The mantra of the
GOP is that we should have small government, few taxes, support and trust in
the free enterprise, insist upon free markets policing of themselves, “trickle
down” economics, support gun rights and fight any effort to socialize (people
working together for the good of all) our way of life.
Small government
has been confused with efficient and effective government. Their efforts to shut down the legislative
seasons of the Obama Presidency proved their point. Government will be
inefficient if those in government fail to do their jobs. All that they proved was that if you don’t
earn your paycheck, nothing happens.
They were the architects of this inane desert of a legislative season. Many of those who supported these folks are
now the most vocal in criticizing government’s failures. The rank and file of
the G.O.P. fails to realize that they are reaping what they have sown.
The price of
living in a democracy is that you pay taxes for services that the maintenance
of a democracy requires. Highways, the military, health care systems that
protect the health of citizens, money for natural disasters, education, social
security, Medicare, support for those in poverty. We are
the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, who are guaranteed Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Wholeness. Anyone who thinks that there isn’t a
price tag on such a commitment to our citizens is living in a delusional world.
The sad thing is that many who support such a view of the world do live in a
delusional world.
And, then we have
how the tax structure favors the wealthy with loopholes, while those who are
middle and working class have to pay a higher percentage of taxes given their
income. When there is a discussion of changes in the tax structure, those in
power who are supported by special interest groups, favor those in power and special interest groups. That leaves the
likes of many of us without representation.
Free enterprise
and free markets are another delusion that is perpetuated on the average
citizen. Greed is a force in our economy.
Citizens need to be protected from the greedy. The free market is not free;
we have special interest groups, the Federal Reserve that can set interest
rates, print its own money.
The notion of free
enterprise has become abusive over the years. The notion that you can have an
idea and develop and market that idea and make a living with your creation is
fine. If free enterprise were left on
that level things would be great. When
Bernie Madoff or the predatory lenders that created the 2008 recession or the
pharmaceutical industries’ working with Congressional support to flood the
market with opioids, we have another set of circumstances that are self serving
and damaging to our very way of life. Free markets and free enterprise that
support the greedy needs to be guarded against for the welfare of all.
The notion of
“trickle down economics” has been disproven over and again. By giving the wealthy the first cuts and what
is left over trickling down to the masses and “all will benefit” is a canard of
the first order. And yet, the G.O.P.
continues to rehash this myth over an over again as “the truth.” We have Paul
Ryan of the G.O.P. who is heralded as the G.O.P.s fiscal genius regurgitating
this same old party line. Any mention of support of citizens is seen by the
G.O.P. as an a form of socialism and unbecoming of those who have the
initiative to work.
The G.O.P. since
the election of Obama has been a case study in how ignorant, intellectually
lazy American political leadership can be when it holds onto their dogmatic
ways. Their chant was repeal and replace Obama’s ACA for seven years and then,
when given the chance to repeal and replace, had no clue how to implement such
a change. This, alone, is a testimonial
to how depleted the G.O.P. is on its thinking inside or outside of any box.
Their answer to repeal and replace echoes the reoccurring “thinking” of
Trump: “I don’t care what you pass, or
who it hurts, I want something that says we have done something, so I can
continue to be viewed as a winner.” The party of Lincoln has become mired in the
mud of failed political principals and lazy, incompetent political leadership.
The current tax
overhaul is the same song different verse of the A.C.A. brain fog that is
typical of G.O.P. “thinking.” The idea
that we have the most heavily taxed corporations among the G-7 is a lie. When
you take into account all of the ways that corporate taxes can be loophold
away, corporate taxes average 24 percent, which is totally competitive with
other industrialized nations in the G-7.
Then we have how
good it is to cut taxes for the upper one percent to stimulate job
creation. This is another myth. The
working and middle class wage earners are often working at near poverty level
wages, with spotty fringe packages, irregular schedules and with little or no retirement
plan. The idea of cutting tax credits on state and local taxes, or the interest
deduction on mortgages will certainly not help the working and middle class.
The problem now seems to be how to offset the tax breaks for the wealthiest
among? Unless there are such cuts, the
debt will soar by 1.5 trillion dollars over the next decade. There is talk of
cutting safety net provisions like Medicare and Medicate to offset the
anticipated debt increase. The word
hypocrite comes to mind when recalling the G.O.P. mantra of the need for “fiscal
responsibility.”
The gun rights
posse of the G.O.P. responds to the nearly 30,000 gun related deaths each year,
the same way that they dismiss the wounding of nearly 500 and the deaths of 40
in a fifteen minute span of time by the actions of one man and the killing of
20 first graders along with 6 adults at Sandy Hook. Their answer is that nothing can be done. For
them, the Second Amendment supersedes our right to Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Wholeness. These folks have sold their soul to the gun lobbies.
Another inherent
problem that the G.O.P. faces is, who is their right mind would believe
anything that they might say. Who can We, 'the People' trust? Trump routinely lies. The party he “leads” lies. Neither the G.O.P. nor Trump can come up with
legislative solutions that will not hurt the average American and yet, they
trumpet how great their ideas are before they are blown out of the water by
facts.
Governing is not
about “alternative truths” or false perceptions. Governing is about honest, well thought out,
reflective practices that benefit all people.
As our world community becomes more interdependent, such leadership is
becoming more and more essential. This
seems to be something that the G.O.P. and certainly Trump, know nothing about,
or worse yet, even care about.
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