Hate, Fear, Money and Exclusion

First and foremost, I want to make this clear. I believe that most people who politically identify themselves as Republicans or conservatives are good, decent people. On this blog, when I refer to Republicans/conservatives who are harming this country, I am talking about a small, but extremely powerful, subset. The good and decent Republicans/conservatives are just as much a victim as the rest of us.

I keep asking myself, how do Republicans perform so well in elections? After all, they seem to be against working people, liberals, environmentalists, pro-choicers, teachers, government employees in general, gays, muslims, atheists and agnostics, hispanics, African-Americans...to name a few. Based on these realities, they should only appeal to 5-10% of the population. Yet, they keep winning elections, even if only by a fraction of a percent, even as the population grows more diverse and "less Republican."

I think the answer lies primarily in 4 words: hate, fear, money, exclusion.

Hate - Everyone doesn't like someone, or someones, to one degree or another. Those of us who have moved past caveman mentality, where tribes survived by warding off other tribes, have joined the 21st century. Those of us who don't, have found a home in the modern conservative movement. The movement understands this base human emotion, and taps into it. The tapping used to be more subtle.

Fear - This is most reprehensible manipulation a responsible political movement can engage in. They use fear of terrorism, fear of death, fear of fear, fear of those "not like us," whatever it takes, to manipulate the voters.

Money - None of the above works without money. The conservative movement has raised tons of money using hate and fear, to make people even more hateful and fearful. They have manipulated laws and court decisions. Can you believe that corporations now have more rights to influence the political process than human beings do? Remember, corporations have limited liability and never die, so they are super-human if they are anything. The Koch brothers, having inherited billions of dollars, are using much of their "found money" to try to shape a world where they are the dominant species and the rest of us are their drones. Don't play their game!

Exclusion - As the population demographics change, this becomes even more vital to the success of the modern conservative movement. In subtle, and not so subtle ways, they are currently trying to dismantle unions and any other liberal-leaning organizations. They are currently proposing laws that will result in disenfranchising many voters, at a great cost, at the same time they claim we have no money.

What is this all about? Remember I told you this. Conservatives in this country envision a place where there is no funding for public schools, no public funding for healthcare, no public funding for ANYTHING except the military and the police. They have a misguided belief that they are trying to return the country to the way it was, when it was never that way!

Ironically, the modern conservative movement is manipulating many, including even those who erroneously refer to themselves as the "Teaparty." They talk about the federal and state budgets being unbalanced, but have no intention of balancing these same budgets. They want to bust the budgets, and are effectively doing so, by cutting taxes to levels unheard of in the developed world. The tax rate as a percentage of GDP is lower in the US than anywhere else in the world in a comparable economy.

Why do they want to bust the budgets? Because then they can throw up their hands and say, with a straight face, that we can't afford to pay for education, or healthcare, or anything except the military and police. It is an evil and insidious plan, and it is working. Remember, when they say they want their country back, when they say they want to return to the way things used to be, they are talking about a country they don't own, and the way they say things used to be, things never were that way.

Since the "liberal social welfare state" was put into place in the US, our real income has increased more than 400% and our life expectancy has increased by 20 years. Do we really want to go back to the way things used to be? When a scratch on your leg was likely to lead to amputation or death, when carpet on your floor was a luxury, when it took a week to drive across the country, not a day and a half, I mean, before velcro?

Shame on them. Don't buy their lies!

IRS to Enforce Ban on Abortion-Related Expenses

Everytime I hear of Republicans/Conservatives doing something extreme that I think there is no way they can top, they go ahead and top it. An incredible piece of legislation, HR3, has been introduced with 221 mostly Republican co-sponsors (actually 212 Republicans and 9 Democrats). The text of the bill can be viewed here:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3ih.pdf

This bill prohibits anyone from claiming an itemized deduction on their income tax return for any medical expenses associated with an abortion, or any insurance premium that includes coverage for an abortion, with the only exceptions being for a pregnancy that is aborted due to "forcible rape," "incest" relating to a minor child, or one that "place(s) the pregnant female in danger of death" as certified by a physician. The bill also prohibits any Federal health program, insurance program or funds from being used for an abortion unless it falls within these exceptions. The language, which is more restrictive than any previous Federal law, is very much a problem. "Forcible" rape excludes any rape that is not forcible, for example, statutory rape, or possibly rape of a woman who has been drugged. So here we go again, a woman can only deduct medical expenses related to abortion if she fights her attacker off forcibly enough. "Incest" relating to a minor child excludes incest relating to an adult with diminished capacity. Pregnancy that "place(s) the female in danger of death" excludes a woman whose pregnancy places her in danger of serious bodily harm.

Can you imagine what it will be like during an IRS audit when the IRS agent requires the person being audited to provide documentation of abortion-related medical expenses to ensure they fall within the narrow range of these exceptions?

What the hell are these people thinking? These are the same people who lie, lie, lie claiming they are in favor of small government and government staying out of our business, yet they want IRS agents to grill people regarding details of their personal medical conditions and the specifics of being raped?

These hypocrites support government so small that it fits in the examination room of every gynecologist in the country. They support government staying out of our business, unless that business is the most private medical decisions many women will ever make in their entire lives. They want to abolish the IRS, but until they do they want to use the IRS to torment women who they think should be punished for their personal sexual behavior.

Don't buy their lies!