Past six years have shown how inept Republicans are

Editor,

In a letter in Monday's Daily Lobo, Larry H. Crum and Paul Chacho state that liberals believe that "with increased government and enough money, they can fix everything ... as the government grows and legislates more of our life, we the people have less and less to say about our personal freedom." But who is acting in such a manner?

Republicans controlled the House of Representatives, the Senate, the presidency and the courts. The Supreme Court has seven Republicans and two Democrats. Twelve out of 13 circuit courts have a majority of Republicans. There are a total of 156 Republican judges on these courts and 96 Democrats. Republicans had total power for six years, and what actions have they taken in that time that Crum and Chacho consider conservative?

In six years, federal spending has increased by 45 percent, creating the largest deficit in American history. This is increased government.

Our country was sent to a war to find weapons of mass destruction, and not one was found. At the beginning of the war, we were told it would cost $60 billion, but the true cost is more than $2 trillion. Now, we are involved in a civil war and isolated from a majority of the world - nation-building, brought to you by Republicans. This is increased government.

The Bush administration called the Geneva Conventions outdated and quaint. They are the law of the land. Bush is supposed to uphold the Constitution, not torture. The president spies on Americans without a court order - I guess the Fourth Amendment is also outdated and quaint. This is a president who legislates more of our lives.

Corruption is rampant in Washington, D.C., where four members of Congress, two presidential appointees, two congressional staffers, the president's closest political adviser, the vice president's closest adviser, the most important Republican lobbyist and the attorney general have either pled guilty to various charges, been indicted or are under investigation.

Let's not forget Hurricane Katrina, either.

Record deficits, nation-building, corruption and finding fall guys are not part of the liberal ideology.

The inability to accept responsibility for one's actions is now part of the Republican ideology, and Crum and Chacho complain when Republican ineptitude is found in the Daily Lobo.

The majority of people on this campus, city, state, country and world hate this administration's policies, and that is why they react with anger when a letter to the editor is written in support of this president. If the Daily Lobo was nothing more than a Republican mouthpiece, the readers would choose another source of information. There is a large and growing demand for new government, and the Daily Lobo supplies their opinions.

Crum and Chacho do not understand conservative ideology, or they would criticize the policies of this administration when they wrote, and not attack a

newspaper.

Isaac Padilla

UNM student