To the editor:
I was amused and saddened to read E. Kent Hayes letter, "Real patriots." At first, I had to check the date at the top of the paper because I thought this was a letter from 1985 since it was using the same baseless rhetoric that Democrats used 20 years ago. Maybe someday they will realize that people didn't listen to them back then, and they certainly aren't listening now.
The bottom line is that the Republican Party is the party of opportunity. Republicans believe that every person should have the opportunity to achieve their dreams. (Democrats have the philosophy if we can't guarantee that everyone succeeds equally, then they will ensure that no one will succeed.)
Republicans believe that people should have the opportunity to decide how to spend their hard-earned money. (Democrats believe the government should decide how you spend your money.) Republicans believe that "the working poor" should have the opportunity to receive a quality education while Democrats are content to send those who need the most help to a failed educational system (see the public schools of most inner cities).
The choice is easy. If you want to continue the hopelessness and frustration that many Americans who haven't participated in the American dream feel, continue to support the failed policies of the Democratic party. But if you want to work to create opportunities where those same people have a chance to make something for themselves and their family, support those Republicans who share those same ideals.
Craig Campbell,
Lawrence
Comments
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Kookamooka (MJ Browne) says…
I am amused and saddened that you bought the Republican smoke and mirror game. Opportunities abound for the haves, not so much for the have nots. Are you aware of how many children are being "left behind" by the Bush administration's policies?, how many young Americans have lost their "opportunity" to live by fighting in IRAQ? Do you not see the chasm between rich and poor growing? I'm sure you're a HAVE just itching for the "opportunity" to have more!
merrill (anonymous) says…
Kay O Connor and Connie Morris like Tom DeLay are representative of the white collar crime that actually dominates the republican party since 1980. Voters forget much too easily the damage to so many like Ken Lay of ENRON has caused yet party members still support these crooks.
http://www.rationalrevolution.net/war...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie...
%3A+Chronology
Vouchers are a fraud:
http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0412d.asp
moderationman (anonymous) says…
Arminius you are trying to be funny, right? The GOP message appeals for one reason, it is the message of GREED. Campbell spelled out nothing in regards to what the Republican agenda is, thats why it is referred to as smoke and mirrors. Let me simplify...stock market not performing, lower taxes; high unemployment, lower taxes; too many welfare mothers, lower taxes; too many drug users (OK follow me now..) lower taxes and demand more prisons be built; don't have money for prisons, lower taxes and increase spending; economic trouble over deficit spending, blame Clinton; continuing economic trouble, invade Iraq...oops, already did that one.
Today we have the lowest real tax rates on the top 5% of income earners since Calvin Coolidge was president...what has it gained us, a deficit that dwarfs the possible deficits in Social Security and a dependancy on the Communist Chinese to fund our deficits. So , OK, the GOP has created great opportunities for the Chinese.
I guess the writer was correct.
Jamesaust (anonymous) says…
So, to sum up: "We good; you bad." How edifying.
There's no a slogan in the author's letter that even Republicans could not easily refute. What's, "Republicans believe that people should have the opportunity to decide how to spend their hard-earned money," supposed to mean? It obviously cannot be literally true. After all, I notice on each paycheck a significant sum being (forcibly) deducted thus depriving me of the choice on how to spend that (my!) money. And this with a GOP Pres & House & Senate & (shhh!! don't tell the radical right) a majority of GOP supreme court justices. Why there's new roads to build, wars to fight, and even whole industries (oil exploration - the single most profitable industry in the U.S. right now) to subsidize.
Look, a limited government is a prerequisite to lower taxes and whatever one's personal political taste (more vs. less) there's no pretending the the controlling forces within the GOP today are Big Government Republicans - more spending, more government control, and yes - since all debts come due eventually - more taxes (and therefore, more campaign contributions and more votes). Indeed, if 'more government, more taxes' is the signature characteristic of the Democrats then its clear we have two Democrat parties in the U.S. today, distinguished only by other issues. Perhaps the author recognizes this but the 'rah rah' spirit of the letter leads me to suspect that he is not an internal critic within the party.
(And please take note: this comment is not an attack on the GOP. Lawrence - being Lawrence - sees at least two such wacko, rock throwing letters from self-proclaimed Democrats for every Republican one. What's sad is how the partisan radicals in both parties betray the nation's larger interest (a/k/a, real patrotism) for their parochial concerns.)
coldandhot (anonymous) says…
Great letter Campbell. This guy has some sense. Merrill is the kind of guy/gal that perpuates the animosity between parties. We must work together