Republicans are subverting our democracy. One of the requirements of a democracy is that its governing be in the hands of periodically elected representatives. But when Republicans are elected, they ignore this obligation and concentrate instead on advancing their party's interests, deliberately obstructing those who are trying to govern as they do.
Another requirement is that a country's citizens have free and unhindered access to voting. But Republicans attempt to disenfranchise those who they think might vote against them.
Insensitivity to democratic values, however, is not all that's behind their actions. Their purposes go deeper. In their legislation, they consistently side with the wealthy and their corporations, refusing, for instance, to abolish tax breaks for an oil industry that is unprecedented in his profitability.
They stand against increasing taxes on the wealthy to fair and reasonable levels. They oppose regulating Wall Street, even though the financial industry frequently acts against the public's interest, disdains accountability and is often mismanaged.
It is not simply that Republicans are deaf to democratic values; they are trying to bring down our democracy. They are trying to replace a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people with a government that is of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and for the wealthy. In place of a democracy, they want to install an oligarchy. They want to put us all under the autocratic rule of a privileged few.
ANTON G. HARDY
East Greenbush