I'm probably about to say something stupid and/or offensive...
So, I'm not an economist, nor am I a lawyer; much of my information is from popular media, which, I know, is "dumbed down" and simplified for the general public. And, I'll admit, quite a bit of my news over the past few weeks has come from openly left-leaning sources (granted, they generally cite mainstream media as the ultimate source of their facts). But here's some things that really bothered me during this campaign season about Republicans and, especially, Tea Party-ers.
I'll admit it. I think the Tea Party is batshit insane and makes absolutely no sense. Example: the several TP-ers running for Senate who want to repeal the 17th amendment (the one that says Senators are elected by the people instead of chosen by Representatives). Also, when Sarah Palin is your poster child, it doesn't lend much credence to your message.
Things I don't get:
-opposition to "Obamacare": I'm not really sure what the problem is with the healthcare reform. Sure, it "requires" you to have health insurance, but the government isn't going to hunt you down for going without. The important thing is that it (supposedly) makes it easier for people to get insurance (especially if they have pre-existing conditions, which, if you didn't know, includes pregnancy. Yeah. That's bullshit. "Oh, you're pregnant and uninsured? Sorry, you'll have to pay for all your pre-natal care out of pocket. I hope you took lots of vitamins before you were pregnant!") and keep insurance when they get sick. I'm not really clear on why this is a bad thing. As far as I know, there is no "government-mandated" insurance, nor is the government providing insurance to people (the public option got thrown out pretty early on. So don't complain about how politicians should give people the programs they get - they tried, and Republicans didn't like it).
-simultaneous support for Medicare and Social Security: The hypocrisy inherent in opposing Obamacare on the one hand and screaming about possibly not having Medicare or Social Security on the other is mind-boggling. It's like saying, "We don't want your government-regulated healthcare, but keep your hands off my government-provided healthcare!" Doesn't make sense.
-outrage over the stimulus: As far as I can determine, the stimulus helped prevent the recession from becoming the next Great Depression, and helped us start recovering.
-outrage over job loss: Last I heard, there were more jobs created in 2010 alone than in the 8 years of the Bush-Cheney administration.
-outrage over the deficit: Pretty sure Bush is the one who sent us from a surplus to the biggest deficit ever. And I'm positive that Obama has actually reduced the deficit by $122 billion.
-outrage over high taxes: To the best of my knowledge, Obama gave the middle class the largest tax cuts ever. True, he didn't extend the Bush tax cuts (which went largely to the rich and actually cost the country $4 trillion). But I'm okay with that. Because, from what I can tell, for the past 20 some years, Reaganomics hasn't worked yet.
-hatred for Nancy Pelosi: I'm pretty unclear on what, exactly, she's done that is so terrible. Apart from being the lead Democrat in the House of Representatives, which, last I checked, was neither immoral nor illegal.
-opposition to gay marriage: I could write an essay on this alone, but I'll try to contain myself right now. To be clear, when I say "gay marriage" in this context, I'm referring exclusively to the civil side of marriage, not the religious side; I'm talking about the union of two people that gives them the right to visit each other in the hospital, share health insurance benefits, and other things that straight married couples can do. I just don't get how it's okay to deny someone a basic civil right just because of their sexual orientation. "Oh, but the Bible says it's a sin!" Well, maybe you interpret it that way, but that doesn't matter because, last I checked, the US was not a theocracy. We don't base our laws on religious texts alone. (Or, ideally, at all, because it's perfectly possible to be moral and an atheist.) I fail to see how allowing gays to marry the people they love will cause the collapse of society. The divorce rate is currently 50%, and society hasn't collapsed yet. Letting two guys (or two girls) marry in no way impinges on my ability to get married. Unless maybe I was hoping to marry one of the guys, in which case I was probably barking up the wrong tree and it never would have happened any way. Similarly, allowing gay couples to adopt children won't produce gay children - being raised by a gay (or straight!) person does not automatically make you gay (or straight). Allowing interracial marriages didn't cause the collapse of society; I'm pretty sure allowing gay marriage will turn out fine, too. (On a related note, I saw a link on facebook today to an article about MLK, Jr., being a Republican. Lincoln was a Republican, too. Based on current actions, though, Republicans today don't support civil rights. Otherwise the religious right would've been sent packing and gays would be allowed to marry each other.)
It also really kills me when people say Republicans want small government - yeah, so small it can fit inside my bedroom and tell me who I can sleep with or marry and what I should do with any embryo that may form in my body. So small it can't protect its citizens from the abuses of multinational corporations.
The next 2 years are not looking like a very happy time, in my opinion.
I'll admit it. I think the Tea Party is batshit insane and makes absolutely no sense. Example: the several TP-ers running for Senate who want to repeal the 17th amendment (the one that says Senators are elected by the people instead of chosen by Representatives). Also, when Sarah Palin is your poster child, it doesn't lend much credence to your message.
Things I don't get:
-opposition to "Obamacare": I'm not really sure what the problem is with the healthcare reform. Sure, it "requires" you to have health insurance, but the government isn't going to hunt you down for going without. The important thing is that it (supposedly) makes it easier for people to get insurance (especially if they have pre-existing conditions, which, if you didn't know, includes pregnancy. Yeah. That's bullshit. "Oh, you're pregnant and uninsured? Sorry, you'll have to pay for all your pre-natal care out of pocket. I hope you took lots of vitamins before you were pregnant!") and keep insurance when they get sick. I'm not really clear on why this is a bad thing. As far as I know, there is no "government-mandated" insurance, nor is the government providing insurance to people (the public option got thrown out pretty early on. So don't complain about how politicians should give people the programs they get - they tried, and Republicans didn't like it).
-simultaneous support for Medicare and Social Security: The hypocrisy inherent in opposing Obamacare on the one hand and screaming about possibly not having Medicare or Social Security on the other is mind-boggling. It's like saying, "We don't want your government-regulated healthcare, but keep your hands off my government-provided healthcare!" Doesn't make sense.
-outrage over the stimulus: As far as I can determine, the stimulus helped prevent the recession from becoming the next Great Depression, and helped us start recovering.
-outrage over job loss: Last I heard, there were more jobs created in 2010 alone than in the 8 years of the Bush-Cheney administration.
-outrage over the deficit: Pretty sure Bush is the one who sent us from a surplus to the biggest deficit ever. And I'm positive that Obama has actually reduced the deficit by $122 billion.
-outrage over high taxes: To the best of my knowledge, Obama gave the middle class the largest tax cuts ever. True, he didn't extend the Bush tax cuts (which went largely to the rich and actually cost the country $4 trillion). But I'm okay with that. Because, from what I can tell, for the past 20 some years, Reaganomics hasn't worked yet.
-hatred for Nancy Pelosi: I'm pretty unclear on what, exactly, she's done that is so terrible. Apart from being the lead Democrat in the House of Representatives, which, last I checked, was neither immoral nor illegal.
-opposition to gay marriage: I could write an essay on this alone, but I'll try to contain myself right now. To be clear, when I say "gay marriage" in this context, I'm referring exclusively to the civil side of marriage, not the religious side; I'm talking about the union of two people that gives them the right to visit each other in the hospital, share health insurance benefits, and other things that straight married couples can do. I just don't get how it's okay to deny someone a basic civil right just because of their sexual orientation. "Oh, but the Bible says it's a sin!" Well, maybe you interpret it that way, but that doesn't matter because, last I checked, the US was not a theocracy. We don't base our laws on religious texts alone. (Or, ideally, at all, because it's perfectly possible to be moral and an atheist.) I fail to see how allowing gays to marry the people they love will cause the collapse of society. The divorce rate is currently 50%, and society hasn't collapsed yet. Letting two guys (or two girls) marry in no way impinges on my ability to get married. Unless maybe I was hoping to marry one of the guys, in which case I was probably barking up the wrong tree and it never would have happened any way. Similarly, allowing gay couples to adopt children won't produce gay children - being raised by a gay (or straight!) person does not automatically make you gay (or straight). Allowing interracial marriages didn't cause the collapse of society; I'm pretty sure allowing gay marriage will turn out fine, too. (On a related note, I saw a link on facebook today to an article about MLK, Jr., being a Republican. Lincoln was a Republican, too. Based on current actions, though, Republicans today don't support civil rights. Otherwise the religious right would've been sent packing and gays would be allowed to marry each other.)
It also really kills me when people say Republicans want small government - yeah, so small it can fit inside my bedroom and tell me who I can sleep with or marry and what I should do with any embryo that may form in my body. So small it can't protect its citizens from the abuses of multinational corporations.
The next 2 years are not looking like a very happy time, in my opinion.