LA Times Archives

Arnold Schwarzenegger to Republican Leaders – Stop Being the Party of Right Winged Nuts

Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger looked at his Republican party and decided to write an op-ed column in the Los Angeles Times, begging for his party to go back to the days of Reagan, to forget the right winged nonsense and be more inclusive.

A recent decision by Nathan Fletcher – a Republican State Assemblyman and Republican State Legislator Anthony Adams to leave the Republican party and become Independents, prompted Mr. Schwarzenegger to write his piece.

“In the current climate, the extreme right-wing of the party is targeting anyone who doesn’t meet its strict criteria. Its new and narrow litmus test for party membership doesn’t allow compromise,” Schwarzenegger wrote.

It’s time for the Republicans who are so bent on enforcing conformity to ask themselves a question: What would Ronald Reagan have done? He worked hard to maintain a welcoming, open and diverse Republican Party. He would have been appalled to see Republicans like Fletcher and Adams conclude that they had no other option than to leave the party.

The former California governor called on his party to compromise and he used Reagan as an example. “To succeed, Republicans need to embrace true Reaganism,” he said, “and that means embracing the true Reagan, a brave and independent leader who believed in solutions and compromise.”

And he mentioned other prominent Republicans who worked together for the American people and who believed in compromise like Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

Teddy Roosevelt is still a hero among environmentalists for his conservationist policies. Dwight Eisenhower believed in the value of investing in infrastructure, and we can thank him for our highway system. Nixon, who originally attracted me to the party, nearly passed universal healthcare. He also created the national Environmental Protection Agency, which some modern Republicans want to close down.

Schwarzenegger offered this little piece of advise to the Republican leaders;

It’s time to stop thinking of the Republican Party as an exclusive club where your ideological card is checked at the door, and start thinking about how we can attract more solution-based leaders like Nathan Fletcher and Anthony Adams.

ObamaCare Hater Apologies To President Obama After Cancer Diagnosis

She said she was “pretty mad” at the president for “ObamaCare.” So mad she was, that she changed her registration from Democrat to Independent and “blacked out the top of the “h” on my Obama bumper sticker, so that it read, “Got nope” instead of “got hope.”” But something happened to Mrs. Spike Dolomite Ward, that caused her to write an apology to President Obama in today’s LA Times. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and she now calls the Pre-Existing Condition part of the Health Care plan her savior.

I’ve been saved by the federal government’s Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan, something I had never heard of before needing it. It’s part of President Obama’s healthcare plan, one of the things that has already kicked in, and it guarantees access to insurance for U.S. citizens with preexisting conditions who have been uninsured for at least six months. The application was short, the premiums are affordable, and I have found the people who work in the administration office to be quite compassionate (nothing like the people I have dealt with over the years at other insurance companies.) It’s not perfect, of course, and it still leaves many people in need out in the cold. But it’s a start, and for me it’s been a lifesaver — perhaps literally.

Which brings me to my apology. I was pretty mad at Obama before I learned about this new insurance plan. I had changed my registration from Democrat to Independent, and I had blacked out the top of the “h” on my Obama bumper sticker, so that it read, “Got nope” instead of “got hope.” I felt like he had let down the struggling middle class. My son and I had campaigned for him, but since he took office, we felt he had let us down.

So this is my public apology. I’m sorry I didn’t do enough of my own research to find out what promises the president has made good on. I’m sorry I didn’t realize that he really has stood up for me and my family, and for so many others like us. I’m getting a new bumper sticker to cover the one that says “Got nope.” It will say “ObamaCares.”