You kids may not remember this, but there was a time when Republicans spoke in complete sentences. Back when I was a kid, we had Republican leadership figures who thought about stuff. We had men and women in GOP politics with some minimal consciousness of consequences, causes and effects, and math. We also listened to the Eagles on 8-track stereo. It was a glorious time to be alive.
Now we have endless music on our phones and Republican Congressmen who don’t understand the economic principles that make insurance work. Progress is a mixed bag.
Ronald Reagan liked immigrants. So did most Republicans. When you listen to Reagan explain the subject in his own words you realize why he won 49 states in 1984, and why no Republican apart from his VP has reached 51% since then.
This is the immigration policy Reagan outlined in 1981 and followed throughout his Administration:
These principles are designed to preserve our tradition of accepting foreigners to our shores, but to accept them in a controlled and orderly fashion:
• We shall continue America’s tradition as a land that welcomes peoples from other countries. We shall also, with other countries, continue to share in the responsibility of welcoming and resettling those who flee oppression.
• At the same time, we must ensure adequate legal authority to establish control over immigration: to enable us, when sudden influxes of foreigners occur, to decide to whom we grant the status of refugee or asylee; to improve our border control; to expedite (consistent with fair procedures and our Constitution) return of those coming here illegally; to strengthen enforcement of our fair labor standards and laws; and to penalize those who would knowingly encourage violation of our laws. The steps we take to further these objectives, however, must also be consistent with our values of individual privacy and freedom.
• We have a special relationship with our closest neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Our immigration policy should reflect this relationship.
• We must also recognize that both the United States and Mexico have historically benefited from Mexicans obtaining employment in the United States. A number of our States have special labor needs, and we should take these into account.
• Illegal immigrants in considerable numbers have become productive members of our society and are a basic part of our work force. Those who have established equities in the United States should be recognized and accorded legal status. At the same time, in so doing, we must not encourage illegal immigration.
• We shall strive to distribute fairly, among the various localities of this country, the impacts of our national immigration and refugee policy, and we shall improve the capability of those agencies of the Federal Government which deal with these matters.
• We shall seek new ways to integrate refugees into our society without nurturing their dependence on welfare.
• Finally, we recognize that immigration and refugee problems require international solutions. We will seek greater international cooperation in the resettlement of refugees and, in the Caribbean Basin, international cooperation to assist accelerated economic development to reduce motivations for illegal immigration.
Immigration and refugee policy is an important part of our past and fundamental to our national interest. With the help of the Congress and the American people, we will work towards a new and realistic immigration policy, a policy that will be fair to our own citizens while it opens the door of opportunity for those who seek a new life in America.
Republicans were the party of sober businessmen. Now we are the party of your rambling, bigoted uncle. How nice would it be to live once again under a leader who spoke and acted with that level of consideration and humanity? Maybe we will again someday.
In a democracy, we will always have the leaders we deserve.
Here’s something that’s fun, cool and possibly horrifying. It’s an interactive map from the Kaiser Foundation. You can see whether your county is predicted to lose or gain health insurance subsidies, and ballpark by how much, if the ACA is replaced by Trumpcare.
http://kff.org/interactive/tax-credits-under-the-affordable-care-act-vs-replacement-proposal-interactive-map/
Oddly enough, on balance Clinton-supporting counties are going to do much better than Trump-supporting counties.
Enjoy!
MA is poised to see a gain in subsidies of 75% and over with the current GOP plan. WV on the other hand, is poised to see a loss of around 25-50%. If you are come up with a plan that preferences relatively well-to-do Massachusetts over outta-luck West Virginia, your plan sucks. Just sayin’.
Back when Cheeto Jesus won the election, and I was so disgusted and angry, I remember posting something about letting blue states keep their money for health care and education, and letting red states suffer the consequences of their bad choices.
GOP bros! I meant for you to take me seriously! NOT literally!
MassDem out.
OTOH, that may be the only way some people learn.
“OTOH, that may be the only way some people learn.”
“And the AHCA is going broke because Muslims, Chinese, and Mexicans!”
And that is how people don’t learn.
And because – Hillary’s email server…..
There’s a joke, “What is the difference between a cult and a religion? In a cult, the leader knows he’s scamming people; in a religion, that leader is dead.”
Reagan is a perfect example of that.
I agree. Most Republicans believe that St. Ronnie performed the miracle of turning tax cuts into tax revenue, which non-believers know didn’t actually happen.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/10/rand-pauls-claim-that-reagans-tax-cuts-produced-more-revenue-and-tens-of-millions-of-jobs/?utm_term=.b1de31f4be73
Unfortunately, it became part of the GOP gospel, and our country has been paying for it ever since–well, not really paying for it. Racking up huge debt is more like it. We will be so screwed when the next recession comes around, probably sooner rather than later on the Orange One’s watch.
When I was a kid, Lowell Weiker (R-CT) was one of our Senators. Perhaps one of the last of the truly liberal Republicans, he was defeated by the consummate opportunist Joe Lieberman. How times have changed.
How did Reagan feel about grizzlies?
Because these people are insane. Inhuman and insane.
The sheer savagery of what would become lawful if the Senate falls prey to its companion resolution ( Senate Joint Resolution 18) should give pause to anyone with a heartbeat.
Hunters could scout grizzlies from the air and then be deposited on the ground to kill them. (Aerial shooting is still forbidden.) They could hunt wolves during denning season, either shooting a mother wolf, thus dooming her babies, or entering the den and killing all, frequently with gas. Hunters could also bait, trap or snare, causing an agonizing death usually exacerbated by freezing temperatures. The traps are steel-jawed. A snare is a wire that wraps around an animal’s neck, then tightens as it tries to pull away.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/congresss-grizzly-betrayal/2017/03/10/57a22f78-05de-11e7-b9fa-ed727b644a0b_story.html
Please. Call your senator. Protest this.
Disgusting.
I don’t recall seeing this proposed law cited here, so here it is….almost as bad as scouting grizzlies from planes….this is the human version of employer screening of those who “might” be harboring a pre-disposition to certain expensive health conditions with mandatory genetic testing……….Have they gone mad?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/03/11/employees-who-decline-genetic-testing-could-face-penalities-under-proposed-bill/?utm_term=.f9d089a21802
When I saw that article, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Corporations have the right to mandate genetic testing?
They are mad.
And our system has no way to counteract the damage they will do. Sure, resistance may change a future election. But if it is, it will take years to undo the damage.
Still excrement, those Republicans.
So – to regain at least a “fair and balanced” redistricting process, turning operation “REDMAP”, BLUE, maybe we should copy what has worked so well for Republicans of today. Here’s how it’s done:
https://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2017/03/07/redistricting-how-the-maps-of-power-are-drawn-with-lesson-plan/?platform=hootsuite
We really just need to pass a federal law that redistricting be done by an independent/bi-partisan committee rather than the party-in-power. Gerrymandering is long overdue for becoming history rather than practice.
That would be ideal for a nationwide effort, but in the short-term, the upcoming midterm elections in ’18 are Democrats’ make-or-break effort to determine what kinds of congressional districts we have for a decade. Fortunately enough for them, enough states have governorships in play that could drastically reshape the map, IF they don’t blow it.
Translation: For the love of all that is awesome in this world, do NOT leave it up to the Democratic Party to handle this. Be involved.
This year’s Virginia elections will, of course, be critical for that very same reason, but the top three in ’18 are Michigan, Wisconsin, and my own dear Florida. If Dems could sweep all three, that would be a huge win and go a long ways towards tipping the balance in the House of Representatives back to normal.
Those “former Republicans of rational thought”? Long gone. It appears it is now up to the courts to attempt to balance the scales of justice….and even that is imperilled given the fact that potus gets to appoint well over 100 new judges in positions that are life-time. He’s too busy to do that just yet as he’s so busy firing people. This decision could have been stronger, but I’ll take it.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/11/texas-election-gerrymandering-congress-minorities?
If I were Putin, I’d be giggling my ass off over how the GOP is doing his work for him. Even I’m not completely sold about the whole Russia/#45 thing, but he and the party he hijacked are doing literally everything conceivable to throw the country into chaos.
You already have China and North Korea catching on that he’s essentially a thin-skinned saboteur weakening their key opponents and that he can be easily bullied on the world stage. Syria’s already found their balls and standing up to US ‘invasion’. Meanwhile, you have a narcissistic, conspiracy-prone, kleptocratic 70-year-old man-child running around the capital with no intention of actually doing anything but ensuring he ‘saves face’, even if he has to sacrifice a country to do it.
It never ceases to sustain my nihilism over how this national embarrassment continues uncontested. You’d think the news would be the first people to break out the knives on it, but they’re too busy trying to ‘prove’ their professionalism against a President that keeps gaslighting them in circles with a parade of pathological liars. Journalists need to realize when they’re being deliberately led into a trap of ‘this doesn’t make any rational sense’, because his surrogates are there to make sure it doesn’t. They just send the ADD-prone CNN and the other actual journalists on this crusade to find the ‘other point of view’ that doesn’t actually exist. There’s nothing to understand. He’s lying. His people are lying. His party is lying, and they’re all trying to protect a person who is actively destabilizing the country and abuse it for personal gain. Even if he’s impeached, he’s already sunk hundreds of millions of taxpayer and foreign dollars into his own pockets, whether it’s Mar-a-lago tour-de-presidente, the New York Fortress, or his DC hotel. That’s not even talking the campaign contributions he’s managed to pocket.
We are well past Albuquerque, the Rubicon, the Red Line, and the Styx. What point of no return is when enough becomes enough?
For me, enough has already become, enough. This latest move by potus’ administration to “purge” overnight, with no notice, 44 Justice Dept. attorneys, WITHOUT replacements, offering no transition in consideration for ongoing litigation, is the final absurdity. The nation is running on fumes, not career professionals who have already demonstrated their capabilities. And potus is stating he will may not even replace them…he’s going to drain the pond, remember? Only, the people who are being purged are those who make government run. As one man put it:
“Everything these people do is a Saturday night massacre. Remember the ambassadors?” the law enforcement source said, referring to Trump’s early January decision as president-elect to boot all politically appointed diplomats from their posts by Inauguration Day, even before most of their replacements were lined up.
“It’s such a lack of basic fucking decency and civility. They don’t see anyone as human beings; it’s horrifying.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/10/despite-trump-bharara-won-t-resign-yet.html?via=newsletter&source=Weekend
The firings aren’t so much of a big deal. They’re all political appointees, so it should be expected that they have shelf-life of 4-8 years. The issue is that the White House is only filling vacancies that don’t require Congressional approval, which basically means he’s appointing political agents who have to fill the roles of congressionally approved positions without review.
Furthermore, it’s done amidst serious concern and potential investigation whether the White House administration colluded with a foreign power to sway the election in their favor. This isn’t a technical foul so much as the appearance of interfering with due process that would be used against him. If the allegations and investigations are substantiated, ALL political appointees would need to recuse themselves from whatever process emerges.
You know I’m all one to point out the foils and foibles of the Trumpistanis, but this one is another headline miss.
What is unusual and harmful according to reports of the DOJ firings, is that they all occurred overnight without any transition as is normal under prior administrations. Granted, there is nothing normal about this administration, but there are major cases underway. Every president has the authority to fire political appointees, but most keep some within each department in order to allow government to transition. Of course, if your goal is to not allow government to function, this is more understandable. The speed of appointment of replacement attorneys is not as important as what happens to cases that are in process.
“You know I’m all one to point out the foils and foibles of the Trumpistanis, but this one is another headline miss.”
Preet Bharara sounds like he has a legit gripe, based on his account of a meeting with Trump after the election. He was reportedly asked if he wanted to stay on to continue his work, which he did. But no one should be shocked at this revelation that Trump’s word is crap.
I’m not surprised, not remotely. I’m just scared.
For how many years has Fox News been telling people that the best sort of government is one that’s understaffed and underfunded enough to “drown in a bathtub”? For how many years has that been the rallying cry of the small-town lawyers and used-car salesmen running for elected office? It may not have been believed by the people saying it, but it was believed by the people who it was said to, and they believed it enough that they eventually elected someone who would actually put it into effect.
Hyperbole is a dangerous tool, because sometimes people take you at your word. We may now be facing an American government which may actually attempt to put into pracise every piece of Right-wing hyperbole of the preceding decades, and I’m really scared.
I think we’re all worried. The only way I can deal with this is to invest time and effort into resisting. I’m meeting and working with others who have shared concerns and we are making calls, visits to MoC offices, holding town halls, marching, donating to news and journals who are doing investigative reporting. To do nothing is not an option. To think that this isn’t serious is foolish. All one can do is speak out in whatever way they are comfortable. I am impressed with the seriousness of the commitment I am witnessing from people who have never before engaged in political activism. That is encouraging and I try to focus on the positive steps I see happening as I work with like-minded people to bring about change.
EJ – I think you can relax. A quick look at the rate this administration is actually accomplishing any of these goals should provide some solace.
What’re the other 491 reasons?
“You kids may not remember this, but there was a time when Republicans spoke in complete sentences.”
Just FYI, this is actually true. My first Republican President was nicknamed ‘Dubya’. My first Republican governor called the cops on the cops because the cops disrupted her pizza party.
But I’d read your descriptions of the Republican party in GOPLifer and say “Well I can see some of that still there. It just has to be defended and nurtured.”
But then 2016 happened. It was hard on everybody, but one thing I didn’t acknowledge until recently is that I was really hoping to finally see the Republicans take a stance on something, say “No, this is too far”, to prove to me that they do have some ideas about what stuff like honor, leadership, civility, or dignity means.
They didn’t.
And by observation, I have to just accept that they never will. There is no line for the Republicans. They’re a lost cause.
So that’s that. I’ve never been a Democrat but I have to treat the Republicans like a partisan Democrat now. Everything the Republicans do is against the interests of the United States and my own personal chances of a healthy, stable, and fulfilling future.
When I think about Republicans at this point, based on their history in office over the past two decades, I don’t think things like “fiscal conservative”, “party of business”, or “party of liberty.” I don’t even think “party of small government.”
I think of a party that somehow always finds the money to build $500million prisons, but somehow can never find the money to build $25million schools. A party that are obsessed with punishing people but really resentful of supporting people.
I think about a party of religious bullies who keep telling my friends and loved ones that they’re less than human and don’t deserve rights and privileges. A party that consistently disregards science and yet defends conspiracy theories by claiming to be Galileos.
I think about a party that lied about WMDs in Iraq and got us mired in two endless wars, and then complains when a Democrat is caught saying that Planned Parenthood offers mammograms rather than refers people to mammograms. A party that calls any movie about black people ‘White Genocide’ but calls liberals ‘over sensitive snowflakes.’
I think about a party that will let children and certified mentally ill people get guns at the most non-nudge defense of ‘The Constitution’, but shows cavalier disregard to literally every single other amendment. A party of people who always yell ‘Look it up! Learn your history! Read your Bible!’ and yet for some reason never have the actual citations and whose readings never accord with the literal texts I have in my hands.
Above all, I think about a party that treats the word ‘intellectual’ as a bad thing, sneers at experts from any profession, decries institutions as ‘statism’, and basically comes off like that kid in class that always complained about how requiring education for kids like him is tantamount to child slavery.
And I think all of those things DESPITE trying hard not to, to see beyond the news bites and try to understand what people were on about. It usually helped when I met some older Republican, an uncle or friend’s father or neighbor, who would take time to talk through their ideas of things. Invariably I felt closer to their understanding than I often did with some of my liberal friends.
But the party never seemed to be run by those dudes. It always seems run by the type of dudes that say shit like, “If it were a legitimate rape, the woman’s body shuts all that down.”
Aaron, your comments are on the money. Would you allow me to share them?
Eh, I see enough of these sort of grievance lists being shared around, but if you feel this would be helpful, I don’t see why not.
I don’t get “around the net” as much as you do, Aaron, and I like the way you expressed your thoughts. Thanks!