Questions for the Self-Righteous, Hypocritical Republicans

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

For all those self-righteous Republicans in gated retirement communities who are killing off healthcare reform because you are just too selfish to care about the problems faced by working moms and their kids--I know most of you are noble, but there are a few of you out there--here are a few questions to take to the bathroom mirror.

If you claim you're irate about the deficit, and outraged because the Democratic senators from Louisiana and Nebraska cut sweet deals for their states during the healthcare debate, what do you think about Alabama's Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, who is obstructing government operations until he gets two wasteful porky earmarks for Alabama?

And if you insist that your revolution is to counter the strength of special interests in Washington, explain to me why the newest Republican senator--your new hero, Scott Brown from Massachusetts--had to rush to be sworn in so he could cast a deciding vote to keep the National Labor Relations Board under corporate sway?

And if you hated the Democratic healthcare plan because it cut sports club memberships and mall-walking subsidies from Medicare, how do you feel about Republican Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal--which would force millions of old folks off of Medicare and into the oh-so-gentle arms of private health insurance companies, while giving big tax cuts to corporations and raising your retirement age to 70? Do you like driving a truck or working in a factory line at 62? You're going to love it when the GOP has you stacking cans at the supermarket at 70.

Remember your cry, "Keep your hands off my Medicare!" How are you going to pay $2,000-a-month premiums for private insurance while pumping gas or frying burgers at the age of 68?

Consider the pay-go vote in the House yesterday. Pay-as-you-go rules require Congress to cut elsewhere or levy a tax for expansion of government programs. It's the first, minimal step back toward a balanced budget. If you recall, the Clinton-Gingrich regimes used pay-go rules to close the last huge deficit--so that there was actually a budget surplus when George W. Bush and Tom DeLay got their hands on the federal purse. Alas, paying as you go was inconvenient for your valiant Republicans, so they put two wars and a huge expansion in Medicare benefits, and more than a few bridges to nowhere, on your credit card.

Supposedly, the Republicans in Congress have now rediscovered fiscal responsibility. But when the pay-go requirement was reinstated by the Democratic Congress yesterday, every House Republican opposed it. Which is no surprise, coming from the party of No. There's a greater need for pork in Alabama.

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