written 9 October 2022
published 16 October 2022
In the 2 October, 2022 UDJ, one of the letters to the editor was an impassioned plea for folks to vote Republican, because Democrats are "endangering our country". He says Republicans "want lower taxes, lower fuel prices, smaller government, a safer environment, and judges and prosecutors who abide by the law". He also claims that Republicans did not take away any abortion rights.
While this person may believe what he says, I believe Republican extremism is destroying our country. However, just believing something doesn't make it true. It is important to look at what people actually do, rather than just what they say.
The climate crisis is already here, so let's examine Republican actions to create "a safer environment". For decades, the GOP party line has been that climate change is a hoax, the fiction of greedy scientists, or just natural variations, and therefore nothing to get worried about. Florida has gone so far as outlawing official use of the terms "climate change" or "sea level rise", despite being one of the most affected states. If you won't acknowledge the existence of a problem, you will never solve it.
Hurricane Ian just trashed the center of Florida. When the federal bill to fund emergency relief came to a vote, all 16 of the Florida Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against the funding, including those representing the most devastated counties. In the Senate, one Florida Republican voted against the bill and the other Republican didn't bother to show up for the vote. The bill passed because of Democratic action.
The Supreme Court, now dominated by extremist Republicans, voted to prohibit the EPA from regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide, the key element driving the climate crisis. Congressional Democratic action gave that power back to the EPA.
"Smaller government and lower taxes" are long standing Republican goals, which primarily help the very wealthy. By limiting and starving the government, corporations are given freer rein, and their primary goal is increased shareholder returns. That is why no corporations are rushing funds to help repair Florida. Reducing regulations allows corporations to make greater profits by polluting the planet, externalizing their costs to the general public. Republican actions lead to environment degradation.
Fuel prices are high for three reasons. One, very few countries have excess oil production for export, and they want to maximize their profits. Two, oil corporations have monopoly control over refining capacity, and they want to maximize their profits. Three, all the cheap oil has been discovered, developed, burned, and depleted, leaving only expensive, hard to extract oil reserves, and they are inadequate to meet the growing demand. None of this is Biden's fault, despite what the Republicans say. In addition, the more oil we burn, the faster we cook the planet.
Historically, the Republican party supported the rule of law, but that has been sacrificed to remain in power. Over time, the Republican Supreme Court has allowed the wealthy to buy elections, rigged the voting districts, and gutted the Voting Rights Act to enable voter discrimination, showing that the rule of law can be subverted for partisan gains. The "raid" on Mar Lago is a good example. Trump himself made mishandling of classified documents a felony, but now claims he can declassify by simply thinking it is so. After months of requests to return documents unlawfully taken from the White House, and legal attestation that everything had been returned, a warranted search found 11,000 more, including over 100 that were classified. Thwarting the rule of law, Trump found a compliant judge to stall facing the consequences. This isn't "abiding by the law", but distorting the law for privilege.
Finally, we come to the issue of abortion. For decades the Republicans have worked to outlaw it, finally stacking the Supreme Court with religious zealots to make it happen. Now that they discover that most of America thinks that is a bad idea, they are running from the consequences. They not only destroyed women's rights in the states they dominate, they are now lobbying to make the ban universal across the country. Statements to the contrary are not supported by facts, but are lying hypocrisy.
The choice this November is indeed very clear. Decide for yourself. Look at what people do, not just what they say. Vote Democratic. The country you save could be your own.
