A View from Left Field - Open Letter to Gary Aminoff, President of the San Fernando Valley Republican Club

Open Letter to

Dear Gary,

The Republican Party has regressed mightily since the days of President Abraham Lincoln.  Excluding a few lonely blips on its oscilloscope, namely Presidents “Teddy” and “Ike”; Republicanism in the main stands for ineptitude and greed.  Precisely the values we don’t need, given the untenable state our nation anguishes and languishes in today.

A day doesn’t go by that some Republican candidate, leader or otherwise shouts “we want our country back.”  Back to what, the times when George W. Bush rode his bicycle around Washington or chopped wood in Crawford while “Rome” burned.  Possibly, it’s the Reagan years you seek, when illegal wars like the Contra Affair were planned in the basement of the White House as Ronnie busily depleted the nation’s treasury.  Could it be the Hoover Era when our man in charge developed a paralysis to act during the Great Depression?  If it’s morality you  seek, as that seems to be one of your flavors of the day, let’s bring back the Harding Years and revisit the Teapot Dome Scandal.  George Herbert Walker, Silent Cal, McKinley, Harrison, Arthur or Garfield, they’re all pretty nondescript. Now if corruption is your game, few, if any, could stand toe to toe with U.S. Grant.

Unless you seek to re-write history, Republicans care little if anything about the working class, unions or the poor.   Additionally, they do tend to be more racist, elitist and white than other major political party!   Compassion seems to escape the guys on your team.  They are more focused on increasing the assets of the super rich than funding the legitimate needs of our country and our people.  Where have you been while your obstructionist “compadres” in Congress continue to grind government to a screeching halt by following the no tax dictums of Grover Norquest, the Koch Brothers and the Tea Party? 

The major chant from the Republican hymnal “Trickle Down” is out of key.  It always has been, and it always will be.  Just ask David Stockman, the major proponent of it and former Reagan economic guru. 

From the years 2000-2008, your friend George W. Bush lowered taxes appreciably, especially for the wealthier.  How many new jobs did that produce?  None, we lost jobs.   Big business was energetically moving those jobs overseas while receiving giant tax incentives in return.  Do you think that exercising this folly again will produce different results?

Our country is hurting.  Now is not the time for “rugged individualism.”  There’s a tough world out there and the nation must stay competitive and together if we are going to stay on or near the top.  Reinstating a fair and progressive tax base would improve education for our children, give the less fortunate a little more hope and security and motivate the government and industry together to improve our crumbling infrastructure. 

Cheap shots at President Obama for political gain, such as Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich take on a daily basis, only point out their lack of character.  Maybe Mitt should focus on explaining the monies he has parked in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland and Newt the true reasons for his ouster as House Majority Leader or the insensitivity he’s shown to his two previous wives.  Before both of them tear down Mr. Obama’s house, they might start by getting their own houses in order.  

President Obama, unlike his predecessor, walks the walk.  He took out Osama bin Laden, ended the wrong war in Iraq while he continues to move to shut down the right war in Afghanistan.  He has vision.  He’s expanded health care for the multitudes.  Our country is safe today and he’s re-shaping our military forces as we move into the future. China is now in his cross hairs and he’s begun to shift national attention to the Far East.  The Arab Spring might not have happened without American pressure and support.

At Home President Obama saved the auto industry and provided stimulus to other hard hit sectors.  The job situation needs attention, but you can’t create them out of thin air.  Additionally, President Obama has sought to re-vitalize our manufacturing base as another attempt to increase jobs and move the economy forward.  Besides criticism, what specifics have the Republicans advanced over the past three years that will concretely bring more jobs to America?  Cuting taxes to rich benefactors is the only failed Republican plan that I can readily recollect.

Gary, I’m sorry to say you’re on the wrong side of the fence.  In the days of the old west, there were the good guys and bad guys.  You know it and I know it that the Republicans aren’t the ones riding the white horses.  Now, more than ever, the Republicans are out of touch with time and reality.  America needs planning that works for 300 million, not 3 million of us.  Therein lays the difference.  I’m certain your A-list of associates and friends is far more impressive than your Democratic counterpart’s, but what have the Republicans done lately for the other 99% of us?

Sincerely,

Gary Miller