Sunday, July 11, 2004
The problem that the GOP doesn't even know it has
The problem that the GOP doesn't even know it has
Chanur Silvarian
July 10, 2004
Throughout the United States the democratic caucuses recorded record turnouts, more than 50% over the previous year in most cases, yet the GOP doesn't seem to realize it has a problem on its hands.
Under the Bush administration the GOP has alienated almost every conceivable sector of the populace and caused many to view this election as the most important election in their lifetimes. I have heard that sentiment myself from people as old as 87 and as young as 16. Yet still the GOP doesn't seem to realize that it has a problem on its hands.
Why are so many people turning out to the democratic caucuses? Why are so many believing that this election is so important? Well, let me give you my theory.
The Bush administration has alienated many active duty military personnel, one of the GOP's strongholds, by forwarding a budget that would cut over $200 in education funds for military children and by objecting to extending full time benefits to reservists who are now serving full time in Iraq. The administration went even further by denying the child tax credit to many of our men and women in uniform because their pay is too low to qualify under the new guidelines. This has caused many servicemembers, current and veteran, to question this administration's commitment to them.
The Bush administration alienated many veterans, another GOP stronghold, by failing to grow VA Health Care spending in line with growing medical costs. The consumer price index for medical care grew 13 percent during fiscal year 2002 yet the budget for VA Health care was increased only 5.4 percent. VA officials have testified that it would take a 13 to 14 percent hike in the VA's health care budget just to maintain the status quo. Further alienation of this GOP stronghold is being accomplished by closing seven veterans hospitals while already at least 230,000 veterans are having to wait in excess of six months for their initial visit to a doctor. Bush also proposed doubling the cost of prescription drugs for veterans and to cut health care benefits altogether for 160,000 middle-income veterans. This has caused veterans to question this administration's commitment to them.
The GOP has pushed away every person who does not claim christianity as their religion (and many who do) by not speaking out at a national level against the Texas GOP platform. In the Texas GOP 2004 State Republican Party Platform it states, "The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States of America is a Christian nation". This is a fundamental rejection of freedom of religion guaranteed in the 1st amendment to the constitution. The National GOP Platform states, "As we strive to forge a national consensus on the crucial issues of our time, we call on all Americans to reject the forces of hatred and bigotry. Accordingly, we denounce all who practice or promote racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice, and religious intolerance." but the national convention has not condemned the religious intolerance of the Texas GOP or the bigotry of GOP members seeking a constitutional amendment to ban gay marraige.
Civil rights advocates are up in arms over this administration. Even before Sept. 11, 2001 this administration began enforcing "free speech zones", a term unheard of previously except on a few college campuses. This infringement on the first amendment means that nothing that may color the administration in a bad light can come within a half mile of any member of the Bush administration. The administration then pushed the Patriot Act through congress in less than 24 hours (meaning nobody had a chance to read it, especially the public). The patriot act has been denounced by almost every civil rights organization in the westernized world. Bush himself then claimed to be above the law in announcing that he could hold certain prisoners without charges, trial, or right to a lawyer, a violation of the 5th, 6th and 8th amendments. Bush's proclamation to be above the constitution has been recently overturned by the supreme court, but only after some prisoners were held for more than two years in this "law-forsaken" state. And finally Bush put forward his endorsement of an amendment to the constitution to ban gay marraige which is a violation of equal protection under the law (14th amendment). These infringements on constitutional rights have created new opponents that the GOP never had before.
Over 4 million people have lost their jobs under this administration, which would obviously cause some to question the administration, but the economy problems go even farther than that. Economy.com reported that Bush's tax cuts added less than two percentage points to the gross domestic product while the deficit is now projected at over $2.5 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. This has disuaded another GOP stronghold, fiscal conservatives. People seem to be wising up to the fact that the GDP is not a measure of the government's income and therefore the old GOP arguement of "but the deficit is only a small fraction of the GDP" is an irrelevant arguement. Taxes are the government's income, not the GDP, and therefore the only way to pay for programs or to pay off the deficit is by using tax money. Bush's tax cuts have not only raised the deficit but also cut services, such as those to the veterans and military that I talked about before. Anyone concerned about the federal government's budget is moving away from the GOP quickly.
President Bush ran for office as "the education president". The actuallity is that, even though he got his "no child left behind act" passed through congress, he has not submitted a budget to actually fund it. The funding that Bush has given to education barely keeps up with inflation, there is not nearly enough money to add the new programs needed for his "no child left behind act". Prior to this administration education funding was growing at an average rate of 12% per year. Under this administration it has slowed to an average of 8% per year. It is no wonder that so many teachers associations oppose the re-election of George W. Bush.
I fall into the category of people who think votes should be counted. I was a republican until November of 2000 when my party went to court to stop a mandatory (that means required by law) recount of votes in Florida. A lot of people like me said, "that's not the way we do things in my country" and vowed to oppose the GOP on that issue.
Anyone concerned with the environment, even remotely concerned, is opposing the GOP due to its environmental impact in this presidential term. The newly GOP controlled congress, in April 2002, passed an amendment to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 to keep fuel efficiency standards for pickup trucks from ever being raised above the current 20.7 miles per gallon. The administration has made no secret of its desire to open the Artic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling and logging which would destroy 90% of the wildlife refuge area in the United States (yes, that one refuge encompasses that much of the refuge area). The Healthy Forests Initiative put forth by Bush reinstitutes wildfire prevention by logging. This practice was abandoned years ago when it was realized that natural burn cycles are necessary for healthy ecology (such as giant sequoias will not seed without burns). Beyond just destroying the ecology by removal of natural burn cycles this initiative destroys millions of acres of designated wilderness because by putting even one road through a wilderness area it can never again be given that status. The administration cut funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) by 35% immediately upon taking office. The Clear Skies Initiative increases allowable toxic mercury emissions by 33%, sulpher emissions by 50%, and allows for thousands of tons more nitrogen oxides. It even delays cleanup of polluted areas by more than a decade beyond the existing Clean Air Act. So, by not only allowing but encouraging the decimation of the environment this administration has turned even the mild environmentalist against the GOP.
On Sept 12, 2001 the United States enjoyed, briefly, the best foreign goodwill that it has ever known. By Feb 14, 2003 this administration had turned that goodwill into such anger that the largest protest in the history of the world was held. That protest was in opposition to U.S. Foreign Policy and lasted throughout the weekend until Feb 16, 2003. Even after that protest, on Sep 18, 2003, the Council on Foreign Relations said that "world opinion of the United States and U.S. policy has plummeted" even further below what it was when a good portion of the world was protesting against us. By Nov 18, 2003 even our closest allies, Great Britain, were calling George W. Bush, "the greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen." Anyone concerned with U.S. Foreign relations is calling into question the actions of this administration.
In the area of health care, under this administration health care costs have more than quadrupled. Out-of-pocket expenses for the average individual has risen 52% and 49% for the average family according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 3.8 million U.S. citizens have lost their health care coverage since this adminstration took office. Seniors have seen their personal health expenses rise 20% even after the changes to Medicare (which was another thing Bush failed to fund). So, many who are no longer able to afford health care are opposing the GOP.
Then, of course, there is taking us into a pre-emptive war under false pretenses. The administration has scapegoated the CIA for "bad intelligence" but I have archived nine news articles on this website alone that show the CIA and others saying that Saddam Hussein is no threat, he does not have WMDs, and that he has no links to al-queda. Anyone who was paying attention between August 2002 and March 2003 saw hundreds of such articles. The general concesus is that the administration lied to get us into war with Iraq. That breach of faith with the American People has cost the GOP hundreds of thousands of votes alone.
Yet, through all of this, the GOP still is not out campaigning.
I've helped my candidates to campaign at an air show, an Independance Day Parade, a concert in a city park, a street corner, and a local community celebration all within the last two weeks. The only event at which I saw even a single republican candidate represented was the Independance Day Parade and even there the republicans were dwarfed by our contingent. The air show was in Colorado Springs, home to the United States Air Force Acadamy and a huge republican base area, yet there were no republican candidates represented... only 21 Colorado Veterans for Kerry. The concert and parade were both intentionally in heavy republican areas, yet no republican candidates.
The Democratic Party's ranks have swelled due to the alienation of all of those I mentioned and the GOP still does not act like it even needs to campaign to win. Hmm... perhaps it is because of my last group of disenfranchisement of this one last group:
Computer professionals, or anyone who has a good understanding of computers and has heard of the problems with electronic voting machines, are beginning to suspect that the GOP doesn't want to fix voting irregularities. Why? Because even though the irregularities with these machines are well known the bill that would fix them is not even being brought forward into committee for discussion. The bill has over 100 co-sponsors, but no discussion in committee, a republican chaired committee. The bill was held in this state for almost a year before a single republican decided that safe voting was a worthy enough cause to add their name to it, and that only happened after the New York Times ran an article specifically about how there were no republican sponsors. There are now two token republican sponsors but still no discussion in committee. The integrity of our electoral process is just not important enough to the GOP for them to even discuss it, much less vote on it.
Perhaps the GOP does realize the problem with the will of the people and is simply fixing the problem by "fixing" the voting machines. If not then they'd better wake up soon or it will be far too late to win in November.
Chanur Silvarian
July 10, 2004
Throughout the United States the democratic caucuses recorded record turnouts, more than 50% over the previous year in most cases, yet the GOP doesn't seem to realize it has a problem on its hands.
Under the Bush administration the GOP has alienated almost every conceivable sector of the populace and caused many to view this election as the most important election in their lifetimes. I have heard that sentiment myself from people as old as 87 and as young as 16. Yet still the GOP doesn't seem to realize that it has a problem on its hands.
Why are so many people turning out to the democratic caucuses? Why are so many believing that this election is so important? Well, let me give you my theory.
The Bush administration has alienated many active duty military personnel, one of the GOP's strongholds, by forwarding a budget that would cut over $200 in education funds for military children and by objecting to extending full time benefits to reservists who are now serving full time in Iraq. The administration went even further by denying the child tax credit to many of our men and women in uniform because their pay is too low to qualify under the new guidelines. This has caused many servicemembers, current and veteran, to question this administration's commitment to them.
The Bush administration alienated many veterans, another GOP stronghold, by failing to grow VA Health Care spending in line with growing medical costs. The consumer price index for medical care grew 13 percent during fiscal year 2002 yet the budget for VA Health care was increased only 5.4 percent. VA officials have testified that it would take a 13 to 14 percent hike in the VA's health care budget just to maintain the status quo. Further alienation of this GOP stronghold is being accomplished by closing seven veterans hospitals while already at least 230,000 veterans are having to wait in excess of six months for their initial visit to a doctor. Bush also proposed doubling the cost of prescription drugs for veterans and to cut health care benefits altogether for 160,000 middle-income veterans. This has caused veterans to question this administration's commitment to them.
The GOP has pushed away every person who does not claim christianity as their religion (and many who do) by not speaking out at a national level against the Texas GOP platform. In the Texas GOP 2004 State Republican Party Platform it states, "The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States of America is a Christian nation". This is a fundamental rejection of freedom of religion guaranteed in the 1st amendment to the constitution. The National GOP Platform states, "As we strive to forge a national consensus on the crucial issues of our time, we call on all Americans to reject the forces of hatred and bigotry. Accordingly, we denounce all who practice or promote racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice, and religious intolerance." but the national convention has not condemned the religious intolerance of the Texas GOP or the bigotry of GOP members seeking a constitutional amendment to ban gay marraige.
Civil rights advocates are up in arms over this administration. Even before Sept. 11, 2001 this administration began enforcing "free speech zones", a term unheard of previously except on a few college campuses. This infringement on the first amendment means that nothing that may color the administration in a bad light can come within a half mile of any member of the Bush administration. The administration then pushed the Patriot Act through congress in less than 24 hours (meaning nobody had a chance to read it, especially the public). The patriot act has been denounced by almost every civil rights organization in the westernized world. Bush himself then claimed to be above the law in announcing that he could hold certain prisoners without charges, trial, or right to a lawyer, a violation of the 5th, 6th and 8th amendments. Bush's proclamation to be above the constitution has been recently overturned by the supreme court, but only after some prisoners were held for more than two years in this "law-forsaken" state. And finally Bush put forward his endorsement of an amendment to the constitution to ban gay marraige which is a violation of equal protection under the law (14th amendment). These infringements on constitutional rights have created new opponents that the GOP never had before.
Over 4 million people have lost their jobs under this administration, which would obviously cause some to question the administration, but the economy problems go even farther than that. Economy.com reported that Bush's tax cuts added less than two percentage points to the gross domestic product while the deficit is now projected at over $2.5 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. This has disuaded another GOP stronghold, fiscal conservatives. People seem to be wising up to the fact that the GDP is not a measure of the government's income and therefore the old GOP arguement of "but the deficit is only a small fraction of the GDP" is an irrelevant arguement. Taxes are the government's income, not the GDP, and therefore the only way to pay for programs or to pay off the deficit is by using tax money. Bush's tax cuts have not only raised the deficit but also cut services, such as those to the veterans and military that I talked about before. Anyone concerned about the federal government's budget is moving away from the GOP quickly.
President Bush ran for office as "the education president". The actuallity is that, even though he got his "no child left behind act" passed through congress, he has not submitted a budget to actually fund it. The funding that Bush has given to education barely keeps up with inflation, there is not nearly enough money to add the new programs needed for his "no child left behind act". Prior to this administration education funding was growing at an average rate of 12% per year. Under this administration it has slowed to an average of 8% per year. It is no wonder that so many teachers associations oppose the re-election of George W. Bush.
I fall into the category of people who think votes should be counted. I was a republican until November of 2000 when my party went to court to stop a mandatory (that means required by law) recount of votes in Florida. A lot of people like me said, "that's not the way we do things in my country" and vowed to oppose the GOP on that issue.
Anyone concerned with the environment, even remotely concerned, is opposing the GOP due to its environmental impact in this presidential term. The newly GOP controlled congress, in April 2002, passed an amendment to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 to keep fuel efficiency standards for pickup trucks from ever being raised above the current 20.7 miles per gallon. The administration has made no secret of its desire to open the Artic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling and logging which would destroy 90% of the wildlife refuge area in the United States (yes, that one refuge encompasses that much of the refuge area). The Healthy Forests Initiative put forth by Bush reinstitutes wildfire prevention by logging. This practice was abandoned years ago when it was realized that natural burn cycles are necessary for healthy ecology (such as giant sequoias will not seed without burns). Beyond just destroying the ecology by removal of natural burn cycles this initiative destroys millions of acres of designated wilderness because by putting even one road through a wilderness area it can never again be given that status. The administration cut funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) by 35% immediately upon taking office. The Clear Skies Initiative increases allowable toxic mercury emissions by 33%, sulpher emissions by 50%, and allows for thousands of tons more nitrogen oxides. It even delays cleanup of polluted areas by more than a decade beyond the existing Clean Air Act. So, by not only allowing but encouraging the decimation of the environment this administration has turned even the mild environmentalist against the GOP.
On Sept 12, 2001 the United States enjoyed, briefly, the best foreign goodwill that it has ever known. By Feb 14, 2003 this administration had turned that goodwill into such anger that the largest protest in the history of the world was held. That protest was in opposition to U.S. Foreign Policy and lasted throughout the weekend until Feb 16, 2003. Even after that protest, on Sep 18, 2003, the Council on Foreign Relations said that "world opinion of the United States and U.S. policy has plummeted" even further below what it was when a good portion of the world was protesting against us. By Nov 18, 2003 even our closest allies, Great Britain, were calling George W. Bush, "the greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen." Anyone concerned with U.S. Foreign relations is calling into question the actions of this administration.
In the area of health care, under this administration health care costs have more than quadrupled. Out-of-pocket expenses for the average individual has risen 52% and 49% for the average family according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 3.8 million U.S. citizens have lost their health care coverage since this adminstration took office. Seniors have seen their personal health expenses rise 20% even after the changes to Medicare (which was another thing Bush failed to fund). So, many who are no longer able to afford health care are opposing the GOP.
Then, of course, there is taking us into a pre-emptive war under false pretenses. The administration has scapegoated the CIA for "bad intelligence" but I have archived nine news articles on this website alone that show the CIA and others saying that Saddam Hussein is no threat, he does not have WMDs, and that he has no links to al-queda. Anyone who was paying attention between August 2002 and March 2003 saw hundreds of such articles. The general concesus is that the administration lied to get us into war with Iraq. That breach of faith with the American People has cost the GOP hundreds of thousands of votes alone.
Yet, through all of this, the GOP still is not out campaigning.
I've helped my candidates to campaign at an air show, an Independance Day Parade, a concert in a city park, a street corner, and a local community celebration all within the last two weeks. The only event at which I saw even a single republican candidate represented was the Independance Day Parade and even there the republicans were dwarfed by our contingent. The air show was in Colorado Springs, home to the United States Air Force Acadamy and a huge republican base area, yet there were no republican candidates represented... only 21 Colorado Veterans for Kerry. The concert and parade were both intentionally in heavy republican areas, yet no republican candidates.
The Democratic Party's ranks have swelled due to the alienation of all of those I mentioned and the GOP still does not act like it even needs to campaign to win. Hmm... perhaps it is because of my last group of disenfranchisement of this one last group:
Computer professionals, or anyone who has a good understanding of computers and has heard of the problems with electronic voting machines, are beginning to suspect that the GOP doesn't want to fix voting irregularities. Why? Because even though the irregularities with these machines are well known the bill that would fix them is not even being brought forward into committee for discussion. The bill has over 100 co-sponsors, but no discussion in committee, a republican chaired committee. The bill was held in this state for almost a year before a single republican decided that safe voting was a worthy enough cause to add their name to it, and that only happened after the New York Times ran an article specifically about how there were no republican sponsors. There are now two token republican sponsors but still no discussion in committee. The integrity of our electoral process is just not important enough to the GOP for them to even discuss it, much less vote on it.
Perhaps the GOP does realize the problem with the will of the people and is simply fixing the problem by "fixing" the voting machines. If not then they'd better wake up soon or it will be far too late to win in November.
All articles in this archive are used under "fair use" as they are important to the national discussion of whether or not the people of this country are being deceived by their government. These articles are used as evidence in that discussion.
