Grover Norquist is Jim Jones
The GOP has been a cult
for a while, and Grover Norquist is Jim Jones.
Republicans love to wrap themselves in the American flag, and profess
their unending, deep love for their country, yet hate the US Government
with every fiber of their being. That, in and of itself, is the
ultimate CULT disconnect.
These people have drunk so much GOPKool-aid™ they think all science is
a myth, and the world is only 6,000 years old. How on Earth do you have
a rational conversation with people like that?
Perhaps we need to start with something they can wrap their heads
around: JOBS.
Let me lay down some facts that EVERYONE needs to spread far and wide:
One of the biggest GOP lies going around is, "The Government doesn't
create jobs." When, in fact, the US Government (Fed/State/Local) is the
largest employer on PLANET EARTH, with more employees world-wide than
any privately held company. Not only does "The Government" CREATE jobs,
it does it in the most economical/cost-effective way possible, because
it is NOT a private company who has $12 million (+ annual bonuses) CEOs
to feed and care for (United Health Care), but doesn't sell stock, and
profit isn't the bottom line, only the QUALITY of it's services.
All the Republicans want to do is CUT GOVERNMENT. Think about that for
a minute. Why would they want to do that? Because their donors KNOW
that the USGov is the largest employer, and they want some of that
action.
One of the main Republican mantras is "Leave it alone and the Free
Market will take care of it." The only thing is, the free market
already has, which is why the USGov has all those jobs - they're the
ones who can do it the most cost effective way, and protect the
people/give high quality service at the same time, because there is no
PROFIT.
So the GOP wants to cut government spending so it CANNOT do it's job,
and it becomes ineffective at funding those jobs, so some private
company can come in and take it over, and MAKE A PROFIT. But then, that
leads to shortcuts, outsourcing, DEREGULATION, and a lack of on the job
safety in a race to the bottom. Fewer and fewer people doing the work
of many, so that corners are cut, people are overworked, all for
corporate profit - and the result can be deadly on a massive scale
(please see 9/11 and 19 men boarding aircraft with box cutters when
airport security was contracted with private companies.)
The GOP wants to privatize everything so they and their corporate
masters can make more money. This is NOT about creating jobs. This is
about CUTTING them, and shipping them to India, China, or wherever the
pay is the lowest.
FACT: American infrastructure is crumbling. There are millions of
people who could go to work tomorrow fixing all of that - and not just
construction work, but the administrative workforce that goes along
with those jobs locally. Those jobs are in the Government's purview,
but it needs funding.
FACT: We have a doctor shortage. There are millions of students who
would go into the medical field if they could only afford it. The
Government could easily fund these students if there was the tax money
to do it. However, the GOP is all about privatizing our Universities,
and that doesn't bode well for students, since grants and scholarships
are only available to students who can generate cash - mostly athletes.
FACT: We have fallen behind in the tech and science sectors because of
lack of funding. Again, the private sector (PHARMA) has pulled ahead
because of lack of funds to government funded programs. This has also
resulted in placing money and profit over safety and human lives. It's
more cost-effective to make a drug that kills than test it properly,
(made even easier by a Supreme Court that is ruling against being able
to even file a class-action suit, and giving corporations more rights
that human beings in who they can sue for damages and death.)
Manufacture a tire that falls apart, and pay the fine. The profit is
more, so where is the incentive to strive for better quality or save
lives?
When profit wins over quality of the product or service, we all
lose. But the GOP has been dismantling and underfunding our
education system for decades to the point we have one of the highest
illiteracy rates of any industrialized nation. Civics and government
are no longer taught in schools, only a fraction of a watered-down
history ever sees the light of day, and now school books are being
printed that inserts Creationism, and Intelligent Design into the
curriculum. Mythology taught as fact.
FACT: People need jobs. We need things fixed. The Government can hire
people and put them to work. The more people who work, the more people
are spending money thus stimulating the economy and paying taxes. The
more tax revenues the Government collects the more money Government has
to create programs and services we need to hire more people to run
them, who then spend more money into the economy, creating more demand
for goods and services - EVERYONE WINS, except the über-greedy who
have sold their soul to the highest bidder. They won't lose anything
except perhaps their write-off on their second and third homes. They
will however, stop being carried on the backs of the rest of us, and
have to pull more of their own weight. Boo-frakkin-hoo.
If deregulation, tax cuts for the super-rich, tax loopholes, and
corporate tax rebates created jobs, we'd have zero unemployment and the
most vibrant economy on the planet by now because these policies have
been in place for over a decade, yet anyone with a functioning brain
stem can see that is not the case, and our folly has melted over into a
global crisis. Still the Republicans makes an art form of denial and
want to double down on all of it.
The GOP has no interest in people, or investing in in America's future.
It's only interested in MONEY, and is not only trashing it's own house,
it's hell-bent on burning down the entire neighborhood, and surrounding
villages, all because of their blinding, personal greed and poisonous
hatred for one man.
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