Lyssa Beyer

In Monday’s edition of The Spectator, Jake Johnson made the claim that Democrats were the natural choice for voters in the upcoming elections. Focusing on health care, the war in Iraq and spending are major areas where the Republican Party has gotten it wrong, I will try to address a few of his points a little deeper.

First off, Mr. Johnson praises the Healthy Wisconsin plan that was proposed by Wisconsin Democrats. This program would provide mandatory health insurance coverage for every person who has resided in Wisconsin for over one year, including those who are unemployed. In the first year of implementation, the cost of the program would be $15 billion. This would have been the largest tax increase in the history of Wisconsin had the Republican Assembly not shot it down. It’s ironic that Mr. Johnson later goes on to talk about Democrats as being fiscally responsible. Employees would have to pay up to four percent in payroll taxes and employers would have to pay up to 12 percent of the wages paid to employees. With this plan, Wisconsin would have soon seen employers moving just outside of Wisconsin to avoid these hefty taxes and the unemployed and unproductive workers moving just inside the border to reap the benefits.

The solution to the health care problem is not more state interference, but more competition and less mandates. Currently, it is illegal to buy health insurance across state lines. Wisconsin residents are forced to buy insurance from Wisconsin insurance companies and the mandates the state puts on these companies drives up the cost of coverage. The Republicans have proposed at the state and national level legislation to allow more competition and allow individuals more choices in their coverage. This will truly drive down costs, as opposed to billions of dollars of new taxes proposed by the Democrats.

On the issue of fiscal responsibility, I do not disagree with Mr. Johnson on the fact that the Republicans have not lived up to the standards set by the party. This was one of the main reasons that Republicans did so poorly in the 2006 elections. But the Republican Party has redeemed itself with Sen. John McCain as its candidate. McCain has been a fiscal hawk and has campaigned on fiscal responsibility. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, Sen. Hillary Clinton has secured $296 million for 281 district projects. Sen. Barack Obama in his first two years in office has already received $97 million for 53 projects. McCain’s record on so called “pork barrel” projects – $0 in 22 years. Priceless.

McCain also broke from the party line and opposed the first round of President Bush’s tax cuts because it did not include cuts in spending. McCain will keep the budget in line without raising taxes, as opposed to Democrats who will continue to increase spending – but raise taxes to keep a balanced budget.

Finally, Sen. McCain is committed to winning the war in Iraq. He will not set an arbitrary date for troop withdrawal, as Sens. Clinton and Obama have both promised, but will instead withdraw troops based upon progress in the region. He realizes, however, we may have to have troops stationed in Iraq for possibly 100 years. In this oft quoted “100 years” reference, many fail to mention McCain went on to talk about how long troops have been stationed in Japan and South Korea despite these wars being concluded. Twisting McCain’s words to suggest he wants to continue the war there for 100 years has even been called a “rank falsehood” by a well-renowned nonpartisan fact checking group.

Nobody will deny 4,000 men and women have sacrificed their lives fighting for America in this war, but that by no means justifies leaving the war incomplete and Iraq unstable. To put this number in perspective, in World War II, nearly 7,000 Americans died in less than two months in the Battle of Iwo Jima and over 12,500 died in three months in the battle for Okinawa. It is disheartening to see war, but sometimes this is necessary to secure our country and our freedoms.

Whether it is keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes and spending down or working to solve health care problems, Sen. McCain will continue to fight for the American people in the next four years. This will be the clear choice for voters in the November election.

Hamill is First-Vice Chair of the College Republicans and guest columnist for The Spectator.