WRITE OF CENTER
My Republican heritage goes way back.
My great-grandfather, an immigrant to America in 1870, settled in the Land of Lincoln, the state of Illinois. He saw boundless opportunity, valued his freedom and thrived in his local Republican party.
He loved America and the GOP basic beliefs: individual freedom, economic opportunity for every American, limited government, low taxes and law and order. Three generations later, here I am, entering my 54th year of involvement in Republican politics. My ancestors saw what I see now, a wide-open field to chase our American dream.
But there are some factions in America which object to our conservative GOP positions.
Take law and order, for example. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is tasked with enforcing federal immigration law; actually, they are sworn to do so. The GOP strongly supports secure borders and removing criminal illegal aliens from America.
Yet, at the State of the Union address recently, President Trump asked Congress which members agreed with the statement that their top responsibility is protection of American citizens and not of criminal illegal aliens.
He got a rousing cheer from GOP members of Congress but received catcalls and derision from Democrats.
Among those Democrats are those who want to abolish ICE entirely. In fact, one Democrat congresswoman from Michigan wore a button with a profane reference to ICE. Most Americans see that as shameful, disgusting behavior.
Take government spending, for example. New York City is now run by a newly elected Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani. His first proposed budget is $115 billion, the same as the entire state of Florida. But Florida has three times the population of NYC; not by coincidence, Florida also has a GOP governor and legislature.
But Mamdani has discovered that all his free spending has produced a massive budget deficit. What a surprise. His solution? Tax increases, of course.
He cannot comprehend the need to cut spending, so his answer is always more taxes. He proposes increased income taxes on the top 1% of earners, even though they already pay 50% of all taxes in NYC.
Some states have estate taxes; 12 states have them, and 10 of them have Democrat governors and majorities in both houses of the state legislature. Five states have inheritance taxes. Four are led by Democrat governors. And one of those states, Maryland, has both estate taxes and inheritance taxes.
Our great state of Texas has neither inheritance nor estate taxes and, of course, is run by a GOP governor and GOP majorities in both chambers in Austin. Our great Republican Gov. Greg Abbott once declared “the only good tax is a dead tax.”
Texas is also one of only nine states which has no state income tax; in fact, a prohibition against an income tax is codified in the Texas constitution.
Thanks to our Republican leaders, Texas has long been a low tax, business friendly state. We Texans value our individual freedom, our right to keep what we earn and a growing economy that works for everyone.
To protect our individual freedoms, the GOP is in a constant fight to eliminate worthless, stupid regulations. President Trump’s administration has set to work on this awesome task.
For example, regulators had decided that natural gas stoves are somehow causing environmental problems, and eventually homeowners could only buy electric stoves. This stupid regulation, promoted by unelected bureaucrats, has been killed.
Also, some farm equipment has emissions sensors which will shut down the machine when a problem is detected; a dealer is required to reset the system.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a false alarm, or if the dealer is 100 miles away, the whole harvest operation stops. Trucks, tractors and combines all shut down.
This stupid regulation was just cancelled in the Right to Repair regulations for farmers. These and thousands of other useless regulations are being killed by the Republican Congress and/or the Trump administration.
We, the people, can ensure that these GOP values continue to govern our county and state, by showing up to vote, every time.
My fellow Republicans, if we don’t rule ourselves, someone else will. Let’s get it done and ensure that Kendall County remains an awesome place to live, for us and our descendants.
Scott S. Kramer is former Chairman of the Kendall County Republican Party.
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