I'm not saying which party I'm voting for in the presidential election.
I am saying which party I am not voting for.
That would be the Republicans.
I'm against some things they are for, such as:
Further cutting, or eliminating, the safety net that has given us social and economic security for over 50 years;
Continuing and expanding deregulation policies in Wall Street, despite the major crash in 2008 and the recent two billion dollar loss sustained by J. P. Morgan because of risky, ill-advised transactions like those causing the 2008 crisis;
Refusing to even consider revenue increases as part of solving our national budget and debt problems;
And perhaps the topper, signing that goofy Grover Norquist pledge never never to raise taxes for any reason ever ever, in effect leaving their intelligence, independence and their duty to their constituents at the doors to Congress and pledging more allegiance to Grover than to flag and country.
Those are some of the main ones. There is also their Schadenfreude, their wishing so strongly for President Obama to fail that they are blind to opportunities to work with him for the good of the country.
Anybody can wish someone else to fail; it's pretty childish. We expect more of elected officials. But then they did sign that pledge to stop thinking and acting like adults.
So it's realistic and rational to cross them off as the party to vote for in the fall.
But that doesn't give the Democrats a pass when it comes to criticism. I've got my gripes with them, too.
Where's Pat Paulsen when you need him? We could use a candidate to represent grumpy old curmudgeons.
(James Lein is a community columnist for The Minot Daily News)