Spring Break
Letter to the editor
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Ed-Op
Dear Editor,
I would like to ask Ms. Quinones, who wrote a letter last week regarding the Tax Day tea parties, a question - where were these "grassroots" protestors during the greatest increase of national debt in the 20th century? Where were the cries of overreaching government during one of the largest increases in government spending and expansion in our nation's history?
It's a rhetorical question, as I already know the answer - these "freedom fighters" were doing nothing, or more accurately, encouraging these events. How could this contradiction in philosophy exist? Because the presidents who presided over these "indicators of an overreaching government" were none other than conservative legend Ronald Reagan and our good friend George W. Bush. Yes, it's true, check your history books again. Under Reagan, our nation's debt skyrocketed, nearly quadrupling from the time he came into office. But a Democrat who presides over an increase in debt is, of course, deserving of protest.
As for Bush, do I really have to remind Ms. Quinones of his incredible expansions to our government through the Department of Homeland Security, as well as our unprecedented deficit spending, proven violations of Constitutional rights via unauthorized wiretapping, and acts of aggression without provocation overseas? These hardly sound like conservative values, so the fact that the Republican Party remained largely silent and uncritical over the last eight years and certainly during the Reagan administration speaks to their hypocrisy.
The Tax Day tea parties were an insult to our Founding Fathers, who protested true tyranny and taxation without representation. Conservatives were (and still are) thoroughly represented in our government, and it just so happens they are now in the minority. That's not tyranny, that's democracy.
Andrew Aversa
Senior, Music Industry
I would like to ask Ms. Quinones, who wrote a letter last week regarding the Tax Day tea parties, a question - where were these "grassroots" protestors during the greatest increase of national debt in the 20th century? Where were the cries of overreaching government during one of the largest increases in government spending and expansion in our nation's history?
It's a rhetorical question, as I already know the answer - these "freedom fighters" were doing nothing, or more accurately, encouraging these events. How could this contradiction in philosophy exist? Because the presidents who presided over these "indicators of an overreaching government" were none other than conservative legend Ronald Reagan and our good friend George W. Bush. Yes, it's true, check your history books again. Under Reagan, our nation's debt skyrocketed, nearly quadrupling from the time he came into office. But a Democrat who presides over an increase in debt is, of course, deserving of protest.
As for Bush, do I really have to remind Ms. Quinones of his incredible expansions to our government through the Department of Homeland Security, as well as our unprecedented deficit spending, proven violations of Constitutional rights via unauthorized wiretapping, and acts of aggression without provocation overseas? These hardly sound like conservative values, so the fact that the Republican Party remained largely silent and uncritical over the last eight years and certainly during the Reagan administration speaks to their hypocrisy.
The Tax Day tea parties were an insult to our Founding Fathers, who protested true tyranny and taxation without representation. Conservatives were (and still are) thoroughly represented in our government, and it just so happens they are now in the minority. That's not tyranny, that's democracy.
Andrew Aversa
Senior, Music Industry
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