I found a way to stop those incessant RNC fund raising letters

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I found a way to stop those incessant RNC fund raising letters

Posted: 10/27/2005 9:45:32 AM EDT

I found this in my files. One day I got tired of all the letters the Republican National Committee kept sending me pleading for cash. I think what motivated me to finally respond was a letter with a headline in big bold print "Are you abandoning the Republican Party?". Here's what I wrote them. It's been two years, and I never received another letter from the RNC. Feel free to give a try.

April 22, 2003

Mike Retzer
RNC Treasurer
310 First Street, SE
Washington DC 20003

Dear Mr. Retzer:

For the first time in my life, I am responding to a fund-raising letter sent by the Republican National Committee. My answer is yes. Yes, I am abandoning the Republican Party and I thought I’d tell you why.

The Republican party no longer represents my views, if in fact it ever did. Your plea to maintain the narrow majority in Congress means nothing to me. It matters not which party controls Congress or even the White House, as the Republicans are hardly any different that the Democrats. It’s been said that the only difference is that Republicans are the party of big government, and the Democrats are the party of bigger government.

You claim your agenda of “lower taxes, a strong defense and a real solution for Social Security and Medicare” is right for America, but that’s just a facade. Perhaps if you actually implemented your agenda you’d have support from people like me. Let’s analyze each part of your message and see where you fall short.

1. Lower taxes. President Bush’s alleged $1.6 trillion tax cut was a joke. It cuts top tax brackets a whopping ½ percent per year for a few years. Big deal. It ultimately takes NINE YEARS to fully implement anyway! Ronald Reagan cut the top rate from 70% to 28% in a year, and you expect me to applaud ½%? Besides, a platform of lower taxes doesn’t gain you new voters when fully half the people in this country don’t pay income tax due to all the exemptions, deductions and tax credits out there, and in fact, the bottom 20% or so not only don’t pay tax, they get free money from our tax code. How can you lower these people’s tax rates below zero? No wonder they vote for Democrats, who promise to steal from the productive part of society to give these handouts to the poor and undeserving.

Your tax cuts are a sham. What good does it do to reduce the tax brackets when you are doing nothing to fix the AMT problem? The huge increase in people subject to AMT in the next five years will more than offset any decrease in marginal tax rates. Only a hypocrite, liar or a Republican would say that if my regular tax liability drops by $5000, but now I have to pay $5000 in AMT that my taxes are lower.

You want a fair tax code? Eliminate all credits, deductions and progressive tax rates. Set the rate at a flat 8% and require withholding from all wages, dividends and interest. You could eliminate tax return filing requirements for over half the population, allowing for huge reductions in the cost and size of the IRS. What if the government can’t live on 8%? Too bad - cut programs and departments and bureaucrats until it can.

2. Strong defense. Let’s see - how would a Republican define having a strong defense? Does it mean giving the Defense Department even more money when they can’t even account for more than a TRILLION dollars over the past few years? How about forcing planes, ships or weapons systems on the military when they don’t want them because it would benefit the home district of a powerful Senator? Or perhaps you mean the rude, pushy and demanding security people at our airports? I’m certain it doesn’t mean securing our borders, since thousands of illegal invaders enter our country each week with no opposition from the government.

In fact, I doubt Republicans are interested in my defense at all. Maybe the defense of the Federal government, at my expense, but not my own. After all, how many laws have you passed that prevent me from defending myself? Congressmen have their own armed security details, but the poor saps who live in Washington DC aren’t even allowed to own a gun. In the states where that right hasn’t been completely infringed yet, we are subject to licensing, fingerprinting, registration and taxes on the means to our own defense. The FBI illegally maintains a list of gun owners for “auditing purposes” thanks to the Brady Act. The BATF has been illegally compiling a list of gun owners for years, but has any Republican tried to stop this? Obviously not.

Perhaps by a strong defense you mean an ever increasing budget for the military so they can meddle in the affairs of other countries at the whim of politicians. It’s not our role to be policeman for the world, let the third world solve their own problems. We shouldn’t have troops in Europe, Japan or South Korea. Let them fend for themselves and maybe one day they will realize the scope of their ingratitude.

Ultimately, Republicans want a strong defense for their political system, their cronies and other power brokers, but you want me to pay for it. Much like President Bush and the pretzel, I choke on your notion of a strong defense.

3. A real solution for Social Security and Medicare. You’ve got to be kidding, right? Your plans to add horrendously expensive drug coverage to Medicare, the attempts to give Mexican nationals who worked here illegally retirement benefits, the ever increasing wage base for Social Security taxes - these are solutions? How about your continuing theft of surplus Social Security and Medicare funds to cover your budget deficits? The best of all, I think, is your continuation of the big lie that a “trust fund” exists for social security benefits. Any Republican who actually, truly thinks that there is indeed some money set aside for future benefits is simply too stupid to be making laws for the rest of us. All the others, like you, are well aware that the government has spent every penny in excess social security taxes, and that once benefits exceed collected taxes the difference must be made up from general revenues or more borrowing, but you lack the honesty and courage to come right out and say it.

I know, I know - honesty about our present financial situation is political suicide, so the best you can hope for is that it doesn’t fall apart during your administration. If you really wanted my support you’d have the President go on TV and announce that he’s eliminated $3.5 Trillion in government debt overnight, because intra-governmental debt holdings are a sham. Have him announce that the only reason old people get Social Security benefits is because young people pay payroll taxes, and this big “trust fund” or “lock box” for prior taxes was just a lie started by Democrats, and Republicans just didn’t have the backbone to come clean about it until now. I know it won’t happen - honesty just won’t fly with politicians.

How about pushing for real reforms? Try securing our borders, and quickly deporting illegal aliens instead of putting them on welfare and hope they vote for you. Repeal all firearms laws back to and including the National Firearms Act of 1934. Eliminate or severely restrict asset forfeiture laws. Evict the United Nations from our country and withdraw from their socialist membership. Reign in the EPA and the Endangered Species Act. Eliminate all drug laws, or at least be consistent and ban alcohol and tobacco as well. Terminate Social Security and let people save for their own retirements. Stop imposing unfunded mandates on states. Eliminate the franking privileges of Congress, then privatize the Post Office. Let law abiding citizens and pilots carry weapons onto airplanes. Pull our troops out of the forty or so countries they are stationed in, and stop giving taxpayer dollars to other countries in the hope that one day they might like us. If I feel like helping poor people in Zimbabwe, I’ll send them a check.

Since it would be beyond you to implement a fair tax system, how about eliminating the Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credit, excising the evil AMT forever and setting up two tax brackets - 5% for the “poor” and 15% for the “rich.” You could then argue that you are making the “rich” pay three times what the poor people do, then classify as rich anyone making more than $50,000 per year. Yes, the “poor” would scream, but who cares - they won’t vote for you anyway, right? If I feel like helping poor people in the United States, I’ll send them a check.

So, as you can see, I can’t possibly be a Republican. I think both Democrats and Republicans share a genetic flaw that compels them to meddle in the affairs of others for the purpose of gaining power. Even more than that, I truly hope the Republican party loses every election for years to come. You are no different from Democrats, but at least they willingly admit their desire to pillage and plunder the productive in order to pander to the poor and the ignorant.

Sincerely,
tax_monster
Non-Republican

p.s. Again, I truly hope the Republicans lose EVERY election until you embrace a small, limited and constitutional government. Until then, you’re just Democrats in better suits.

I had forgotten it, but apparently this is where my tagline here came from. I guess I'd better put my flame suit on before the Republicans-can-do-no-wrong worshippers respond.

Posted: 10/27/2005 9:53:34 AM EDT

[#1]

Interesting. I'm closely related to someone involved in a case regarding the AMT problem and it does piss me off that the best you can get out of the IRS is "even we don't fully understand the tax code".

Posted: 10/27/2005 10:07:47 AM EDT

[#2]

[golf clap]Bravo![/golf clap]

Posted: 10/27/2005 10:17:00 AM EDT

[#3]

Wowsers! Don't hold your breath waiting for a reply though

Posted: 10/27/2005 10:30:05 AM EDT

[#4]

Stop sugar coating it and tell them how you really feel.

Posted: 10/27/2005 10:30:59 AM EDT

[#5]

Have to admit I enjoyed your letter :-D

Posted: 10/27/2005 10:46:14 AM EDT

[#6]

We should all take a leason from your letter. Obviously you put an great deal of time, thought, and effort writting it.

I will be copying it with your approval, and modifying it slightly to fit to the current day
situation(s).

Then will be sending it to my representatives.

Thanks,

Posted: 10/27/2005 5:58:14 PM EDT

[#7]

Feel free to use it any way you'd like.

Posted: 11/7/2005 12:23:06 AM EDT

[#8]

Bump for the sole, selfish purpose of increasing my post count.

Posted: 11/7/2005 12:25:46 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Bump for the sole, selfish purpose of increasing my post count.

Only 1800 ya aint trying

Posted: 11/7/2005 12:37:31 AM EDT

[#10]

well written, thanks for sharing that.

Posted: 11/7/2005 12:40:34 AM EDT

[#11]

Well Written!

That expresses so much of what I've come to feel myself.

By the way, what party, if any, do you now consider yourself affiliated with?
Do you listen to Michael Savage?

Posted: 11/7/2005 1:05:15 AM EDT

[#12]

Call me stupid, but whats AMT?

Posted: 11/7/2005 1:09:38 AM EDT

[#13]

Alternative Minimum Tax, STUPID.

Posted: 11/7/2005 1:15:23 AM EDT

[#14]

Great read, thanks tax_monster!

Posted: 11/7/2005 2:09:39 AM EDT

[#15]

That about sums it up for me. Very nice!

You'll get bashed by the Republican Kool-Aid drinkers. I am REALLY close to changing my party. Were it not for their immigration policy, I'd be a Libertarian. The fact that most of them are unelectable on a national level doesn't help either. Still, I've about had it with the whole Republican vs Democrat thing. As far as I'm concerned, there's about a dime's worth of difference between them.

Posted: 11/7/2005 2:32:43 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
Call me stupid, but whats AMT?

AMT is a way of sticking you for "your fair share" of taxes even if you've taken legal advantage of tax shelters, deductions, etc.

Posted: 11/7/2005 2:35:32 AM EDT

[#17]

Yay!

Posted: 11/7/2005 3:26:58 AM EDT

[#18]

I think they tossed it after they read "YES".

The Republicans have gone crazy. This is not the party of Reagan. This is big government. Sure we are fighting a war, but that is no excuse for corporate welfare and government waste.

The Republican pleas for money disguised as surveys are ridiculous. If the questions contained therein reflect the type of person they are looking for, it is not me.

Posted: 11/7/2005 3:31:15 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
...Pull our troops out of the forty or so countries they are stationed in...

I didn't know they still made isolationists.

Posted: 11/7/2005 8:40:32 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Quoted:
...Pull our troops out of the forty or so countries they are stationed in...

I didn't know they still made isolationists.

We have enough problems at home. We shouldn't have troops in other countries unless they are actively shooting people. Once the shooting stops, bring them home.

Posted: 11/7/2005 8:41:24 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Bump for the sole, selfish purpose of increasing my post count.

Only 1800 ya aint trying

I lack your evil clown powers and cannot hope to reach your level.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I found a way to stop those incessant RNC fund raising letters

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