Opinion: Former GOP lawmakers back Dem McCann in 4th District

EDITOR'S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not of Ottawa News Network.

We are former Republican members of Congress.

We served over many years, proudly upholding basic Republican principles of fiscal restraint, balanced budgets, free enterprise, a strong defense, individual freedom and accountability, the rule of law, fair trade, strong international alliances, and the highest standards of integrity among elected officials.

Unfortunately, like millions of our fellow Republicans across the country, we are profoundly distressed by the abandonment of these values by the Trump Administration and the direction it has taken our nation.

And we are equally disturbed by the complicity in this retreat from principles by the vast majority of Republican members of the House and Senate.

Under President Trump, our national debt has increased by $11.6 trillion and has now exceeded $40 trillion — an unsustainable financial burden heaped upon our children and grandchildren. Yet the Republican congressional majorities have voted for these budget-busting policies.

The president has advanced crony capitalism rather than true market competition and has had the federal government take equity positions in private corporations while Republicans in Congress remained silent.

After promising to end the war in Ukraine and avoid foreign military entanglements, the president has sided with Russia over Ukraine and initiated a needless war with Iran that has depleted our supply of weapons needed for our own defense and driven up the price of diesel and gasoline.

Republican representatives have failed in their responsibility to decide if and when we go to war.

The president has tried to muzzle the free speech of the media, universities, law firms and individuals, while Republicans in Congress have looked the other way and muzzled themselves.

The administration and the president have repeatedly defied and mocked the courts, and the Department of Justice has pursued vengeance and vendettas against those who have challenged the president while our Republican representatives remain silent.

The president’s irrational and economically foolish tariffs have driven up the prices of 54% of U.S. imports, costing households thousands of dollars. The Republican members of Congress have failed to protect their constituents from this burdensome taxation.

For 75 years, the United States has led the free world and built strong defense and diplomatic alliances with Canada, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia and other countries. Trump has alienated, abandoned, threatened and insulted nearly all of them while cozying up to the dictators in Russia, China and North Korea. Few Republicans have spoken up as we have lost the respect of democracies.

Meanwhile, as average Americans can barely afford to fill their gas tanks or put food on the table, Trump and his family and cronies have enriched themselves by billions selling foreign policy, influence, and pardons. And all the while, hardly a single Republican in Congress has had the courage or character to object to this criminal corruption.

It is not despite the fact that we spent our political careers as Republicans that we level these criticisms against current congressional Republicans, but precisely because we proudly served our party when Republican values and policies were worthy of our loyalty.

We remain patriots who still believe in America and are dedicated to restoring our party’s and our nation’s wisdom and goodness. And we believe that the path to a more righteous future is to take advantage of the midterm elections to remove the Republican congressional majorities, thereby providing a check on the present administration’s incompetence, recklessness and corruption.

In future elections, we will welcome the opportunity to support Republican candidates for public office who demonstrate the integrity, intelligence and knowledge to faithfully support the values of what was once the Grand Old Party.

But this year, we implore our fellow Republicans in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District who share our concerns to vote for Democratic candidate Sean McCann for Congress so he can help block the Trump Administration’s worst policies and send a message to Republican Party leaders and future leaders that, to earn your respect and support, they must restore the party’s once-principled and ethical reputation.

Former Rep. Jim Greenwood, R-Pennsylvania
Former Rep. Claudine Schneider, R-Rhode Island
Former Rep. Chris Shays, R-Connecticut
Former Rep. Peter Smith, R-Vermont
Former Rep. Steve Bartlett, R-Texas
Former Sen. Gordon Humphrey, R-New Hampshire

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