Election night was an unmitigated disaster for Democrats (and other democracy-loving people). Wall Street and the giant corporations opened their pocketbooks and bought themselves both Houses of Congress -- moving us extremely close to being an out and out oligarchy.
The Republicans now control both the Senate and the House, and while that's wonderful for the rich and the corporations, it's not going to be so good for any other Americans. In fact, I think most Americans will have a tough couple of years. Here's some thing we can expect from the Republican Congress:
* They will try again to abolish Medicare, and put America's seniors at the mercy of the private insurance companies (who have shown repeatedly they have no mercy).
* They will try again to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and take health insurance coverage away from millions of Americans.
* They will try to cut benefits for the millions of Americans subsisting on Social Security (even though the average benefit is already below $1100 a month) -- and may even try again to privatize it. I expect they will also try to raise the retirement age to 70.
* They will try to defund the EPA, letting corporations pollute our soil, water, and air as much as they want.
* They will try to cut food stamps and other social help programs, even though inflation is causing the working poor to fall further into poverty with each passing month.
* They will not pass any bill to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, or any other kind of job creation program.
* They will try to cut the taxes of the rich and the corporations -- and call it job creation (even though numerous studies have shown the level of taxation has no effect on job creation).
* They will try to further diminish the right of women to control over their own bodies (and their access to contraceptives).
* They will try to further restrict voting rights (especially for minorities and young people).
* They will try to cut education funding for public schools (and will probably try to pass a voucher program so private religious schools can get much of the funding left).
* They will protect the subsidies and loopholes that allow many profitable corporations to avoid paying taxes (including the tax break given to corporations that outsource American jobs).
There is no doubt in my mind that they will attempt to do all of those things, and if you doubt that then you are living in a dream world. They have made no secret of those intentions.
There are two things that give me a bit of hope -- that President Obama is still in the White House and has the power of veto, and that there are enough Democrats left in the Senate to misuse the filibuster rule like the Republicans have done the last few years. Will the president and the Senate Democrats have the political will and courage to use their power? I honestly don't know, but I hope so. If they don't, the next couple of years won't just be tough -- they'll be a nightmare!
(From the Facebook page of Boing Boing.)
