Why I am not a Republican – 321

I had thought I would write one entry on the topic, but it looks like it will be at least three. That means that I will still be writing on this after the election, but it’s not like there won’t be other elections, and my point is that I want people to think. I am vehemently pro-thought.

So I thought I would start off with the tax issue, because it seems to me that there has been a lot more fear mongering this election than the last one, and a lot of that is based around economic issues.

(And it’s not just economic fears, and not just Mormons. One of my sister’s fundamentalist-surely-does-not-consider-her-a-Christian co-workers seems to think that an Obama victory will bring on enough turmoil that he went and bought a gun. My first thought was surprise that he didn’t already have one, but I was also perplexed. Was it just that Kerry did not seem likely enough to win, or is part of it that Obama is black? Exactly why do you need a gun this time when you didn’t before?)

Anyway, yes, I intend to go off on economics. I’ve been pretty open about the fact that I am currently unemployed and looking for a job. At least one person has suggested to me that businesses are holding off on hiring, because if Obama wins their taxes will go up, and that will hurt business.

I realize taxes are an expense, and can be significant, but I’m just not sure they will hurt the economy. He wants the Bush tax cuts to expire. Okay, were they really helping the economy that much? Really? Because it looks like the economy is in pretty bad shape now, after eight years of Republican rule, and I just don’t think it’s logical to believe another four years will fix it. Maybe the shift will not fix things, but doesn’t trying something different make sense?

The last time my family was doing really well financially was during the Clinton years. People were hiring all over the place and the money was not bad. I wish it were like that now. My brother will tell you that the prosperity we enjoyed then was due to policies implemented by the previous republicans, or the republican congress, so perhaps some will argue that our current downturn is the final result of the Clinton administration. However, it seems more likely to me that the irresponsible tax cuts and increased spending, especially for the military, is the more probable cause.

There’s actually an important point in here in that, with the last three Republican administrations (Reagan and both Bushes), there has been a lack of true fiscal conservatism. Yes, taxes were cut, but spending was not cut proportionally. One thing church leaders strongly admonish members to do is to avoid debt and live within our means. Strange that so many members support political leaders that refuse to do so.

The truth is, there are some things that work better through public finance. It’s not practical for people to build their own roads, so gasoline taxes are collected or road tolls are charged, and the money comes from there. If every family were individually responsible for the full cost of educating its own children, there would be a huge disparity. There is going to be some disparity anyway, in terms of the home resources and support available, but schools are a key area for leveling that playing field. It’s one area where children who start out disadvantaged can get the tools to overcome that.

Taking away from that fund to pay for vouchers or charter schools is robbery. Because the way they do the credits doesn’t mean that poor families can suddenly afford to send their children to exclusive private schools. It just means that the people who can afford it anyway get some of that money back, and maybe the people who can afford an okay school can afford a better school, but the public school has less in its budget. In addition, there is a message of exclusivity sent. Maybe segregating your children from others who are different will protect them from corruption, but it also might make them more judgmental, less compassionate, and take away opportunities to serve and uplift. No Christian should have that as a goal, and are leaders are constantly preaching inclusion.

As for health care, I would be thrilled to have socialized medicine. My medical premiums were almost $2400 a year, not counting co-pays and out of pocket expenses, and also not counting what my employer paid (based on the COBRA paperwork, I’m guessing they paid about $2400 annually also). Now consider the administration and advertising costs of the insurance industry, and maybe even tossing away the advertising and lobbying expenses of the pharmaceutical industry, and the money is already there. We could have it so much better than we actually do, and the redbaiting is ridiculous. Is Canada a repressive Socialist country because they have socialized medicine?

Privatization is not always the answer—not for schools, not for healthcare, and certainly not for retirement funds. Social Security doesn’t pay a lot, but it has been a lot more dependable than the stock market, especially with the sort of corporate dishonesty we have been seeing, from Enron to recent stockbroker scandal. I guess the market does correct itself, in a way, even from lies, theft, and greed. However, if the way it corrects itself is economic collapse, and if we are not willing to take the results of the collapse (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout), maybe we should just go back to strict regulation. It was suggested a few years ago that more oversight was needed (by a Republican in fact), but the lobbyists won. That worked out well.

So really, looking at the current state of disarray, I can’t see that anyone should be afraid of a policy shift making it worse, and yet fear is what is being sold. There are ads there for Smith that have given up on McCain, so just say that Merkley can’t go because a united president and congress will be too powerful. Yes, it would be a shame if they actually had the power to try and change anything, because everything is so sweet now.

So I have a problem with that, and I have a problem with how smug the Republican members I know are. I don’t think I condescend to them, and I certainly use all of my intelligence and heart to come to my political views, but they are just so sure that I am misguided, and they enjoy thinking it. I don’t want to be like that, so I will at least make one promise, that if Obama does win, I will not gloat.

I am afraid he won’t though. The election has been ugly, people close their minds to logic, and even if the majority of voters do back Obama, I have a nagging fear that with Diebold in the mix it won’t matter. And then there’s no way that I believe McCain will survive for years, so we would have the stain of Palin as the first female president, after which I doubt we could ever get another female in office. But I won’t move to Canada, because I believe in being part of the solution, even when things are bleak.

Just in case anyone is wondering, on economic policies I tend to agree with recent Nobel winner Paul Krugman, and my political hero seems to be Henry Waxman. I know that to some extent he is just doing his job, but it’s an important one, he does it well, and he seems to have plenty of that common sense I adore so.