David Brooks argues, in answer to Democrats who frequently ask him why Republicans have become so extreme, that Republicans are not extreme but rather “have a viewpoint” (“What Republicans Think,” column, June 15). He then cogently describes the differences between Democrats and Republicans in how they see the problems we face. What he says, however, has nothing whatsoever to do with what makes Democrats ask him why Republicans have become so extreme. That is caused by Republicans in the House voting to gut the Clean Air Act and the Clean Drinking Water Act, by Republicans attacking women’s right to birth control, by Republicans refusing to pass the normally overwhelmingly bipartisan transportation bill and by the Republicans’ single-minded focus on pushing more and more money to the most wealthy (this is just a partial list). It has been noted by many Republicans that Ronald Reagan would be too liberal for the Republican Party today. There are legitimate differences between Republicans and Democrats about the role of government and how best to move America forward, but those differences have always existed and Democrats have not viewed Republicans as a group as extreme. What we’re dealing with now is altogether different; pretending it’s just a different viewpoint is disingenuous at best and simply wrong. RUSSELL SCHWARTZ
Los Angeles, June 15, 2012 To the Editor: David Brooks keeps coming up with elaborate ways to disguise the takeover of the Republican Party by the megawealthy. If the economic order of the second half of the 20th century is not coming back, it is because of Republican tax cuts to shift more wealth to the wealthy and squeeze the middle class. As for comparisons with Europe’s “cosseted economies,” why cherry-pick basket cases? Some European countries with welfare states relatively much bigger than ours have been doing quite well compared with the rest of the developed world. Look at Scandinavia and Austria. So, no, keeping and “rebalancing” a social and economic model based on public investment and progressive tax rates won’t turn us into Greece or Spain. Though perhaps, looking north in Europe, the lesson is that we should be investing more in our public sector and social supports, not less. PAUL EPSTEIN
New York, June 15, 2012 To the Editor: David Brooks argues that the source of G.O.P. extremism is a conviction that “the government model is obsolete.” The Republicans I know didn’t seem particularly bothered by the model during the 1990s, when a Democratic president occupied the White House, the economy was booming and productivity soared. The context for the current wave of extremism, of course, is the severe recession brought on by the financial crisis of 2008-2009. But the “welfare-state model” wasn’t responsible for the steep downturn. Instead, it was a brand of capitalism that seemed to have run amok — one that allowed investment banks to make risky bets they ultimately lost and that caused nearly everyone to suffer the consequences. In the eyes of many Democrats, Mitt Romney hardly represents “comprehensive systemic change.” He embodies a return to a style of governance that preaches greater efficiency, responsibility and fairness but practices the opposite. That’s what the 2012 election is all about. NIELS AABOE
New York, June 15, 2012
