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Letters to the Editor

The Republican Party is not even a political party anymore

It’s time to evaluate the Republican Party and its cry for less government, tax cuts benefiting mostly the wealthy, government deregulation, privatization of government, and cutting social spending.

Republicanism is de-democratizing a democratic, constitutional government for oligarchy, Russian rule. To legitimize their de-democratizing propaganda, Republicans cry that government is too big.

In Reagan’s presidency, he enriched the wealthy, cutting top marginal tax rates for millionaires from 70 percent to 28 percent, reducing federal revenue by about 12 percent.

Reagan’s bank deregulation resulted in savings and loan bankruptcies. The greed-driven S&L bailout cost taxpayers billions. That bailout, with tax-cut giveaways, tripled the deficit. Some losses were covered by surplus Social Security money.

Inequality’s not enough. President Donald Trump’s Republicans repealed key parts of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. It protected you from deceptive and fraudulent financial business practices. They then took away the right to file class-action lawsuits when ill treated by the same financial predators.

Tax cuts suck out tax revenue, shafting working families and impoverishing the future of our children. Even more unpardonable is shoveling truckloads of money to the wealthy. We saw this with Reagan.

The Republican Party is not even a political party anymore. It has dedicated itself to the financial elite’s dystopian exploitations, attacking the democratic jewels of America’s society.

With higher marginal taxes, President Eisenhower, a moderate Republican, felt government should provide benefits to the American people. He expanded Social Security and created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. His interstate highway program created 41,000 miles of roads.

Bill Mahaffey

Bluffton

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This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 12:37 PM with the headline "The Republican Party is not even a political party anymore."

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