(NaturalNews) Today's Republican Party, to put it bluntly, is a joke. The so-called party of conservatism has lost its way, and former Republican congressman Tom Tancredo has decided to part ways and become an Independent, a decision that largely hinges on what he says is rampant and unapologetic corruption by Republicans in constantly pushing the special interest agenda of the pharmaceutical industry.

In a recent op-ed piece for Breitbart, Tancredo bares all on how he and other members of Congress were threatened into supporting massive prescription drug programs under the Bush Administration that represent the very antithesis of what the Republican Party is supposed to represent. These programs, defying the Republican Party platform, greatly expanded the size and reach of government while increasing both spending and debt to massive proportions.

The administration of George W. Bush, he writes, concocted the massive Medicare prescription drug program as a way to buy votes for Republicans, particularly from elderly voters in Florida who tend to swing the deciding vote in one direction or another. The program was recognized as irresponsible and a great financial burden to taxpayers, but the Republicans didn't care; as long as it brought in the votes, it was fair game.

Having served in Congress for 17 years, Tancredo says these and other diversions from the Republican Party platform were, and continue to be, commonplace and are the rule rather than the exception. Now, acting as a type of whistleblower, Tancredo wants the world to know that he's had enough of all of the lies and corruption that have perpetually destroyed this once-great political party.

"I was incredulous about the fact that the most intense lobbying I had ever seen undertaken by our 'leadership' was not an effort to limit government or the dollars it spends; it was to do just the opposite," Tancredo writes, noting that he was routinely threatened by Bush operatives and others whenever he deviated from their corrupt agendas.

The Republican Party is dying because it's no longer truly Republican

Incensed by what he was seeing at the time, Tancredo made numerous efforts to bring all these dark deeds to light and rid his once-beloved party of the snakes and villains that were destroying it from the inside out. However, rather than receive support from his colleagues, Tancredo says he was met with intimidation and resistance.

Just months after the Medicare prescription drug scam was forced down the throats of Tancredo and his colleagues by party higher-ups, he says he received an ominous threat from top Bush operative Karl Rove. Tancredo has been outspoken about the Republican Party's duplicity on open borders and immigration amnesty, two other policies that the Bush White House supported in contradiction to the Republican Party platform.

Rove reportedly told Tancredo "never to darken the door of the White House again" after he came out in criticism of the Bush administration's lax immigration policies prior to the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.

Whether you agree with it or not, the Democratic Party largely holds to its political moors without significant deviation. In contrast, the Republican Party, awash in corruption and doublespeak, has time and time again proven that it no longer has a foundation upon which it relies, and for this reason it shouldn't be trusted by anyone.

"The conservative electorate that elected Republican majorities is tired of capitulation," Tancredo adds in his indictment.

"The conservative majority in the Republican Party wants leaders who will stand and fight, leaders who will be as passionate about advancing an American agenda as President Obama and the Left are at advancing the global socialist agenda."

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com