A CLOSE LOOK AT A TEA PARTY/REPUBLICAN AMERICA

With midterm elections just under a month away, and with a sizable share of the electorate actively contemplating voting for Tea Party and conservative Republican candidates, I thought it might be useful to portray in pictures what a radically changed Tea Party / Republican America might look like should they gain control and implement their policies...

Those on the far right don't believe in social programs. They think they coddle the poor. Therefore, they would love to cut back on or eradicate programs like Welfare and Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). They believe the "free market" approach of giving the wealthy huge tax breaks will create massive employment and prosperity. WE all know otherwise, but the Tea Party/conservative Republican message to these poor kids and their parents would be simply "get a job!"


Tea Party/Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller in Alaska has said that he believes both unemployment benefits and the minimum wage are unconstitutional. Senate candidate Sharron Angle in Nevada has echoed these beliefs, and Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann has even advocated doing away with the minimum wage altogether. Expect more scenes like this if the Tea Party and Republican candidates have their way and do away with both the minimum wage and unemployment benefits.


Joe Miller, Sharron Angle, Delaware Tea Party/conservative Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, and many other teabaggers and conservative Republicans want to privatize Social Security, replacing the safety net we currently have (which works reasonably well) with private retirement funds set up on Wall Street. Nice idea - on paper, at least. But while the elderly would prosper during periods of boom, in periods of bust like we're in right now, they would have little or no money to live on. Do you want future generations of elderly to end up like this guy, a bum on the street subsisting on a liquid alcohol diet? I sure don't!


Tea Party Republican Rand Paul, candidate for Senate in Kentucky, has questioned the constitutionality of federal civil rights laws, and has stated he thinks it is wrong that the federal government can enforce these laws in private businesses and organizations. His belief seems not only unfair, but wildly out of touch and out of date with the mores now held by the overwhelming majority of citizens. Is THIS what we want - a return to a divided, separate but equal America?


ALL the Tea Party and Republican candidates have roundly condemned the President's economic stimulus program and have vowed they will support no more bailouts. Presumably, they would just let our banks go under and our big auto companies go out of business. As they all favor less regulation of business, they would stand by and let the market "fix" itself while millions more would suffer loss of employment and foreclosure. This approach didn't work for Herbert Hoover in 1929, so there is absolutely no reason it would work now or going forward. If these far right people gain power and implement their very flawed economic policy, you had best start saving odds and ends and raw materials so you'll be warm and comfortable when you lose YOUR home and have to start living like THIS poor fellow!


Joe Miller, Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Christine O'Donnell, Marco Rubio (Tea Party/Republican Senate candidate in Florida), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH),, his little parrot House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), as well as Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have all come out in support of rolling back government regulation of businrss. So if they gain majority power, get ready to hurl like the man at left. For these far right teabaggers and conservatue Republicabs will contribute to even more food poisoning from tainted meat, fish, eggs, poultry, and produce due to lax regulations on our food industry. Donj't worry too much, though - the market will "fix" itself all by itself, just like they claim. Didn't you know that? NOT!


NRA and gun enthusiasts everywhere, let up a cheer! Once Sharron Angle and the other Tea Party/Republican candidates strengthen the Second Amendment even further, there will be no more pesky regulation on handguns and assault rifles. EVERYBODY will be free to exercise his or her "second amendment remedies" whenever and wherever they see fit, and scenes like this at left will be commonplace on every American street. We'll be FAR safer with more guns in more hands, won't we? Just think - now ALL will be able to freely shoot ANY hated Muslim, politician, or even YOU, on sight! Gotta love that second amendment!


Joe Miller, Sharron Angle, and numerous other teabagger/Republican candidates are also making noise about privatizing MEDICARE and the VA, and repealing the Obama health care plan that was just passed. Rather than lowering the cost of health care as all of these conservatives claim, this rash position would actually RAISE the cost of health care! Why? Because in the case of the VA and Medicare, YOU, the consumer, would be paying an additional 15-20% or more to accomodate private profit margin, something you are currently NOT paying. This would make YOU poorer, but would make wealthy stockholders and giant health care providers even wealthier AT YOUR EXPENSE. What's more, insurance companies would once again be able to boot you off coverage at will once you got sick, something the newly-passed Obama plan forbids. Millions now eligible for health care coverage would also again be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions if this plan were repealed. Only wealthy stockholders and insurance companies would gain from a repeal; YOU would LOSE!
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VOTERS BEWARE! THINK TWICE BEFORE VOTING FOR A TEA PARTY OR CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE THIS YEAR! These people will cut your economic throat and further empower big banks, big health insurance, and big pharmaceutical companies AT YOUR EXPENSE! They have NO agenda for job creation or higher wages for those who aren't trust funders or corporate CEOs. Last night, Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele was interviewed on MSNBC's new The Last Word show and was unable to answer the question of exactly what the current minimum wage is. Republican billionaire and Senate hopeful from Connecticut Linda McMahon was unable to answer that very same question at a public forum a few days earlier. It is shameful that neither figure had a clue as to what level the minimum wage is at. But what is positively unforgivable is that both believe the federal government should not be able to establish the rate, that it is too high and supposedly hurts business, and that neither really cares about the fact that the minimum wage is not a livable wage. The ONLY salaries these conservatives care about are their own and those of their wealthy peers, NOT yours or mine. These conservative Republicans and teabaggers offer nothing for the vast majority of us who must work for a living! Their tax breaks for the rich will NOT create new high-paying jobs. They never have. They offer nothing for small business or anything that will aid the elderly or poor. These tax breaks will NOT cut our deficit but will actually ADD to it tremendously. These conservatives don't really care about YOU; all they want is power and control for themselves and their wealthy backers. It would be a far wiser course of action to stay with the America we have today, imperfect as it is, and work to IMPROVE it, rather than adopt the rash and radical course of action the abovementioned Tea Party/Republican candidates are offering. THINK ABOUT IT, FELLOW VOTER. A close look at the Tea Party/Republican America yields a dangerously treacherous and undesirable world for all but the very wealthy!