I am a 72-year-old Anglo-American woman who has primarily worked all my life in either county government or the nonprofit world. These words are written for future generations so that they might benefit from the amazing wealth our country has always managed to bring to the world.

My immediate family and I are shocked at what we see happening in our country. We are disgusted by this new president and the Republican Party and how they are trying to dismantle the safety net of benefits we have enjoyed.

Let’s get to the point about the 2018 U.S.A. elections, of which we have recently had a preview. First, Republican candidates won decisively the special elections that were held in June for open congressional positions. Also, Republicans are running on positions that hurt the majority of Americans.

The Republican agenda is about two primary issues, neither of which they publicize. The things that the Republicans are trying to do are:

• Give tax credits to the wealthy “to help stimulate the economy” or create more jobs. But, this “trickle down” theory was debunked decades ago not long after President Reagan created it.

• Deal with the growing numbers of people of color who will soon be majority of the citizens of this country.

The actions the Republicans are taking are designed to deal with those two issues. They have already done it with their attempts at revising Obamacare. First, they are trying to create tax breaks for the rich. Also, they have suppressed the votes of people in those states where they have control of the governor and legislature. They have purged hundreds of thousands of people of color, primarily, from the voter rolls.

The Democratic Party works much better at serving the people of this country. They are the ones who created Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare, saving millions from the streets and premature death. The Republicans are committed to repealing and replacing Obamacare. In doing so, they are trying to give those tax breaks to the rich and make Medicaid less available to the poor and disabled.

Rob from the poor and give to the rich. That should be the Republican mantra. That’s exactly what they are trying to do with the Obamacare “replacement”.

It’s too bad the Republicans didn’t pay any attention to what Governor Jerry Brown did here in California. With a Democratically dominated Legislature, he taxed the rich a little more, balanced the state’s budget, and has pledged to fight the president and the Republican Party at every step so that California residents are not damaged by this current national political climate.

Today, California is in the best financial shape it has been in decades. Yes, we had our brush with a Trump-like character as our head of government — Arnold Schwarzenegger. We got rid of him for Brown and have never looked back.

It’s time for the U.S.A. to do the same. But, this time, we need to get rid of the Republicans, too.

We don’t want more:

• Voter suppression

• Tax credits for the rich

• Student loan debt

• Ultra-conservative judicial appointments

• Charter schools that are not held accountable to the U.S. Dept of Education

• Ignorance of climate change

We want:

• A better than Obama-type government stimulus

• Increased taxes on the rich to secure Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare

• A women’s right to choice for her health-care needs

• A 21st-century jobs program for the unemployed and underemployed

• Improved infrastructure

• True attention paid to Russian hacking of our elections

• Attention to and protection of minority groups, e.g. African-Americans, Latinos, Indigenous People, Muslim Americans

• Environmental Protection Agency that respects and plans for climate change

• Working with the international community to protect from radical extremists

This next election is critically important for future generations. Help us to elect officials who will commit to keep Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare solid far into the future. We want everyone to benefit from them!

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