Do You Really Want To Hurt Yourself By Voting Republican?

 

The Republicans like to talk about cutting taxes. But they don't mean your taxes or mine. They want to cut taxes further for the rich and super-rich. Just look at the last tax cut they did. About 82% of it went to the rich, while only 18% went to other Americans (and even that pitiful amount was set to disappear after a few years).

So, I can understand why a rich person (who cared only about himself or herself) would vote Republican. But I continue to be amazed that any of the poor or the working and middle classes would vote that way.

Just look at what they want to do:

They want to cut help for the poor and disadvantaged, even though these people are struggling just to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. They tell you that America can't afford to help these people. They don't tell you the truth though. If all help for the poor was eliminated, it wouldn't equal the tax cut the rich got in the Trump administration.

This country has a higher percentage of poor people than any other developed nation (including a higher percentage of poor children). The cuts they want to enact would only increase these percentages. The U.S. is still the richest nation of Earth. Why can't it provide adequate support for the poor?

The Republicans also want to keep the minimum wage at $7.25 an hour -- a poverty wage. And some would like to eliminate the minimum wage altogether, and let businesses pay even less. Anyone willing to work hard for 40 hours a wee should not be forced to live in poverty. But Republicans don't care about working people. And they know that raising the minimum wage would put upward pressure on all wages (including those of the middle class).

Republicans want to cut Social Security by raising the retirement age to 70. That might be fine for bankers that sit on the butts all day, but the millions of people who actually do hard physical labor for a living would be hurt. Most of them are lucky to get to the current retirement age of 66 before their bodies wear out. Republicans also want to change the way seniors get a cost-of-living adjustment to their social security checks, making it impossible for them to keep up with inflation.

Another way they are trying to keep wages low is to make it harder to join a labor union, or for those unions to strike or negotiate for decent wages and safe working conditions. Strong labor unions built the middle class in this country. The continual GOP effort to hurt unions is squeezing the middle class out of existence.

Inflation, even though it is coming down, is hurting most Americans. The Republicans say they would control inflation. But the only plan they have is to give the rich more while taking more from everyone else. That will not bring inflation down. It will just make our economy more unfair to most Americans.

Unless you are rich, voting Republican will not help you. It will just make things worse.