The Republican Promise: Depression, Endless War, Tax Cuts for the Rich, Despoliation of the Environment to Benefit Texas Oil

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

John McCain has an enviable record to defend. He must begin by convincing voters that what did not happen should be credited to the Bush Administration. We did not have a recession (until now). We did not allow Saddam to produce weapons of mass destruction. We did not allow Iraq to become a radical Shiite state (so far). We did not allow an asteroid to destroy the earth. And so on.

But we did go to war on the basis of either a lie or faulty intelligence. We are now engaged in an endlessly expensive effort to stabilize a regime in Iraq (only to discover that oil revenues from that nation are being diverted to “non Iraqi banks” – Switzerland, perhaps? A war which McCain and the GOP embrace. Do they really think the fact that fewer Americans die each month will justify continued expenditure of trillions there while Americans suffer inflation and unemployment because of this waste of treasure?

Evidently they do.

Do they really think American seniors will forget the effort to ditch social security or the prescription drug fiasco? Does the GOP hope to recoup their losses here by nominating another old man?

Evidently they do.

As unemployment rises each month and the predatory lending practices of mortgage brokers produces record numbers of home foreclosures with an accompanying loss of life savings for neighbors as their home values plummet, does the Republican Party still insist the road to prosperity must be paved with tax cuts for the rich (that will trickle down to the rest of us)?

Evidently they do.

As science tells us that global warming is indeed real and our environment under serious assault by carbon based fuels, the GOP finds scientists-for-pay to argue against the facts (Big tobacco’s strategy). Meanwhile, worried oil companies jack up gasoline prices to $4-5 a gallon, exacerbating our economic recession. Does the GOP really believe voters will ignore these facts?

They might have – until the Congressional Seat of former Republican Speaker Hastert fell to the Democrats last week.