I have just made a personal donation to the Re-elect President Obama campaign, which, in this economy, I can ill afford. I felt compelled to do so because of the ridiculous assertions made lately by the GOP presidential candidates, the GOP majority in Congress and, most importantly, by the GOP religious right of right.

As a side note, is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the unsuitability of the current GOP candidates to run for president? My theory is that no one of any consequence wants to run against President Obama this time. However, I predict there will be a plethora of suitable and strong GOP presidential candidates who will run for that office in 2016 (one of whom may, or may not, receive my vote).

That said, this latest claim of "our religious freedom being threatened" is the very last straw for me. Here is the GOP right, and right to the right, saying they want less government interference, yet they are hypocritically claiming that a woman's right to decide about anything having to do with herself is, in fact, not her right at all. The GOP knows better than she what can and should be done.

This stance taken on abortion and birth control is a frightening and intrusive invasion of a woman's hard-fought and hard-earned right to privacy and the right to choose. The newest provision of what most everyone calls "Obamacare" (that any religious subsidiary which employs women must provide free birth control) is a basic right for women, not a political issue to bandy about like a basketball. To accuse President Obama of attacking religious freedom because of this is just so frustratingly typical of the kind of issues the GOP is attempting to use to defeat the president. The GOP candidates and Congress are concentrating more on making President Obama a one-term president than the serious and vital issues at hand.

Lest we forget, the day after President Obama was elected, a member of Congress stated that the main goal of the GOP would be to make him a one-term president. To that goal, the Republican controlled Congress has stymied any attempt of the president to move this economy forward, and has, in fact, done nothing of any note to ensure the American people recover from the devastation of a major recession (thanks in large part to their never-referred-to-in-any-conversation President Bush). The GOP candidates and Congress are determined to make President Obama a one-term president, forsaking any necessary and important issues at hand.

Instead, the GOP constantly refers to their shining example, former President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) at every opportunity, which is a huge mistake on their part, given his spending record and his "trickledown economic" policies. President Reagan believed if you made the rich richer, it would always "trickledown" to the middle class.

Well, we know how that works, don't we? The GOP is still fighting for those "Reaganomic" policies (the rich, if encouraged to do so with tax cuts and incentives and lower taxes, will create jobs). Instead, simply stated, we find that big business, for the most part, has sent their manufacturing overseas and are really more concerned for their bottom line (profit) than creating jobs here in the United States. Paying their CEOs an obscene bonus every year also seems to be more important.

Congress refused to acknowledge Warren Buffet and the 15 millionaires appearing before Congress who said "you need to raise my taxes." The GOP candidates and Congress are focused solely on making President Obama a one-term president instead of concentrating on the most pressing and needed issues at hand.

My personal statement is this to the GOP candidates and Congress. Stay away from my Social Security benefits and Medicare benefits. I worked hard for 45 years to receive them in my old age. Get busy and pass laws that will build up our infrastructure and put people to work. Pass some tax laws that are fair to everyone, especially to those making less than $250,000 every year. Don't even think of interfering with any woman's hard-earned right to make decisions regarding her own body.

Every Congress before this one has managed to compromise for the good of their constituents, Democrat or Republican president notwithstanding (mostly Republican since 1980, which should tell you something). Start now, or be prepared to be voted out of office by everyone (Republican, Democrat or Independent) who are tired of your childish, churlish and obscenely obvious goal of making President Obama a one-term president, to the exclusion of any and all unaddressed issues wanted and demanded by the American people, and, this is important, who take the time to actually cast their vote if they're able, without interference or voting laws to the contrary.

Fiona Faria Gressler was the first woman in Patrol on the Long Beach, Calif., Police Department in 1974. She is now retired and living in Rathdrum.