A premonition is an intuition of a future occurrence, usually unwelcomed and foreboding, which portends danger for the person having the experience and should be a sign that change is called for to avert some impending calamity. Republicans hate change, and despite promising to transform into a more inclusive party after their defeat in the 2012 general election, they are clinging to an agenda that foreshadows an unwelcome and foreboding future for Americans if they come to power. Since the start of the 113th Congress, it appeared Republicans were going to stay the course they blazed over the past four years, and this week it is obvious Republicans intend to pursue a more extreme agenda that spells doom and gloom for the people and American society.
After the election, there was a split amongst conservatives regarding why Republicans lost to President Obama, and while one side expressed a desire to be friendlier and appeal to mainstream America, hardliners claimed the party needed to embrace more extreme conservative principles to garner support from the people. Apparently, the hardliners won the debate and Americans are in for a bleak future.
Yesterday, Republican budget guru, Ayn Rand devotee, and failed vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan released another Draconian budget, and The American Conservative Union geared up for its annual CPAC 2013 with a lineup that reveals the conservative movement is serious about extremism in their drive to take the country back to Depression-era America. Just perusing Ryan’s budget, and the best and brightest list conservatives will parade across the stage at CPAC, any thinking person sees a bad omen predicting ravaging poverty, religious edicts, and a few phenomenally rich industrialists.
The CPAC speakers include Ted Cruz (keynote address), Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, and Paul Ryan. The speakers are listed in order of importance based on the time allotted for their rants against 21st Century America, and they will preach about the war on Christmas, Europeanization of America, United Nation’s takeover of America, Obama’s threats and intimidation, and the virtues of plastic bottles, fracking, Genetically Modified food, and Big Gulp sodas. Donald Trump will spend fourteen minutes debunking the myth that racism exists in America. It is a veritable smorgasbord of conspiracy theories and faux outrages, and the cast of characters highlight the extremes of the Republican Party. However, if the conservative exreme-athon isn’t a bad enough omen, Ryan’s budget should frighten the life out of 98% of Americans.
Last week Ryan said there were no surprises in his budget proposal, and he was telling the truth because if one imagined a dire American future with rampant poverty, starving children, dying seniors, and a monumental tax cut for the wealthy, they would be fairly close to describing Ryan’s budget. Ryan claims his proposal will balance the budget in ten years, but it is predicated on repealing the Affordable Care Act, slashing domestic programs ranging from Medicaid to college grants to safety nets, and requiring Medicare patients to give up the healthcare they paid for and purchase private insurance. Ryan’s plan was short on details, but one thing is certain, poverty-level Americans, working-poor, and the middle class will be decimated to award the rich a whopping 14.9% tax cut. It is Ryan doing his best Ayn Rand impersonation to kill off takers and reward the makers, and instead of showing a semblance of humanity for Americans, Ryan shrugged.
Ryan justified slashing domestic programs by touting Bill Clinton’s success at moving welfare recipients into the workforce, but he presided over the greatest job creation since Eisenhower. Domestic cuts Ryan proposes will kill millions of jobs more than Republicans already destroyed with their spending cuts, and Clinton also did not cut the wealthy’s tax rate to 25%, or eliminate middle class tax deductions. He raised taxes, created millions of jobs, and left a budget surplus that Republicans promptly gave to the wealthy when the conservative Supreme Court handed George W. Bush the presidency. Ryan’s tax cuts dwarf Bush’s, and it portends incredible income for the rich, and higher poverty for the poor as well as economy-crushing unemployment typical of austerity in a tepid recovery. It is the “new” Republican agenda and notably, there is not one mention of infrastructure improvements, job creation, or hope for 98% of the American people; just the way Republicans like it.
Conservatives, in all their iterations, have nothing in store for Americans that does not spell economic despair, and they have plotted to finish what they started after disaffected Democrats stayed home in 2010 and handed the House and several governorships to the extremist wing of the Republican Party; teabaggers. This week during the CPAC conference, a wave of teabagger and Republican sycophants will rant and rage against the American people’s choice of president, and bemoan their loss of religious liberty to impose Dark Age mentality on America’s women and school children. Paul Ryan will tell his fellow extremists that the Path to Prosperity is paved with steep austerity, joblessness, crushing poverty, and colossal tax cuts for the richest Americans, and when cameras are gone, no doubt he will demean the 47-percenters (takers) for robbing the makers.
If any American thought they had seen the height of extremes from Republicans in the lead up to the November election, 2013 and the beginning of the 113th Congress should have been a clue they were just getting started. Speaker of the House John Boehner announced Republicans’ top priority for 2013 was banning abortion with no pretense of creating jobs, helping recovery, or protecting the most vulnerable Americans; children and seniors, but they are hell-bent on stopping abortion. During the sequestration debate, Republicans decried that damage to the economy and jobs the automatic cuts would impose on the nation, and then celebrated their enactment as if they had just won the lottery, and they did because their goal was killing jobs and halting the recovery. Now, between Ryan’s budget and the CPAC lineup, it should be painfully apparent that the new extremist Republicans will not rest until poverty is rampant, children starve, and seniors perish from lack of healthcare as they destroy the New Deal and take the country back to Depression-era America.
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Reynardine
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 7:48 pm
Fetuses are important because they punish women for sin, otherwise defined as existing while in possession of a vulva. Actual babies, however, tend to be appealing little buggers, who may actually bring pleasure to parents in the despised 47%; their existence must therefore be made as miserable as possible for themselves and their families.
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YoRpFiSh
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 7:51 pm
Treason still carries the death penalty yes?
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Shiva(Moderator)
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 7:58 pm
It cant, the GOP house is still alive
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Sugapea
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 8:54 pm
How is it…Republican’s have forgotten these words:
“Whatever you have done for the least among you…you have done for me”.
The more we see their actions, the GOP Plan is to only enrich the already rich.
Why doesn’t their Pub Flock see this?
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djchefron(Moderator)
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 9:03 pm
Because they hate more than they love.They always hate.Hate this one hate that one but whatever you do just hate and send us your money.Hate and Money makes their world go round
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gsb
Mar. 14th, 2013 at 11:08 am
Sugapea, The words “what ever you have done for the least of these, you have done for me” do not exsit in the Rethug mind. In fact many of the words spoken by Christ, do not exsit in Rethugs minds.
In the past, in conversation, I have made this statement. One day there will be hunting partys out looking for white heads.(elderly)
The Rethugs of today, are on that track. The budgets they propose all take from the poor, the elderly, and children. Where in all this, is the party of God,the party of family? The party the Rethugs claim they are?
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Evermore Jones
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 9:56 pm
Might I add also that they hate you because they are afraid of you, as strange as that sounds(looks?). This is one of the great ironies of modern society, that there is so much information everywhere and people can still manage to be ignorant and hateful. The other great irony is that stupid people think that they are smarter than you because they are stupid.
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Reynardine
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 10:12 pm
There is a name for that, I think the Kruger Dunning effect.
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Reynardine
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Actually, that is Dunning Kruger.
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Joshua Shnayer
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 11:35 pm
It’s very easy to lambaste your opponents if you portray them as caricatures, and if you compound that with hyperbole, such as that children would starve and the elderly would rot if Ryan’s budget “Draconian budget” (which barely makes any cuts to Medicare/Spending, just grows them at a smaller rate)were enacted.
To start, it’s not fair to call Ryan a Rand disciple: people who follow Rand’s philosophy (such as myself) are called Objectivists, and an Objectivist would not, as Ryan is doing, call for these programmes to to be rendered sustainable and try to save them from bankruptcy or dragging our country further into debt, but instead call for them to be gradually phased out altogether. Why would we advocate this? I’m a particularly poor person, not a plutocrat or a “one percenter”, so claims that we’re just trying to get rich at the expense of others are unjust. I suggest that if you’re going to make claims about the motivation of certain Republicans—who you suggest are inspired by Rand—you first familiarize yourself with our arguments and rationale rather than relying on strawmen of your own construction.
As for the idea that our country will fall apart and people will die or get sick in droves if even slight changes are considered for programs like Medicare or spending in general, I suggest you check your premises. Have you ever considered any period in this country’s history when there was no state-enforced safety net of any kind? Do you think that people were just dropping dead in droves? It’s easy to jump to that presumption based on hyperbole, but if you consider facts then suddenly that presumption no longer seems so tenable. Did you know that in 1824, statistics point out that less than 2% of New Yorkers were considered to be in poverty? And that in 1890 the percent was .1% (See the Yates Report). How could this be, in the absence of major health insurers or Medicaid/Medicare?
People are capable of making decisions in the absence of government coercion. Mutual aid societies, private trusts, and charity attended to those who were *truly* indigent and incapable of survival on their own. There is no reason why, if healthcare and insurance is such an obviously desirable thing, individuals cannot form their own pools or obtain private insurance without having to resort to the befuddling, wasteful, and immoral government bureaucracy. Government simply does not do certain (many) things well, and insurance provision is one of them.
There is a major difference between acknowledging that something, such as healthcare for the poor and the elderly, is desirable, and advocating that these things be instituted by any means necessary. Republicans are not monsters—they are people who have strong philosophical objections to “any means necessary” being applied to issues like this. Stop caricaturing your philosophical opponents, and then maybe well-reasoned and intelligent debate, and perhaps even compromise (!) can ensue.
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Shiva(Moderator)
Mar. 13th, 2013 at 11:53 pm
1. Ryan called himself a rand disciple.
2. Medicare/Spending is not the kids primary source of support.
3. Once again Ryan budget will add to the deficit with no revenues
4. this is 2013 not pre 1925. And the poor were far poorer then.
5. You seem very well versed in talking points. Is that a Randian trait?
6. Ryan serves another master, one that you are not privy too.
7. Im sorry, Im laughing at your total naivety. I have to stop here.
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Alin
Mar. 14th, 2013 at 1:28 am
Well said, and so true.
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Joshua Shnayer
Mar. 14th, 2013 at 5:36 am
Whether Ryan calls himself a Rand disciple is pretty irrelevant if he does not actually follow the principles she advocated, amirite? Just like it doesn’t matter if murderers or dictators claim to be influenced by Jesus?
Ryan is a religious Christian, insists that Medicare and Social Security are necessary and proper, has frequently received pork for Wisconsin…If you’re familiar with what Rand advocated, then you’ll know that’s not at all consistent with her philosophy.
Yes, I agree that Medicare and government spending are not the primary means of a kid’s support—the primary means of a kid’s support are parents.
As for his proposal cutting Medicaid without adding revenue: and? Did the President not campaign for and win a tax increase less than a few months ago?
The poor are much better off now: consider that many people considered below the modern poverty line have access to things like televisions, cars, air conditioning, refrigeration, cheap and affordable clothing…I would not dare suggest that the poor of pre-1925( I don’t know why that year is the benchmark) were not poorer. I am suggesting that they were a very small minority, and that most of them had means of getting by without resorting to government intervention.
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Shiva(Moderator)
Mar. 14th, 2013 at 8:44 am
Your lack of knowledge of American history is stunning. You lack of knowledge of everything is glaringly obvious
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C Terry Ross
Mar. 17th, 2013 at 7:39 pm
Well said.
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SinghX
Mar. 14th, 2013 at 9:00 am
“…The CPAC speakers include Ted Cruz (keynote address), Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, and Paul Ryan. The speakers are listed in order of importance…”
Hey, Schnayer…
Can you seriously tell me that CPAC’s top 3 speakers, listed in the ORDER OF THEIR IMPORTANCE, represent Americans? Do you have an honest bone in your body or are you just playing your personified role as a means to an end?
Where do you get your silly talking points on “people’s” capacity to make good decision as “citizens”?
…”People are capable of making decisions in the absence of government coercion…”
Oh sure, Schnayer; good examples are everywhere!
How about the “people” who zoom down the highway while texting, or steal the copper wiring use to light public thoroughfares, or drive while intoxicated, or put kids in the back of the pick up with no supervision/seats while driving on public streets/highways…hell, it’s fine with me if they parish due to their “capacity”, but not all the other “citizens” who didn’t deserve death by “people’s decisions”; we don’t need no stinkin’ laws that “coerce” you to behave, when you can make your own decisions based upon “belief”.
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SinghX
Mar. 14th, 2013 at 9:06 am
“…The CPAC speakers include Ted Cruz (keynote address), Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, and Paul Ryan. The speakers are listed in order of importance…”
Hey, Schnayer…
Can you seriously tell me that CPAC’s top 3 speakers, listed in the ORDER OF THEIR IMPORTANCE, represent Americans? Do you have an honest bone in your body or are you just playing your personified role as a means to an end?
Where do you get your silly talking points on “people’s” capacity to make good decision as “citizens”?…”People are capable of making decisions in the absence of government coercion…”
Oh sure, Schnayer, especially when they zoom down the highway while texting, or steal the copper wiring use to light public thoroughfares, or drive while intoxicated, or put kids in the back of the pick up with no supervision/seats while driving on public streets/highways…hell, it’s fine with ME if they parish due to their “capacity”, but not all the other “citizens” who didn’t deserve death by these
“people’s decisions”. So logically, it’s fine with YOU if everybody just goes along making decisions for based upon what they “believe” not how they behave…
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Shiva(Moderator)
Mar. 14th, 2013 at 10:13 am
I keep track of tweets to Sarah Palin on one of my websites. Her loyal minions have elevated her to the lofty position of “equal to the Pope”
This is what part of America has come to
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Sandra
Mar. 14th, 2013 at 9:47 pm
You poor deluded man. Time to go back to the drawing board ie do some actual reading ie. reality checks. Ironic you’re a disiciple of Ayn Rand, the same woman who ended up on SS and Medicare when she got sick. The woman wrote fiction and you dumbells have mistaken said books for reality and utopia which does not exist.
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