Full confession: I’m a raging liberal, and there are a lot of people in my life — both friends and family — who I strongly disagree with when it comes to politics. But I’m okay with that, because almost all of my Republican friends are intelligent, empathetic and hardworking people, and I can see all these qualities in their actions.

But to my Republican friends, it’s because I see the way you live out your values that I cannot understand the disconnect between who you are as people and the people that you vote into office. And so as I write this column, addressed to you, know that it’s genuinely from the perspective of trying to understand that disconnect.

One of the very basic tenets of the Republican party is fiscal conservatism, which is both a valid political stance and a good way to choose who you vote for.

Yet since 1977, our three Republican presidents have increased the national deficit, while the three Democratic presidents have decreased it. Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s very own budget director, said in an interview that the budget deal that was struck in February was “troubling” to him and called it a “big spending budget.” And building a 700 mile wall along our border without Mexico isn’t fiscally conservative either — $25 billion is a lot of money to spend on what even Republicans have called the “least effective method of border control.”

Fiscal conservatism is all fine and good, but right now the GOP is being fiscally… liberal. What makes you actively vote against your own values. 

Some of you vote for the Republican party because you are pro-life. But let’s be clear: you support representatives that make it harder for women to access birth control and teach abstinence-only sex education, both of which increase abortions. The administration you voted into office just made plans to weaken regulations on mercury emissions, which is known to damage the immune systems of babies and fetuses, and your voter base backs healthcare plans that don’t cover prenatal and maternal care.

You cannot say you are pro-life and then vote for people that make it harder to prevent pregnancy or care for fetuses and babies.

To my Republican friends that participate in Dance Marathon or other cancer-fighting organizations: did you know that the Trump administration is taking money away from cancer research and using it to pay for the housing of the immigrant children it forcefully separated from their parents? That is a straight fact. If you voted for people that are moving $260 million from cancer research to pay for the housing of stolen children, you cannot call yourself “For the Kids.”

The Democratic Party isn’t free of flaws, and I’m not trying to persuade you to become a liberal. But your party has become a twisted version of what it once was.

Your party is ignoring the greatest climate crisis we have ever faced, effectively condemning tens of millions of people to displacement and death. Your party is making TODDLERS sit in immigration court. Your party wants to roll back environmental protections and gay rights, make it harder for women to access birth control and maternal healthcare, and is okay with putting sexual predators in office. There is no amount of job growth or tax cuts that makes any of that okay.

You can’t hide behind cries of “fake news” and “but trickle-down economics!”; either you are on the right side of history or you aren’t. The future of the entire world is at stake, and so is your morality. Take a good hard look at what you’re voting for and what that says about you as a person.

And this election, vote for your values, not your party. You are good people who value security, economic responsibility, women’s rights, healthcare for infants and the future of our country. The people running on the Republican ticket are not. 

For the future of your party and your country, vote them out.