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OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 8/19/11

The Ruthless GOP: Positioning Itself to Destroy This Nation's Social Safety Net

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Michael Payne
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The current dysfunctional, corrupted Congress, with the Republicans acting as obstructionists, is causing great damage to America. But as bad as this situation is, it can get much worse. If the American people, in the elections of 2012, make the monumental mistake of allowing the demented Republican ideologues to take control of Congress and the White House, life in this American society will become a nightmare without end.

 

The GOP and this American society are entirely incompatible. Society can be defined as " a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests; a voluntary association of individuals for common ends. To say that the Republican Party and this society are a part of an association for common ends is ludicrous. There is a complete disconnect between them, with each having an entirely different view of how this nation should function.

 

The Republican Party of today has become the sworn enemy of this society and its people. It intends to dismantle the most important entitlements that make up the social safety net for Americans. It has a deep seated hatred for anything that benefits the mass of the American people and a deep love for protecting the interests of its corporate masters. The GOP calls Social Security, a program funded by we the people, a social benefit; that's a misstatement of the facts, a blatant lie.

 

The Republican misfits in Congress are blessed with excellent health care and pension plans but they do not want millions of uninsured Americans to share in similar benefits. That selfish attitude brings to mind a comment that Keith Olbermann made in 2009 during the contentious health care debates. He referred to some old saying, "I'm already in the rowboat, you can swim." Translated: "I've got mine. And if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who've lost your coverage or can't afford a policy, well, that's not my problem, is it?" What a perfect illustration of the attitude of these sociopathic Republican politicians.

 

This special breed of Americans appears to have lost its moral compass; people of this ilk are incapable of understanding the problems of people who are different from themselves, people who are beneath their levels of income and personal wealth. They view these "other" Americans with disdain and complete detachment. They consider them to be a sore on the body of America.

 

Many, many of these Republicans profess to be devoutly religious and portray themselves as faithful Christians. Suppose that they were confronted them with this verse from the Bible which reflects a very basic Christian principle: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." What might these deeply religious people say? Well, it might be something like this: "Well, that's what the verse seems to say but that's not really what it means." These are the kind of people who tailor their religion to fit their own beliefs.

 

What is happening to America is quite alarming. While the wealth of those at the top continues to rapidly increase, many millions of people are living in desperation. Food pantries across the nation can't keep up with people's needs, the ranks of the homeless continue to rise, people in California are living in tents, students with massive loans can't find jobs, and those who have jobs are becoming paranoid about losing them. This society and its people are reeling from this economic crisis, and they feel they have nowhere to turn.

 

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