Republicans Play Politics With American Lives

For Republican law makers to oppose a plan to save the economy from a Depression just because the president happens to be a Democrat, is almost treasonous. Especially after the disaster was created by Republicans in the first place.

[On President Obama’s Economic Rescue Plan]

Politics for the sake of politics can equal murder; especially when it’s a question of Americans having jobs or being unemployed.

The country is in a state of national economic emergency with more disaster looming, yet Republican lawmakers, incited by the very wealthy and very irresponsible Rush Limbaugh, prefer posturing and scoring illusory cheap political points.

Out of President Obama’s proposed $900 billion economic recovery plan, $300 billion, or nearly 30% was in the form of tax reductions, in order to win over support by Republicans for the plan. The president wanted to fulfill his desire for bipartisan support for the plan.

The president wants to create employment by getting people to repair our roads, our bridges, our tunnels, and our schools. He wants new jobs in the new economy; he wants to start moving towards energy independence.

The Republicans have abused Obama’s attempt to change the culture of politics as usual in Washington, as a sign of weakness.

Thereafter, the Republicans have been howling about alleged pork spending in the proposal. Yet in reality, the Republicans oppose the proposed spending for education, for healthcare, and even for the hiring of additional police officers, even as crime is already edging upwards in major urban areas.

The Republicans have focused their attacks on spending for programs such as renovating the National Mall in Washington, D.C.; Republicans contend that this is an example of waste by Democrats and that such spending won’t create the kind of jobs needed to jump start the economy.

To begin with, the combined spending for all these programs amount to less than 1% of the money for the proposed economic recovery Bill.

Moreover, it’s almost criminal that Republicans choose to play politics at a time when Barack Obama is trying to help clean up the Republicans mess.

A Republican Administration has spent more than $2 trillion on the disastrous war in Iraq; the Republicans have caused the U.S. economy to lose more than 4 million jobs; the Republicans have deprived millions of Americans of ownership of their homes; the Republicans have created record deficits and weakened the U.S. dollar and the economy; and, the Republicans, by ignoring Wall Street excesses, have created a crisis of confidence in the markets that may never be regained.

In fact, things are so bad, that the president’s $900 billion plan is likely to be the first of many more before the economic decline is arrested; to get the banks alone to start lending money again, some economists have predicted that $1.5 trillion is required to deal with the banks’ bad assets and to recapitalize them.

Yet, because Republicans are somehow convinced that Americans also like playing politics as usual, they are opposing President Obama’s economic recovery plan just for the sake of being obstructionists.

Americans must start calling their lawmakers and demanding that they support the president’s economic recovery plan.

The only way for this country to dig itself out of the current mess, is not only for the politicians to work together to halt the economic slide, but to regain the upper hand and start creating news jobs. This can only be done with spending; there simply is no magic way around it.

Unemployment does not discriminate; it affects Democrats as well as Republicans.

For Republican law makers to oppose a plan to save the economy from a Depression just because the president happens to be a Democrat, is almost treasonous. Especially after the disaster was created by Republicans in the first place.

Editor’s Note: The reader’s point is noted–unemployment does not discriminate, unless you’re wealthy and it doesn’t matter whether you’re employed or not

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