What The Hell Happened To Republicans?

When I was growing up I was a self-avowed Republican in a very liberal town.  I believed that this meant I was somehow a stronger or more self-sufficient. To be fair, at the time there was actually something to be said about the honor and respect afforded to that time period's Republican party.  They had given the world Reagan and George H.W. Bush, presidents that had won the US enormous respect and admiration internationally, and presidents who were happy to step across party lines from time to time to get work done. The Republicans of the 80s and 90s were fiscally conservative, socially middle ground, and happy to work with other politicians to achieve a better future for the citizens of the United States. Perhaps that's why even today, people seem to give the Republican party such credit and respect, even after their fall from reason.

As a child of the 90s (though born in the late 80s) I grew up hearing about the last decade of Republican leadership and political savvy. I understandably felt great pride, since, as a Republican I was somehow tied to that political success.  For those who aren't aware of the actual time period I'm talking about, or why the late 20th century Republicans are often so glorified nowadays, let me go through the elder Bush's presidency in a few brief notes:

President George Bush (The Good One)

In the 80s and 90s, the US led the world in many ways, such as in many measures of health and wellness, education, engineering, and scientific research. George H.W. Bush, president from 1988-1992, signed the "Air Quality Agreement" act which is more often called the Acid Rain Treaty, and took a stance on human impacts on the environment. He, a Republican president, put the environment first and stated that humans were impacting the air quality dangerously. President Bush worked to protect the US citizens from harm and ecological damage by controlling pollution.The same Republican president banned the import of many guns that were considered 'assault weapons.' That same President George H.W. Bush proposed an increased tax plan and reduced spending budget that would lower the deficit by $500 million, which was shot down by his own party when it was shown that his plan would increase taxes to help pay off the deficit, despite the 'across the line' plan including both Democrat and Republican demands. Bush Sr. also tried to contribute more heavily to space exploration, discussing plans to more heavily explore the moon, as well as explore Mars, and work internationally to try to build a space station called "Freedom".  He signed the Immigration Act, allowing more immigrants into the United States.  He resigned from the NRA, appointed the first openly homosexual federal judge, ordered the incredibly successful Gulf War and openly chose to end the conflict to preserve US lives after only 100 hours. He helped create the NAFTA plan, and Clinton, a Democrat, ensured its passage despite its conservative roots because of the obvious success it would lead to for the United States. He was so respected internationally that he is one of only three US presidents to receive a Knighthoood from Britain (Reagan and Eisenhower were the others). He remains so respected in the United States that Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

President Bush Sr. took actions that, at least in the current political climate, were atypical for a Republican. He focused not solely on taxes, but cared for immigration, environmental policies, gun control, and scientific research and exploration.  Basically, he was a president that gathered up the moderates without alienating his own party, something the current Republican candidate seems incapable of.

Now that I've sufficiently praised former President George H.W. Bush and basically repeated most of his presidential biography in short form, I come to the question that all his good and unifying decisions bring up: What the HELL happened to the Republican party?

I'm no longer a Republican.  I haven't been for the better part of a decade, and I couldn't be happier as a liberal (I am not a Democrat, but I'm more a Democrat than a Republican by far).  Nowadays I struggle to even recognize the Republican party.  They're no longer the party of small government, and they're no longer the party of enforcing religious freedom while respecting the division of church and state.  They aren't really even the 'conservative' party anymore, because conservatism believes in a government that doesn't stick its hands into every aspect of its citizens' lives. Instead, the Republican party has in many ways become a twisted mutation of its former self, seeking more governmental control, and more aggressive, divisive policies.

The modern Republican party doesn't believe in small government.  It believes in a fragmented government, with social services, education, and healthcare being ignored while business, military, and religious involvement in government are favored or increased.  The modern Republican party wants to reduce government size when the government gets in the way of industry profits, but it wants to increase government size when the government gets to intrude on the lives of ordinary citizens. These modern Republicans say that the government shouldn't regulate the economy, shouldn't regulate wall street, and shouldn't regulate air quality controls, or environmental impacts of industry. The modern Republican party doesn't believe in the government's role as a check on the power and wealth of industries.  All of these financial beliefs are lumped together to show the rest of the world that Republicans are for small government.

Thanks to MoveOn.org for a great example!

However, this modern Republican party wants to INCREASE government spending in many ways.  They want to increase the military budget, already bloated to over half the 2012 discretionary spending for the country (Check GPO for more details!). The party that claims government shouldn't regulate its citizens also wants to limit healthcare, pass laws to eliminate and outlaw the ability for homosexual couples to marry, and in many states and even in the rhetoric of the Republican 2012 presidential and vice presidential candidates, this party wishes to limit reproductive rights, and ban many forms of birth control.  This party that avows itself to be 'small government' oriented really just wants to be a larger government with lower taxes (a bit of a nutty desire, given the resultant smaller budget with lowered taxes).  This modern Republican party wants to reduce government involvement in finances, but increase government involvement in American's personal lives. This Republican party is a religiously affiliated group that believes that freedom of religion is the same as religion being free to overrun personal liberties. This Republican party doesn't believe in small government at all:  It just pretends to.

So I ask again, what the hell happened to Republicans?  Somewhere between the Bush presidents, there appears to have been a massive change.  Somewhere between these two presidencies, there was a change in the Republican party that altered the party goals, and methods.  And now, 20 years after the elder Bush left office, we're seeing a republican party that wouldn't have even allowed such a man to run.  We see a party that would have attacked their own party hero, President Ronald Reagan.  Yes, the man reduced the marginal tax rates, but he also introduced separate tax increases every year of his presidency! He didn't claim, as so many Republicans today seem to think, that lower taxes instantly leads to higher investment. He argued that lower marginal tax rates might, and he worked with both Republicans and Democrats to introduce MORE capital gains taxes at a previously unprecedented level. The 'anti-tax' hero of the Republicans wouldn't have made it as a modern Republican, because he wouldn't be anti-taxation enough for the modern party! He would never make it as a modern Republican because he represents what Republicans used to be: The conservative party, not the ultra conservative party. Heck, Reagan even granted amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants! Try passing that as a modern Republican! So, the 'hero' years of Republican presidents both favored greater funding for science and technology, limited guns in some way, helped immigrants into America, and worked with both parties consistently instead of constantly filibustering the opposing party into a stalemate.

I don't doubt that the majority of members of the Republican party mean well, and are quite different from the extremists who get so much attention representing their conservative viewpoints in the media.  I don't doubt that most modern Republicans would happily accept the 'across the line' traditions of their forebears, and  would willingly work as a united front with the Democrats to improve the lives of American citizens in any way possible.  However, that isn't what the modern Republican party is advocating, and that isn't what the modern Republican presidential candidate is advocating.  The party line is not to work with others, but to crush them.  The modern party line isn't to embrace faith privately, but is to force it nationally.  The modern party line isn't to balance the budget, it's to cut taxes without considering or discussing the effects of those cuts.  And the modern party line isn't small government, it's nearly the exact opposite.

That might explain why he looks and speaks
like Emperor Palpatine

When I was a kid, I was proud to consider myself a Republican. I was proud that my family was careful and cautious, and didn't let emotions control decisions without taking a careful, thoughtful look at each policy up for a vote.  Today, I feel quite differently.  Now, the more conservative members of my family don't appeal careful, they appear close-minded.  They oppose gay marriage because they think their religious beliefs should be the law.  They oppose healthcare for all because not everyone has 'earned' it.  They oppose legalized abortions, because a fetus' life somehow supercedes the mother's. Now, it sometimes feels their decisions are controlled by fear and distrust, instead of what they used to be controlled by: logic and patience.  I love my family, but some of the conservative beliefs many espouse truly scare me. I haven't yet found an answer to my original question, so I ask again and hope someone out there might be able to give me an answer:  What the Hell happened to Republicans?


Thank you for taking the time to read.  If you're interested in more political posts or political satire, check out "WWJD: Religion in Politics" or "How to Win a Facebook Political Argument" for  Republicans or Democrats.

-Brian, the Author Guy