GOP: Admit your failures

It is time for the Republican Party to admit they have failed. They have failed by nearly every measure.

They have failed everyone who punches a time clock for a living. Idaho's employment slump is longer and deeper than 47 other states. Those who are working are working for lower wages than their counterparts across the nation.

They have failed the business community. In recent legislation Idaho businesses had to seek protection from neighboring state businesses, admitting that they could not compete even with businesses with higher labor costs.

They have failed children. Year after year education is underfunded and they refuse to even consider looking for additional revenue. Test scores indicate our children are doing well in school which can only be credited to the children, parents and teachers since the GOP seems bent on destroying public education.

They have failed young adults. Post secondary education is underfunded saddling students with higher post graduation debt and thrusting them into a job market that forces far too many to move out of this great state to make a living.

They have failed us all morally. They put forth drug dealers, thieves and tax cheats as candidates. The smell of corruption pervades our Tax Commission, the office of the superintendant of public instruction and the governor's office.

They have failed the weakest and most vulnerable among us. Apparently on some bizarre ideological quest they seek to balance the budget on the backs of those least able to even get to the table; forget getting their minimum needs met if they manage to get a seat.

They have failed the centrists of Republican and Independent persuasion. What would Wayne Meyer think of his party today? What must it be like for Tom Trail to go to work every day?

So what do they do on your behalf? They waste time on silly notions like nullification, repealing the 17th Amendment and they can't even get that done. Students may now be able to carry concealed weapons to their underfunded institution. The irony of that must bring a smile to every student. They spend endless hours setting up ways to funnel public money to their favorite lobbyists and campaign donors. If they had any purpose at all beyond destruction, surely they must admit they have failed to achieve it.

JERRY SHRINER

Coeur d'Alene