America Can't Afford Republicans

There are liars, damned liars, and Republicans.

Republicans say America can't afford to allow its state workers collective bargaining rights, even though the nine states that don't allow their workers those rights are actually running higher average deficits than states overall.

In Wisconsin, Republican Governor Scott Walker claims he has to bust the state workers' unions because the state has a $3 billion budget deficit.  In fact, it is common knowledge that Walker himself is the source of the budget shortfall, having inherited a budget surplus which he annihilated with billions of dollars of tax subsidies to his wealthy cronies.

As obvious as these lies are, Republicans smugly continue to prevaricate with impunity, backed by the incessant howling of their Republican-owned corporate media and the menacing scowls of their gun-toting racist thugs.

And so it goes. Republicans say America cannot afford schools, teachers, firefighters, or police.  Republicans say America cannot afford clean water, breathable air, untainted foods or safe products.  Republicans say America cannot afford to maintain its roads and bridges and dams and canals.  Republicans say America cannot afford to regulate banks, proscribe toxic pollution, outlaw predatory lenders, prevent systemic financial risk, or to investigate and charge Wall Street fraud and malfeasance.  Republicans say America cannot afford to care for our elderly, our sick, our injured, our wounded warriors, or our wayward children.

Republicans say America cannot afford affordable health care.  Republicans say America cannot afford to pay people a decent living wage and must offshore all our jobs.  Republicans say America cannot afford the freedom to assemble and petition our government. Republicans say America cannot afford to support innovation, invention, and the free exchange of ideas.  Republicans say America cannot afford to build a new generation of trains, or power transmission lines, or infrastructure for mass transit or fuel-efficient cars.  Republicans say America cannot afford to catch up with the rest of the world in designing and building wind turbines, solar panels, geothermal plants, carbon-capture systems and the industries those technologies would create.

Republicans say America cannot afford Public Broadcasting, or the EPA, or FEMA, or the Social Security Administration, or bank regulators, or food inspectors, or product safety specialists.  Republicans say America cannot afford air traffic controllers. Again.

Republicans say America cannot afford National Parks, or National Forests or National Monuments.  Republicans say America cannot afford to keep its wildlands free and clean and beautiful for generations to come. Republicans say America cannot keep its groundwater in the ground, let alone, pure, or clean, or nontoxic, or free of radiation and carcinogens. Republicans say America cannot keep its topsoil from blowing away. Republicans say America cannot afford wildlands, or wildlife, or even wildflowers.

Republicans say America cannot afford to pay for its citizens' retirement needs, and that all the money for Social Security and Medicare has to be given over to their pals and cronies so they can blow it all on more private parties on private jets with very private dancers.

Republicans say America cannot afford anything except to give all its money and resources and buildings and roads and infrastructure and institutions and forests and trees and minerals and lands and rivers and lakes and freedoms and hopes and health and vitality to their plutocrat cronies to squander on designer labels, noisome bourgeois excesses and all those very, very private dancers.

In fact, America can afford all those things, and much, much more.

What America cannot afford is its Republicans.