The pictures, dismissive commentary, rationalizations and policy contradictions (if there really is a policy) surrounding immigration have shown that the RepubliTrump party is morally and ethically bankrupt.
But that’s not really the worst of it. In fact, all of this immigration horror might be a sideshow to what the party really wants to do to the country. And it’s all here.
That’s right, my fellow Americans; the conservative firebrands who have hidden behind the president’s coattails are finally in a position to undo the social safety net programs that have cushioned the middle class, protected the elderly, and given those who were neglected, left behind or just poor a fighting chance to be an integral part of American society.
Forget about the president’s dream of returning to 1984. We’re on our way back to 1884.
The tax cut that was passed last year was the first step. It created a huge budget deficit that the Republicans have no intention of addressing in any other way than with massive cutbacks in government spending to social programs. Combine the Labor and Education Departments? Great. Stop federal spending on research and development? All the better. Eviscerate the EPA? Already being done. And quite effectively, I might add.
The goal, of course, is to restore the government back to the role that conservatives view as the intended place of the federal government according to the Constitution and the debates of the 1780s. They also want to give big business free reign to run their affairs with minimal government oversight. Remember the last time that happened? It was called the Gilded Age and it resulted in the most massive redistribution of wealth and resources the country had ever seen until..today. And welfare was something you received at church.
Welcome to the restart. We’ve already seen regulations being rolled back, voting restrictions being implemented, crackdowns on immigration, Supreme Court decisions that treat corporations like people, and a tax cut that is providing a huge windfall to businesses while making many middle-class earners pay more. The president says that he’ll never make cuts to Medicare and Social Security because those elderly voters elected him, but I can’t really trust that the GOP won’t try something to include those programs in their reorganization.
It is true that there are many programs that need to be pared back or cut. The problem is that the present administration has no nuance. All regulations are job-killers, all people on public assistance are lazy scheming trough-suppers, all immigrants are criminals, all Democrats are unpatriotic. All, all, all.
So get ready for the real work of the conservatives. It will be done as quietly as they can. It’s our job to yell it from the rooftops.
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