I am becoming more and more concerned about the Republicans manner of doing business. When I try to understand their logic, I get lost. It is not just one thing. Not only do I have a problem understanding the big things; it extends even to the smallest things. Start with the logic of the recent economic recession or depression—a big thing. There is no question that it was the result of government deregulation. Everyone knows that. That is one of the fundamental mantras of the Republican Party. Banks, loan companies, mortgage companies, and savings and loan companies to write mortgages they knew people they loaned the money to could not pay it back. The “money people” didn’t care because they packaged these bad loans into marketable security with high ratings because the bad mortgage had high credit rating because they were government guaranteed by government back loan programs. The “derivatives” had high credit ratings because they were government guaranteed loan even though they were bad loans. Their innovations they developed because of lack of regulations never cease to amaze me. If everyone knows this why do they vote for a political party that believes regulations are bad. Is it as if people with money in a bank would vote to get rid of police and let bank robbers do their thing. I do not understand their logic!
While on the mortgage issue, a subtle example of duplicity is given by Fred Thomson, ex Republican candidate for President. He is featured in a TV advertisement for reverse mortgages. I am not saying these are crooked deal but only that they have the possibility to be crooked. What I am pointing out is his duplicity. During his pitch, he points out that the government guarantees these transactions. This is the “keep the government out of my life”, Fred Thompson.
A popular but radical conservative book author does not understand why people sleeping on the streets do not do as she did. She worked hard. Went to Yale, graduated and started to write books. I should mention her father was a union busting lawyer. The people on the street are not there because they are lazy; many have low IQ’s; many are suffering from PTSD; others have personality disorders, and many have physical problems. The Republican answer is they don’t deserve to eat or even to live; they just do not count.
Why do people work in low paying or medium paying jobs? The obvious answer is they need to eat. Even if the could go to college, they do not have enough money to pay an American dream killing for $50,000/year college tuition - the Republican congress just voted to double the interest on college loans. Even if people want to get ahead, the door to the future is slammed in their face by Republicans who say the way to get ahead is to go to college. In addition who do not want a life time of debt, many do not see that the effort is worth the trouble; that is their personal business. It does not mean they are bad people. All they want to earn is a living wage and to live the good life. In other words, even if they are capable, they lack the greed. This does not mean that they should not earn a living wage. A minimum wage is not living wage. Pay rent, car insurance, food, clothing, gas, health insurance and save for retirement cannot be done. A medical emergency means bankruptcy.
The Republican answer is get married and both man and wife work outside the home. Of course, the woman that stays home and takes care of children is not working. Not only that, contraception is against the law; there will be children but of course married people should not have sex unless they can afford children. When it comes to retirement without savings, there is always the street.
As I said, when I try to understand their logic, I get lost. A strange thing is that the radical conservative author’s books are the New York Times bestseller list; they are terribly illogical uninteresting diatribes. I do not believe in the Republican Philosophy any more than I believe in the New York Times bestseller list.
No comments:
Post a Comment