You’ve been GOPeed On!

If anyone EVER wanted to clearly define what end of society that a particular political party favors, simply look at the latest efforts by the U.S. House Republican leadership to cut the federal budget in order to pay for hurricane relief efforts.
The GOP version of Edward Scissorhands is trying to slice away $50 billion (with a B) and almost ALL of them come at the expense of the very people who need them the most – those who are poor, disadvantaged and voiceless in the system. They don’t contribute heavily to the like of Tom DeLay or Dennis Hastert (the Speaker of the House, but does anyone know his name?).
And there is speculation that the committee vote, along party lines but totally controlled by Republicans, is just a set-up for failure in the overall House chamber when individual Congressmen will be forced to explain their budget cutting vote in their own hometowns.
Here’s what has been proposed (according to the Associated Press on Oct. 28):
* raising premiums to employers for government insurance of their employees’ and retirees’ pension benefits;
* new fees on students who default on loans or consolidate them;
* higher fees on parents who borrow on behalf of their college-age children;
* $3.8 billion in cuts to child support enforcement;
* tightening of eligibility standards for foster care assistance in nine states and
* delaying some lump-sum payments to very poor and elderly beneficiaries of Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income program.
* elimination of payments to industries harmed by unfair foreign trade practices.
* raising $2.4 billion in lease revenues by permitting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
And nowhere is there any talk of revisiting that giant Transportation Bill so loaded with pork and wasteful spending in the billions that no rabbi could bless it as kosher. All the proposed savings could be easily found in that piece of lopsided spending, but it involves pet projects and we’d rather cater to pets than human beings.
Suggest such a thing and legislators get downright grumpy and ornery. It’s like stealing candy on Halloween.
Meanwhile, President Bush is reported to have met with House and Senate Republican leaders and said he was “pleased with the progress.” I’ll bet he is pleased. I wonder, though, if the average voter is pleased.
People need to remember all of this in November, 2006 and make a change. You can’t complain about how evil and horrid Congress acts and then vote to retain your congressional representative because he “brings home the bacon.”
That HAS been the problem all along and the facts speak for themselves – the Republican-controlled Congress has rolled up deficits SO high, you can’t over it.
Time for America to wake its ass UP! You’ve been GOPeed On!