(This cartoon image is by Mike Peters at grimmy.com.)Republicans make lots of promises. The problem though is that they rarely vote to keep those promises. Far too often they let their hatred for the president and their love for Wall Street & the giant corporations dictate how they vote in Congress, and wind up voting against the very things they promised voters to defend. Here are just a few examples:
Republicans promise to support veterans.
This is probably the most relevant promise on this Memorial Day weekend -- when you will hear a lot of GOP officials talk about supporting those who have served in the military. And they are also whining loudly about shortcomings at the VA hospitals. But while the Republicans love to create more veterans (by engaging this country in unnecessary wars), they seem loath to care for those veterans once they come back from those wars. What they would like for you to forget though is that it was the Republicans in Congress who voted almost unanimously to refuse more funding to help veterans to get better medical care and job opportunities. While they eagerly say the right things, they vote just the opposite way (and it is the voting, not the words, that matters).
Republicans promise to protect Social Security.
This is another promise that the GOP is happy to make but doesn't intend to keep. They know the public likes this program, and wants to see it protected -- so they say they will do that. But the truth is the Republicans have always hated Social Security. They voted against its creation, and have been voting to hurt it ever since then. They have voted to privatize the program (so their friends on Wall Street can make money off worker contributions to the program), and when that proved to be very unpopular, they scaled back on their efforts to hurt Social Security. They now want to increase the age to qualify for the program and then figure cost-of-living-adjustments on a "chained-CPI" (instead of the real inflation rate). They claim it is to "protect" Social Security -- but it really is just a devious way to cut benefits for the elderly who survive on Social Security.
Republicans promise to protect health care for the elderly.
All elderly Americans are protected for medical problems through Medicare (a very popular program that works). Like Social Security, the Republicans have always hated Medicare. They voted against its creation, and have voted to cut its benefits many times since then (hoping those cuts would destroy the program). In the 112th and 113th Congresses, they went even further by voting to eliminate the Medicare program. They would instead give the elderly a small subsidy to help them buy private insurance (even though the private insurance companies don't want to insure the elderly -- knowing they are much more likely to have health problems). This would result in may of elderly Americans being unable to afford health insurance, and the rest having to pay much more for their health insurance. It is nothing more than another Republican broken promise.
Republicans promise to stimulate economic growth & create jobs.
The problem is that they still cling to their failed economic policy of "trickle-down economics". This policy says if the government cuts taxes and regulations for Wall Street and the giant corporations (and destroy unions), it will result in an economic growth that will benefit all Americans. This policy has been in effect since about 1980 (and was doubled-down on during the Bush administration). What did it produce? It crashed the economy, lost millions of jobs, created the largest gap between the wealthy and the rest of America since before the Great Depression, resulted in a stagnant (and now falling) median national wage, and is shrinking the size of the middle class. This policy has been a disaster for most Americans, and yet the Republican continue to vote for that policy.
Republicans promise to cut the budget and decrease the national debt.
Republicans have always tried to portray the Democrats as big spenders, and themselves as being economically conservative in spending. That is an outrageous lie. The budget deficit (and the national debt) has increased under every single Republican president since World War II (including GOP icon Ronald Reagan). Only two presidents (Clinton and Obama) have presided over a lowering of the budget deficit. Clinton eliminated that budget deficit completely, and left Bush with a budget surplus -- which he almost immediately turned into a massive budget deficit (through huge tax cuts for the rich and two unnecessary wars). The Republicans actually spend more than the Democrats. They just don't spend it to help hurting Americans. Instead, they spend it to give the rich (and giant corporations) more tax cuts and spend more on the military budget (in spite of the fact that budget is already too bloated -- with the U.S. spend nearly half of the world's spending on the military (and more than the next 15 countries combined). The Republicans are by far the biggest budget-busters.
The list of broken promises by Republicans is much longer, but my space is limited and I think the point has been made. There is a difference between words and actions. The GOP is good at saying the right words, but their record of following up on those words with actions is abysmal.
