[Y]ou would think that after the results of this experiment in trickle-down economics, after the results were made painfully clear, that the proponents of this theory might show some humility, might moderate their views a bit. You’d think they’d say, you know what, maybe some rules and regulations are necessary to protect the economy and prevent people from being taken advantage of by insurance companies or credit card companies or mortgage lenders. Maybe, just maybe, at a time of growing debt and widening inequality, we should hold off on giving the wealthiest Americans another round of big tax cuts. Maybe when we know that most of today’s middle-class jobs require more than a high school degree, we shouldn’t gut education, or lay off thousands of teachers, or raise interest rates on college loans, or take away people’s financial aid. But that’s exactly the opposite of what they’ve done. Instead of moderating their views even slightly, the Republicans running Congress right now have doubled down, and proposed a budget so far to the right it makes the Contract with America look like the New Deal…
Listening to the President calling out the draconian Paul Ryan budget passed by the Houses, I had a one-word reaction: FINALLY. After so many tepid responses when presented with an opportunity to call out Republicans, the President responded with a harsh and accurate critique of the Ryan budget.
Honestly, referring to the Ryan budget as “Social Darwinism” isn’t nearly harsh enough, but it’ll have to do for now. It’s a recipe for decline that would further subsidize the 1% while ending any pretense of respecting the social contract. Ryan’s budget represents the fiscal equivalent of an ostrich burying its head in the sand. Not only will many vital social program end altogether or suffer debilitating cuts, the middle class would be required to shoulder a larger burden in order to balance the budget and subsidize the wealthy. Seniors will take a hit, as will the sick and the poor. The only group that will emerge unscathed will be the 1%.
For reasons I can’t fathom, Americans continue supporting Republicans. Amazing what can happen when you can’t be bothered to pay attention, isn’t it? Republicans are hell-bent to engage in the most sweeping social/fiscal engineering in this nation’s history…and most Americans have no idea of what’s being done in their name. This means, of course, that Americans will continue to vote against their own interests even as they whine and complain about Congressional ineptitude.
America is historically NOT a dog-eat-dog, every-man-for-himself Darwinian environment. Americans and their government have generally respected the social contract and consented to government as an agent for social change and assisting those in legitimate need. When did we become a country in which we have plenty of money to wage war but not nearly enough to care for Americans in need here at home? When did Ayn Rand’s Objectivism become our driving philosophy? Thinning out the herd has never been an American value, but it seems to be what’s driving today’s GOP.
The President’s harsh, spot-on rejection of Republican radicalism is a message that Americans need to hear. People need to understand what they can expect if they elect Republicans. Republicans won’t fix the economy, and they feel no compulsion to care for their fellow Americans. The President is right; the Ryan budget is a prescription for decline- a decline that they would undoubtedly find a way to blame him for.
When did “I got mine; you can damned well get your own” become part of the American ethos?
WE DESERVE BETTER.
