Unmasking policies

Editor, Gettysburg Times,

Today’s GOP is a runaway train endangering its passengers. Conspiracy theories abound; authoritarian figures arise, and a growing distrust of democracy is distressingly evident. But underneath this cauldron of retrospective bitterness are the GOP’s principles. They are:

1. The essential principle of economic policy is to reduce the tax burden on the wealthy and let their largess flow down upon the rest of us. Is this why a small percentage of the population owns so much of the wealth?

2. Climate change is an overhyped problem. The climate has overheated before; we must wait for the cycle to complete. Is this why California has been burning and why Florida is a witness to a historic, catastrophic hurricane?

3. Healthcare is a purchase like your car or food. Make whatever deal you can with an insurance company; if you pay more, you should expect more. Is this why the Affordable Care Act is essential?

4. Discrimination against Black Americans is a thing of the past. We don’t need programs to resist discrimination in hiring and voting. White Americans are today’s victims of discrimination. Could this explain why the residents of Flint are still searching for water?

5. Voting is a privilege. States should have wide latitude in regulating that privilege to prevent voter fraud, which is rife among black Americans and new immigrants. Is this why we have a GOP gubernatorial candidate who will change the outcome if elected and displeased?

6. All our problems stem from our southern border. Drugs, loss of employment among Whites, rampant crime and immigrants in Martha’s Vineyard are symptoms of our border crisis. Is this why the GOP refuses to agree to needed immigration reforms?

To ensure we remain a free country — a democratic country — we all need to be well informed about who is on the ballot and what they stand for. Calls for unbridled liberty, and greater parental control over education, calls for the death penalty when a woman must abort, and when socialist Democrats are seen hollowing out our values – these are the cries of a backward political party, afraid of losing its majority and desperately clinging to a power it does not deserve. All of us voters need to be cautious and informed. Don’t be afraid to unmask the lies in your search for the truth.

Tony McNevin,
Gettysburg