INFRASTRUCTURE -
If todays Republicans were in charge in the 1860's the federal government wouldn’t have helped finance the transcontinental railroad and it wouldn’t have been completed. Had they been in charge in the 1950's Eisenhower’s interstate highway system wouldn’t have been built. Their approach is that each state should build what it wants, though none now can afford to build anything. The Republican Party was founded by men like Lincoln who believed in the American System of Henry Clay in which the federal government built national infrastructure. The problem with todays right wingers is that they only know the history they want to think happened and that it happened in the way they wanted it to.
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS -- CIVIL DISCOURSE
This media pushed hype for “civil discourse” seems to be becoming a one way street in which the right wing can say what it wants, e.g. Beck and Limbaugh, and if a liberal commentator or candidate spells out the truth, e.g. calling fascist 1930's-like tactics what they are namely fascist Nazi like-tactics they get blasted. Right wing candidates can demonize liberal candidates, but evidently according to the liberal media liberal candidates are supposed to turn the other cheek.
PUBLIC FINANCING OF CAMPAIGNS
Until Americans wake up and support public financing of election campaigns we will at best have a government dominated by incumbents (whose newsletters and staff amount to public financing of their campaigns) and at worst what we see today -- a government whose politics is controlled by the wealthy moneyed interests of billionaires and multinational corporations. Public financing would level the playing field and allow middle class non-rich people to again get elected to office. Only when we again get regular working Americans in the Congress and the state legislatures are we going to get something done about our govenrment deficits without wiping out the programs that created the middle class in this country.
THE RIGHT WING ATTEMPT TO REOPEN THE CULTURE WAR.
From across the country comes reports of right wing, sometimes Tea Party Republicans, introducing state laws that are simply a way of reopening the culture wars of the 60’s which they feel they lost and now think they have the governmental power to reverse. The right wing seeks to use its political power, given it by voters who were distressed by the nations economic condition to revisit and retrench on social matters where their views were now in the minority. They seek to reopen Don’t Ask Don‘t Tell when that matter is closed both by the federal government and the public. They seek to add restrictions on abortions that will discourage and in some cases prevent abortions when the societal consensus is that that should be a private matter between the potential parents and their religious counselor. In Georgia a radical right wing legislator introduces a bill that would criminalize miscarriages and require an investigation of every miscarriage to determine if there was human involvement causing it. Aside from the horror of putting women through such an investigation without cause this is a blatant violation of the rights and liberties of the people that these right wingers claim to hold so sacred.
In North Dakota another radical legislator introduced a bill to repeal the child labor laws so that youngsters age 9 thru 15 can be put to work, I guess for minimum wage (although many of these right wingers are advocating repealing that too) – This country outlawed child labor because society believed it was better for children to be in school. But then the extreme right seems to support schooling only for those who can pay for it and would emasculate public education thus reducing those in the lower middle class who could obtain a quality education.
3-8-2011
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