The GOP's War on Women, the Poor and Gays is Not Going to Create Any Jobs

When the GOP took control of the House, they vowed that Job 1 was "JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!" They lied.

And the Tea Party whackados who took control of so many states vowed that they wanted smaller government. They lied too.

The GOP apparently thinks the source of all our problems are (1) women who use birth control and who are, well, women, (2) poor people, and(3) gays who want to practice legally sanctioned monogamy (THE HORROR!).

How many jobs are created by defunding Planned Parenthood? ZERO Though this action will result in more health problems for poor women and more unwanted pregnancies - not because of reduced abortions, but because so many poor women can no longer get birth control.

How many jobs are created by prohibiting marriage equality? ZERO In fact, NY state thinks the new law permitting same sex marriage is going to bring in MILLIONS of dollars in new revenue. See, people. Love is never bad.

And how many jobs are created by outlawing "the pill," which is in the process in 8 or 9 states now. Again, ZERO unless you start counting jobs relating to dealing with unwanted pregnancies.

THE WAR ON WOMEN

Many of these new laws are just misogynistic campaigns against women. Preventing poor women from getting medical check-ups and birth control is not being "pro life," it's being "anti-women." The only justification for these laws would be the assumption that women are too immoral and/or too stupid to make good medical and reproductive decisions. I don't see anyone introducing a law to lock men up when they impregnate some unmarried woman. And I say, why not? What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Plus, is there anyone more reckless, unclear, prone to bad judgment than a horny man? I think these poor men need some laws to regulate their reproductive behavior and protect them from their own judgment. Don't you?

THE WAR ON THE POOR

Whenever pols on the left suggest raising taxes on the rich, the right screams, "War on the rich!" Well, if you want to call it war ...... but the rich started it. The wealth disparity in the country continues to explode, corporations and banks are holding trillions of dollars in their coffers, and the rest of us just flounder.

It's not a war to ask those who have benefited the most from our society and laws to pay a little more. One FB friend pointed out that 47% of Americans pay no income taxes. That might be true, BUT:

(1) they do pay taxes (if they have jobs)and federal withholdings for FICA, unemployment, social security, etc. Plus, they pay sales taxes, property taxes (Even if they rent! It's included in their rent!), sin taxes, tolls, filing fees, etc. No one escapes being taxed.

AND

(2) they would pay income taxes if they earned enough money to qualify as "middle class." The best way to make sure everyone pays income taxes is to make sure everyone earns a life-sustaining income. I said EARNS. Right now, wages are LOW LOW LOW. And a Merrill Lynch wanker told me today that,"The good news is, wages will be low for the foreseeable future." How the hell is that good news? I guess it is if you earn a living sitting at home watching your portfolio. But if you work for a living, that's not really the type of economic forecast you want to hear.

WAR ON MONOGAMY

You'd think the religious right would be thrilled that gay people want to settle down and raise a family. I know the divorce rate among heterosexual couples in the US is quite high, but that's not really a reason to prevent same-sex couples from giving it a go. What exactly is so scary about two people wanting to get married? If you don't like it, don't buy them wedding presents. But how about you just MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS. Seems pretty conservative to me to just MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS. If two people want to get married, unless one of them is you, why is it your concern?

I don't know why these things are so important to some Americans when our economy is in shambles and we are trying to get out of 2 - now 3 - hostile countries. If we could all focus on FREEDOM instead of judging the sins of others, act REASONABLY instead of refusing to compromise one little bit, and actually make FACT-BASED instead of myth-based decisions, we would see our country get back on track. If only we could.

The worst thing about the wars on women, poor people, and gays is that we all lose, because the resulting policies make us all poorer - economically, socially, and morally - in the end.