September 18, 2008

Republicans are destroying this country in short order

Democrats Calling
By JOE CALIENDO

    Under former President William Jefferson Clinton, this country had a budget surplus eight years ago.
    Today, the United States is in debt to the tune of $12 trillion. The difference between then and now is that since President Clinton left office, the person he turned it over to was Republican George W. Bush.
    President Bush has turned a vibrant, healthy economy into a broken vision of itself.
    Here are some of the things on the endangered list: American jobs, American industry, Social Security, Medicare, health insurance, organized labor, women's rights, human rights, civil rights and the value of our American dollar. I have to cut this list off here because there is only so much room.
    This country has become hated by the world, because its leadership has placed greed and ego by Big Business and top Republicans over the welfare of the United States and its citizens.
    The coffers of the oil companies are more important than a family in the Bayshore earning a living. The princes in Saudi Arabia, and what is best for them, are more on the mind of President Bush than what is best for New Jersey or any other state. The same is true for national-level Republicans all throughout Washington.
    President Ronald Reagan started deficit spending in this country and he took Social Security out of a private fund, put it into a general fund and now Social Security is in trouble and our country is headed into an economic spiral because these Republicans after him thought it was a good idea also.
    Republicans are, generally speaking, not the answer for America on any level of government. Republicans do not think for themselves often in office. They vote together, ducks in a row, and place party before people and politics before issues.
    A "liberal" form of government is where people have a say. A "conservative" form of government is where people do not have a say. My position is that the United States was founded with the idea people would have a say. Conservatives believe people should not have a say. And, this is a republic being run as a democracy, unless the Republican Party bosses in this country that have already wrecked our economy and standard of living have their way. They would throw us into an outright dictatorship.
    An example of this is that gas has gone up 30 cents per gallon in two days because of an alleged storm. But the gas that is getting hiked up already has been bought and should not be impacted by a hike. Also, the 25 percent of our gas that comes out of the Gulf goes into a world market. So, why is it the United States, and nowhere else, got impacted by these hikes? Why has America been impacted by these hikes at all? Because our government is in bed with the oil companies, letting them run roughshod over the American public.
    The government has been fine with privatizing profits for executives and socializing losses for economic failures. This should not be a surprise given the fact that our current president, George Bush, has a long history of bad business decisions in the oil market himself.
    Republicans are in the middle of destroying this country once and for all. If something is a part of the problem, it cannot be a part of the solution. For example, Sen. John McCain is running for president. He is a Republican that votes with President Bush over 90 percent of the time, by his own admission. Since what President Bush has done is destroy this country, I guess if Mr. McCain became president he would finish the job.

(Joe Caliendo is the chairman of the Middletown Township Democratic Party. He has been active in municipal government and politics since the 1961 campaign of former President John F Kennedy.)