House Republicans have no idea what they’re doing in this budget showdown
Republicans are preparing for the budget showdown, and they have no idea what they’re doing or how to do it. As New York Times reported, all they can talk about is what they’re not cutting (social security and Medicare) and have no clue what they can cut instead. That’s because their minds are stuck in their asses. The hard right segment wants to cut health care spending, which will negatively impact middle and lower income people. Their other brilliant idea is to cut food stamps. This merely reinforces that Republicans are pro birth and not pro-life. They want to force women to have babies, but after they arrive, they can starve for all Republicans care.
I have an idea: Why don’t they cut their six-figure salaries? None of them are worth a dime, let alone over 170,000 per year. Cut your salaries, or alternatively, cut your own healthcare. You make enough to pay for it out of pocket unlike the rest of us. This is the problem with so many people in Washington. They never give one thought to the people who put them there; they are ready and willing to cut benefits to the American people in the blink of an eye. It’s time to change things in Washington, and it starts with Republican voters.
According to NYT, Republic voters benefit from these programs more than Democratic voters. It gets worse. According to Ronald Brownstein, who writes for the Atlantic: “The Republican majority in the House of Representatives is now more likely than Democrats to represent districts filled with older and lower-income voters who rely on the social programs that the G.O.P. wants to cut.” Further, nearly 70% of Republican districts have a median income below the national median, and according to Brownstein, “the politics of class have been inverted,” but it is so much more than that. That inversion is, in part, what happened to the Republican party, and yes, Donald Trump had a lot to do with it.
Donald Trump and his ilk is talk out of both sides of their mouths. They pledge not to cut Medicare and social security, but they must find their tax cuts somewhere, which typically involves taking money from those who already have little. As NYT reported, those cuts are not popular with the people, even the people who continue to vote Republican. Republicans will never agree to taxing the rich or corporations. Those segments of the population are their lifeblood, though contrary to Republican opinion, corporations are not people. They are, however, run by people who are fueled by greed and a desire to rule. Republicans cannot seem to find a way out of the mess they’ve created for themselves, and cutting Medicaid and food stamps is not the answer to the budget problem, as it will do little to reduce the ever-growing deficit. Republicans might want to think long and hard before they cut the main means of support for many of their followers. If they succeed in crippling them, the problem of Republican representation will fix itself with extinction.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years