Posted by John Asmussen
Susan Gazdo
RNC
Washington, DC
Dear Susan,
Thank you for your recent letter soliciting donations from me to the Republican National Committee. Sorry, but I am no longer a member nor do I support the Republican Party. I have been a lifelong Republican, and have voted in every election for the past 50 years, mostly for Republicans. Before you toss this note in the wastebasket, please read my reasons, as they are valid and timely.
The Republican Party of my youth was the party of fiscal and never moral responsibility. Balanced budgets, controls on spending, no great scandals beyond a Vicuna coat for one of Eisenhower’s staff. This Republican administration however has amassed unimaginable debt, corruption, and reckless pork barrel spending like there is no tomorrow. But there will be a tomorrow. Our grandchildren, unfortunately, will reap the harvest of the 8.2 trillion dollar debt this country now owes.
As you must be aware, there was a 200 billion dollar budget surplus under the previous Democratic administration. During Clinton's tenure, the U.S. enjoyed continuous economic expansion, reductions in unemployment, growing wealth, and respect from around the world for what we stood for and believed in.
Under George Bush, that budget surplus was turned into the largest budget deficit in US history. To remedy this, the current administration proposes, among other cuts to education, health, and social programs for the growing poor in this country, to cut benefits for those who have served our country, making his claim to support the troops ring hollow. Over the years, the nation has made a pact with those who put on a uniform: If they would trade years of their lives and risk injury and death, the government would reward them with benefits, including medical care. Sadly, that deal has been steadily shredding. In fact, under Bush's 2007 budget, the Department of Veterans Affairs says 200,000 veterans would be left dangling in the wind and prevented by rising costs from getting the help the nation promised. It's even more disturbing that Bush is doing this as thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan vets are pouring into the system, many with long-term physical and emotional needs that must be addressed.
Which leads me to the war in Iraq. This premeditated attack was first alleged to keep us "safe" from WMD, it then morphed into bring "freedom" to the Iraqis, then to topple Saddam Hussein from power, then to punish those responsible for 9/11 (as though Iraq had anything to do with 9/11), and then, finally, to rebuild the infrastructure with the help of Halliburton that we had just destroyed. The newly freed people were supposed to run into the streets, throwing flowers at the "liberators." I guess you can see where this is going... and there is no end in sight. $430 billion so far for this debacle. Make no mistake, I support the troops; it is the government that does not support them that I do not support.
The secrecy of this administration, its spying on American citizens, its callous disregard for the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights, its so-called "Patriot Act", its black or white "you’re either for us or against us" mentality, its pandering to the religious right that has hijacked the Republican Party, its calculated attempt to deny the basic rights to privacy, the right to equal treatment for gays and other minorities, not to mention total disdain for anyone who questions its policies, all have caused me to abandon the Republican Party because of what it has sadly become. Our constitution is a sacred document that cannot have certain parts ignored or suspended at the whim of the incumbent administration.
I am no longer a registered Republican. I don’t know if the Democrats have all the answers to the enormous problems facing this country either. Perhaps some day the Party will go back to the basic roots that attracted me many years ago. But for now, you may not count on my support "to advance President Bush’s agenda" in any way. Bush’s real agenda is "BE AFRAID, AND WE WILL KEEP YOU SAFE", an agenda previously popularized in Nazi Germany.
Therefore, please remove my name from your list of prospective donors. I can assume as a result of this letter, my name will be added to the secret list of Bush’s "enemies" (a la Nixon’s enemy list), and then forwarded to the IRS for a prompt audit of my taxes. My e-mail and Googled web sites and telephone conversations can be scrutinized, along with my library reading habits as much as this administration feels the need. I have absolutely nothing to hide. The first and fourth amendments haven’t been nullified.
Yet...
John Asmussen
Susan Gazdo
RNC
Washington, DC
Dear Susan,
Thank you for your recent letter soliciting donations from me to the Republican National Committee. Sorry, but I am no longer a member nor do I support the Republican Party. I have been a lifelong Republican, and have voted in every election for the past 50 years, mostly for Republicans. Before you toss this note in the wastebasket, please read my reasons, as they are valid and timely.
The Republican Party of my youth was the party of fiscal and never moral responsibility. Balanced budgets, controls on spending, no great scandals beyond a Vicuna coat for one of Eisenhower’s staff. This Republican administration however has amassed unimaginable debt, corruption, and reckless pork barrel spending like there is no tomorrow. But there will be a tomorrow. Our grandchildren, unfortunately, will reap the harvest of the 8.2 trillion dollar debt this country now owes.
As you must be aware, there was a 200 billion dollar budget surplus under the previous Democratic administration. During Clinton's tenure, the U.S. enjoyed continuous economic expansion, reductions in unemployment, growing wealth, and respect from around the world for what we stood for and believed in.
Under George Bush, that budget surplus was turned into the largest budget deficit in US history. To remedy this, the current administration proposes, among other cuts to education, health, and social programs for the growing poor in this country, to cut benefits for those who have served our country, making his claim to support the troops ring hollow. Over the years, the nation has made a pact with those who put on a uniform: If they would trade years of their lives and risk injury and death, the government would reward them with benefits, including medical care. Sadly, that deal has been steadily shredding. In fact, under Bush's 2007 budget, the Department of Veterans Affairs says 200,000 veterans would be left dangling in the wind and prevented by rising costs from getting the help the nation promised. It's even more disturbing that Bush is doing this as thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan vets are pouring into the system, many with long-term physical and emotional needs that must be addressed.
Which leads me to the war in Iraq. This premeditated attack was first alleged to keep us "safe" from WMD, it then morphed into bring "freedom" to the Iraqis, then to topple Saddam Hussein from power, then to punish those responsible for 9/11 (as though Iraq had anything to do with 9/11), and then, finally, to rebuild the infrastructure with the help of Halliburton that we had just destroyed. The newly freed people were supposed to run into the streets, throwing flowers at the "liberators." I guess you can see where this is going... and there is no end in sight. $430 billion so far for this debacle. Make no mistake, I support the troops; it is the government that does not support them that I do not support.
The secrecy of this administration, its spying on American citizens, its callous disregard for the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights, its so-called "Patriot Act", its black or white "you’re either for us or against us" mentality, its pandering to the religious right that has hijacked the Republican Party, its calculated attempt to deny the basic rights to privacy, the right to equal treatment for gays and other minorities, not to mention total disdain for anyone who questions its policies, all have caused me to abandon the Republican Party because of what it has sadly become. Our constitution is a sacred document that cannot have certain parts ignored or suspended at the whim of the incumbent administration.
I am no longer a registered Republican. I don’t know if the Democrats have all the answers to the enormous problems facing this country either. Perhaps some day the Party will go back to the basic roots that attracted me many years ago. But for now, you may not count on my support "to advance President Bush’s agenda" in any way. Bush’s real agenda is "BE AFRAID, AND WE WILL KEEP YOU SAFE", an agenda previously popularized in Nazi Germany.
Therefore, please remove my name from your list of prospective donors. I can assume as a result of this letter, my name will be added to the secret list of Bush’s "enemies" (a la Nixon’s enemy list), and then forwarded to the IRS for a prompt audit of my taxes. My e-mail and Googled web sites and telephone conversations can be scrutinized, along with my library reading habits as much as this administration feels the need. I have absolutely nothing to hide. The first and fourth amendments haven’t been nullified.
Yet...
John Asmussen
I LOVE YOU JOHN!!! KISS YOU........and MISS you........come to Orlando for a visit!!
ReplyDeleteAmen (no pun intended!) I could not have said it any better....it's like that perfect greeting card you find once in a blue moon that expresses every emotion you are feeling at the time and puts all of those feelings into words. Conservative? Yes, I was. Why? Dems spent too much on social programs, didn't know how to control their spending! Today? At least the Dems spent the money on US citizens! It's a sad commentary on our society that the US government spends more money on healthcare for foreign countries than on its own people. Keep up the good work John!
ReplyDelete