This, however, does not mean that Republicans have discovered some clever way to lie without your even knowing it. In probably one of the dumbest moves on record the Republican party has just released a bill that would do away with Medicare. Now mind you that Medicare, which sees to the medical care of much of the 65 and older population, is seen by Americans as probably the best government program of all time. Polls have shown this for years. They see it that way because private health insurers tend to regard the mere age of 65 as a pre-existing condition and, on the other hand, Medicare can be counted on.

This Republican bill, believe it or not, would phase Medicare out and replace it with private insurance companies. We all know that Medicare exists because private insurance companies just wouldn't take care of the elderly last time they had the chance. So what is up? Well, the craziest part of this bill is that it simply will not pass. It cant. It will be stopped in the Senate. It will be stopped in the White House. But the Republicans have led with their right again and Americans know what they would do if only they had the power to do it. So no, it is way too early to accuse Republicans of being clever or intelligent.

But  back to the lies - the ones that hurt. Deregulation, or "getting the government off the backs of private industry" is one of the greatest lies ever told by Republicans and has most likely amounted to countless deaths, especially as concerns plane crashes and the FAA. This hands-off approach with our airline industry is mostly a product of the anti-regulation Republicans. Remember the plane whose roof began to peel back at 30,000 feet altitude the other day?

As it turns out, the airline didn't have to inspect that part of the plane for stress fractures. In other words, the airlines, like most businesses don't do anything they don't have to do. This means we need regulations. But the Republican party will tell you that attempts to regulate big business is Big Government out of control. It leads to more costs, it discourages the growth of business. They haven't proven any of these things, they have merely said them.

Okay.

Then why isn't it "Big Government out of control" when Republicans in Florida have 18 separate anti-choice measures making their way through the Florida House at this time? Isn't this Big Government trying to regulate the individual? If it looks that way, it is. (I will write soon a separate column called Republicans vs Women) One Democrat described the Republican ideology the other day as one of "convenience." In other words Republicans will send Big Government after the rights of the individual, but they will protect, no matter how dangerous, the sloppy habits of corporations who give them money.

Another grand Republican lie. The lie of Big Government. They are Big Government.

Republicans want a small government for Wall Street, but they want a Big Government for you and me. They want Big Government to make decisions on individual social rights. They want Big Government to assist them in their attack on the working person. Aside from that, they want millions in campaign funds from the Chamber of Commerce who is supplied these funds by the very industries the Republicans refuse to regulate.

And there is a lot that needs regulation. Nuclear reactor safety. FAA safety. The issuance of drilling permits only to oil companies that meet safety requirements. Wall Street reform. Credit card regulation reform. More safety for our police officers, for our firemen. But the Republicans don't want any of this. It would mean their donors would have to spend money on something more important than campaigns for politicians. Now, what the Republicans have stated they want is to get rid of the EPA, that nasty government agency that insists corporations can't build dangerous chemical plants right in our neighborhoods.

In Indiana the other day, the Republicans in that House went in for the Big Lie. But they didn't care, maybe because they believed it would only offend women. It is a law that mandates that a doctor has to read a pre-written essay to a woman receiving an abortion. The essay claims that proof exists that women who receive abortions are more likely to come down with breast cancer in the future.

This is a lie. The American Cancer Society immediately called it a lie, all the various doctors associations immediately called it a lie. Any organization that has anything to do with breast cancer publically stated that  it was a lie. So another Indiana legislator (this one a woman), tried too attach an amendment to the bill saying that it would have to be medically proven as the truth before the law could go onto the books. The amendment was promptly voted down.

Another day, another Republican lie in America.

I knew a person in the military, a General officer, who believed that lies were a form of insult. It is the liar telling you that he or she believes that you are stupid enough to accept what is said. This is what all of us, Republicans, Democrats and Independents are getting from the Republicans now - a series of obvious lies.

An ongoing barrage of insults to our intelligence.

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• « So Much Of This Is Really Nothing - Writing III
• Republicans vs The Elderly »

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