The Republican Strategies of Fear and Ignorance

Fear and ignorance rules the airwaves. They are the central strategies of the Republican Party. “Obama care is bad for the country,” they tell us. “It is going to cost billions of dollars, which is going to drive up the national debt,” they argue. “In addition,” they continued, “Obama policies have made the unemployment situation worst than it was before. And moreover, he is moving the country in the wrong direction . . .”  

     These arguments are grossly wrong. Yet, unfortunately they have been very successful in convincing many of us that they are telling the truth. The reason they are able to do so is simply this: Most of us are socially and political uneducated; and we are doing very little to improve our understanding of the issues. Furthermore, when we hear these types of charges, like the ones leveled above about President Obama, very few of us take the time to conduct our own independent research to determine if the republicans are telling the truth. As a result, our failure to determine the facts for ourselves leaves us vulnerable to political exploitation by political leaders, who are willing and able to use fear tactics for the purpose of coercing us into voting for their “hidden” agendas.

     There are several important economic facts all Americans need to know. The first fact is the following:

1.  Since 1981, or the start President Reagan’s economic policy, the richest one percent of Americans and American corporations have had numerous tax cuts. On each occasion that a tax cut was given, the richest one percent and American corporations argued that the cuts were needed for the purpose of creating jobs and the goal of saving “the future” for our children. On each occasion, the economy did not improve. Instead, real wages of middle class workers declined, the number of Americans living in poverty increased – and while these two economic trends were happening, were making enormous profits. In other words, each time we gave a tax cut to the richest one percent and American corporations, they got richer and the rest of us got poorer. We have been doing this for the past 31 years!!! (If you do not believe me, I dare you to look up or research “The four pillars of President Reagan’s economic plan,” or “The Policies of Reaganism," or "Reaganomics.” After conducting this research, I dare you to research the current economic policies in the states with republican governors, like Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Arizona, Louisiana…I think you will find these policies to be almost identical, with slight variations among them. Additionally, I dare you to research the central economic policy proposed by congressional republicans – especially those in the House of Representatives, during the past 31 years. Again I say, “You will find all of the policies to be almost identical to the original template or the Reagan Economic Plan, with slight variations.)

     In tomorrow’s blog, I will discuss “The Affect of corporate tax cuts and the reduction of middle class workers’ real wages.

By

James A. Porter