THE REPUBLICAN APPROVAL ELEVATOR ONLY HAS A “DOWN” BUTTON

 

 

 

...Like the “Energizer Bunny”, the GOP’s approval,  just “keeps on going”... down

 

OK, it’s clear that after doing zip with their roles in the House in Congress, and voting over 40 times to defund a law that the president would only veto if it ever got past the Senate, just what do the House Republicans actually stand for?  We continue to see what they are against, but what are they for?

We do know they are against spending.  In fact, so much so, that they want to cut $40 billion out of the Food Stamp program.  They don’t seem to understand that this $40 billion is actually worth more like $70 billion to the US Economy after the Food Stamps are spent.  That’s not to mention what it’s worth to the American farmers that provide the food bought by those Food Stamps from US grocery stores.

Of course, the House Republicans did vote in support of the House Budget Committee Chairman, Paul Ryan’s draconian budgets, which would of course slash spending so deeply that even some Republicans are in open revolt. So, fortunately, these Ryan budgets won’t go anywhere in the long run.

So, I ask again. What in the hell do the Republican stand for and what do they want?

Even their own irritating leader of the Republican National Committee (RNC) with a name out of a J.R.R.Tolkien novel, Mr. Reince Priebus, has noted that Republicans suffer a “major deficiency”…i.e: the “perception that the GOP does not care about people.”...... DUH!

Apparently, these Republicans are so blinded by their hatred of the current Democratic president, the anti-Obama venom seems to be the only thing that unifies these congressional trolls.  But as they continue to seethe, their approval rating with the American public has plummeted to a record low of 9%.

But, even with this confirmation, by more than one major poll, for their approval going into the dumpster.  Just like the “Energizer Bunny”, they just “keep on going”.  But to where, no one knows but down?

The GOP’s minority leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, is currently in an election fight for his life in Kentucky against a strong primary candidate, not to mention a strong Democratic candidate for the coming 2014 elections.  But even more than that, after losing his filibuster capability in the Senate by pushing the envelope way too far with Majority Leader Reid, to top it off, his campaign against Obamacare has totally failed in Kentucky. 

 

The state Obamacare insurance exchange established in Kentucky is the most successful ACA insurance exchange in the country.  Kentucky has become the “National Model” for the state exchanges with well over 100,000 enrollees, and 40% of the enrollees are listed at being under 35 years of age.

Both of the Republican senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul can only stare and bite their tongue, while watching the success of the medical plan that they had proclaimed would “destroy the nation”.

But what can they do?  Should they tell those people that never had health care coverage before in their lives, that they should just walk away and if they get sick, just die? 

Oops, I forgot, that is the Republican Health Care Plan.  As the Democrat, Alan Grayson, had originally proclaimed this while speaking on the floor of the House.  Per Mr. Grayson:  “The Republican health care plan is: ‘Don’t Get Sick!  But, if you do get sick, die quickly!’ ”  Great plan, right?

But let’s get back to where the Republicans are headed.

The problem has gotten so bad, the POLITICO group has noted that the Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office received a paper titled “GOP Agenda 2014.” The paper was blank.  No, I’m not kidding.  That’s what POLITICO reported.

With this kind of results coming from the Republican House Leadership, it’s making the Obama administration’s botched health-care roll-out look smooth by comparison.

The Republicans are apparently trying to focus more on identifying their problems than the solutions. According to the Republican Policy Chairman, James Lankford (R-OK). “The beginning should always be what are the problems we’re trying to fix.” But, a GOP planning aide was also quoted saying “[Eric] Cantor wants to take us in a new direction, which is good. The problem is that we don’t know where we are headed, and we don’t know what we can sell to our members.” 

 

This is an amazing quote coming from the GOP leadership planning group.

Their other leader, Paul Ryan (R-WI), also isn’t helping very much.  The Washington Post published an article saying that Ryan and his staff have been “quietly visiting inner-city neighborhoods and conservative think tanks”.  Ryan is apparently looking for creative ways to address America’s poverty issues that can replace the “bureaucratic top-down anti-poverty programs” that Ryan’s budget would subsequently gut.  Of course, these new ideas better not include any new taxes or new spending.  (No way that the stingy Paul Ryan could support that approach for helping America’s poor.).   Unfortunately for Ryan, that doesn’t leave much to consider.

According to The Post, “Ryan’s idea of a war on poverty relies heavily on promoting volunteerism and encouraging work through existing federal programs, including the tax code.” He’s obviously repackaging his private-school vouchers. Ryan once again has wrongly assumed that charity could take the place of the Food Stamps he’s cutting. Right! “You cure poverty eye to eye, soul to soul,” he told the conservative Jim DeMint’s Heritage Foundation. “Spiritual redemption: That’s what saves people.”  Yessiree!

Well yes, prayer is good, but when it comes to helping the poor, as the Washington Post story concluded, “Ryan’s speeches have been light on specifics.”  Ya think?

But it appears that the Tea Party conservatives may try to come to Ryan’s rescue.

Now, if we assume that the budget negotiations don’t reach an agreement by the December deadline, Congress will have to pass a continuing resolution by mid-January to keep the government open and funded.

The Tea Party members in the House apparently think that’s a perfect time to cut $20 billion out of Medicaid and transfer it to the Pentagon. No, I’m not kidding, this is their idea.

That would of course, eliminate the Medicaid expansion which is the one part of the ACA that is working well.  But they believe it would placate Republicans worried about the cuts the military faces next year under their sequester cuts.

So, they want to cut health protection for the working poor and give the money to a Pentagon that is the largest center of waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. Great!

The Republican “war on poverty” looks more like a “war on the poor”.  I’m afraid it will take a lot of charity and volunteers to erase the Reince’s so called, “Republican deficiency”.

It’s also another reason the GOP’s approval decline “keeps on going” just like the “Energizer Bunny”.

Copyright G.Ater  2013