America's new Congress came out of the gate swinging. At all of us.
This week the 114th Congress went to work so ferociously that I’ve been given the proverbial whiplash. The stories out of the media mirror the Republican obstructionist plans to discredit President Obama. But most importantly, the bills proposed would hurt many, if not all, of us. And they didn’t even start working until Tuesday!
The first thing I heard was that Louis “America is being infiltrated by terror babies” Ghomert -(R) from Texas was going to try and take John Boehner’s job as Speaker of the House. He managed to get three votes, one of them his own. So, naturally he told Sean Hannity of Fox News that “he had enough votes, but people changed their mind at the last minute.”
Gohmert is known for his outrageous comments and ideas, discriminating against nearly everything but white men. He loves him some guns and Jesus, too! It’s difficult to fathom that Gohmert has been elected five times. Gotta love Texas!
After that was sorted, the first order of business was to ban abortion after 20 weeks across the board even when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. This is in direct violation of the protections cited in Roe v. Wade. The committee, by the way, is made up of all men.
The next order of business for the House of Representatives was to gut Social Security benefits for retirees and disabled people by 20% starting next year. This came as a shock to many, as Social Security is a trust fund that employees and employers have been paying into. The federal government has no authority to borrow from this fund to pay for various expenditures, including wars. However they’ve been doing just that since Reagan was in charge, and they don’t want to pay it back.
The Keystone XL Pipeline was another bill that passed the House. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that eminent domain can go forward in Nebraska. You can read the Nebraska ruling here. This means that landowners will literally have their land purchased by the government for purposes of the pipeline. It would run through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. President Obama has stated on more than one occasion that he will veto the bill if it passes the Senate.
Another bill that passed the House was to raise the full time requirement for employer mandated health insurance to 40 hours a week. Right now the Affordable Care Act mandates employers to provide health insurance to employees working a minimum of 30 hours a week. This would gut the ACA, causing millions to lose their health plans, and, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this change would add $46 billion to the budget deficit. President Obama again said that he would veto this if it reaches his desk.
Another bill that was voted on but did not pass was the Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act. This combined 11 different bills, aimed at weakening Dodd-Frank, into one big messed up package. This would have weakened the Volcker Rule; weakened derivative provisions; and undermine investor protections. There were 35 Democrats who voted for the bill, but thankfully, it did not get the two thirds threshold needed to pass. Only one Republican voted against it.
After terrorist attacks in France this week and with Republicans crying about the War on Terror for years, this one made my head spin. It goes against all of their rhetoric about “protecting America” just to deny underprivileged people the chance at a good life in the USA. Not only is this cruel, but it is hard to conceive that any Republican candidate will win the 2016 Presidential election without the Hispanic vote.
Lastly, Mitch McConnell tried to take credit for the economic recovery and low unemployment rate. He tried to say that it was because Republicans won both the House and the Senate. What he actually did was praise President Obama without realizing it. Cursory research reveals blatant hypocrisy on the part of The Man Called Turtle.
It seems that the House of Representatives is throwing everything they can at the President as fast as they can. They’re taking a quick recess, and then they’re going to come back at all of us. Hard.
This is going to be a wild ride. Hang on to your hat.
“Social Security is a trust fund that employees and employers have been paying into. The federal government has no authority to borrow from this fund to pay for various expenditures ….”
Yes, it does have that authority.
A good job of showing people what clowns the Republicans are. I hope you Senior Citizen Republican voters enjoy having your Social Security Cut 20%.
Unfortunately for most Americans under 40 .. life primarily consists of the struggle to raise a Family with minimal wage or part time jobs ….political advocacy and machinations behind the Curtain of Congress don’t equate to the immediate level of getting the kids ready for School and providing a roof over their heads…To most people Government is a silent threat that takes from workers and gives to lazy breeders… Social Security is one topic …of many… that the GOP uses to divide and conquer the working class as being an entitlement as opposed to an investment. ..
I think you’re right that, for many people, government is perceived to be the enemy—though I’m not sure they see it as a “silent” enemy or threat.
This is indicative of how well the Republican narrative has played with the American middle- and working-classes. The GOP has successfully and amazingly created a boogeyman out of the only entity—since the demise of unions—available to provide protection for and advocate on behalf of the American Worker.
Apart from “The Government,” the American Worker is, by-and-large, on his/her own. Which is exactly the way that the GOP’s primary benefactor—Corporate America—wants the American Worker to be. And exactly the way the American Worker presently is.
I think you’re right that many, if not most, middle- and working-class Americans perceive The Government to be the enemy—albeit not a “silent” enemy.
This is indicative of just how successful the Republicans have been at creating a false narrative and getting the general public to adopt it—even though it opposes the best interests of that general public.
The fact of the matter is that, given the demise of unions and, with it, the virtual end of collective bargaining for the vast majority of American workers, The Government is the only entity left to advocate for, act on behalf of and protect the middle- and working-classes. In other words, apart from The Government, the American Worker is pretty much on his/her own. Which is exactly what the Republican Party and its corporate benefactors want the American Worker to be. And which is exactly what, at this point in time, the American Worker is.