Elections 2010: Letter To A Democratic Voter

Friday October 22 CNN published a profile of a usually Democratic voter in Virginia who plans to vote plans to “hold my [her] nose and vote Republican, only for this race.”

 "Why?" I ask and fight the urge to go pour myself a glass of straight 96 proof gin.

"The economy," is the response the voter gave to CNN, “I have grave concerns about the bills that have been passed and how we're going to finance them, and if my children ... or my grandchildren are going to be forced to pay for them."

In writing an open letter to this voter it would be easy to go for humor and fall into insult, but that would do little to reach voters like this one. Voters who, it seems to me, have lost their way. This voter is obviously somewhat engaged but  has not followed all of the details. The fictions spun by the Republicans have led this voter down the wrong path. Here is a person to person letter to correct that.

Dear Obama supporter planning to vote Republican,

I here that you are greatly concerned by the deficit, and the Republicans have advertized themselves as the party most deeply concerned with deficit reduction, yet their proposal to keep all the bush-tax cuts, even those for earn incomes above $250,000 per year (roughly the upper 2% of American tax payers) directly adds $690 billion to the deficit over the next ten years. When interest on that debt is added in the actual cost of these tax breaks for those who need it least rises to $830 billion over ten years.

Republicans like to talk about the job-creating impact of these tax cuts, but the history of job creation since Bush initiated these cuts does not support that claim. During the eight years of the Bush Presidency the United States actually lost 673,000 private-sector jobs, while it has added 847,000 jobs during President Obama’s last 8 months. 

[It is also interesting to note that federal and state government jobs increased by 1.7 million in eight years under Republican Bush, but have fallen by 357,000 President Barack Obama took office. Makes the Republican charge that Obama is out to grow the government look kind of hypocritical doesn’t it?]

Comparing private sector and government jobs during the Bush years and the economic turnaround under President Obama points to one of the great frustrations I have felt since President Obama took office. The Republican initiated debate has been virtually fact free. It’s like arguing with someone who, refusing to consider all evidence to the contrary insists that the earth is flat.

And there is a good reason for the Republican’s obstinate denial of economic reality. Outside of insuring that they continue the tax cuts for their wealthy supporters, Congressional Republicans are interested only in furthering their narrow political agenda—not in developing legislation that benefits the majority of Americans or America’s economic future.

I could illustrate this by pointing to the abuse of the filibuster in the Senate since a majority of Democrats were elected. (Republicans—who wailed and fumed about Democratic use of the filibuster during Bush’s presidency—used it a record 138 times in Obama’s first year, and may yet set a new record this year.) But if you haven’t followed the legislative process this year closely enough to be already aware of how Republicans used the filibuster to prevent measures that might have improved the economy, the discussion would be long and tedious.

Instead let me point to the Republican’s plans to restore the American economy. Senator minority leader Mitch McConnell laid out the Republican economic plan yesterday. He told the National Journal, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president. Our single biggest goal is to give our nominee for president the maximum opportunity to be successful."

That is the economic plan you are voting for when you vote Republican, and you have to admit one thing. It is simple. It requires none of the thought or work that the Democrat’s plans to grow “Green” jobs and employ Americans rebuilding our country’s infrastructure. If that means keeping the economy in the dumps, the Republicans are only too willing to do it as long as it gives their “nominee for president the maximum opportunity to be successful.” That’s the kind of political sacrifice that makes me proud to be an American.

Don’t reward this kind of politics. Vote Democrat!