Republican ideology of less taxes and small government is just selfish

So I’m just going to come out and say it: Republicans are selfish. How else to explain their policies? They advocate lower taxes, especially for millionaires, along with spending cuts that hurt people at the bottom of the economic ladder. And here’s how this works: Republicans have to tell themselves and the rest of us that it’s tough love and that they aren’t advocating these policies because they are mean, or greedy, or selfish. No, they will say everyone can achieve the American dream if they just stop taking free handouts, pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and make something of their life. OK, so add “disparaging” along with “selfish” as suitable words to describe the Republican Party and it’s policies. But I guess you have to believe they are genuine, because how could anybody live with themselves advocating such potentially destructive policies for the poor? Republicans have to believe that those who are harmed by their policies are deserving of that harm because they are freeloaders, and so the only way to solve this “problem” is to cut spending.

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If government was willing, the unemployment rate could be as low as 5%

Another month end, another jobs report. On Friday we received the numbers for August and it was both good news and bad news for President Obama. The good news is that the economy added 163,000 jobs in July which was well above analyst expectations. The bad news is that the unemployment rate ticked up from 8.2% to 8.3%. That small of a change in the unemployment rate (in either direction) isn’t really significant, but the unemployment rate could be several whole points lower by now if government did what it always does in a bad economy: spend money.

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Republicans endorse English as official language, offer nothing constructive to create jobs

All you hear from Republicans is how President Obama has failed on the economy and how the “stimulus didn’t work,” yet Republicans offer nothing constructive. The one thing that “do nothing” Republicans in congress are actually quite good at doing? Obstruction. Well, that and trying to pass bills that have nothing to do with improving the country, whether it’s nearly 3 dozen votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), restrictions on women’s rights or today’s waste of time: a hearing about an “English-only” bill proposed by, you guessed it, House Republicans.

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You are poor because you aren’t working hard enough

Yeah, I said it. You are poor because you aren’t working hard enough. You find yourself in poverty because you lack the work ethic of the rich and successful. You are a freeloader if you are on food stamps or unemployment insurance. Why don’t you get off your ass and find yourself a job already? I’m tired of your whining. I’m tired of my tax dollars being used to support your sorry ass. Stop being a drain on society and make something of yourself. You live in America, home of the American dream. If you aren’t wealthy, you only have yourself to blame.

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Affordable Care Act: Women’s preventive health services begin August 1, 2012

Starting tomorrow a long list of preventive health benefits for women kicks in as part of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) provided a rebuke of Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) call for a vote to repeal Obamacare. In her response she listed the women’s preventative benefits that will go into effect on August 1, 2012:

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