REPUBLICANS HELD OUR NATION HOSTAGE

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THE VIEW FROM JOHN F. MCHUGH
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President Of The United States Barack Obama

Our Republican friends surely showed their stripes this weekend. On Friday, faced with an unemployment surprise, they refused to extend long term unemployment benefits. Their excuse was that the Democrats had not shown that there was a source of funds to pay for this extravagance. However, on Monday they traded a two year extension of rich folks tax breaks for not only middle class tax breaks, but a reduction in Social Security withholding taxes and extension of unemployment taxes, with no offsetting revenue source whatsoever. Now we must remember that those Bush era tax breaks, which enrich the top 1%, combined with Bush’s wars, put this nation into the financial hole it is in, not the policies of the alleged “tax and spend” Democrats. Terminating those tax breaks for just the richest Americans was the source of more than enough funds to pay for the extension of benefits desperately needed when unemployment is nearly 10% and to fund major infrastructure projects desperately needed to keep this nation strong, projects which could employ thousands. But to Republicans the only source of funds they want to see is one paid by the middle class and the poor. The Republican Party has been engaged in an all out war with the middle class for some time. It started with Regan and continues unabated. Regan went after the three pillars of middle class existence, unions, the courts and the family farm. The Republican goal is to free the rich from all controls so they can rule absolutely and forever. To do that they must render the Federal Government impotent as it is the only force on earth capable of controlling the excesses of the wealthy. There is no better way to do this than to bankrupt the nation. The Bush era tax breaks were the first major step in that direction. Yes we can criticize the president for not standing up to the Republican fanatics who are increasing running the show in Washington. This time he was right, having so many folks lose unemployment payments all at once would be a national disaster. Combining that with a significant tax increase on the middle class wage earner, would cut the amount of money powering the economy enough to end our tepid recovery. Had this not been just the most recent of a string of disappointments his administration has delivered, the president could well have gained some points had he stated clearly that what was at stake was not middle class tax rates but the starvation of the long term unemployed. Americans have made it clear to their leaders that they are not that concerned with income tax relief, they want jobs and some level of security that once they achieve a decent standard of living they will be able to maintain it. However, as the President stated tepidly, the nation gave the Republican’s control of the house. That means that the party which wishes to destroy the nation as we know it is in a position to block any and all efforts to undo the damage they have done since Regan began the campaign to convert our nation to a banana republic. The President made the best deal he could make before the hostage would be injured and before the newly elected Republicans took power. But now he must make the case by far more aggressive action that voting for a Republican for anything above dog catcher is to foreclose the possibility that our children and grand children will live in a powerful nation. Remember wage slaves are still slaves. On the bright side, the Republicans may solve the immigration problem by making our nation a place folks seek to leave rather than one to sneak into.

Photo By: Eric Kabik/Retna