JUNE 2024
David Currie
Democrat
Currie & Casper
Dueling
Political
Points
!
Ken Casper
Republican
Why Am I Democrat?
by David Currie
I am excited and appreciative of the opportunity given me by the Christian Reporter News to discuss some of the important political issues of the day in a respectful and thoughtful manner and look forward to the time we will share together.
This first article is supposed to be about “why I am a Democrat.”
I am a Democrat for the simple reason that the current Democratic Party more closely reflects my values as an American, Christian, rancher and businessman. It’s as simple as that.
I actually prefer the word “progressive” to Democrat, as I’m sure that had I been alive in 1900 I would have been a Republican to support the progressive movement of Teddy Roosevelt. There was a time when Republicans were the progressive party in American politics, but that changed long ago. Today the Republican Party is so far right that I do not believe that Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan could win the Republican nomination for president which is another reason I am a Democrat.
I think there are values that have historically made America a great country and these things are supported more strongly by the Democratic Party. Some of these values are:
Support for the first amendment and specifically Religious liberty for all.
Support of public education and a free education for all Americans.
A belief in the worth of all individuals regardless of color or gender or intelligence or class or financial status.
A understanding of the word “balance” as it applies to many areas of life such as protecting the environment as well as helping business be successful; helping people help themselves without making them dependent on government; a balance in the role of regulation vs. economic freedom.
I am a Democrat because I believe that our federal debt is a huge issue for our future and I have studied history and am aware that most of our federal debt came during the three recent presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George Bush. Nearly all current federal debt is because of republican policies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_public_debt
I am a Democrat because again, as I have studied history, it is very obvious that our economy is much stronger during periods of Democratic leadership than it is under Republican “trickle-down” economic policies. Historically the economy does much better when Democrats are in charge. http://the-reaction.blogspot.com/2014/09/economy-does-better-under-democrats-its.html
I am a Democrat because I truly believe in the Doctrine of Sin and that most people will act out of their self-interest to the point of destroying rivers and lakes and property for higher financial gain; working people unfairly, long hours, without (see period of Teddy Roosevelt) fair compensation all because of greed and I could go on and on. There is a proper role for government to play in helping control the abuses of sin and protecting freedom for all.
I am a Democrat because in this modern world, I think there is a huge need for public/private partnerships in many areas: education, business, medicine, research, and many other areas. It is a complicated world and there is a proper role for government to play, in a balanced way, in solving problems, encouraging creativity and entrepreneurship, helping individuals and businesses be more successful.
I am a Democrat because I believe in individual rights and freedom. I believe people have the right to live life with a different value system than me and believe things differently than me about God, religion, family, etc. and that government should protect that right. I do not have the right to try and use the power of government to force my personal convictions on others.
I could write more but this is a first article and I’m sure in the future Ken and I will explore many individual issues/values. I look forward to encouraging you to think for yourselves about what is important to you, your family and America.
One thing I will say. I am not a highly partisan person. I, like many Republicans I know personally and some Republicans in public life I support because they have progressive positions on many issues. One thing I will not engage in is political arguments. I do not have the time or interest in such. May God Bless each of you and your families.
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David R. Currie is the new Tom Green Democratic Chair. David is a native of Paint Rock in Concho County where family came in 1879, and continues to ranch there as well as in the Christoval area where he and his wife Loretta live. Married for over 30 years, they have a blended family of 5 children and 10 grandchildren.
He is a graduate of Howard Payne University and also has masters and doctors degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminiary in Fort Worth where he did his doctoral work on agricultural policy and the Bible and received his degree in Christian Ethics.
He is a former pastor, staff member of the Southern Baptist Christian Life Commission which focuses on ethical issues and religious liberty and retired Executive Director of Texas Baptist Committed. He was also sheep and goat specialist with the Texas Department of Agriculture in the 80's when Jim Hightower was Ag. Commissioner.
David is the author of two books, On the Way and Songs in the Desert as well as hundreds of articles that can be found at www.txbc.org.
He is currently the president of Cornerstone Builders and Angelo Granite Worx, and managing partner of Stonewall Ranches development company. He has served three terms as president of the San Angelo Home Builders Association, served on the Better Business Bureau board, as a board member of Howard Payne University, The Interfaith Alliance, The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and is current Vice-chair of the San Angelo Adult Literacy Council. He and Loretta are members of Southland Baptist Church.
Why Am I Republican?
by Ken Casper
I am a Republican because—
I’m a conservative. I believe we are one nation, under God, that the Ten Commandments sum up immutable precepts by which I can live a good, moral life, pursuing my happiness and allowing others to pursue theirs. The Democrats would take God out of the public square, as well as out of the classroom, the courtroom and the halls of Congress.
I’m a capitalist. I believe I have a right to keep what I earn—and that you have the right to keep what you earn. You don’t have a right to my money or my labor, and I don’t have a right to yours. I believe government should protect equal opportunity, but it cannot guarantee equal outcomes. To do so would reduce everyone to the lowest common denominator. The Democrat Party is the party of redistribution of wealth, of socialism. Yet socialism has never worked. Ever. Anywhere. People flee socialism and communism, but they don’t flee capitalism. The Soviet Union built walls and fences to keep their citizens in. We have to build them to keep aliens out.
I believe securing our borders and stopping illegal immigration is essential to our national sovereignty and absolutely necessary for our security. Democrats are the party of open borders and amnesty.
I believe in a strong national defense, that having a powerful military is crucial to our security and deters those who would try to harm us. The Democrat Party is the party of gutting the military to fund social programs.
I believe the family is the basic unit of a healthy society, that marriage is between one man and one woman; that it takes good parenting, not a village, to raise a child; and that anything that is destructive of the traditional American family undermines our nation’s strength, health and happiness. The Democrat Party is the party of homosexual “marriage.”
I believe it is our solemn duty to protect human life from conception to natural death; that a society that would kill its offspring is doomed to extinction. The Democrats are the party of abortion and euthanasia.
I believe the powers of the federal government should be limited to those enumerated in the Constitution. The Democrat Party is the party of big government with ever expanding growth, power and intrusion into every aspect of our lives, economy and institutions.
I believe judges should interpret the law, not make it; that the Constitution should be interpreted based on its original meaning, not as a “living document” subject to every social fad or cultural whim. Democrats are the party of activist judges who interpret the Constitution to be whatever they deem it to be.
I do not believe man’s activities cause “global warming.” Recent data indicate global temperatures are declining, despite the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. I believe Democrat policies to control carbon emissions will only devastate our economy.
In short, I don’t believe the government is the solution to every social or economic problem. All too often it’s the source of the problem.
I believe the American Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution are inspired documents; that liberty means the freedom to fail, as well as to succeed; that God endowed each and every one of us with intelligence so we can tell the difference between right and wrong; that government is a necessary evil, that it must be constantly monitored and limited; that power corrupts, and governmental power corrupts absolutely; that when power goes up from the people, we have liberty, that when it comes down from the government, we have tyranny.
I do not want to fundamentally change the United States, because I think our country is fundamentally good.
Finally, I believe in American exceptionalism, not because our people are different, but because our system of government is superior to any other. For all its flaws, warts and mistakes, capitalism and a representative Republic have produced more liberty, innovation and prosperity for more people than any other economic or political system in the history of the world.
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Ken Casper was born and raised in New York City a long time ago. He graduated from Fordham University with a degree in Russian Studies and shortly thereafter went into the Air Force. He received Intelligence training at Goodfellow AFB, was assigned to Japan, Vietnam and Germany, after which he returned once more to Goodfellow. Here he met and married his wife, Mary. Three months later he was reassigned to Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nevada.
After another seven years of assignments as a civilian to Camp Pendleton in California and Luke AFB in Arizona, he, his wife and daughter came back to San Angelo, where he headed an Intelligence training branch at Goodfellow. He was subsequently placed in charge of procuring $200M of new technology for the Training Center's new computer-based training system.
He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a Colonel in 1993 and from the Civil Service at Goodfellow in 1997. In 1998 he published his first Harlequin Superromance, A Man Called Jesse. Twenty-four romances followed, including Upstairs at Miss Hattie's and six NASCAR novels. During those years he became good friends with Dr. Pres Darby. In 2011, shortly before Pres's death from ALS, they published a joint novel, Mankillers, a Civil War thriller. Since then, Ken has published three Jason Crow mysteries set in West Texas.
A staunch conservative, Ken was the second president of the San Angelo TEA Party, 2010-2011, and has remained active in local politics ever since.