Why you should vote Republican

Charles Reichley
Published: October 22, 2008

In 2006, a majority of Americans found no reason to reelect Republicans, and they put Democrats in charge in Washington. Despite the disastrous consequences and a nine percent congressional
approval rating, some people are considering voting for Democrats again.

Here are five reasons to vote Republican this time around. 

One: The economy — Republicans are better for your pocketbook.

When Republicans took Congress in 1994, the Dow was at 3800.  In 2006, when Democrats took Congress, the Dow was at 12,500.  After two years of Democrats control, the Dow is well below 10,000. 

When the financial world was failing, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said they had no idea what to do. They waited for the Republican president send them a bill. Obama
said to call if he was needed. McCain suspended his campaign to deal with the crisis.

McCain tried to fix the mortgage problems years ago, but the Democrats blocked him, protecting their buddies who made millions on the mortgage mess. Democrats forced banks to give mortgages to
people who couldn’t afford them.  This drove up the cost of homes for everybody, and then crashed the market, leaving responsible homeowners like you holding the bag.

Two: Oil prices — Democratic policies drove prices up, Republicans brought them down.

In 2006, oil was around $60 a barrel. Two years of Democrats blocking drilling and attacking oil companies drove gas to $4.10 and oil to $147. This killed the economy and drove people out of work. 

Democrats said offshore drilling wouldn’t help. But there were enough Republicans in the Senate to keep Democrats from continuing the drilling ban. Since the ban expired, gas is down to $2.69, and oil
prices are around $70. If we elect Democrats like Mark Warner, who opposes offshore oil drilling, they will reenact the ban and gas prices will soar again. If you don’t want $5 gasoline, vote Republican.

Three: National security — McCain is an experienced veteran, Obama an untested rookie.

Joe Biden says if Obama is elected, “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama,” and “we’re gonna have an international crisis.” Biden has also said Obama was too inexperienced to
be president, and that “The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the- job-training.”

Why vote for Obama when his own running mate guarantees the result will provoke a major crisis?  Vote for McCain, a man who will NOT be tested because nobody will doubt his resolve.

Meanwhile, we have won the Iraq war and our troops will come home victoriously. If Obama had been president, with a few more Democrats like Gerry Connolly and Warner, we would have surrendered Iraq last year, putting the Middle East in turmoil, Iraq in the hands of Iran, and oil prices probably over $200 a barrel. McCain’s “surge” strategy won the war; Obama’s strategy was a failure born of inexperience.

Four: Out-of-control government spending.

Republican-controlled Prince William had a manageable shortfall this year. Connolly-run, Democrat-controlled Fairfax has a $430 million shortfall. Since Democrats took over the state Senate, Virginia has a $2.7 billion shortfall, even after Democrat Mark Warner raised taxes by billions of dollars just a few years ago (after promising not to). McCain is a deficit hawk, while Obama wants to give $800 billion dollars to other countries to “fight global poverty.”

Five: Socialism — Democrats want to give your money to other people.

Our country was founded by people who believed in personal responsibility. But Democrats like Obama believe in “spreading the wealth.” This means taking money from people like you, who work for a
living, and redistributing it to others. Republicans want to spread opportunity, so that you can make yourself wealthy. We need to encourage people to build businesses and employ people, not
discourage them by taking their money away.

Electing McCain, Gilmore, Fimian and Wolf won’t change the balance of power in Washington.  Democrats will still control Congress, but they will be forced to work with Republicans. As bad as things
have been the last two years with Democrats in charge, we shouldn’t give them larger majorities or the White House.

A divided government would be better than government run by Democrats. McCain has proven his bipartisanship, and can bring different ideas to the table and force the Democrats in Congress to work for
all Americans, not just their liberal base. Bringing both sides to the table means a more serious consideration of everyone’s point of view.

Charles Reichley has been a Prince William County resident since 1981. He can be reached at critically .