When we were kids, one of the most demeaning experiences you could go through was “being played.” “Being played” means being fooled, being “chumped,” or someone taking advantage of you. It often involves someone that you trust. It was even worse than people snapping and joking about your mother or family. But those were situations in which you could fire back or respond in kind.
Well, Republican politicians have been playing us for over four decades. Ranging from President Reagan’s contention that giving more to the wealthy would somehow rain benefits down on hundreds of millions of Americans to the Bush administration’s mendacious claims that Iraq possessed nuclear weapons. To our national detriment, Democratic politicians agreed with and supported both of those lies. Republicans still push their reverse Robin Hood economic policies despite its failure to produce results and its denunciation by its architect David Stockman.
I don’t believe that I am going out on a limb when I state that voters of both major parties vote for their candidates based on their ability to fulfill their promises and implement the party’s platform and policies.
During 2022 the Republican Party’s mantra was that inflation was killing the American citizen. They claimed that if elected, they would end the American people’s financial struggles and challenges. Number one on their hit list would be inflation and the end to unnecessary and out-of-control spending. So, when the media asked any Republican what the plan is to address inflation, and other financial issues, Mitch McConnell (the senior Republican in Congress) said, “that is a very good question, and I’ll let you know when we take it back.” That’s just like a job applicant telling a prospective employer to hire me first, and then I’ll get back to you with my resume and qualifications.
In the run-up to the 2022 congressional elections, Republican politicians spent two years telling Americans that we were on the brink of an economic apocalypse. Gas and grocery prices were rising. Housing, cars, and airfare prices raised rapidly. Republicans said it was all due to the Biden administration and Democratic economic policies. They had the plan and were the solution for what ailed us economically. Let’s examine the Republican plan to turn our nation’s economy around.
One of the first things they wanted to do was extend the Trump tax cuts, which would add 3 trillion dollars over ten years to the federal deficit. But, then, add another 240 billion dollars to the deficit if they were to get their way and repeal the mandatory 15 percent tax to ensure the highest-income earners pay at least the same percentage of their income as a teacher, fireman, or military member.
It’s incredible. All of this is being added to the budget by people that don’t want to pay their bills. Of course, politicians enjoy making inaccurate analogies between government spending and a family budget period, but let’s play this game. What would happen if you threatened not to pay your mortgage lender to get concessions from them? You, your family, and your stuff would be on the street.
The “fiscally responsible” Republican Party then proposed eliminating the federal income tax and replacing it with a 30 percent sales tax on purchases. According to William Gale, the RJ and Francis Miller Chair and Federal Economic Policy at the Brookings Institution, if this were enacted, the sales tax would hit approximately 91 percent of household spending. Imagine that 91 percent of the items and services you purchase increase by 30 percent. Your grocery bill just shot up from 300 to 390 dollars. By the way, the average federal tax rate in 2020 was 13.6 percent. You’ll also have to factor in state taxes. Those aren’t going away. So, this part of the plan is a horrible deal for Americans.
The National Rifle Association loves to say, “I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.” But, to coin that phrase, I’d say to Republicans, I’ll give you my Social Security when you pry it from my cold dead hands.
It should not surprise anyone that Republicans are obsessed with slashing, privatizing, or eliminating Social Security and Medicare. As of 2022, 66 million Americans received Social Security. As of 2021, nearly 64 million Americans use Medicare. The National Institute on Retirement Security found that approximately 40 percent of Americans 60 and older rely primarily on Social Security. Social Security is not a government charity. It is a contributory retirement plan established on August 14, 1935, with the Social Security Act.
Republicans have been going after Social Security since its enactment. Recently, attacks have been under the guise of saving it or because of its impact on the federal deficit. Neither is true. Social Security is solvent and able to pay for full benefits until 2035. After that, by law, Social Security cannot add to the federal deficit, and Social Security would still be able to make payments equaling 80 percent of total benefits.
Republicans like Rick Scott have advocated for making programs like Social Security renewable. If this proposal were enacted, Social Security would have to be reauthorized every five years at the whim of politicians. Mike Lee is on the record declaring his objective was “to phase out Social Security, to pull it up by the roots, and get rid of it.” The Republican Study Committee, which includes most House Republicans, released a formal budget that included raising the eligibility ages for Social Security and Medicare and withholding payments for people who retire early.
To top it off, they want to place your retirement fund in the hands of Wall Street robber barons. It does nothing good for your economy if more than 20 million older Americans already living on the precipice are threatened with the prospect of abject poverty. I can’t imagine whose economy is improved by these proposals, but I know 30 million Americans that these changes will destroy.
I don’t want anyone to make the mistake that my words are an attempt to convince anyone to vote for Democrats. That’s a primary reason I avoid promoting Democrats. This piece is instead about millions of Republican voters played by Republican politicians. It’s compounded by the fact that their favorite source of information, Fox, colludes with Republican politicians to promote their manipulative mission.
For Republican politicians, pain is the objective, and power is the drug. If those are two reasons you support the Republican Party, then you should be satisfied with the results of the past four decades. If you’re not part of this group, you’re being played. Republicans’ efforts to dress racism, corruption, and treason up in camouflage have been far too successful. Instead of doing what is probably anathema to many Republicans, changing parties, but you can change the party.
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