Republican Double-Speak Ignores the Facts
Posted: September 4th, 2008, 11:21 pm
I'm sitting here listening to the Republicans tout their independent candidate at their party convention. It's funny how they claim to want the same things that Democrats talked about wanting at their convention last week. For example,
Like the Democrats, the Republican speakers talk about more energy independence (and they want more offshore drilling in protected areas although the world's foremost expert on oil T. Boone Pickens calls this only a stop-gap measure, not a long term solution). The Republicans have had 8 years to bring us closer to energy independence and instead the indisputable fact is that we are much, much farther away from that goal than 8 years ago, with oil well over $100 a barrel, and virtually no new independent energy sources having been developed - no new nuclear plants built, no geothermal power stations, and very few new coal or wind plants (which have resulted from private interests instead of the efforts of the Bush administration and its policies).
The Republicans talk about wanting to protect our environment, but it is well documented that their Republican administration has fought very hard to have white house officials alter scientific reports to act like global warming is a made-up issue, so that they can protect business practices which actually make the situation worse.
They talk of wanting less government and less governmental spending, despite their current Republican administration having taken us from a balanced budget to trillions and trillions in national debt & a severely weakened US dollar.
They talk of wanting better education and schools for our children, while their Republican administration has severely cut funding for education & schools, slashes educational funds to US veterans returning from war, and undermine college loan & scholarship programs. Democrats want to give teachers more authority in the classroom and higher salaries, to fund veteran educations, to enact programs to ensure our children get good educations from pre-school through college. The
Republicans talk about wanting better health care, but want to privatize health insurance. But under their watch, their privatized system, lots of folks can't afford insurance or are automatically disqualified or dropped for having suffered a catastrophic illness (which incidentally results in lots of other societal problems and costs they don't want to address). Millions and millions of Americans are uninsured, which is also causing crisis in our hospital emergency health care system. The Democrats want each & every one of us to be insured & receive necessary health care.
Republicans talk of wanting to stop the shipment of American jobs overseas, yet their Republican administration's economic and tax policies have rewarded companies that do so and actually encourage them to do so.
Republicans talk of wanting to improve the economy, but under the watch of the Republican administration we are worse off than eight years ago, bankruptcies have skyrocketed, foreclosures are out of control, and unemployment rates have increased. Their banking deregulation policies allowed banks to line their pockets and engage in unsafe and risky loan practices which resulted in rampant fraud and foreclosures. Under their watch, CEOs homes and assets are protected in bankruptcy, while the paychecks of their workers are not. They enact policies encouraging American companies to ship jobs overseas & wonder why unemployment rates are increasing.
Republicans want to run up our national debt by trillions, but avoid any fiscal responsibility - no new taxes - so that ultimately your children have to pay for their excesses. They want to actually continue with their tax cuts for the wealthy, under the theory that if they get tax breaks they will create new jobs or their wealth will trickle down to the rest of the poor slobs who have to work for a living. Which, as we have seen over the last eight years under their Republican administration IS NOT TRUE. Unemployment rates have increased. Those wealthy have shipped US jobs overseas. They have not created lots of new jobs. The rest of us are not better off economically. Democrats simply want a fair, less complicated tax system with less loopholes for the wealthy & a tax cut benefiting those actually deserving one - the poor & middle class.
Republicans talk of "winning the war" ... when the truth is that we still lose hundreds of soldiers each month, we are spending trillions of dollars funding a war while Iraq earns trillions of dollars in oil revenues that they do not repay to us (why are we mortgaging our children's futures to fund their defense when they can do it themselves?), AND WE STILL HAVE NOT FOUND OSAMA BIN LADEN. They absolutely refuse to discuss or even acknowledge the fact that their Republican administration knowingly misled us in obtaining the authorization for the war. Our soldiers have DIED because of this lie - yet they act like those deaths were strictly necessary ... when they weren't and still aren't. John McCain wants to continue this war and our presence in Iraq for many, many years, while the Democrats want to bring our troops home with dignity, quickly, and stop the continued and unaffordable drain on our national treasury. They refuse to invade Pakistan and other areas where we actually know our true enemies are hiding.
Gov. Palin says she said no to the bridge to nowhere, but she favored it up until it was clear it was already dead ... and then, KEPT the $230 million for her state anyway.
The Republicans seem to talk a good game. Unfortunately for their party, the record of the sitting Republican administration belies all of the promises they make. It's hard to believe what they say when their actions when in power are frequently to the contrary.
And frankly, sitting here watching Gov. Palin's speech, she seems to make a better hockey mom than she does a Vice-Presidential candidate. She does not seem ready. Her lack of real understanding or experience with foreign policy matters was apparent.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments
Like the Democrats, the Republican speakers talk about more energy independence (and they want more offshore drilling in protected areas although the world's foremost expert on oil T. Boone Pickens calls this only a stop-gap measure, not a long term solution). The Republicans have had 8 years to bring us closer to energy independence and instead the indisputable fact is that we are much, much farther away from that goal than 8 years ago, with oil well over $100 a barrel, and virtually no new independent energy sources having been developed - no new nuclear plants built, no geothermal power stations, and very few new coal or wind plants (which have resulted from private interests instead of the efforts of the Bush administration and its policies).
The Republicans talk about wanting to protect our environment, but it is well documented that their Republican administration has fought very hard to have white house officials alter scientific reports to act like global warming is a made-up issue, so that they can protect business practices which actually make the situation worse.
They talk of wanting less government and less governmental spending, despite their current Republican administration having taken us from a balanced budget to trillions and trillions in national debt & a severely weakened US dollar.
They talk of wanting better education and schools for our children, while their Republican administration has severely cut funding for education & schools, slashes educational funds to US veterans returning from war, and undermine college loan & scholarship programs. Democrats want to give teachers more authority in the classroom and higher salaries, to fund veteran educations, to enact programs to ensure our children get good educations from pre-school through college. The
Republicans talk about wanting better health care, but want to privatize health insurance. But under their watch, their privatized system, lots of folks can't afford insurance or are automatically disqualified or dropped for having suffered a catastrophic illness (which incidentally results in lots of other societal problems and costs they don't want to address). Millions and millions of Americans are uninsured, which is also causing crisis in our hospital emergency health care system. The Democrats want each & every one of us to be insured & receive necessary health care.
Republicans talk of wanting to stop the shipment of American jobs overseas, yet their Republican administration's economic and tax policies have rewarded companies that do so and actually encourage them to do so.
Republicans talk of wanting to improve the economy, but under the watch of the Republican administration we are worse off than eight years ago, bankruptcies have skyrocketed, foreclosures are out of control, and unemployment rates have increased. Their banking deregulation policies allowed banks to line their pockets and engage in unsafe and risky loan practices which resulted in rampant fraud and foreclosures. Under their watch, CEOs homes and assets are protected in bankruptcy, while the paychecks of their workers are not. They enact policies encouraging American companies to ship jobs overseas & wonder why unemployment rates are increasing.
Republicans want to run up our national debt by trillions, but avoid any fiscal responsibility - no new taxes - so that ultimately your children have to pay for their excesses. They want to actually continue with their tax cuts for the wealthy, under the theory that if they get tax breaks they will create new jobs or their wealth will trickle down to the rest of the poor slobs who have to work for a living. Which, as we have seen over the last eight years under their Republican administration IS NOT TRUE. Unemployment rates have increased. Those wealthy have shipped US jobs overseas. They have not created lots of new jobs. The rest of us are not better off economically. Democrats simply want a fair, less complicated tax system with less loopholes for the wealthy & a tax cut benefiting those actually deserving one - the poor & middle class.
Republicans talk of "winning the war" ... when the truth is that we still lose hundreds of soldiers each month, we are spending trillions of dollars funding a war while Iraq earns trillions of dollars in oil revenues that they do not repay to us (why are we mortgaging our children's futures to fund their defense when they can do it themselves?), AND WE STILL HAVE NOT FOUND OSAMA BIN LADEN. They absolutely refuse to discuss or even acknowledge the fact that their Republican administration knowingly misled us in obtaining the authorization for the war. Our soldiers have DIED because of this lie - yet they act like those deaths were strictly necessary ... when they weren't and still aren't. John McCain wants to continue this war and our presence in Iraq for many, many years, while the Democrats want to bring our troops home with dignity, quickly, and stop the continued and unaffordable drain on our national treasury. They refuse to invade Pakistan and other areas where we actually know our true enemies are hiding.
Gov. Palin says she said no to the bridge to nowhere, but she favored it up until it was clear it was already dead ... and then, KEPT the $230 million for her state anyway.
The Republicans seem to talk a good game. Unfortunately for their party, the record of the sitting Republican administration belies all of the promises they make. It's hard to believe what they say when their actions when in power are frequently to the contrary.
And frankly, sitting here watching Gov. Palin's speech, she seems to make a better hockey mom than she does a Vice-Presidential candidate. She does not seem ready. Her lack of real understanding or experience with foreign policy matters was apparent.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments
Beth