For much of my life, the commitment to the Democratic Party has puzzled me. I was raised to analyze both sides of issues and to make an intelligent decision based upon that information. The values of self-reliance, hard work, and individual liberty that I grew up with were the same American values that have made this country exceptional.
As I have grown older, I have witnessed a growing divide between what Democratic voters think they’re getting from the politicians they vote for and the actual policies being proposed and implemented by these same Democrats.
The Democratic Party of John F. Kennedy is what I grew up with. Racial equality was brought to the forefront and greater civil rights were achieved. In the sixties they used to say they support free expression on college campuses. Now we are seeing conservatives shouted down unable to express their views and the silence from the Democratic Party leaders asking for the other side to be heard is deafening as if they are doing everything possible to silence students and speakers who disagree with their views. Don’t believe me, go to a Democrat rally and say I support the Democratic Party but I don’t support unlimited handouts. See how far that gets you.
Many Democrats used to say socialism was a danger to America, but now they embrace radicals like Bernie Sanders and that new darling socialist Octasio Cortez who openly call for the creation of far-left socialist programs that promote welfare instead of workfare. Check your phone bill, notice that five dollar charge. That’s to pay for the lesser among us; unfortunately that socialist program has been kidnapped by young able-bodied citizens who see no need to work and why would they if it’s free without accountability or a time limit. FYI, it was Bill Clinton who created that welfare program, not Barack Hussein Obama.
Speaking of him, our healthcare is an absolute total mess and it started that way - remember the website failure.
The Democratic Party has been hijacked by a socialist platform, which is increasingly adopting an ever-larger portion of the Democratic Socialists of America’s platform. For example, much of the Democratic Party now wants taxpayers to pay for the college tuition of every student in America. They also have called for a universal guaranteed-income program that would give every person “free” money.
Democrats are adamantly opposed to requiring people to work who are enrolled in welfare programs, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called “food stamps.” And they remain the biggest roadblock to passing a balanced budget amendment, which simply asks the government to limit itself in the same way every American family must.
President Kennedy cut taxes. Today’s Democrats aren’t only opposed to tax cuts, they have pledged to raise taxes by reversing the Republicans tax reform law passed in 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Now these crumbs as Nancy Pelosi describes them are not much to my meager income, nonetheless it is my money not yours. Politicians have a spending problem and I have an income problem but I’m not asking for help so please leave me my crumbs.
For a brief time during this 2018 local election cycle I felt perhaps the old Democratic party had found itself again with the candidacy of Alyousee Brown for county mayor whom I personally thought expressed some of my political leanings, but as the campaign wore on it wasn’t to be.
The Democratic party of yesteryear is gone and I hope my friends who routinely vote Democrat realize that fact. It’s time for you to abandon your party and vote an America first policy that the Chattanooga, Hamilton County and national parties are fielding. They may not be perfect but they far out-distance their opponents in insuring an agenda that teaches self-reliance.
Ron Ray