Unwavering support for GOP hard to get | Hilton Head Island Packet

Perhaps my Republican friends can explain their thought process to me so I can understand why they are still staunch Republicans.

In 2008, they voted Republican because they thought Barack Obama would take their guns, legalize illegal immigrants, not support our military, raise taxes and pay reparations to the black community. None of that happened.

They voted Republican in the mid-term elections in 2010 because Republicans blamed Obama for the poor economy. The GOP enraged them with false reports that Democrats were going to cut $500 million in Medicare benefits and would make changes to the Social Security program.

Now it's 2011. The new GOP-dominated House has not presented a single jobs bill, but the economy continues to improve slowly. The GOP budget plan would keep $450 billion in cuts for current seniors. For everyone under age 55, the plan would destroy Medicare and replace it with a "premium support plan," requiring seniors to shop the market for coverage and pay at least $6,000 more a year. In addition, Republicans are reviving their 2005 plan to "privatize" Social Security.

Polls show a huge majority of the public does not want to gut Medicare and does not want to place any of their Social Security benefits in the stock market, so why do my Republican friends continue to support the party that will do just that if elected to a majority?

I know, I know, they've always been Republican. But this is not the old Republican Party; it's not even your dad's party. This is a new breed of Republican Party.

Lynn Tyson

Bluffton