Out of the two major parties of our political system, the Republican Party is the only which is completely divorced from reality. Yes I have a liberal bend. But let my conclusion stand by itself after assessing the validity of the following.
Economist Paul Krugman summed up today’s Republican Party like this: “Faith in the inability of government to do anything positive is a central tenet of the conservative creed.” And today’s conservative creed is the government cannot do anything right. Only businesses and corporations can foster successful economic times. Taxes should be kept low and government spending, especially on social welfare programs, should be gutted. Am I wrong? “Government is the problem”, said Ronald Reagan.
But look at any of the state governments dominated by this philosophy. Take Kansas for example, under Republican Governor Sam Brownback. He passed the most extensive tax cuts in State history and combined them with just as impressive spending cuts. He argued that such tax cuts would lead to explosive business growth. Without the State burdening everyone with all of those pesky taxes, private enterprise would lead the way to prosperity! But this has caused the state to lose $700 million dollars in revenue, which will turn their $600 million dollar surplus from before the measures were passed, to a $2.5 billion deficit in 5 years. Kanas’ credit rating was also downgraded from the rating agency Moody’s because of this. But it’s okay, right? Kanas probably created a billion and a half jobs! Kansas actually has added only 7,400 jobs this year in 2014, or a .5% growth rate. Neighboring Missouri, which did not pass the massive tax cuts or draconian spending reductions, added 29,000 jobs. But surely this is just a fluke in the data? There must be conservative redemption elsewhere!
Let’s look at our own state of Wisconsin! Our governor Scott walker passed major spending cuts across the board and pushed huge tax cuts all the same. Wisconsin is now looking at a $1.8 billion deficit. The trickle down elements put into place were guaranteed by Walker to bring to the State 250,000 jobs within his first term. The state has barely pushed 100,000 since that promise was made, meaning Wisconsin is ranked 8 out of 10 in Midwestern job growth, and 33rd nationally. There is not a single state in this nation that has had success pursuing these policies. Austerity does not work.
Republicans at the national level literally don’t get anything done. We have the most unproductive congress by measureable standards in all of our history, even more unproductive than the standards by which Harry Truman called his congress “the do nothing congress”. This is almost entirely to be blamed on the House Republicans. They are the party that guarantees and indeed brags about nothing getting done, and then complain how ineffective Obama and the Democrats are. They bragged about how they were going to stop Obama from doing anything at all costs. Obamacare itself is a conservative idea advocated by just about every major Republican candidate in some way or another until Obama started proposing it.
See, the problem with a conservative dogma dominating government is that these idiots dismantle the vital, economy stimulating services government provides at the cost of showering the wealthy in tax cuts. Our economy is one driven by the middle class and working poor, not the wealthiest 1% of Americans or business owners, who even when facing tax cuts do little in return for job creation. I challenge anyone to find me a single society on this earth now or ever that has instituted the trickle down economic theory pressed by the Republican Party, and that hasn’t reaped disastrous consequences. IT DOES NOT WORK. The Republican Party at its very roots was for curbing the excess of capitalism. The progressive era that brought the minimum wage, the income tax, and a host of other big government interventions was in direct response to the gilded age of America, when business created a huge amount of wealth for just a small segment of the population, to detriment of the working class and the environment. Republican Teddy Roosevelt pushed this progressive agenda. The EPA was created all the same by Republican Richard Nixon, in response to rivers being lit on fire and air quality choking out cities and the natural world being destroyed. Republican Dwight Eisenhower pushed massive government spending to build America’s highways and schools. The key to successful conservative policy in those circumstances rested on moderation and an adherence to the needs of the general public. Republicans use to believe in science, logic, and basic economic tenants that guided us throughout the 20th century; But no longer.
The Republican party of today is the party that is totally oblivious, not just to the history of America and why we have the larger government that we do today, but to its own history as a party that use to stand for the middle class and righteous government activity. To make government function, whether that is reform to lessen burden on businesses, or to simply achieve a public good, a political party has to genuinely believe in the democratic process and ability of government to do things. That is the reality. And today’s Republican Party is completely divorced from it. Someone tell me I’m wrong. If the Democrats ever get to this level of disgusting, ignorant and horribly divisive politics, please slap me.
As AJ Thinks 