It's Past Time I Became An Activist Again

I had a bad night last night. My sleep was interrupted by nightmares about the near future. That is how worried I am about the outcome of today's election and what it means for our country and our democracy. I woke up early, made some pumpkin spice coffee (love the stuff), and resolved two things regardless of the outcome of today's voting. First, I'm going to change my voter registration from unaffiliated to Democratic. I've been a Democrat before, mainly because I wanted to vote in Democratic primaries. I've also been a Republican and was during the 2016 presidential primaries supporting Governor John Kasich. I left the party when Donald Trump won the nomination.

When I was a political activist and a party loyalist back in the 1980s I was a Republican. I worked in several campaigns, both as a paid staffer and as a volunteer. I briefly was a lobbyist at the state level. I wrote position papers on foreign policy (an area where I am conservative) for a U.S. Senate candidate.

Today's racist, white supremacist GOP has no relation to the GOP of Reagan and Bush which I supported and worked in. Not that long ago when I quoted Ronald Reagan on economic inequality I was called a socialist and a Communist. President Reagan was for and signed immigration reform that included amnesty for people who were here a long time. Being a fiscal conservative like President Reagan meant living within our means, not record deficits and debt. We didn't mortgage our grandchildren's future to give huge breaks to big business and the wealthy. Look up what the top tax rate was during the Reagan years. You are in for a surprise. President George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" included passing a prescription drug benefit for Medicare. Now the GOP at the national level wants to dismantle Medicaid and Medicare. Like I said, not the same party at all.

My views have not changed much over the years. Back then I was considered a moderate: conservative on foreign policy, moderate to conservative on economics, liberal on social issues and the environment. Today the same views are either liberal or progressive. I didn't leave the Republican Party. It left me, both on the state and federal level. Now I am resolved to work for the other party and do whatever I can to elect Democrats in 2020.

Wall Street South? You've Got To Be Kidding Me!

The left wing in this country has never been able to tell their friends from their enemies and attack both equally. Sometimes they go after their friends more than their enemies, much to the joy of the right. We're seeing something like that with the so-called "Occupy Movement" (who mostly gave up occupation of parks and the like last winter) with their March on Wall Street South. What is Wall Street South? Why, it's the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC next month.

The Occu-tistas seem to have forgotten that it's the Republicans who continually oppose all reform of the financial industry while support for reigning in the excesses of Wall Street come entirely from the Democrats in Congress. They seem to have forgotten that Republicans want welfare for big corporations (like the big oil companies, for example) while cutting any aid to the poor. The Republicans support tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans while voting down anything that might (gasp!) involve government spending to create jobs.

The Occupy crowd, which once claimed to represent a broad spectrum of the American population who felt abused by Washington and Wall Street alike, has once again shown that it has been diminished to a creature of the far left fringe. That's been obvious for quite some time now, at least here in Raleigh, where their Facebook page has advertised everything from a Marxist teach-in to a protest against a potential war in Iran and also against any sanctions against Iran. These people are as dangerous to our freedoms as the people on the far right they oppose.

Some Occupiers have been saying that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans for some time despite all evidence and all the voting records to the contrary. Folks on the left who held similar views in Florida handed the 2000 election to George W. Bush. In a state where the election was officially decided by 537 votes, 1.6% of the electorate voted for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. If most of those votes had gone to Al Gore instead he would have easily been elected President. Once again we face a close election and once again I fear the hard left, either by sitting home or by voting for fringe candidates, will hand the election to a now much more radical right-wing Republican Party.

I am certainly a liberal on some domestic issues and on social issues. Let me make one thing clear: I strongly support the Democrats attending the Democratic National Convention. I strongly opposed the leftist protesters outside who are, once again, aiding those they claim to oppose most.

Remember To Thank the Republicans

The U.S. economy continues to struggle and unemployment remains right around 10%. The job market really hasn't begun to improve yet. Despite this more than a million Americans are about to lose their unemployment insurance benefits. The House passed the bill to extend unemployment but a combination of all the Republicans and a handful of moderate or conservative Democrats have stalled things in the Senate.

So, come Wednesday, if you've been unemployed for a while you may have real problems paying the rent or buying groceries. Others may not be able to make mortgage payments and run the risk of losing their homes. If you are one of those people please remember who is responsible for this and give those Republicans and conservative Democrats the thanks they deserve come November.

Oh, remember that stimulus bill to boost the economy? You know, the one that the Republicans claim did nothing at all. Well... it may have paid for teachers in your local school system. It turns out states would have had to layoff huge numbers of teachers last year but didn't have to thanks to the stimulus bill. Of course, Republicans tell us this was terrible for the budget deficit and no matter how bad the economy still is, well.... no more stimulus for you. The net result is that close to 100,000 teachers are expected to or already have received pink slips as stimulus funds run out. Of course, this is fine with right-wing Republicans who have been trying to undermine the public school system for decades. If you can't afford private schools for your kids that's your problem.

So, if come the fall some excellent teachers are no longer at your child's school, class sizes are simply huge and the quality of instruction declines please be sure to thank the Republicans the way they deserve to be thanked in November. If you or your spouse or a member of your family is now going to join the ranks of the unemployed be sure to thank the Republicans for it as well.

I listened to both news stories on NPR this afternoon with absolute disgust. Right now there is an insane "throw the rascals out" mentality in this country, with the far right and the Tea Party crazies leading the call to defeat all incumbents. By all means, throw out those incumbents who ignore the needs of ordinary citizens. Those would be the conservatives. Let's keep the ones who have actually looked out for the American people, particularly those who are hurting in this economy.