It will take a generation to repair the damage caused by the prior narcissist president. And Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach, Minnesota, 7th District, will do everything she can to blame and obstruct the people trying to fix things.
Inflation? How is it Biden's fault? How is it that record profits are being made while claims abound that companies are being forced to raise prices? Are the government subsidies for profitable industries not enough? So, gasoline prices are high? It's not because the price of oil has risen. Blame insufficient refining capacity and price gouging. Refineries were shut down during the pandemic that won't be brought online again. Don't blame the XL Pipeline delays; those toxic tar sands from Canada are slated for refining here and sale off-shore. It takes five years to bring new refineries online (and there are no plans to).
Supply chain failures are the fault of Biden? Sure. It is his fault that most of the failures are worldwide. The shuttering of facilities and the release of employees during the pandemic had nothing to do with it.
Baby Formula? No, Biden is not responsible for the shortage. Formula given to immigrants accounts for less than 1% of the market. But it's easier to blame Biden and immigrants. Abbott formula produced at one plant accounted for 40% of the market; it was shut down after four babies taking the formula developed bacterial infections, two of whom died. Only three other domestic companies are making formula (foreign-made formula is less than 2% of market share). The FDA and Abbott plan to re-open the closed facility with oversight from an independent expert. Provisions are being made to import more baby formula.
A cloth mask to reduce pandemic infections (thou shall not kill) is "My body, my choice," yet a woman's uterus is suddenly no longer hers to control. Hypocrisy, much? The same can be said for LGBT; freedom for them need not apply. Religion governs a believer's behavior, but it is now used to control others who don't share the same faith. Abortion? Let's go back to the age of coat-hangers and back-alley abortions. Pro-life? Only for the unborn. After that, it's "Individual Responsibility." Apparently, "Social Responsibility" is only for bleeding-heart liberals. Liberals who supposedly want what the GOP characterizes as Soviet-style Socialism, which is just communism, as if capitalism had no role.
Social Security? Arguably the most successful government program ever. But the GOP is ideologically opposed to it because they don't make a profit on it. That's why they want to privatize it. And their corporate sponsors believe that the portion of FICA taxes they contribute is somehow theirs and not just a labor cost. The GOP has opposed routine adjustments to taxable salary caps, payroll tax rates, and distribution between Social Security programs such as disability, retirement, and survivors' insurance. Social Security is self-funded with its own revenue stream, yet it is blamed for the National Debt. Tales of paper IOUs in the Trust Fund and claims that Congress stole the money. Those pesky pieces of paper are interest-bearing Treasury Bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Surpluses and deficits are handled by the Trust Fund, not by General Funds. Social Security is a separate program by law, but its figures have been included in budget proposals because the surpluses made deficits look smaller. Oh, but look, Social Security is broke because revenues are less than benefits. Let's slash benefits and raise retirement ages. Never mind the almost $3 trillion in the Trust Fund and the routine adjustments that have been blocked.
Social Security has gone from a 75-year fully funded status to a zeroing out of the Trust Fund surpluses in 12 years.
The GOP as the party of freedom? Not for us. Republicans don't like government regulations or taxes. They want to eliminate worker protections, discrimination protections, environmental protections, and free K-12 education. They want bigger banks, more significant tax cuts for the rich (including dropping capital gains taxes to zero), no financial or consumer safeguards, no Pell grants, or free college for students. They want no minimum wage, even though a worker getting assistance is essentially a company on welfare.
Conservatives are okay with no heating assistance for the poor, no Head Start for preschoolers, no community block grants, no infrastructure spending bills, no healthcare insurance assistance, no insurance protections, but yes to a budget increase for our ridiculously massive military (but not for soldiers' pay). No free libraries, safe bridges, public utilities, or well-funded public schools. Conservatives have no problem with companies stiffing contractors and employees and defrauding students. We wouldn't want regulations interfering with the "free" market.
A $1.5 trillion GOP tax cut for the wealthy while telling us entitlements are fueling the debt.
Freedom? Freedom from accountability, truth, taxes, regulations, transparency, OSHA, FDA, and the EPA. Freedom from decency, morality, and ethics. And freedom to ignore or repeal workers' rights.
The GOP accuses Democrats of wanting a nanny state. But they are the ones who want to regulate our bodies and control our behavior that occurs behind closed doors. They wish to censure us. They strive to control the media.
A Congress that regularly exempts itself from the laws it passes. Insider trading. Voting on laws for companies they have a vested interest in. Cushy jobs after leaving government by the industries they regulated. In most places, that would be called corruption.
The GOP has become the party of lies. It has its own propaganda network, which shelters viewers from the truth and makes them less informed than people who watch no news at all. The GOP is a party dedicated to the interests of the rich. Democrats are more interested in the interests and needs of the people who elect them. But the GOP stonewalls Democrat proposals, then blames them for not getting things done. They take credit for bills they voted against. The GOP then proclaims themselves as the solution and, upon election, makes things worse. Compare the titles of bills with their content, and it's clear where the problem lies.
AR-15s used for mass killings? Give everyone guns. That's like instead of taking a hammer away from a bully who uses it to hurt other kids, we give every kid a hammer. After all, the hammer is only a tool. And the AR-15 is only a weapon of war used for massacres. Blame the person who wielded it.
Massive voter fraud? 62 court cases with no fraud claims verified. Someone casting a provisional ballot that was never counted was convicted of voter fraud. Yet, in the name of election integrity, the GOP-led state legislatures have passed numerous bills to make voting more difficult for likely Democrat voters. Polling stations were removed, ballot boxes were removed or unofficial ones installed, Postal Service machines were sabotaged, gerrymandering was done so that Republican minorities control legislatures, and voting rolls have been and are being purged. A president even told us about busloads of illegal immigrants voting, with some going out and donning a hat or mustache and then voting again. As if voter registration rolls are not checked.
The Big Lie. An attempted coup. A violent insurrection, sedition, and invasion of the Capital resulted in deaths and bodily assaults on police. The whole travesty is condoned and supported by members of the GOP (legitimate political discourse by rioters and a tour of the facilities). Because power is more important than the American public, and Blue Lives apparently don't really matter.
Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach stated, "I will not stand idly by as our nation suffers" because of "the Biden Administration's reckless government spending policies and supply chain policy failures." Except that the blame should be placed where it is due.
It will take a generation to repair the damage caused by the prior narcissist president. And Fischbach will do everything in her power to blame and obstruct the people trying to fix things.
