Ex-Republican

I had been a republican most of my life. My parents are republican, many of the people I looked up to were republican. It made sense to me. Many years ago I was under the assumption that republicans for the most part wanted less government involvement in personal lives, less social programs, and more business for everyone. In the past few years I've noticed not only does this not really apply to the average republican candidate, but it's become the exact opposite. Where I thought mom and pop shops, start up businesses, entrepreneurs, and money minded people were the heart and soul of the republican focus group, it turns out that big business and special interest groups are the bread and butter. It seems at every step the republican party has turned its back on people who wanted to keep their nose clean, work hard, and live a nice comfortable life. I personally don't care about subsidizing the corn industry, sending aid money to countries that hate us and are lying to us, or giving tax breaks to people on Wall Street. However, if it isn't raking in millions of dollars, have to do with another countries affairs, or have some religious spin off the party doesn't seem to care.

Which brings me to my next issue: religion in the government. I'm all for the morals and codes of conduct of being a good people. I understand a system that bases the laws off of good behavior and just acts. But when did being a flaming Christian become a prerequisite for being a republican candidate? I've been listening to the Caucasus for the past couple of months and I'm simply amazed that candidates are being chosen off of their position on abortion and gay marriage. Why the hell do we care about these sort of issues when our economy is in the toilet, we have growing violence around the world (much of it based on religious differences)and at home, massive environmental risks, resource scarcity, and a whole fleet of other issues that seem ten times more important than whether two guys already living together get married legally or a woman chosen not to have a child. Our own republican party is totally fine sending soldiers (and mercenaries) with bullets across the world and pushing people around, why should we care if a to be mom of a child with a potentially horrible life decides to spare that child the pain? It's just beyond me why these issues are making such a huge decision factor in our next president. What happened to the separation of church and state? You don't have to hide religion at all, but why would it be almost the soul reason for choosing a candidate?

Let me state here that I am not some newly converted democrat. Quite the opposite. I've been identifying with Libertairian views. Let me decide what to do with my future and my retirement, let me have a chance to work hard and pay my own bills. Let me move next to a gay couple if I want to. Stop sending my tax dollars overseas and spending it on subsidizing industries that don't need help and really aren't healthy or good for us anyway. Stop giving my tax dollars to people who would rather do drugs, sit on welfare, or just have tons of children rather than work. Stop the social programs, the frivolous spending on unimportant items, and wars we don't need to fight. Stop taxing me when I'm not seeing a dime of my taxes spent on anything in my best interest. I'm already the working poor. I'm the middle middle class. I'm a man who went to school, pays my taxes, works hard, and doesn't spend more than I have. Where is the party who is looking out for me? Because it sure isnt the democrats or the republicans.