Goodbye GOP

I’ve been a Republican for the first 27 years of my voting life, but I’m disgusted with the direction of the GOP today. What was once a group that represented the principles of small government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise has been infiltrated by an assortment of extremists, fanatics, haters, and obstructionists.

Our economy is going through a painful transition. The tough times of the past 5 years are not just because of another typical down cycle—recovery has been much harder because of fundamental changes in consumer behavior, technological advances enabling businesses to be more efficient, and the need to do less damage to the environment. Healthcare insurance costs for my business, not taxes, have been my biggest worry because, until recently, they’ve escalated dramatically each year.

What we need now is the support of leaders in Washington and Sacramento who will engage actively to support our economy and our people through this transition.

My business is growing and hiring. And even though I receive dozens of resumes for any of these positions, it’s saddening to see the lack of qualified people. And, this is not a complaint that I can’t find programmers versed in the latest hot programming language. It seems even basic, good writing skills are scarce. This is my daily reminder that there is opportunity, but that as a country we are not in a position to take full advantage of it. How do we gear up our population for the opportunities of this century?

There will be much navel gazing as the GOP leadership runs back to its foxholes to figure out what happened on Tuesday. Based on this election’s rhetoric, I fear they will not reach the right conclusions. Let me help you understand why I no longer consider myself a Republican:

• Logical inconsistency: how can the party of small, efficient government intrude on an individual’s most personal decisions?
• Abandonment of key industries: let GM and Chrysler go belly up when in fact they needed some support to come back stronger than ever
• Glass-house residents throwing stones: attacking the loss of some Delphi workers pensions related to the bailout. Wait, what? Now YOU’RE defending unsustainable pensions?
• Stop hiding from problems: Healthcare costs & coverage had become one of my biggest business worries. Why didn’t you do something about it? Wait, Obamneycare originated from a Republican in the first place
• Don’t waste time on unimportant issues: Our immigration problem isn’t about porous borders, it’s that we can’t bring in enough of the right people to fit the work we have
• Stop just saying “no”: engage in active legislation and be willing to compromise. Small effective government is the goal. If you want anarchy, go sign up with the libertarians.
• Dump the freaks: Bachmann, Akin, Palin, Mourdock? You can’t lead if your name is a punchline.

America in 2012 is a different place than it was 20, 30 or 50 years ago. But, one thing that is still true is that we excel at creativity, initiative and enterprise. Our challenges are different, requiring structural adjustments and support. I sincerely believe they can’t be addressed by simply handing us a tax cut and saying “Good luck, go figure something out by yourself.”