Op Ed: The Republican Party Platform

Has anyone had a chance to read the Republican Party platform? Its policies are mostly a collection of vague talking points out of touch with reality. Anyone who has read this document and is capable of analytical thought has probably come to a conclusion similar to mine: that this manifesto, as a whole, is an unmitigated disaster waiting to happen. What is distressing is not what it contains but what is missing. First, let me briefly critique a few issues mentioned in the platform.

The platform has a lot of feel-good talking points on protecting seniors, including a nebulous promise to ensure the long-term sustainability of Social Security. However, Republicans have no plan. Why would they? It has been the continuing goal of conservatives for decades to allow these programs to collapse. And collapse they will without a plan. The Democrats have a plan that is starting to show positive results, which can prevent the exhaustion of the trust funds that help pay for Social Security and Medicare. Republican talk has not, and will not, prevent bankrupting the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.

The inflation monster reared its ugly head during the COVID supply chain breakdown. The available supply of goods drastically decreased during COVID while demand remained the same or increased. Prices surged. This condition was worsened with stimulus money authorized by Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The stimulus checks did help hold off a recession, but the cost was higher inflation. Also, the Federal Reserve Bank’s (the Fed) response was not ideal. All this led to inflation peaking at nine percent a couple of years ago. As of last July, the rate of inflation fell below three percent. As inflation continues to decrease to the Fed's two percent goal, we can expect interest rates to be reduced. Government policy and market conditions have, and are, taming inflation for the time being.

The Republican solutions offered for reducing inflation are, at best, talking points in search of a problem. What really caught my attention was that the platform stated that it would quickly bring down prices. Instant deflation, really? Yeah, right. Corporate businesses will readily go along with reducing prices and profits (sarcasm intended). Talking about price rollbacks is good politics, but it is not realistic, nor will it happen. Our free-market economy will simply not allow it. Or is the Republican plan meant to get rid of our free-market economy? Isn’t that called Communism?

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Our First Amendment rights are sacrosanct. To those Trump Republicans who would promote theocracy by allowing prayer in government-funded schools, I suggest you review the first phrase of the First Amendment above. Would Republicans also allow minarets to be publicly funded so muezzins can call Muslims to prayer? Our country has sound historical reasons for the above phrase being stated first in the Bill of Rights. One of which is that theocracies are authoritarian, with fewer rights and freedoms. For example, In Iran and Saudi Arabia, women are effectively second-class citizens. Should prayer be allowed in government-funded schools. Really? Exercise the right to freedom of religion by praying in your own church, or on your own time with your own resources like I do. I don’t want my tax dollars funding any would-be theocracy. Of course, this whole point could be moot. The separation of church and state principle, which is derived from the First Amendment, prohibits religion in government or government interference in religion. Unless, of course, Republicans intend to do away with our First Amendment Rights.

The platform also states Republican intent to close the Department of Education (DOE). Wow, imagine all the money saved for more tax cuts for the rich (more sarcasm). Instead, why not amend DOE policy to grant more decision-making to the States? Wouldn’t that be more pragmatic, cost-effective, and fairer? However, promoting ignorance seems to be a working formula for these new-age Republicans, so why wouldn’t they close down the Department of Education?

The immigration issue, especially at the southern border, has plagued our country for generations. We need congressional action to alleviate the border crisis. Last February, the Senate put together the most conservative immigration bill in decades, which would have vastly improved conditions at the southern border. However, Trump and his sycophants killed the bill so that Trump could continue to have the border crisis as an election issue. The Trump Republican Party put politics before the welfare of our great nation. In my opinion, the Republican Party has lost any moral high ground it may have held on immigration reform.

The Republican Party's solution to securing the border is to redeploy overseas troops to the southern border along with additional extreme measures of questionable effect. Republicans also want to withdraw our navy from the world stage to impose a fentanyl blockade. Why bring our navy home when we can beef up and deploy the Coast Guard to enforce a necessary fentanyl blockade? It seems to me that bringing home our military is a precursor to creating a police state. Do Republicans plan to use our military to invoke the Insurrection Act against fellow Americans? This was a scenario that Trump was considering when he was president.

The Trump Republican Party does not seem to realize that we already have the most powerful military in the world, along with the biggest economy in the world. Our military and economy work in tandem. The large economy helps pay for the military, and the military helps maintain the current world order, facilitating trade between nations. Our nation benefits more than any other nation from the current world order. The Republican desire to retreat from world affairs will create a power vacuum that China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other like-minded authoritarian regimes will fill. This cannot be beneficial for our country and cannot be allowed to transpire.

What important issues are missing from the Trump Republican platform? The document does not have a plan that addresses how to eliminate the deficit and reduce the national debt. And why would it? Extending the Trump tax cuts for the rich will increase the national debt by more than five trillion dollars over ten years putting more debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren. Not to mention the eight trillion dollars that was added to the debt during Trump’s four years in office. The Republican elites and corporations no longer care about the debt as long as they can profit from existing and future tax cuts. I used to think the Republican mantra was, “We have ours and to hell with everyone else.” I now believe their hymn is, “We have ours and want what little you have left.”

Of course, the Republican platform also ignores the science that concludes the climate crisis is human-induced. The same science has also produced technological advances in lifesaving drugs, computers, transportation, and electricity generation, to name a few. So why ignore the science exposing the human-induced climate crisis? There is only one answer. These Republican elites, along with their corporate masters, value fossil fuel profits above the welfare of future generations who will have to endure a harsher climate. They are worse than the criminals convicted at Nuremberg in the last century. Our country needs to slowly wean itself off of more expensive fossil fuels in favor of more cost-effective and climate-friendly renewable sources of energy.

Lastly, it is no big surprise to me that the Republicans are not addressing the gun violence epidemic. This is despite the fact that most Americans favor red flag laws and enhanced background checks. So, can we expect more or less school shootings?

What happened to the Republican Party? I grew up in a family that voted mostly for Republican Party candidates and policies. I voted for Ford, Reagan, George H. Bush, and George H.W. Bush. This election, I will not support the Trump Republican party policies, which will increase the national debt, promote isolationism, encourage misinformation to erode democracy, and generally push our country into a dystopian abyss. If you intend to vote, educate yourselves on all issues before voting this November. The consequences of this most significant election of our lifetime are just too important to rely on the Republican platform’s vague promises, misinformation, and propaganda.