Voting for Republicans Will Harm Our Country

Chaos vs. competency. Fiction vs. fact. Criminality vs. law and order. Tax cuts for the wealthy vs. helping Americans. Social Security for seniors vs. enriching corporations. Increased violence vs. sensible gun control. Government shutdowns vs. capable governance. Worsening climate conditions vs. saving our environment.

That’s the scenario if the Republicans take over Congress next year.

And that’s not just what Democratic politicians are saying in their bid to stay in control of Congress; that’s straight out of the Republican playbook.

Republicans have no legislative agenda, no plans except for investigating and/or impeaching the Biden Administration.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., stated Republicans will shut down the government, “unless President Joe Biden walks back ... his signature climate change, tax and health care legislation.”

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told donors, lobbyists and senators in December 2021 that Republicans are only planning to attack Biden and the Democrats.

One of President Biden’s signature accomplishments, among many, is the Inflation Reduction Act that no Republican voted for. It allows Medicare to set prices on prescription drugs, lower the cost of insulin to $35 a month, and cap the annual cost of medication for seniors at $2,000.

Last month Senate Republicans introduced the “Protecting Drug Innovation Act” that would remove the negotiation ability, price caps and health care premium adjustments in the Inflation Reduction Act. Republican Sen. Mike Lee explained that “price controls never work” but instead, “exacerbate the problems they seek to resolve. Mandating fixed prescription drug prices will ultimately result in the shortening of American lives.”

This, as most Republican rhetoric, is nonsense. Helping seniors stay healthy does not shorten anyone’s life.

Republicans are a threat to Social Security and Medicare. Scott, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which funds senatorial campaigns, published his Rescue America plan that calls for, among other things, sunsetting all laws five years after passage and reauthorizing the ones that lawmakers wanted to keep.

Scott, in typical Republican fashion, lied when he said Democrats are threatening Medicare because they “cut $280 billion out of Medicare.”

The truth is the Inflation Reduction Act saves the government — and therefore taxpayers — somewhere between $237 billion and $288 billion by permitting it to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies; it does not cut services.

Republicans claim our popular Medicare and Social Security are too expensive for the federal government, and tax cuts for billionaires are more important.

They say the wealthy must have more money to reinvest in the economy. This is from the Ronald Reagan playbook, the famous trickle-down theory.

It does not work, and it has never worked (except to enrich the already wealthy). Corporations do not, in fact, reinvest in the economy; they simply buy back stock to reward their CEOs and CFOs.

Cutting taxes on the wealthy, Social Security and Medicare only mean increasing hardship on the middle and working classes.

But there are worse things to worry about if Republicans win Congress. While there will be economic hardship under their failed leadership, there will also be an increase in violent crime.

Republicans claim the Democrats are soft on crime, and that’s why crime is increasing. In fact, Republican-led states have more crime than so-called liberal states.

According to 2019 FBI data, 7 out of 10 states with the highest per-capita rates of violent crime voted Republican in the 2020 election. In contrast, 7 out of 10 states with the lowest rates voted Democrat.

Don’t vote on election day for Republicans. They will weaken our country and destroy anything that is good for Americans. Vote Democrat.