Editor,

The dog and pony shows are over. So, what did we learn? The Democrats support the Black Lives Matter group, which has the goal of dividing the nation. They don’t care about black lives. More blacks are killed every day in Chicago than are killed by police in a year. The Republicans support law and order and police lives. Without police, there’s chaos.

The Democrats want to make college free. The Republicans say that there is no such thing as “free.” Taxes will go up to pay for such a proposal. There are many students that should not go to college. They should attend technical schools to learn a trade, which, by the way, pays more than many college graduates get.

It would be great to raise the minimum wage as the Democrats want, but . . . many jobs will be lost as small businesses have to cut back in order to make a profit. In Seattle, the number of jobs has decreased and the number of unemployed is higher. The Republicans want to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., which pays a lot more.

The bleeding heart Democrats want to bring 60,000 Syrian refugees into this country without vetting them. The Republicans want this invasion halted until we can vet all refugees so that America will not turn out like Europe with the terrorist attacks and crimes.

Let’s just do away with the southern border so that America can be an extension of Mexico. Yep, that’s what the Democrats want to do. Bring them all in — criminals and drug dealers. You already know what the Republican want to do — protect American citizens, their jobs and medical care.

There are over 300 million guns in this country and only 33,646 deaths by firearms (latest available report — 2013). But 21,175 of those deaths, or 60 percent, were suicides, 6 percent were gang related and 4 percent were accidents. The Republicans claim that guns were used 2.5 million times a year by law-abiding citizens to defend themselves against criminals every year—about 6,850 times a day. So, tell me how gun control will keep guns out the hands of criminals and suspected terrorists.

The differences go on, but it was clear that the litany of policy promises by the Democrats were bound to please nearly every Democratic constituency and interest group not the average citizen, while the Republicans see the world as it is. Republicans realize that we need jobs, not hand-outs; security not open borders; and medical coverage without bankruptcy.

Rose colored glasses are not going to make our country great. Vote for your safety and pocketbook.


Len Calderone
Midway