To the Editor:
This is a Republican utopia. The President, the Supreme Court and both chambers of Congress are all dominated by Republicans.
In North Carolina, the state General Assembly is controlled by Republicans, who have taken many powers away from Democratic governors since 2011. Republicans gerrymandered our state and federal districts to ensure that those who don’t vote Republican don’t get fair representation.
Gerrymandering causes extremism in our lawmaking bodies. Our system of government is based on compromise, and there is no compromise between left and right extremists who know their seat is safe from the other side and therefore must out-flank competition in the primaries. Gerrymandering undermines democracy, and we deserve better.
Since Republicans splintered Asheville to make sure voters there could not elect a Democrat, the 11th (far west) District has been represented by Republicans Mark Meadows, Madison Cawthorn and Chuck Edwards, and each of them violated ethics rules.
In Macon County, the county commission has been run exclusively by Republicans since 2022, and nearly 70% of those who voted in the last 3 presidential elections here voted for Donald Trump.
What has Republican rule brought us? The obvious answer is high gasoline, fertilizer and diesel prices. Diesel makes all goods not from this area more expensive, and we already had an affordability problem before this self-inflicted wound. The cost of housing continues to increase while wages are stagnant and we lost jobs across the U.S. in the peak of summer. Wall Street, corporations and the billionaires are raking in the dough, while we try to survive paycheck to paycheck. The Republicans’ Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) last summer cut taxes on them (again) and cut Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act for us, leaving millions of Americans uninsured and driving up healthcare costs for all of us.
The BBB also gave ICE free reign to terrorize, abuse and force our Latino and other immigrant neighbors into for-profit prison camps that we pay for, often without due process of law, which is against our constitution. The President has seriously depleted our stockpile of air defense missiles and has severely damaged our alliance system that has protected us for 80 years.
Housing, healthcare, food, gas, insurance, and electricity have all gone up under Republican control, while the President insists that the affordability crisis is a hoax.
Republicans in Congress vote for just about every wacko thing the President asks them to approve, and almost every spending bill he requests. U.S. national debt just hit a record $40 trillion, 28% of it under Trump’s tenure so far. What happened to Republican backbone? I’m sure they will find it again with a Democrat in the White House.
The only thing worse than a two-party system for “We the People” is a one-party system. It leads to arrogance, abuse and corruption. Our needs are no longer considered when one party’s power is deemed safe. We the people are supposed to have the power, not one group or another.
Dan Kowal
Franklin