Platforms
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
Editor, Times-Union:
Mr. Eppenbaugh places much emphasis on party platforms. A political platform is a mere euphemism for empty rhetoric that serves as meaningless blather meant to tell people what they want to hear. The manner in which a president governs is often far removed from their slated platform.
Herbert Hoover ran on a platform of a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. Instead he delivered a stock market crash, the Great Depression, soup lines, and 25 percent unemployment. Ronald Reagan campaigned on a platform of small government, but delivered the invasion of Grenada and the censorship of media coverage of it, the Iran-Contra scandal, double digit unemployment, and last but not least; tax increases to the tune of $132.7 billion. George W. Bush ran on a platform of anti-nation building and compassionate conservatism. Along with economic collapse, we got a never-ending, nation-building war for oil in Iraq and conservatism that showed little compassion except for billionaires and big business.
Barack Obama promised us hope, change, transparency and progressive ideals. He has thus far given us none of those things. Both parties have moved so far to the right that the last sane Republican president, Dwight Eisenhower, would be too far to the left to be welcome in either party. Given President Obama's propensity for war mongering, love of Wall Street and big business, and prostituting himself for pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, I'd say President Obama is not only the first black president, but could qualify as the first black Republican president.
Mr. Eppenbaugh pointed out in his May 17 letter the broken campaign promises of President Obama. He mentions the continuation of the two unending wars and renewal of the Patriot Act. These were Bush 43 era policies. Mr. Eppenbaugh insinuates that Obama and progressives are the same as Nazis. Should we then assume Bush and his supporters were also Nazis? Incidentally, while Nazi Germany called themselves the National Socialist Party, their form of government was fascism, not far removed from our own declining system which allows big business and government to roll around on the same sheets together.
To those of us in the Democrat wing in the Democrat party, President Obama has proven to be a monumental disappointment. The Healthcare Reform Act should have been called the Health Insurance Company Profit Protection Act. It delivers very little in reform and hand delivers 30 million new customers to big insurance and leaves Big Pharma untouched thanks to sleazy backroom deals. The mandate creates a huge wealth distribution from those that have very little to those already up to their necks in ill-gotten wealth. The same thing can be said for the pending financial regulations bill. Tinkering around the edges of an issue is not reform. It is what it is, tinkering.
My idea of small government would be to cut the bloated Pentagon budget. We do not need military bases in 150 countries, planes that don't fly, obsolete submarines or two unnecessary wars. The 2011 Homeland Security Budget comes in at $43.6 billion. It offers very little in the way of security and not be treated as such. They should make no more than $100,000 per year, be responsible for their own healthcare and retirement, should take no lavish vacations disguised as fact-finding missions and their staffs should be cut in half. I would also end silly bureaucratic commissions and studies that do little more than eat up valuable time and money, and I would end corporate welfare. I would not under any circumstances take from those that most need it.
In Mr. Eppenbaugh's May 17 letter he claims to know the whereabouts and otherworld activities of Woodrow Wilson and Josef Goebbels. The next time you are busily engaged with your Ouija board, could you check to see what Ronald Reagan and his murdering, torturing Chilean dictator buddy Pinochet and pal Saddam Hussein are up to?
And, sir, advocating for freedom is far different from labeling people Nazis because some gasbag with a chalkboard says so.
Janet Collins
Etna Green
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Editor, Times-Union:
Mr. Eppenbaugh places much emphasis on party platforms. A political platform is a mere euphemism for empty rhetoric that serves as meaningless blather meant to tell people what they want to hear. The manner in which a president governs is often far removed from their slated platform.
Herbert Hoover ran on a platform of a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. Instead he delivered a stock market crash, the Great Depression, soup lines, and 25 percent unemployment. Ronald Reagan campaigned on a platform of small government, but delivered the invasion of Grenada and the censorship of media coverage of it, the Iran-Contra scandal, double digit unemployment, and last but not least; tax increases to the tune of $132.7 billion. George W. Bush ran on a platform of anti-nation building and compassionate conservatism. Along with economic collapse, we got a never-ending, nation-building war for oil in Iraq and conservatism that showed little compassion except for billionaires and big business.
Barack Obama promised us hope, change, transparency and progressive ideals. He has thus far given us none of those things. Both parties have moved so far to the right that the last sane Republican president, Dwight Eisenhower, would be too far to the left to be welcome in either party. Given President Obama's propensity for war mongering, love of Wall Street and big business, and prostituting himself for pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, I'd say President Obama is not only the first black president, but could qualify as the first black Republican president.
Mr. Eppenbaugh pointed out in his May 17 letter the broken campaign promises of President Obama. He mentions the continuation of the two unending wars and renewal of the Patriot Act. These were Bush 43 era policies. Mr. Eppenbaugh insinuates that Obama and progressives are the same as Nazis. Should we then assume Bush and his supporters were also Nazis? Incidentally, while Nazi Germany called themselves the National Socialist Party, their form of government was fascism, not far removed from our own declining system which allows big business and government to roll around on the same sheets together.
To those of us in the Democrat wing in the Democrat party, President Obama has proven to be a monumental disappointment. The Healthcare Reform Act should have been called the Health Insurance Company Profit Protection Act. It delivers very little in reform and hand delivers 30 million new customers to big insurance and leaves Big Pharma untouched thanks to sleazy backroom deals. The mandate creates a huge wealth distribution from those that have very little to those already up to their necks in ill-gotten wealth. The same thing can be said for the pending financial regulations bill. Tinkering around the edges of an issue is not reform. It is what it is, tinkering.
My idea of small government would be to cut the bloated Pentagon budget. We do not need military bases in 150 countries, planes that don't fly, obsolete submarines or two unnecessary wars. The 2011 Homeland Security Budget comes in at $43.6 billion. It offers very little in the way of security and not be treated as such. They should make no more than $100,000 per year, be responsible for their own healthcare and retirement, should take no lavish vacations disguised as fact-finding missions and their staffs should be cut in half. I would also end silly bureaucratic commissions and studies that do little more than eat up valuable time and money, and I would end corporate welfare. I would not under any circumstances take from those that most need it.
In Mr. Eppenbaugh's May 17 letter he claims to know the whereabouts and otherworld activities of Woodrow Wilson and Josef Goebbels. The next time you are busily engaged with your Ouija board, could you check to see what Ronald Reagan and his murdering, torturing Chilean dictator buddy Pinochet and pal Saddam Hussein are up to?
And, sir, advocating for freedom is far different from labeling people Nazis because some gasbag with a chalkboard says so.
Janet Collins
Etna Green
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