The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

Reader’s Submission: Today’s GOP too extreme for students

Last week’s reader submission, “Libertarian, Far From Republican” was used to attack me personally instead of continuing a healthy political discussion, which the author claimed he was advocating for. The personal attacks are reflective of the nature of today’s extremist Republican Party, one that has moved so far to the right that it is almost unrecognizable from the Republican Party of only a few decades ago.

A few weeks ago, the College Republicans and their front group Young Americans for Freedom hosted John Stossel. By sponsoring Stossel, the College Republicans endorsed his radical viewpoints, including his opposition to the Americans with Disabilities Act, Social Security and Medicare, and even key parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Can you imagine an America without the Civil Rights Act, an America where Americans of color are treated as second-class citizens again? Well, these were exactly the extreme views Stossel and the College Republicans were discussing at their event. They are advocating for a dangerous and backwards ideology that doesn’t produce economic growth and hurts students, women, and minorities.

Today’s Republican Party likes to hide their extreme and radical views behind the cloak of “freedom” and “liberty”, but the truth is they are advocating for a society that benefits the privileged and ignores the needy. They advocate for lower taxes for the wealthiest millionaires and billionaires while wanting to slash the basic social safety net that helps tens of millions of Americans and struggling families survive. Today’s Republican Party is one that advocates for the rights of the privileged at the expense of those truly in need of help, and that is just wrong.

Here at Marquette University, we are taught just the opposite, and I am proud to say that the College Democrats are proud advocates for civil rights for all Americans — regardless of color — women’s rights and social justice. We know that there is an acceptable role government can play in keeping our air and water clean, educating our youth, and providing a social safety net that reflects our Jesuit values. It is clear that only one party, the Democratic Party, is the true advocate for individual freedom and the rights of all Americans.

Thankfully, we have a chance to fight back against this extremism right here in Wisconsin. Scott Walker is the embodiment of this extremism, slashing health care funding for cancer screenings and mammograms, ending Wisconsin’s equal pay for women law and devastating public education with a $1.6 billion cut in funding, the largest in Wisconsin’s history. Because of these far-right policies, Scott Walker’s Wisconsin is dead last in job creation in the entire country. It is clear that the extreme Republican policies being advocated for by the College Republicans and enacted into law by Scott Walker are simply not working. I ask that you reject this extremism and join me in voting Scott Walker out of office on June 5th.

 

Andrew Suchorski

Junior, College of Arts and Sciences

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