Why Not A Republican

District 96 has been a solid republican district for a while now. For a decade or so, this position has been unopposed. There is good reason for this. The people of Northwest Arkansas are mostly good conservative people, and the leftist message typical of the democrat party is rightfully viewed poorly here. The conservative small government, low taxes, personal responsibility rhetoric common to the republican party resonates well with the sensible people of Benton County. So why am I not a republican, and why shouldn't we vote for one? Because they lie, and their message is all marketing with no substance.
The republicans took complete control of the legislature in the last election cycle, with veto proof control in both houses of the legislature.  The republicans had free reign to shrink the government, reduce spending, and cut taxes.  They did not.  Instead, last year they ADDED nearly 900 million dollars in spending. They supported Obamacare by expanding medicaid through the so called "private option."  They INCREASED taxes on everyone by increasing the state sales tax rate.  They claimed to cut taxes by reducing the income tax rate by 1/10th of one percent only for people earning less than $7,000 a year, and eliminating the tax on dividend income above $10,000,000.00.  This gave a tax cut to part time workers that was far less than the sales tax increase imposed on them.  The handful of people earning over 10 million dollars in dividend income got a nice tax cut, but a tax cut for less than .01 percent of the state population is hardly something to brag about.  The vast majority of us are paying more in taxes this year because of the republicans.
Furthermore, they are proposing a constitutional amendment to repeal current term limits. They deceptively worded it to make it appear that it would be setting rather than repealing term limits so that we would be tricked into voting for it this November.  They are also hoping to amend the constitution to make it easier to raise salaries for elected state representatives and senators without having to be held responsible for such actions.  They are deliberately working to increase the power of the government, not shrink it. 
That is why I cannot vote for, much less join, the republican party. They have no integrity, no personal responsibility, and no respect for the people they claim to represent.  I know it is cliché to call any politician a liar now, as we have come to accept it as commonplace. We should NOT accept this. That is why I am a Libertarian.  You may not agree with everything the party stands for, I certainly don't agree with it all, but you can be sure that the vast majority of Libertarians have integrity and mean what they say. There are no party bosses forcing me to vote the party line. The party has not been bought and paid for by special interests. If you're looking for a party that won't lie to you, the Libertarian party is your only option.