industries that would otherwise protect the environment. This would mean less money for them and their campaigns, not to mention more money in their pockets.
This, as global temperatures increase, causing the sea level to rise, leading to more floods, droughts, stronger hurricanes, wildfires, and tropical insects migrating north, leading to more diseases.
The Republicans have a choice; preservation of the environment or more money in their pockets. Unfortunately, they do not care about the environment and the fact that they have cut back on pollution laws, allowing the industries to pollute more, thereby harming the environment, and especially young children (lead and mercury poisoning, breathing in soot) causing lung and brain damage is proof. These are proven facts. Yet the Republicans are doing nothing about this.
“In the mind of the general public, Republicans remain the party of the wealthy, the infamous 1%.”
True! Look at how they lower taxes for the rich. The money saved will simply add to their bank accounts; this is money they do not need, will never miss, and cannot even begin to spend. We, the American people pay for this, though higher taxes for the middle and working class, budget cuts on public services, such as police and fire protection. All this results in an increased budget deficit, adding to an already bloated national debt. This huge debt will someday catch up with us, leading to a collapsed economy. What then?
“Republicans, in this view, are anti-Democrat, little more, with no appealing positions of their own, no worldview, no philosophy beyond their own selfishness.
“This, of course isn’t true.”
Oh, yes it is true; all of it!
Republicans are passing voter suppression laws, claim to protect against voter fraud, but the American people see right through this fiasco. The real reason is to keep Democrats from winning an office, ever again.
This smacks of one-party rule, by Republican Conservatives only, no one else. This will lead to a totalitarian regime, the Constitution abolished, a revival of Jim Crow laws, and ALL rights taken away from Americans. This is no exaggeration.
Look at Mitch McConnell’s actions in nominating Supreme Court justices.
The Republicans have no vision for American for the future. The proposal for rebuilding the infrastructure came from Democrats. They have no appealing positions for the American people, no worldview, and no philosophy.
Whatever philosophy they did have in the past is gone.
During the Watergate hearings back in the early 1970s, many Republicans did support Nixon, but when the cover-up was exposed, with all the corruption, bribes, blackmail, dealing with the F.B.I. and C.I.A. for Nixon’s advantage, all illegal actions, the Republicans turned against Nixon because they realized they could not support or condone his actions.
The Republicans today will stoop to any level to keep themselves in power, going as far as ignoring the Constitution, passing voter suppression laws, reviving Jim Crow laws, and taking away women’s rights, all for wealth and power for themselves.
“This, of course, isn’t true. But Republican leaders haven’t done enough to answer the charges against their own party.”
No they haven’t, and many of them are afraid to stand up for what’s right.
If what I have written so far is false, them all I have to say in response is, PROVE ME WRONG!
I would love to hear the other side of the story, but words are not enough.
If I am wrong, then,
-Stop voter suppression!
-If you lose an election, take it like an adult and accept defeat!
-Fight for racial equality and women’s rights!
-Support the Constitution!
-Stop tolerating corrupt and power hungry leaders who preach hate and want to wreck the goals of the current President and other far-seeing leaders. People like that have no place in government.
-Work across the aisle with Democrats. Hear them out. If they have good ideas, support them. Once an election is over, it’s over. Whoever wins is in office, whoever loses isn’t. Move on and govern the country.
-Hatred of other officials, including the President, has no place here. Co-operate with the President on essential matters, no matter what party he/she, or you are.
-Senator Mitch McConnell was bent on destroying the presidential administrations of both Obama and Biden. This cannot be tolerated. Someone like that should be removed from his position in the Senate or Congress, and replace with a decent, open, cooperative, and far seeing leader.
“Those tasks that only governments can perform - defense of the realm, the maintenance of law and order, the repair of the infrastructure, and the coordination of relief in emergencies - are force to compete for their budgets with activities that free citizens, left to themselves, might have managed far more effectively through the association of volunteers, backed up, when necessary, by private insurance.”
TRUE! During the Depression of the 1930s, neighbors, even strangers, got together and provided for each other what was needed for survival without government assistance of any kind. There were “Hoovervilles” in places, but even there, people looked out for one another, and this is the way it should be today. This would make for better individuals and a better society.
There are, however, two flaws here.
The repair of the infrastructure no longer attracts the interest of the Republican Party. A bill was passed to repair the infrastructure through Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan, and many Republicans had to vote on it, including Mitch McConnell. In order for them to protect their own positions of power, they’d better! Otherwise, they wouldn’t care.
There is also private insurance companies. In the event of a disaster, big or small, insurance companies are hesitant to pay out the money when the beneficiary is struck by a catastrophe and needs it. These companies just don’t want to pay it.
So of what use is insurance these days if one cannot be protected by it in the event of a tragedy?
One more point in the article, rather long, but efficient.
“Conservatism should be a defense of government, against its abuse by liberals.” (Roger Scrution, English philosopher, 1944-2020)
“The growth of the welfare state is one notable such abuse, causing people to ‘turn their backs on freedom and become locked in social pathologies that undermine the cohesion of society.’
“One sees this above all in the countries of the European Union, where government is no longer felt to be owned by the people but is the property of ‘an anonymous bureaucracy’ on which all depends for their comforts. In the U.S., this is still only true of those who depend on government welfare, but their number is growing.”
There is a lot to swallow here.
I am not a Socialist, and I recognize the fact that the U.S. is not a Socialist country. It never has been.
There has been a time in American history where, with a good, decent, well paying job, one could afford a house, a family, and afford to pay for food, medical bills, insurance, house and car repairs, a college education for their children, in other words, a good, decent living.
I know, I grew up in this society.
Today, all these institutions are not only extremely expensive, but are also predatory, especially insurance, the medical industry (with high drug prices and medical care) and education.
Both husband and wife working is not enough. Banks charge high interest rates and will foreclose, i.e. taking their homes where something catastrophic happens within the family.
Many are forced to become homeless, move in with relatives who themselves can’t afford them, or they have to go on welfare. They end up living in low quality dwellings and are charged high rents which the tenants cannot afford without government help.
Whose fault is this? How did we ever reach a position such as this? Was it greed? Was it indifference? Was it a loss of interest in maintaining a stable and prosperous society?
I cannot blame any one political party here, but the Conservatives are no better than the Liberals in this situation.
If the Conservatives say “That’s your problem,” or “Screw you,” what other alternative do these people have?
Here’s a paradox. The Conservatives all favor corporate welfare, subsidizing big industries, especially fossil fuels. Why? These industries don’t need the money, they have enough profits to pay for whatever they need and any problem they need to confront. So why subsidize them? Many CEOs have their profits hoarded away on offshore accounts, and they don’t want to touch it. So they depend on the government, i.e. the taxpayer, to give them more money so they can keep theirs, even though they would never miss it. This is along with low tax rates.
This country, as a whole, is declining, but the Republicans don’t care, as long as they can hang on to their money and power.
When American society is finally divided into the very rich, who will be few, and the very poor, who will be the rest of us, with no middle class, we will collapse into sheer chaos, and NOBODY, even the rich, will be safe.
Conclusion
So there you have it. If you don’t believe this, read the newspapers. Read the words of Republican Senators and Congressmen to see what they’re saying. Observe the expression on their faces when a bill that would otherwise benefit the American people gets killed, and they all rejoice. Mitch McConnell especially has a smug and hateful look on his face, and that is what the Republican Congress has become.
Incidentally, at a recent rally, former President Donald Trump said that he will pardon everyone involved in the January 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol. What does that say about him? What will become of this society if he does?
The Republicans no longer care about the American people, and if they say otherwise, they are lying. Problem is, not enough of their constituents realize this.
There was a times, even up to the 1980s, where the Republican Party did stand for the working class people and would stand behind those who are fending for themselves, or want to do so.
Those days are gone. Now they stand for the very rich, being CEOs, industrialists, Wall Street executives, and other high positions on the ladder. This may be because if the Republicans backs these people up, they will get a lot in return for it.
Many Republican voters today still cannot see this. They still think that the Republican Party still stands for them, the working people, and that is no longer true. They don’t care, and they do not respect them even when they vote for them and put them in office. The Republicans will tell them what they want to hear, and then forget about them once they are in office.
There is one bright spot. Many Republican Senators and Congressmen WANT to do what’s right, but they are afraid to vote against the wishes, orders really, of their leaders, Senate or House Leaders. The fear of retaliation, even up to losing the next election.
One proof is that many wanted to vote for Trump’s removal from office during his impeachments, but were afraid to do so, because of the consequences they would suffer.
What they truly lack is courage. A true Senator or Congressman would stand up for what he or she believes in and cast their votes based on that, regardless of how their peers may feel.
To these people, if you are reading this, all I can say is show your courage. Many of you went to President Biden saying they wanted to vote to support his programs, but were afraid.
Get some courage, and show it. Vote for your beliefs, regardless of what your fellow party members may think, and let the chips fall where they may.
If you are blackmailed, ignore them, and let them carry it out. Other members will come to your defense.
If you are denied votes on your causes that are good for the nation others will back you.
If you lose certain privileges, so what! Do without them.
Express your beliefs, that is what you are there for.
Go across the aisle and talk to opposing party members, you’ll be surprised at what they are willing to do for you.
In the end, you will gain more respect, from ALL members of the House and Senate. This include self-respect, and, by speaking out, you will earn a more noticeable place in history.
This country is a Democracy. It must remain that way.
Alastair Browne
