No way to run a democracy

To the Editor,

The drama has ended with the Federal shutdown, but there are some things that are glaringly obvious in the aftermath.

The first thing is that this wasn't a last minute, principled stand by the Republican House members to make a point about the ACA. This was a planned and orchestrated terrorist attack on the United States economy by the Republican House members. It cannot be called anything else. If an outside group had attempted anything like this there would have been a drone strike within the first three days. It amazes me how these right wing Republican extremists act so much like the middle eastern extremists we are still at war with. The Tea Party has become America's Al Qaeda. If they had managed to blow up our economy (go online and look at how many voted to do just that in the last vote taken and see if our representative's name is there), they would have done more damage to this country than any outside group could ever have accomplished. They are a scourge on this country and as citizens you should feel shame if you voted any one of these people into office. They only obstruct. They don't know how to lead and have nothing to offer for the future. Not that long ago they would have been labeled traitors. They should be labeled that today.

If you voted Republican in the last election and you supported the action that the Tea Party launched, you either have no grasp of what the result of this action would have been or you're a fool. There would have been a total worldwide economic collapse. Our currency is the base currency for the entire world. You strip our currency of its value; you devalue our Treasury Bonds. Many other countries, China included, hold trillions of dollars worth of our Treasury Bonds and these Republican fools would have made them worthless. That would have sent shock waves throughout the worldwide economy which would have resulted in a global depression that would have taken decades to recover from. They were trying to rob your children, your grand children, and your great grand children of having any future. So, if you supported this, you're not a patriot. You're an anarchist, a fascist, and a fool.

The second thing is that elections matter. Folks need to recognize when they aren't voting for their own self interest. (This will mean getting your news from some other source than FOX.) The Republican party has wanted to get rid of Social Security since its inception in the thirties and has fought very hard to do just that. If you or a loved one is on SSI or you think that in the future you will need your Social Security, you need to realize that the Republicans are closer than ever to accomplishing their goal. The same story holds true for Medicare and Medicaid. All of our social programs are under attack. The Republicans have made repeated attempts to dismantle or defund these programs and they can see that they have their best opportunity to accomplish that now . If you are registered to vote and you vote Republican, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Shame on you. This also holds true for those of you that don't vote. Register to vote for your own sake at least. Then get informed. READ! Get a paper or go online. Go to the library. (Thank God we still have one.) Read the St. Louis Post dispatch or the New York Times to expand your point of view. When you register you don't have to pick a party. Just register to vote. Then vote for someone that hasn't been bought by big money interests. (Personally, I'd say vote for a Democrat. But, if you want to vote for the Green Party go for it.)

You'll hear the Republicans say that we can't afford Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid. You can spread that over your garden in the spring and get a good crop next fall. More than anything else we have a revenue problem. You can't keep cutting taxes and then act surprised that money's short. The debt has been cut in half over the last five years. That's the fastest decline in the debt in the last fifty years. So, the debt is not the real problem. We're going to have to tax the rich. You can't tell me that they're the job creators. Their wealth has exploded over this economic downturn. If they were really job creators, we would be rolling in well paying jobs right now. The rich don't expand the economy. The middle class set the tone of the economy. If you have a well paid middle class, the economy grows rapidly because of the immense increase in spending. We have to refresh our efforts to grow the middle class. (If you will remember, the President tried to do just that with programs to fix our infrastructure and education. It was something called a jobs program. The House Republicans blocked it.) We also have to remember that Social Security doesn't add anything to the debt. You want to fix Social Security, make every dollar earned subject to the SSI tax. That should include capital gains and everything else. Social Security would be solvent well past the turn of the next century. The current earned income cut off is $100,000. You see my point. How many of you reading this right now make that much? Why shouldn't everyone pay on every dollar earned?

The third thing is that we have been asleep while much mischief has been done. Using gerrymandering, the Republicans have embedded themselves in state and local government as well as the courts. We have to address this in the ballot box. Missouri needs a redistricting committee to eliminate gerrymandering. Republicans and Democrats would be equally represented on the committee, as well as a representative from any other party that gets at least five percent of the vote. Ties could go the Governor to cast the final vote.

All of these things are crystal clear after the last sixteen days. Extortion is no way to run a democracy. If this had gone on to the bitter end, we could have found ourselves in a shooting conflict. Everyone's patience is worn completely through. For all of you that have been standing on the sidelines I have two words: "Get involved." If you don't there will be a tragic change soon.

David Starwalt

Poplar Bluff, Mo.