Letters: Democrats are 'realists'

Virginia M. Jones

To the Editor:

I would like to make some observations about Rep. (Chuck) Fleischmann’s letter in the July 2 edition of The Oak Ridger.

Rep. Fleischmann said that Democrats “want to put our government in charge of every aspect of our lives, while raising taxes and giving free handouts that encourage people not to work, and now they want to defund and dismantle our police departments.”

It is not Democrats who want to dictate to women and to their families about their family planning. It is not Democrats who forget the hundreds of years of struggle their ancestors had to free themselves from the tyranny of having church and state be intertwined. It is not the Democrats who seek to blur the line between church and state by having a religious statement on public buildings or allowing religious schools to receive state funding.

It is not Democrats who want to take money from workers under the guise of a tax holiday, which would in effect lessen their FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes, which are an investment in retirement and health care, leaving workers with smaller FICA accounts when they retire.

It is not Democrats who vote to take public money and give it to the wealthiest of Americans and corporations in a massive tax break and then try to recoup that money by taking it from funds Americans have paid in taxes to provide for their retirement and health care.

As to free handouts, it is not Democrats who give these to the industries which pollute our air and water.

Democrats do want reform of police departments, meaning smarter and more effective policing. Democrats do not want people languishing in jail, without having received any sentence, just because they cannot pay bail. Democrats do not want prisons run privately by entities which skimp on food, necessary personal items, and which charge exorbitant amounts for inmates to make phone calls, not to mention not getting medical help for some of the people they are charged with looking after.

Something else Rep. Fleischmann said was that ”Democrats have been trying desperately to implement radical policies like the Green New Deal and Medicare-for-All,” claiming that this would “add to our national debt and destroy our democracy as we know it.” It hardly seems radical to want truly clean air and water, nor does it seem radical to want to see less asthma and pulmonary problems because of dirty air. Or to want to see medical costs go down because people are not as sick. Nor does it seem radical to want less mercury and other toxins in water and children who are stunted by drinking this water. As to Medicare for All, how would it destroy our democracy to have a healthier public who are better able to work and rely less on government assistance? Does Rep. Fleischmann understand that people have to turn to public assistance because they have low wages and cannot adequately feed and clothe their families, or that, if they are women, their retirement money is much less than men’s? Does he even know who gets public assistance and why, or does he just have Reagan’s words, “Welfare Queen” in his mind.

This term even tops the current president’s attacks on people who have been dealt a bad hand.

Democrats are realists who want to solve problems.

Virginia M. Jones

Oak Ridge