This just in: I thought I would take a look at several key issues and try to see if it looks like “money” is the root cause of certain behaviors, politically.
Stricter gun regulation: This is favored by 66% of Americans. The Democrat party routinely favors this and takes virtually no money from the NRA. The Republican party routinely opposes this and takes millions of dollars from the NRA. My position: The number of guns we have differentiates us from other countries that have virtually no gun deaths.
Obamacare or Single Payer healthcare: This is favored by a slim majority. Notable is the fact that nearly half of Americans don’t understand these options. The Democrats support this while the Republicans don’t. The Republicans take millions of dollars from people like the Koch brothers who stand to save millions by the repeal of Obamacare. My position: Single Payer healthcare works far, far better than anything we have tried in every industrialized country that uses it, and they all use it.
Deregulation: 59% of Americans believe that we should be strengthening our environmental regulations. Democrats tend to favor regulations that protect the public and the environment. Republicans are anti-regulation, specifically when it comes to environmental protection. The Republicans take millions of dollars from people like the Koch brothers who stand to save millions by the repeal of environmental regulations. My position: Companies don’t have souls, although many are led by people of character. This is not a critique. It’s just the way of the world. Companies exist to make profits for their owners/investors. It’s in their interest to eliminate those things that raise their costs. We need regulation to keep that from happening in any way that damages our people or environment.
Tax Reform: Most Americans favor tax reform that eliminates wasteful spending and spurs economic growth without increasing the debt. The Democrats favor tax reform but not in a way that will exacerbate the unequal distribution of wealth in our country. The Republican party passed a tax law that has actually seen growth shrink to 2.2% even though they advertised 5%. Nearly all of the benefits went to the most wealth donors to the Republican party while the national debt (which belongs to all Americans) is now growing at record rates. My position: The only justification I can come up with for this tax law is that the Republican Party was paying back their donors.
Trump: Most Americans are appalled by the daily doings of Trump. Democrats tend to oppose nearly every action taken by the president. Republicans either support or remain silent when Trump behaves badly. Republican donors love Trump. He will pass any law put in front of him and these donors pay Republicans to put laws in front of him. These laws are bad for the environment, bad for the health/wealth of the average American, bad for banking safeguards and bad for international relations. But they make millions for the donors. My position: The Republican party is representing their big donors, not the interests of our country.
If I seem to be picking on Republicans, I am. I was a Republican for about 20 years. The Republican party of today is not the same as the Party of Lincoln or even Reagan. To me, they are in the money-grab game as deeply as the president that they are supporting.
It’s a matter of public record that when it comes to limiting campaign contributions for single donors, Democrats vote yes and Republicans vote no. In short, the GOP wants to continue to rely on single billionaire donors for their marching orders.
It’s a matter of public record that when it comes to revealing the names of campaign contributors, Democrats vote yes and Republicans vote no. In short, the GOP wants to continue to protect the identity of their billionaire donors.
Time to save the world.
Up, up and away…
Jim
