The GOP Has Earned the Careful Scrutiny of the People

The GOP Has Earned the Careful Scrutiny of the People

Bob Herbert writes in The Ugly Side of the GOP, “… what I would like to see is 1 million angry protesters marching on the headquarters of the National Republican Party in Washington. The GOP has spent the last 40 years insulting, disenfranchising and otherwise stomping on the interests of Black Americans.”

“In 1981, during the first year of Reagan’s presidency, the late Lee Atwater gave an interview … explaining the evolution of the Southern strategy: You start out in 1954 by saying, Nigger, nigger, nigger. By 1968, you can’t say ‘nigger,’ – that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now (that) you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things, and a byproduct of them is (that) blacks get hurt worse than whites.” Atwater’s Southern strategy now has been broadened in scope and application here in California.

One example is the Republican attempt to proportionally divide California’s Electoral votes in this heavily Democratic state to increase Republican presidential chances. To date, Republicans lack the money to continue with this initiative which bypasses the legislature by going directly to the people with obfuscation, but Republicans deserve watching. Their purpose is to increase Republican power at the expense of the people.

Because Republicans are heavily outnumbered in California, voters should focus the real scrutiny on predominantly Republican counties like Placer County, said to be the state’s most Republican County. Placer’s Republican Party has taken over the Board of Trustees of Sierra College by putting three far right men, Aaron Klein, Jerry Simmons and Scott Leslie--who really do not support public education--on the board simply to increase GOP spower. The Placer County Board of Supervisors appointed Kirk Uhler to keep the board all Republicans. The purpose of this appointment was to increase Republican power at the expense of the people.

Another example is Tom Hudson, Placer County Republican Chairman, who personifies the extremes to which the Republican Party, with waning general support, will go to retain power in Placer County. He’s making the race card through immigrant bashing the top issue of Republicans in the next election. He wrote that “hammering on illegal immigrants -–no earned legal status ever, no guest workers--is the greatest issue the party can embrace to earn future votes. Greater than no new taxes.” Mr. Hudson is continuing Atwater’s Southern strategy in Placer County. Mr.. Hudson’s purpose is to increase Republican power at the expense of the people.




Congressman John T. Doolittle, currently under investigation by the Washington, DC, Grand Jury, is now playing the Atwater’s race card with his H.R. 480 (Prohibition on Issuing Mortgages to Non-citizens) to deny undocumented workers the right to secure mortgages to buy homes. HR 480 is a red herring because undocumented workers cannot buy homes on the meager pay they receive from California employers, many of whom break the law to employ them. Congressman Doolittle is legislating to increase Republican power at the expense of the people.

People must carefully examine whatever the Republican Party does to see if its purpose is to increase the power of the Republican Party at the expense of the people. The Republican Party over the last 40 years, by bashing the rights of all Americans … not just blacks, has earned the close scrutiny of the people in every move it makes.

The Police wrote the operative words for people to use toward the Republican Party: “I’ll be watching you, every move you make, every breath you take, I’ll be watching you,” to see that the people, not just the Republican Party, are being served.



Sources:
Bob Herbert, “The Ugly Side of the GOP,” SacBee , Sept. 28, 2007

David Whitney, “Doolittle Records Subpoenaed,”, SacBee, Sept. 28, 2007

http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob1.htm

Placer conservative Agenda,” Larry S. DuBois, Loomis News, April 14, 2006

Erica Werner, Associated Press Writer, “Doolittle defends votes against House ethics bills”, Auburn Journal, Friday, June 8, 2007


Greg Gordon, ”States’ New Laws Help GOP Raise a Voter Challenges, SacBee, Sept. 27, 2007
MICHAEL R. BLOOD - Associated Press Writer, “Bid to change Calif. vote rules stalls,” SacBee
Susan Ferriss - Bee Staff Writer Competing voices in GOP on immigrant laborers, September 7, 2007