If people don’t think Barack Obama did enough in his first term, they shouldn’t send angry letters to him, but to Republican lawmakers instead.

What can the president do when from the outset members of the other party declare that confining him to a single term is their No. 1 priority (Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell) and that they reject the very word “compromise” (Speaker of the House John Boehner).

How can democracy function in such an environment?

It would be excusable if the GOP’s opposition was one of principle, but it’s not. For instance:

* The national debt. Republicans didn’t give two hoots about it when Presidents Nixon, Reagan and both Bushes ran up big deficits spending their way out of recessions. President Eisenhower’s investment in our infrastructure created the middle class as we know it.

Why are Republicans now so determined to prevent President Obama from doing the same to create jobs and rally the economy? If the GOP really cares about the debt, why does it want to deepen it with more tax cuts? It literally doesn’t add up.

* Obamacare a socialist plot. It’s a Republican plan, hatched by that most right-wing of right-wing think tanks, the Heritage Foundation. It’s virtually the same plan Mitt Romney instituted in Massachusetts. Now, suddenly, it’s an affront to liberty. Huh?

* Judicial activism. Republicans used to hate it; now it’s their favorite toy. Why?

I’ve been a Republican for decades, so it pains me to write this, but since 2008 the GOP has done little but throw one kicking, howling, tantrum.

Do people really want to reward this behavior? I don’t. This November, let’s give them the time-out they deserve. And if they hold their breath until they pass out, let’s not bother to resuscitate.

Keith Vallencourt

Gardiner

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