Dear Republican National Committee,
Re: Your letter of June 12.
I just wanted to let you know you are the recipient of some bad information.
I am not, nor have I ever been, a registered Republican voter. And, I don't plan on ever being.
Perhaps you were "punk'd?"
Don't get me wrong. I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor do I plan on being, a member of the Democratic Party, either.
My mom and I were just talking about how we are so glad a person doesn't have to register a party affiliation in Arkansas. We don't like any of the parties.
You probably don't care about that -- although you should. So, back to your letter that asked me to give you money for two things: financial support for the party's candidates in the fall election and help paying the bills at the RNC office.
Yeah, well, that ain't happening. And you can tell your friends over at the Democratic National Committee I'm not helping them either, so save the postage.
By the looks of this letter, it cost several dollars to send, if you add up the salary of the person who wrote it; the salary of the person who saw that it was printed; the salary of the person who collected addresses (by the way, I'd fire that person); the salaries of the people who ran the folder and inserter and enveloper sealer. And don't forget the salary of the person who made sure all these letters got to the Post Office.
I am making the wild assumption that whoever printed it for you included the costs of paper and ink in the price they charged you. If not, add that to the cost.
It was darned nice, however, of you to support the Postal Service, even if you wasted money sending a letter to me.
I think you made a wild assumption that I was a registered Republican based on the fact that my voting record shows a lot of ballots cast for Republicans. Well, that is how it is in Benton County -- vote Republican or don't vote in local races. In congressional races, I vote Republican quite often just because there is no one else running, or the opposition is not worth the time it takes me to press the button beside his name.
As for state and national races, I consider the person, not the party. I don't care about the "R" or the "D" after a candidate's name. A lot of other people would be better off to do that. Heck, the country would be better off if they didn't vote for just anyone because he was a Republican or a Democrat.
Nonpartisan elections work at the local level. I am hard pressed to see why they wouldn't work at the national and state levels.
But back to your request for some of my hard-earned cash. Why would I send money to an organization that supports a percentage of the jolly jokers in Congress? They have accomplished squat the last several years, and there is no real hope of them accomplishing anything in the future. What they have done has, generally, been an embarrassment to the country.
I am amused by the theory the letter puts forth that sending the RNC money would help restore "financial sanity" to Washington. I find that doubtful, but I know it would further destroy what little financial sanity I have here in Rogers, Ark.
Originally, I was going to tell you not to contact me again. I'll tell you what, you (and the Democrats) can contact me again when you accomplish the following things:
• Create an affordable health care system for everyone that is not a political football for the other side, no matter who the other side is.
• Create a government in which "equal rights" really means "equal rights" and not "equal rights for whoever we want to have equal rights."
• Provide our seniors with a safe, sane, comfortable retirement where they don't have to be door greeters unless they want to be door greeters.
• Figure out how to balance the budget without cutting services people need or the protection our country requires.
There are a lot of other things that need to be done, but I will settle for these four at the outset. After all, we don't want to tax those great minds in D.C.
In the meantime, please quit wasting money by sending me mail.
Instead, donate it to a good cause, not a political cause.
Commentary on 06/19/2014