To the editor:

We need to correct a lopsided view of the Democratic Party from a letter to the editor from last Wednesday’s edition. There are several wild accusations to address.

First and foremost, the Democratic Party supports the Constitution of the United States of America. Democrats gave women the right to vote. Democrats pulled us out of the Great Depression. Millions of Democrats are in the workforce. Democrats created Social Security and Medicare. Democrats sit beside you in church. Democrats have fought and died in war. Democrats are wounded veterans. Democrats will support and defend this country from internal and foreign adversaries as we ALWAYS have.

No one is receiving a penny to “stay at home and draw a check.” Welfare assistance now called the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) is a temporary hunger safety net for the working poor, children, the elderly, and the disabled. Eighty percent of SNAP recipients work. Many have more than one job. Those who are eligible receive a monthly average of $125.51 per person in food assistance. Yet, it’s still believed these people are sending the country into bankruptcy.

President Trump issued the largest tax cut for major corporations and the wealthiest in our country’s history. The Republican “tax reform” package that was supposed to raise wages and spur hiring has instead funded a record stock buyback and dividend spree, benefiting investors and company executives over workers. CEOs gave themselves tremendous salary increases and bonuses while the average worker wages have remained stagnant. The CBO projects the deficit will top a staggering $1 trillion in the next two years, and debt could equal gross domestic product (GDP) within a decade.

House Republicans released a proposal that would balance the budget in nine years — but only by making large cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Programs President Trump vowed not to touch. These programs have nothing to do with the national debt as they will lead you to believe. The GOP continually claims that it’s imperative to make both programs healthier to serve the 62 million people dependent on Social Security and 58.4 million covered by Medicare; the truth is that the Republicans are doing their best to cut the legs out from under both to pay for their enormous tax cuts for the wealthiest 1%. You must tell our congressional leaders to improve these programs rather than deny us the money we paid out of our paychecks into these programs for our retirement.

Another misnomer is that many believe Democrats are on one side of abortion debate and Republicans are on the other side. The truth is abortion isn’t as partisan as politicians make it seem. And the public is not entirely divided along party lines on this issue. There is a large bloc of Republicans who support (34%) abortion rights. There is a smaller, but still sizable, group of Democrats who oppose (22%) abortion rights. The majority of Americans (58%) believe that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including a safe and legal abortion. This issue will never be resolved as long as sex education is not taken seriously in the United States as it is in European countries.

Democrats do not support open borders. We will continue to work toward comprehensive immigration reform that fixes our nation’s broken immigration system, improves border security, prioritizes enforcement, so we are targeting criminals – not families, keeps families together, and strengthens our economy. IRS data, from 2015, shows that the agency received 4.4 million income tax returns from workers who don’t have Social Security numbers, which includes a large number of undocumented immigrants. That year, they paid $23.6 billion in income taxes. Illegal immigrants ARE NOT eligible for many social programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the SNAP program even though they contribute significantly to our economy.

And as far as who God likes best Democrats or Republicans. We are his children and He loves us both equally.

It’s your civic responsibility as an American citizen to vote. The only thing that matters now, is voting on November 6th, 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. Look at the slate of young, enthusiastic Democratic candidates and decide who will lead Alabama morally and ethically into the 21st century. See you at the polls.

Sincerely,

Harriet Hubbard

Chair, Covington County

Democratic Party