Politics as usual: Boring as usual
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The American University Eagle (Washington, DC) Published Letter to the Editor. December 9, 2002. C'mon, let's be real for a change. Over the last several weeks, I have read op-ed after op-ed, letter after letter, arguing whether the Democratic or Republican vision for America is correct. Sadly, however, these pieces have all been written with an erroneous pretext in mind: That the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are different. They aren't. In fact, they are two branches of the Incumbent Party - the ruling elite of America. How do I know this to be true? What if the Democratic Party took the Congress instead of the Republican Party this past month? Spending would have increased, morale would have declined, and civil liberties would have been lost. The same is true now that the Republican Party has taken control of Congress. Now that Republicans control both houses of Congress and the presidency, Americans should brace themselves for an era of skyrocketing federal spending and ballooning budget deficits -- not to mention civil liberties violations that haven't been seen since before the Civil Rights movement's push for equality. Regardless of which major party prevails in any given election, the federal government will continue to grow and Americans' freedoms will continue to shrink. Democrats and Republican politicians love to hoodwink voters into thinking that there is a difference between them, but there isn't. Whoever controls the legislative agenda in Washington has the power to reward their friends, punish their enemies, and generate campaign contributions to keep themselves in power. Republicans and Democrats vote in lock step on almost every major issue. A few examples: The so-called "Patriot Act", which has massively expanded government surveillance powers, passed the House 337-79 and sailed through the Senate 96-1. The federal education bill dubbed the "No Child Left Behind Act," which will nearly double the size of the Department of Education over six years, was approved 381-41 by the House and 87-10 by the Senate. The "Farm Security Act," which contains farm subsidies that will cost the average American family $200 for each of the next 10 years, according to the Heritage Foundation, was approved 291-120 by the House and 58-40 by the Senate. The first-ever $2 trillion-plus federal budget passed both houses with a broad bipartisan majority. According to Cato Institute budget analyst Stephen Moore, the domestic social welfare budget has expanded more rapidly during two years under Bush than six years under President Clinton ($96 billion vs. $51 billion). The congressional resolution authorizing military force in Iraq was approved 296-133 in the House and 77-23 in the Senate. Now that Republicans control both houses of Congress and the presidency, the tax-and-spend Democratic majority of old was replaced with a new borrow-and-spend Republican majority. Newsflash, folks: Wasting your vote is voting for the "lesser" of evils -- when that lesser evil is still, in fact, an evil. Wasting a vote is voting defensively rather than offensively. Wasting a vote is not voting based upon what your personal vision of government and society really is. Wasting a vote is voting for the parties and people who have taken this country to a new low: Democratic and Republican Party politicians. So as you hold on to your wallet from the new tax-and-spend tactics of either Branch of the Incumbent Party, I urge you not to waste your vote by voting your conscience, not your "lesser" evil enemy. Aaron J. Biterman is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and president of the AU College Libertarians. |
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