Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Stop Voting Against Your Self-interest

Do you think that the Republican Party best represents the interests of  the working class?

It is primarily Republicans who call Americans lazy. They think people would rather live off of the government tit than have a job. That's Ayn Rand's premise, and House Majority Leader Paul Ryan named Rand his favorite author. That is the conservative's main excuse for eliminating government assistance programs. As for Democrats, they understand that Americans don't want jobs that don't even pay minimum wage. Ask yourselves why Republicans won't simply issue work visas to Mexicans so they don't have to stay here to make money. Hint: Then they would be legal and would have to be paid more.

Republicans call 47% of the populace "moochers," including people on Social Security who paid into it their whole working lives. (And don't believe the lie about Social Security being the biggest federal expense; it has its own revenue stream, has a $2.8 trillion Trust Fund and its accounting is separate by law from the federal budget. It is not an "entitlement" as conservatives use the term.) The real moochers are companies that pay so little that they force workers to get assistance from the government to make ends meet. When their workers get food stamps, companies are the beneficiaries.

Ask yourself who better represents the working class.

Democrats want higher minimum wages and worker protections. Republicans want to eliminate minimum wages, safety rules (OSHA), job age requirements, and regulations concerning hours worked and overtime. Democrats want the rich to pay their fair share; the tax burden in this country has been shifted to the middle class. Those at the top send their money to work at making more money, and the profits are taxed at a lower rate than the incomes (not profit) of people who work. Money is valued more than sweat.

Democrats are pro union; Republicans eliminated most unions because that is how their opponents were funding campaigns. Now both parties are dependent primarily on the wealthy and on corporate donations.

Democrats want universal health care as most other western countries have. Medical debts are the primary reason for personal bankruptcies today. Instead, we have a Republican plan (a modification of RomneyCare) which was created by the conservative Heritage Foundation. So we have for-profit insurance companies with 20% administrative overhead issuing plans with ridiculous deductibles and high co-pays (an insurance company between you and your doctor). And we are still forcing companies to pay for health insurance for their workers which is an expense not burdening their foreign competitors.

We have free trade instead of fair trade, so American companies are forced to compete with companies who do not have to follow the same standards of product safety, worker wages and worker safety, environmental protections, and fiscal responsibility.

Finally, Republicans are no longer fiscal conservatives. Their philosophy is to drown the Federal government in a bathtub (remember Grover Norquist and his pledge that Republicans signed?), with the main tool being to force elimination of programs and agencies by starving the government of funds. Of course, they are better at reducing revenues than expenses.

Stop voting against your self-interest. Start voting smarter.

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