We wanted the president to succeed./We tried to work with the president.
Republicans have tried to pretend that since November of 2008 that they had not been working and striving to disable the Obama administration from functioning or that they've worked to sabotage programs and projects. It is a lot to expect everyone to forget what they've been up to.
Mitch McConnell - Make him a one term president.
Chuck Grassley - How he worked with the president, to slow down, and, hopefully, prevent Obamacare passing.
Again and again. They've striven to pull down President Obama, they worked to stop the stimulus Obamacare, and anything else he supported. It feels almost pathological.
24 Policies that Republicans supported until Obama supported them.
Efforts going back to the inauguration.
Birth control only leads to sex and more abortions.
Conservatives have been wrong on birth control since...it was first come up with. Safe sex is a good thing. And more important, when people have access to contraception, they don't have unwanted pregnancies. And when they don't have unwanted pregnancies they are just that less likely to look to abortion. And what do I mean by that less likely? 75%. Approximately. That is a significant effect. But that won't change a think for Conservatives, will it?
Helping the poor causes them not to work.
Conservatives often push to be harsher and crueler to those that are in financial hardship. They love terms like Welfare Queens, to describe this vision of a race (and they are thinking of a race) of shiftless good for nothings stealing their hard earned money. If reality was so simple. Their are some who take advantage. But to say all or most are, is ridiculous. I am glad I haven't been put in a position yet to need help, but I also am so thankful to know it is there, if my situation was worse.
But to explain the ridiculousness of saying the social safety net makes the poor lazy, I hand you over to John Quiggin and Paul Krugman.
If you own a microwave/TV/cellphone/Computer/DVD player you're not poor.
It is sad how Conservatives loose track of time. A microwave is a sign of success in life? Maybe in the 1960's, but today they are basic AND cheap. It is a simple, fast, low cost, and space friendly way to cook. It is, sadly, how a lot of us cook, prepackaged food. And cell phones and computers? How are people supposed to get and keep jobs without, what are today, basic methods of communication, getting information, and learning? What seems to shock Conservatives is that the poor aren't living in shanty towns, with no power or front doors. Thankfully, most poor in the country are not in that situation. But still the Conservatives turn up their noses.
I've heard Hannity be in utter shock that the poor in America aren't living on rice and beans alone. He thinks the poor of America have it to good.
But that's the Conservative view. They look away when the real burden on the poor is in actual basic necessities.
But the real trouble is that someone owns a smart phone, and stares at it waiting for that business to call back to tell them if they got the job.
Conservatives can be so clueless.
Tax cuts for the rich trickle down to benefit everyone.
Again and again. They've striven to pull down President Obama, they worked to stop the stimulus Obamacare, and anything else he supported. It feels almost pathological.
24 Policies that Republicans supported until Obama supported them.
Efforts going back to the inauguration.
Birth control only leads to sex and more abortions.
Conservatives have been wrong on birth control since...it was first come up with. Safe sex is a good thing. And more important, when people have access to contraception, they don't have unwanted pregnancies. And when they don't have unwanted pregnancies they are just that less likely to look to abortion. And what do I mean by that less likely? 75%. Approximately. That is a significant effect. But that won't change a think for Conservatives, will it?
Helping the poor causes them not to work.
Conservatives often push to be harsher and crueler to those that are in financial hardship. They love terms like Welfare Queens, to describe this vision of a race (and they are thinking of a race) of shiftless good for nothings stealing their hard earned money. If reality was so simple. Their are some who take advantage. But to say all or most are, is ridiculous. I am glad I haven't been put in a position yet to need help, but I also am so thankful to know it is there, if my situation was worse.
But to explain the ridiculousness of saying the social safety net makes the poor lazy, I hand you over to John Quiggin and Paul Krugman.
If you own a microwave/TV/cellphone/Computer/DVD player you're not poor.
It is sad how Conservatives loose track of time. A microwave is a sign of success in life? Maybe in the 1960's, but today they are basic AND cheap. It is a simple, fast, low cost, and space friendly way to cook. It is, sadly, how a lot of us cook, prepackaged food. And cell phones and computers? How are people supposed to get and keep jobs without, what are today, basic methods of communication, getting information, and learning? What seems to shock Conservatives is that the poor aren't living in shanty towns, with no power or front doors. Thankfully, most poor in the country are not in that situation. But still the Conservatives turn up their noses.
I've heard Hannity be in utter shock that the poor in America aren't living on rice and beans alone. He thinks the poor of America have it to good.
But that's the Conservative view. They look away when the real burden on the poor is in actual basic necessities.
... “the real everyday basics such as quality child care and out-of-pocket medical costs” are “squeezing the budgets of the poor and middle-class alike.”
Hassett argues that safety net programs like “unemployment insurance, food stamps, Medicaid” help families afford basic needs, further shrinking the nation’s income gap.
...Not having a place you can have your kids go seems like a big obstacle to being able to work. And getting sick, when you are poor, when you have no insurance, that's a nightmare.
But the real trouble is that someone owns a smart phone, and stares at it waiting for that business to call back to tell them if they got the job.
Conservatives can be so clueless.
Tax cuts for the rich trickle down to benefit everyone.
This is really an old gem for conservatives. The trickle down economy. If we allow the rich to pay less into the system, everyone does better. A rising tide lifts all boats. If it only reality was actually so simple, for the rich. But it isn't.
...
The Congressional Research Service has withdrawn an economic report that found no correlation between top tax rates and economic growth after Senate Republicans -- including the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell -- raised a litany of concerns with the paper's findings and wording.
...(Bolding added.)
Studies seem to find that Conservative conventional wisdom never holds up. The results show that when you cut taxes for the rich, the money they save stays with them. It does not filter into the economy, it is put aside, moved out the country, etc.
TPM:
...
The study, which TPM and others reported on at the time, delved into the last 65 years of U.S. tax policy — specifically how marginal rates on high incomes and capital gains taxes impact decision-making. It concluded that reducing effective taxes on the rich does not generate economic growth, but that it does correlate with rising income inequality in the short term.
...
It doesn't grow the economy at all. In fact it hurts those at the other end of the spectrum to the rich. This, as opposed to the benefit from people down the bracket, who use the money to buy goods they can now afford, or pay bills off. And as the quote notes, Republicans just wanted to silence this data. They don't like the facts, so they suppress them. Other times they ignore them.
It reminds me of an argument I saw between podcast host Sam Seder and a libertarian radio host. In it the libertarian was lecturing on how a business paying for health care benefits for women is bad for them. And Sam Seder pointed him to studies done that show paying out this little amount to help female workers actually was a boon to business, not a negative. But the libertarian wouldn't accept it. He just kept saying it was a bad thing, and Seder kept trying to explain that it was being studied and shown to be otherwise. Being offered such evidence, the libertarian chose to ignore it and keep to his economic belief.
That is something we see too often with conservatives. Taxes on the rich are bad, because. Spending on the poor is bad, because. It does a country no good if policy is set by ideology, and ideology alone.
These are failed ideas. And one Republicans after another rises to try them out yet again. And we pay.
If you want a bit more, here's a video with some Ohio Romney supporters. Listen to all the lies they've been fed. It is sad.
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