Political Thoughts
These thoughts may change, be edited or modified as I move forward in life.
Pretty much all of my life I've been a conservative. From high school, before the voting age was 18, I've supported conservative causes. Please understand that I'm not a religious political conservative as it's understood today. I'm much more of a libertarian conservative. Economically, I've always thought that we could probably get by just fine with fewer government types. Socially, I don't want the government imposing its views in my bedroom nor in my church. Nor do I want to impose my views on you, in your bedroom nor in your church. I have always understood that for me to be free to speak, act, worship, etc. as I wish, I must also allow you to do those things as you wish. As far back as the Viet Nam era, while I was in uniform, I would remind my fellows in uniform that we were doing the things we were doing so that the protesters had the freedom and right to protest. I've understood that each of us having the freedoms offered and enforced by our Bill of Rights causes tension between us. I've realized that for some, making everyone else follow "The One True Path" as they see it, is viewed by them as a part of their freedom of expression and worship. The boundaries between the individual freedoms is not always clear.
It is worth noting that my first career was in the US Navy, thus a government employee. Spending our tax dollars to earn my salary. After retirement, I'm drawing a government pension. I've had government health care throughout that career, and as an insurance plan since retirement. Now over age 65, whether I like it or not, I'm using Medicare as a part of my health insurance. In a couple of years I'll start drawing on Social Security. In short, I take advantage of several government programs. It would be really disingenuous to yell too loudly about various government programs.
Given all of the above, I find that I can no longer support any of the candidates or parties that call themselves conservative. Since my form of conservative is summarized by "Do as you will in ways that harm no others," the current conservative attempts to impose one strict set of views, often openly based on religion, is repugnant.
Allow me to address several areas that offer examples.
1. Women's health: Starting with abortion, a woman and her doctor are the folks that must make medical decisions about her health. She may include family, spouse, church and others in the discussions about her decisions. But, in the final analysis, the decision is between she and her doctor. What I've said so far applies to men and women. When it comes to abortion, it's a woman's issue. Like many other areas, those other folks she may choose to involve in the decision can have a huge influence. But the decision is hers! Roe vs Wade is still the law of the land. Those of us who were teenagers and older prior to RvW probably know folks who went to visit an "Aunt" in Mexico or something similar. We may know someone who was injured by a back alley abortion. Taking legal access to abortions away from women does not remove abortion from the list of options, it only makes it FAR more dangerous. And, it takes some control away from women.
Birth Control. Making birth control difficult to access takes control of a woman's body away from them. And, it increases the number of abortions!
Pre-natal care and other areas. The current Republican party demands that it control many aspects of women's health.
I cannot support these policies.
2. Single payer health insurance: "Obama Care" is the law of the land. The repeated votes to repeal it are a silly waste of money. Simple grandstanding. "Obama Care" is not perfect. The issue is complex. I remember the outcry when Medicare became the law of the land. "It's socialized medicine!!" "We're becoming communists!" Now it's taken for granted. And the health of our older Americans is much improved. Those of us on Medicare, or military medicine, or several other variations on that theme get good health care. We don't get the very best, but it's pretty damn good.
The Republican Party's desire to repeal "Obama Care", and not offer any real replacement, is a policy I cannot support.
3. Economic policy: We've tried trickle down economics for years and years now. It's NOT WORKING! The refusal to tax us in ways that make sense and balance budgets, at all levels, is harming us at all levels. Locally, our educational system suffers. At the state level our transport system, and education system, and . . . suffers. Because we don't have the tax income to fix things like our aging infrastructure or maintain our national parks they deteriorate. Maintaining them would create jobs and improve our transport system which we need to support our economy. We can't maintain them because those budgets have been cut to the bone, because the Republican Party will not raise the taxes needed to do so.
In a country with a progressive income tax system, the Republican Party's refusal to use raise taxes for everyone, based on that idea of those with more income pay more, and by more I mean a higher percent of income, is causing nearly everyone in the country to suffer.
This is a policy I can no longer support.
4. Sexual Politics: Here in Kansas we watched our legislature attempt to pass some really stupid laws to get around the legalization of gay marriage. In one case the Republican Party leadership at the national level called the state party leadership and told them to stop as it was giving the party as a whole a bad name. I've not forgotten. I cannot support a party that thinks it has a right to be in my bedroom, or to tell me who I can and cannot love.
I cannot support these policies.
There are certainly policies of the Democratic Party that I don't support, like gun control. The damage being done by the Republican Party is so grave, and extensive I would rather risk changes in those areas that I disagree with than to continue to have the Republican Party in a majority in any part of our government.
Unfortunately, even good Republicans, with whom I might agree on all issues will have to work within a system that will take away their ability to make a difference.
Thus, given all of the above, I can no longer vote for anyone, at any level, who is a member of the Republican Party. If the party changes is policies, I will again consider voting for Republican canditates.
David Heinsohn
Pretty much all of my life I've been a conservative. From high school, before the voting age was 18, I've supported conservative causes. Please understand that I'm not a religious political conservative as it's understood today. I'm much more of a libertarian conservative. Economically, I've always thought that we could probably get by just fine with fewer government types. Socially, I don't want the government imposing its views in my bedroom nor in my church. Nor do I want to impose my views on you, in your bedroom nor in your church. I have always understood that for me to be free to speak, act, worship, etc. as I wish, I must also allow you to do those things as you wish. As far back as the Viet Nam era, while I was in uniform, I would remind my fellows in uniform that we were doing the things we were doing so that the protesters had the freedom and right to protest. I've understood that each of us having the freedoms offered and enforced by our Bill of Rights causes tension between us. I've realized that for some, making everyone else follow "The One True Path" as they see it, is viewed by them as a part of their freedom of expression and worship. The boundaries between the individual freedoms is not always clear.
It is worth noting that my first career was in the US Navy, thus a government employee. Spending our tax dollars to earn my salary. After retirement, I'm drawing a government pension. I've had government health care throughout that career, and as an insurance plan since retirement. Now over age 65, whether I like it or not, I'm using Medicare as a part of my health insurance. In a couple of years I'll start drawing on Social Security. In short, I take advantage of several government programs. It would be really disingenuous to yell too loudly about various government programs.
Given all of the above, I find that I can no longer support any of the candidates or parties that call themselves conservative. Since my form of conservative is summarized by "Do as you will in ways that harm no others," the current conservative attempts to impose one strict set of views, often openly based on religion, is repugnant.
Allow me to address several areas that offer examples.
1. Women's health: Starting with abortion, a woman and her doctor are the folks that must make medical decisions about her health. She may include family, spouse, church and others in the discussions about her decisions. But, in the final analysis, the decision is between she and her doctor. What I've said so far applies to men and women. When it comes to abortion, it's a woman's issue. Like many other areas, those other folks she may choose to involve in the decision can have a huge influence. But the decision is hers! Roe vs Wade is still the law of the land. Those of us who were teenagers and older prior to RvW probably know folks who went to visit an "Aunt" in Mexico or something similar. We may know someone who was injured by a back alley abortion. Taking legal access to abortions away from women does not remove abortion from the list of options, it only makes it FAR more dangerous. And, it takes some control away from women.
Birth Control. Making birth control difficult to access takes control of a woman's body away from them. And, it increases the number of abortions!
Pre-natal care and other areas. The current Republican party demands that it control many aspects of women's health.
I cannot support these policies.
2. Single payer health insurance: "Obama Care" is the law of the land. The repeated votes to repeal it are a silly waste of money. Simple grandstanding. "Obama Care" is not perfect. The issue is complex. I remember the outcry when Medicare became the law of the land. "It's socialized medicine!!" "We're becoming communists!" Now it's taken for granted. And the health of our older Americans is much improved. Those of us on Medicare, or military medicine, or several other variations on that theme get good health care. We don't get the very best, but it's pretty damn good.
The Republican Party's desire to repeal "Obama Care", and not offer any real replacement, is a policy I cannot support.
3. Economic policy: We've tried trickle down economics for years and years now. It's NOT WORKING! The refusal to tax us in ways that make sense and balance budgets, at all levels, is harming us at all levels. Locally, our educational system suffers. At the state level our transport system, and education system, and . . . suffers. Because we don't have the tax income to fix things like our aging infrastructure or maintain our national parks they deteriorate. Maintaining them would create jobs and improve our transport system which we need to support our economy. We can't maintain them because those budgets have been cut to the bone, because the Republican Party will not raise the taxes needed to do so.
In a country with a progressive income tax system, the Republican Party's refusal to use raise taxes for everyone, based on that idea of those with more income pay more, and by more I mean a higher percent of income, is causing nearly everyone in the country to suffer.
This is a policy I can no longer support.
4. Sexual Politics: Here in Kansas we watched our legislature attempt to pass some really stupid laws to get around the legalization of gay marriage. In one case the Republican Party leadership at the national level called the state party leadership and told them to stop as it was giving the party as a whole a bad name. I've not forgotten. I cannot support a party that thinks it has a right to be in my bedroom, or to tell me who I can and cannot love.
I cannot support these policies.
There are certainly policies of the Democratic Party that I don't support, like gun control. The damage being done by the Republican Party is so grave, and extensive I would rather risk changes in those areas that I disagree with than to continue to have the Republican Party in a majority in any part of our government.
Unfortunately, even good Republicans, with whom I might agree on all issues will have to work within a system that will take away their ability to make a difference.
Thus, given all of the above, I can no longer vote for anyone, at any level, who is a member of the Republican Party. If the party changes is policies, I will again consider voting for Republican canditates.
David Heinsohn