The Hidden Agenda of the "New" Republican Party

Minimum Wage

Watch out! For those of you who are currently depending on minimum wage jobs to feed your families during the current economic crisis, be aware that if certain Republican candidates have their way, your wages will go well below the poverty line.

Joe Miller, Republican candidate for the Alaskan senate seat wants to eliminate minimum wage.  He has company.  Linda McMahon, the millionaire owner of the WWE and the Republican candidate for the Senate seat in Connecticut; Dino Rossi, Republican candidate in Washington State; Rand Paul, Republican candidate for the Senate from Kentucky, all agree with Mr. Miller.  With no federally set minimum wage, your take home pay could seriously diminish.

For Senior Citizens in the future, the news is just as bad.  The Republican Party has designs on your Social Security Payments.  Future Senior Citizens will have to work longer hours, in addition to a sharp raise in the retirement age.  While the trend in retirement age throughout the world is for the age of retirees to decrease, the Republican party has plans to raise the retirement age for future seniors.  As if that isn't bad enough, there are also plans afoot to privatize Social Security.  For those of you who think this is a good thing, think about what happened to your 401K during this latest economic crisis.  And, for those of you living close to the poverty line, the reduction in minimum wage and the elimination of Social Security in its present form could leave you destitute when you are no longer capable of work.

As a point of general information, Social Security does not only provide income for retirees.  The disabled and orphaned children also collect Social Security.  The Republican Party would have us return to the age of Dickensonian work houses and orphanages for the indigent.

Additional horrors also await those who do not read between the lines of the so-called Pledge to America. Women are especially at risk.  The Republican Party would seek to overturn Roe vs. Wade and make abortion illegal for even those victims of rape and incest taking away completely a woman's right to choose.  Thus making her twice a victim.

These draconian measures are only some of the tenets of the new Republican Agenda.  Unlimited campaign financing by mega corporations sits squarely as a giant roadblock to democracy.  Current regulations do not even require the disclosure of where the PAC money originates that goes into candidates war chests.  PACS with innocuous sounding names front money for corporations whose agenda is not favorable to the general public.  For example, a PAC named Citizens for Clean Energy may be a front for the same mine owners who ignored safety violations and that caused the collapse of the coal mine that killed and injured miners recently.

For those of you who are now benefiting from sections of the new health care bill, by the relaxation of restrictions on pre-existing conditions, the inclusion of children under twenty-six on the family health policy and the help small business will receive to insure their employees, be assured that this will vanish under a Republican Congress and Senate.  The propaganda war against health care reform will continue and be financed by the insurance companies who want to continue to earn obscene profits by only insuring the healthy and dropping anyone who actually uses health insurance from their rolls. Unlike the lies told by the GOP about death panels you can be assured that your mega insurance company will be dropping grannies like hot potatoes once their condition warrants expensive care.

Is this the type of America you want to sign up for, then vote Republican in November.  If not, get off your sofa and vote for your local Democratic candidates.

As always, I encourage comments.  To find out more about my ideas and opinions visit my website at www.ackatt.com.  To investigate my books look for Shattered Glass from Captiva Press at www.captivapress.com and A Matter of Trust from XOXO Publishing at www.xoxopublishing.com.  My first novel, The Sarran Plague will be re-released later this fall from Captiva Press. Additional information can be found on my blogs at www.ackattsjournal.blogspot.com, www.ackattspolitics.blogspot.com, www.thesarrans.blogspot.com.