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Dear Editor:
I recently told friends and family that I was going to register as a Republican for the 2016 primary. They asked why I was leaving the Democratic Party after a lifetime of working so hard for it. My response was: “I am not leaving it, the Democrat Party left me!”
I was born when Truman was president and he had a sign on his desk, “The buck stops here.” He took responsibility for his actions, including in the middle of the Korean War the firing of MacArthur, a true American hero, and the use of atomic bombs to end WWII.
In my youth, Democrats stood for equal opportunity for all Americans to achieve success. They were supported by “Big Labor” unions (The Steelworkers, the Autoworkers, the Mine Workers, etc.). These were men and women who worked hard, saved what they earned, produced wealth for themselves and the nation, and paid into Social Security. They were subject to economic upturns and downturns. They were a “melting pot” of the sons, grandsons, daughters and granddaughters of LEGAL immigrants. Very few social welfare programs existed and those people would have felt ashamed to accept them if they did exist. They truly asked what they could do for their country and then tried to do it!
In my adulthood, the Democrat Party fought for equality for all. This included impeaching a president for erasing 18-and-a-half minutes of audio tapes. We felt no one should be above the law.
Now in the twilight of my life, we have a Democrat president who takes no responsibility for any action or inaction of his administration. The recent slaughter of 14 innocent Americans was at least partly due to his and Hillary Clinton’s failed Mideast policies that allowed the rise of ISIS. His response was: “We need more gun control laws and we should actually be more focused on climate change! “
The Democrat Party labor support now comes from the government employees’ unions. They produce no wealth, are paid with tax dollars, are not subject to economic fluctuations, and do not pay into nor receive Social Security as they receive a far more generous Government pension. Is it any wonder that in the first two years of this administration, with complete control of both houses and the presidency, that instead of fixing Social Security they chose to give us Obamacare which, in Ohio, raised premiums 83 percent and deductibles from $500 to $3,000 for a family plan for working class America!
The Democrat Party no longer fights for the “melting pot” of working Americans but instead fights for “cultural diversity,” illegal immigrants, and “income inequality.” They seem to think that the tax dollars will never run out and that perhaps the federal government can borrow itself out of the $19 trillion of debt!
Lastly, forget equality before the law. I have yet to hear one elected Democrat raise his or her voice concerning 30,000 erased emails and obstruction of justice as was done to impeach a sitting president.
These are not the values and goals that once made the Democrat Party something to be proud to be a part of.
My party has truly left me.
Jack C. Amato, M.D.
Irondale