Dear Editor,
My pen has been gathering dust, so now I’ll join the faithful “wise-all listen to me because I know best” group that contributes letters on a regular timetable for your viewer’s appetite. So here goes, you know from my past letters what quarter I am coming from. Allow me to create a situation, which you can place, yourself and many others including yours truly.
This situation or picture I shall paint has Government providing NO assistance (discretionary funds) for the population at large. That means no Social Security, no Medicare, no Unemployment Benefits, no Agriculture or Farmers assistance programs, no Veteran Benefits, no Senior Nutrition and Transportation, no Low Income Housing, no Head Start, no Pell Grants, No College Assistance, No earmarks, no grants to local communities, the list could go on. There is no government oversight or regulatory control over banks, credit unions, Wall Street, the stock exchanges, corporations and businesses in general. This is a free market society. Whoa, take it easy this is only a picture that I am projecting. This is a society that existed in the “Good Ole Day” and we know from our parents and grandparents how hard life was. History books call it the “Great Depression.” At that time there was the High Society (rich) that controlled the business and corporations. They ran the country and the rest of the population. The Republican President Hoover sat on the sidelines and “We the People” were starving. The Republican Platform didn’t believe in government helping people or providing services. The Republican Party hasn’t changed since the 1920’s. It has the some old philosophy. It is only when the banks and Wall Street were in financial trouble did they change their viewpoint, the same applies today.
The President (FDR) Roosevelt and other Democratic Presidents instituted the fore mentioned programs (discretionary) and created our large middle class, which has contributed to our country’s greatness.
Today, the unregulated investment banks overextended their credit in their operations, the same situation happened in the 1929 Stock Market collapse from Oct. 24 (Black Thursday) through the next five day, buying on a credit margin. The Republican Party has opposed over the years many social programs, which I have previously stated.
In conclusion, if you vote Republican because you never have or never will avail yourself of a government program, I salute you. If you support the Republican point of view of less government involvement and enroll or benefit from a government program, how do you justify your Republican position?
I believe government has a roll to help “We the People” and cooperate by providing our society with the stability and protection it needs. That’s why I support government intervention in support of Bear Sterns Investment. That’s why I am a Democrat. I cannot in good conscience oppose a government program and then have my hand out to receive the benefit that I oppose. Most would call that action hypocritical. I look at the whole picture, what about you?
Now I feel better.
Sincerely,
Chris Zaferes
Okanogan
Publisher’s response: Chris, I can see you have fallen hook, line and sinker for the Democratic lie of class warfare. Most Republicans are not opposed to all government programs, but see clearly that most of these programs are nothing more than empty political rhetoric that has actually done very little to improve the lives of the general populace. Social Security for example remains nearly bankrupt because Democrats have raided the “Trust Fund” to pay for their great social agenda. Conservatives are not opposed to government programs, they are just opposed to ones that do little more than fund an ineffective bureaucracy.
