Dear Friends and Neighbors:

As a fellow Democrat I have great concerns for this country and this state. We have lived through more than five years of ultra conservative administration since the Republican party took control of our country. I say control because they have had not only the presidency but both houses of Congress and have appointed two justices to the Supreme Court. These are not the Republicans of thirty years ago. What used to be considered, even by Republicans, as the far out fringe are now in control of our nation. I find this frightening. They are able to do anything they want, slowed down only by handful of moderate Republicans who at times share democratic positions.

There is a very basic issue at stake. What does the U.S. government owe the American people in return for the taxes we pay and the lives and loyalty that have been given for this country? The actions of this administration would indicate that their answer is “nothing”, unless you are big business or the very wealthy.

Health Care - Is there an obligation of the government to promote the health of its citizens? As a Democrat I would say, ”yes”. However, at this time, our health care system is in a state of crisis, if not collapse. 46 million Americans are without health insurance and for all practical purposes without health care. The Administration’s Medicare Prescription Drug plan is fundamentally flawed. It does not allow insurance companies to negotiate prices with drug companies, as do the V.A. and other groups. They must simply pay what the drug manufacturers ask, with your tax dollars and mine. When these high prices are paid, the dollar limits for the benefits to the patient are reached with amazing speed. The Democratic Party has people such as Howard Dean, former New Hampshire Governor, Democratic Party Chairman and a physician with the knowledge to solve health care problems and with a greater interest in the patients than in large business.

What About The Economy? - The U.S. economy has gone from the highest ever surplus of the Clinton years to the greatest deficit in history in just these five plus years of Republican control. This is certainly not just a normal fluctuation of the economy. When the Republicans took over, economists said the surplus could either be used to fund Social Security or to enact Bush’s proposed tax cut, but not both.. The administration did nothing for Social Security but pushed through the tax cut for the wealthiest 2% and also launched a war in Iraq, which has and is costing $6 to $7 billion every month, with no end in sight.

According to U.S. government statistics 1,100,000 more citizens fell below the poverty line in 2005. When the Bush Administration took over, 3 million jobs were lost. 2 million of these were eventually recovered but the majority were not as good as the jobs that were lost; they did not include benefits. Republicans insist that the economy is good. Good for whom? Obviously it is good for oil companies. In 2005 Exon made the highest profits of any company in the history of the U.S. Gasoline costs are at an all time high and many lower income Americans struggle to buy gas to just to get to work.

As the 1930's song says, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

Safety and Security - Does the government have a responsibility to protect lives and safety of its citizens?. As a Democrat I would say, “Yes, all its citizens, and it has a responsibility to not expend those lives needlessly”. In March 2003 this administration led us in invading a country that had done nothing to us. The CIA, The 911 Commission, and even President Bush, when pinned down, at there was no evidence that Iraq had anything to do with 911. We have sent over 2500 of our finest men and women to their deaths. Many more thousands have been seriously injured, and even at President Bush’s conservative estimate, over 30,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. With inept planning at the top, U.S. forces swept through Iraq, defeating Saddam’s forces, removing all civil authority and leaving anarchy in its place, as they moved on to the next area. This left the country open to looters, allowed irreplaceable archeological treasurers to be stolen or destroyed, and left the population at the mercy of the worst elements of society. For this President Bush gave Secretary Donald Rumsfield a medal.

In the meantime we have neglected or ignored other “hot spots” of danger in the world, created many more terrorists, and lost the respect of the a great deal of the world. Democratic presidents, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and Clinton, were widely respected in international affairs. Former President Clinton, working with the Israelis and Palestinians, brought the two groups closer to accord that they had ever been before or have been since.

When will we be able to get out of Iraq? With Iraq either on the edge of, or in the midst of civil war, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., top U.S. commander, said that insurgencies in the 20th century have averaged 9 years and that it is difficult to define what “victory” is. When then President Clinton sent troops into Bosnia in 1999, George W. Bush, then Governor of Texas, commented, “Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is.” Maybe he can’t remember what he said.

The government’s responsibility to American citizens should include not only protection from foreign enemies but also help in natural disasters. This was pathetically lacking when hurricane Katrina struck leaving 1300 dead and several hundred missing. Had this happened in another country, we would have immediately sent effective aid, as we have often done in the past.

How did the ultra conservatives gain such far reaching control over our country?

A good part of the reason has to be that the Republicans convinced many Americans that they were “the Christian Party”. They talked endlessly about “family values”. Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief campaign advisor, stated in an interview that the American people couldn’t understand foreign affairs or budget matters so he had given them “emotional topics” such as evolution, gun control, homosexuality, and abortion. They gave the impression that these were the only topics that mattered and that only they were on “the right side” of such issues. It is true that people often have strong feelings about Rove’s topics, but while Republicans talk, Americans are dying in Iraq and doing without health care at home, and huge debts are mounting up for our children and grandchildren to pay.

I wonder if the ultra conservatives are reading a different Bible than I am. In mine Jesus says that the most important thing is to love God and next to that is to love our neighbor. He talks about caring for the poor and needy and the sick. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, ...I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me...” Matthew 25:36 NIV He also tells us to judge a tree by its fruits.

CORRUPTION

Surely Christian values include honesty. In my lifetime I have seen administrations from FDR to the present and I have never seen anything close to the level of corruption that exists in this administration. Legislation affecting our lives has literally been for sale.

Tom DeLay, former Chairman of the Ethics committee, indicted in Texas for election irregularities (manipulating Texas districts to get 5 more GOP congressmen), tried to use his position to change the rules so that they would not apply to him. Meanwhile, his “K Street Project” encouraged companies and lobby firms to hire Republicans to improve their access to lawmakers. Now former GOP staffers make up 75% of personnel in lobbying firms. Starting when Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 1994, Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay and others told the big donors, who usually gave to both parties, that any donations to Democrats would cut off access to GOP leadership.

Jack Abramoff, a man from inside the Republican elite, confessed to buying legislation for special interests, mainly casinos. All his bribes went to Republicans and the Republican party. Other money from Casino owners which did not go through Abramoff went to Democrats also, for which we must take responsibility. The bribes went to 15 Republicans (66% of the money) and 5 Democrats (34% of the money). The legislation they bought was often inserted into bills such as the Homeland Security bill.

Republican ex-Congressman Duke Cunningham from California pleaded guilty to taking 2.4 million dollars in bribes from defense contractors.

Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, said, “With the number and dollar value of earmarks quadrupling over the past decade, pork-barrel spending has become an unfortunate hallmark of our Republican majority.”

Many ways to prevent the legislation from being “bought” by contributions were suggested, the simplest being to prohibit adding and funding bills for special projects after the bill has been discussed and approved by Congress. The only thing done by the party in power was to limit the price of a lunch that a congressman could accept.

Bribery has not been the only Republican double-dealing. CIA Agent Valerie Phlam’s, identity was leaked by someone in the administration. Her husband had been sent to Africa to check rumors that Iraq was trying to buy nuclear materials there. He reported that he found nothing to the rumors, which was not what President Bush wanted to hear. Suddenly Ms. Phlam’s identity as a CIA agent was revealed to the press. President Bush said that when the person leaking her identity was found, he or she would they would certainly be dismissed. When the leaker turned out to be presidential assistant, Karl Rove, nothing was done.

Torture of Prisoners - We all saw the pictures of the abuse of Abu Ghraib prisoners. We were told they were an aberration and a few low level military personnel were court marshaled. Abuses at Guantanamo Bay were said to be exaggerated. Then additional pictures surfaced and have been printed abroad. The death of Manadel al-Jamadi while being interrogated at Abu Ghraib was ruled a homicide by Department of Defense autopsy. Abducted from his apartment by Navy Seals, dropped off at Abu Ghraib as an unregistered prisoner or “ghost detainee”, interrogated by the CIA and about 90 minutes later was dead from “blunt-force injuries and asphyxiation”. Outraged Republican Senator John McCain, himself a former prisoner of war, pushed a bill through the Senate that would ban “torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” by any U.S. personnel. Bush declared he would veto the bill until it passed by so overwhelming a vote that it could easily override a veto. Bush then signed it but added a statement saying that as president he would decide what was torture. Then came word of “renditions”.. Senator Robert C.Byrd stated that with the “rendition” policy the U.S. taxpayers are funding secret prisons in foreign lands and the abduction of persons from other countries and their transportation to these prisons where there is no overview to tell what is happening there. Byrd quoted Sen. McCain who said, “It’s not about who they are. It’s about who we are.

The Separation of Church and State - There is now talk among some conservative Christians that there should be more control over the government by the church. The framers of the Constitution specifically stated in its clauses that the government could neither prohibit the exercise of religion, nor could it promote religion or any particular form of religion. There were good reasons for these two stipulations. The founders of this country had originally come from countries with state established religions, the Catholic church of France, the Anglican church in England, the Puritan reign of Oliver Cromwell, among others. They had seen the effect on society of state churches and the damage done to the church by the power of combined religious and political control. The framers of our Constitution knew what they were doing.

The Need for Democrats to do Something Now - Karl Rove started over thirty years ago to get his ultra right wing philosophy into power and has succeeded with Bush, Congress and now the Supreme Court. We must start now to gain back Congress and every small or large position we can. Every office and every voter counts and we are already late in starting. The Democratic party needs your support and help in any way you can. To offer help e-mail Lincoln County Democratic Chairman Tony Perna or phone 918-374-2651 or e-mail me Nancy Little phone 918-968-2284 or at Oklahoma Democratic Party www.okdemocrats.org
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When I set out to document the things that worried me the most about the Republican control of the country I got to 14 pages and wasn’t close to through. Obviously I couldn’t send 14 or more pages. If you would like to see my original material and sources, you can e-mail me at the above e-mail address. As I am having some difficulty with the internet at the present, please be patient.

Your Concerned Neighbor
Nancy Little