Extremes hurt

I grew up in Kansas, that Republican state. Not many Democrats where I'm from. For most of the time before I moved away, the state was run by common-sense, rational people who were very conservative with tax dollars. The "social agenda" just wasn't part of the state's fabric.

Shortly before I moved away, the state Republican party took a hard-right turn. It was taken over by zealots whose first - and only - issue was banning all abortions. For a while it seemed the fiscal and the social conservatives could get along. But that didn't last.

Today I see too many extremes in the Republican party at the state level. From Virginia - where Republicans wanted to allow teachers to carry guns to Utah - where hard edge Republicans voted for a private school voucher law - it just seems everyone on our side of the aisle has lost sight of the "middle."

And they've even lost sight of common sense. Take Utah, for example. From what I've read, their private school voucher program would ENTITLE all parents to have a voucher. Eventually all kids in private school would be state-subsidized. What kind of rational thinking is that?

It's the rational that's been lost.

There is too much emphasis on the social issues, too much emphasis that ALL Republicans should be against funding even basic operations of government. (Even Republicans expect government to maintain roads, law and order, and public schools.)

Government, it seems to me, is the art of compromise. One can't compromise when one won't budge from hardened positions.

I agree in part with Stephen who says the Party left him; he's not sure he left the Party.

What's going on with Republicans?

This is my first blog. I am not the blogging kind of guy. I'm average. Probably sort of middle of the road. (Is it a blog or a Web-log?)

A life-long Republican, too. My father was a Republican, my mother was, too. All my brothers and sisters are Republicans. The old family joke used to be about Aunt Myrtle. We think she was a closet Democrat but she never would confess to it.

I'm not much of an observer of what goes on politically, but I have to wonder what Republicans are doing, not just in Washington, D.C. but in the states.

Through the Internet, I do pop in on current events. Whew. Sometimes I wish I didn't. The state of things in our country just isn't good.

Now I can't blame Republicans alone, though they had power in Washington for a long time. Geez, the Democrats in charge now are bad. too. Republicans, though, still have power in a lot of the state capitols and that's where I read about the laws they pass or regulations or whatnot that really aren't Republican.

I guess it started in Washington where Republicans - when they had power - behaved just like the Democrats and created whole new spending programs. Like the Medicare drug benefit.
Now I'm all for seniors getting the prescriptions they need, but good grief, did anyone really tell us how much that would cost?

Entitlements. We don't need a lot more of those kinds of programs.

Well, since this is my first effort at this, I'll keep it short. Thanks for checking in if you did. Please be understanding. I am a novice at this.

Ken