The GOP Is Willing For Their Voters to Take One for the Team

[BarryLaverty]

It might make me think that they don't really care for us, if they aren't careful. Now, power, that may be important to them. 

(Washington Post)

Opinion: The GOP doesn’t care about the suffering it causes — even among its own base

By Jennifer Rubin
Columnist
|
Follow
Today at 10:00 a.m. EST

Given that innumerable Republican leaders (including the former president) have been spreading lies about the coronavirus, peddling quack cures and discouraging effective vaccines for well more than a year, no one should be surprised they are once again throwing up hurdles to public health measures. That does not make it any less appalling.

Axios reported on Monday that “Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Tennessee have changed their unemployment insurance rules to allow workers who are fired or quit over vaccine mandates to receive benefits.” Yes, they are incentivizing people to quit work and remain unvaccinated. So much for the party of “work” and “life.”

Meanwhile, former White House physician and now-Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) — known for his unintentionally comedic flattery of the former president and for describing the Biden administration’s vaccine program as “socialist communist Marxist” — has piped up again with an insane conspiracy theory:

Here comes the MEV - the Midterm Election Variant! They NEED a reason to push unsolicited nationwide mail-in ballots. Democrats will do anything to CHEAT during an election - but we're not going to let them!

Other Republicans are attempting to nix federal mandates that have proved successful in getting more than 90 percent of the federal workforce vaccinated. As NPR reported, “Conservative lawmakers in Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, Wyoming and North Dakota have already completed special sessions and passed bills aimed at nullifying new federal mandates.”

The results are predictable: More Republicans are dying because Republican leaders and the right-wing media are misleading them. My colleague Philip Bump reports: “The vast majority of those now dying of the coronavirus were unvaccinated, a group that’s disproportionately Republican. Florida has now seen more than 61,000 coronavirus deaths, about 284 for every 100,000 residents. New York, by comparison, has seen 56,645 deaths, 280 per 100,000 residents. One year ago, before the vaccines, New York’s per capita toll was nearly twice Florida’s.”

Republicans, therefore, are contributing to the deaths of their most loyal followers. They then blame President Biden for failing to stop the pandemic — even though they have no intention of stopping their campaign of disinformation, anti-vaccine hysteria and effort to discredit Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony S. Fauci. Regarding the smear campaign that MAGA senators have launched against him, Fauci said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”: “I’m just going to do my job and I’m going to be saving lives and they’re going to be lying.”

Their coronavirus death cult may be the most egregious example of Republicans’ destructive oppositional behavior, but it is hardly the only one. MAGA hard-liners still want to punish the 13 House Republicans who had the temerity to vote for the infrastructure bill on the grounds that it would help their constituents. They’ll countenance none of that!

Likewise, Republicans voted unanimously against the American Rescue Plan, but then touted its benefits, including the bills program to help struggling restaurants. And while Republicans have been ranting about inflation, they also voted unanimously in the House against the Build Back Better Plan, which would, among other things, have reduced the costs of child care, housing, Affordable Care Act premiums and prescription drugs for millions of Americans.

It’s almost as though Republicans are rooting for inflation to devastate Americans. Actually, strike the “almost.” That is precisely what they are doing, as NBC News reported:

“This is going to be devastating for them,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the head of the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, which is running ads during the Thanksgiving holiday highlighting higher gas and food prices.
In an earlier interview with The Wall Street Journal, he called the issue “a gold mine” for Republicans.
And don’t forget that the vast majority of congressional Republicans were happy to let the United States bump up against the debt ceiling, despite the economic debacle it would have caused.

This is hardly the only time Republicans have weaponized congressional deadlines (recall the 2013 and 2018-2019 shutdowns). They have long pioneered anti-government animus, and when things are not going badly enough to suit their political interests, they stand at the ready to make matters worse. Entirely foreseeable consequences, such as their own supporters dying or suffering financial hardship, do not dissuade them from engaging in reckless behavior. They still fan anti-vaccine hysteria even though many of them have been vaccinated themselves.

Should unnecessary deaths and economic hardship increase because of covid-19, you can bet Republicans will consider it a triumph — so long as they win the House majority. Their willingness to increase suffering is many things (irresponsible, un-Christian, unpatriotic, cruel), but it is not “pro-life.” Maybe their constituents will start to notice.

[Monte1076]

3 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

It might make me think that they don't really care for us

You mean just like most Democrats?

[mellon]

1 minute ago, Monte1076 said:

You mean just like most Democrats?

But the article was right on one point. The Democrats will do anything to cheat in an election.

[BarryLaverty]

Just now, Monte1076 said:

You mean just like most Democrats?

Most Democrats I know want their voters to be vaccinated and follow basic safety measures. Most Republican leaders, while getting vaccinated themselves, use the issue as a wedge and endanger their constituents by doing so. That clear enough for you? See how I stayed focused on the relevant issue? 

[BarryLaverty]

Just now, mellon said:

But the article was right on one point. The Democrats will do anything to cheat in an election.

Take a L, maybe? Loser's Limp rears its ugly sad head again, otherwise. 

[Monte1076]

13 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

Most Democrats I know want their voters to be vaccinated and follow basic safety measures. Most Republican leaders, while getting vaccinated themselves, use the issue as a wedge and endanger their constituents by doing so. That clear enough for you? See how I stayed focused on the relevant issue? 

It's more about your intellectual dishonesty. Most politicians, Democrat and Republican alike, are mostly very likely psychopaths.

That's one place where you and I differ, Barry. I think politicians care about getting elected. You think they care about you, personally. Because as I've said before: We're watching a show. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be.

And consider this: The politicians "in charge", really pay no price if they're wrong, do they?

[BarryLaverty]

Just now, Monte1076 said:

It's more about your intellectual dishonesty. Most politicians, Democrat and Republican alike, are mostly very likely psychopaths.

That's one place where you and I differ, Barry. I think politicians care about getting elected. You think they care about you, personally. Because as I've said before: We're watching a show. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be.

And consider this: The politicians "in charge", really pay no price if they're wrong, do they?

Actually, I think your response is reflective of your diffident, endless quibbling over CRT and election fraud and public education and poor, poor white people, while trying to steer clear of GOP drenched association and stay clean. You can't just openly come out and say, 'THIS is a politically motivated movement that has probably caused people to die, by neglecting their health care.' 

Not just politicians being politicians on the wrong side of an issue in a party you openly and endlessly support.

Not my 'intellectual dishonesty'. 

[Monte1076]

Just now, BarryLaverty said:

Actually, I think your response is reflective of your diffident, endless quibbling over CRT and election fraud and public education and poor, poor white people, while trying to steer clear of GOP drenched association and stay clean. You can't just openly come out and say, 'THIS is a politically motivated movement that has probably caused people to die, by neglecting their health care.' 

Not just politicians being politicians on the wrong side of an issue in a party you openly and endlessly support.

Not my 'intellectual dishonesty'. 

Wanna know why? Because I can see that the Emperor has no clothes. Can you?

I'm not responsible for every wacky thing a Republican says, just like you aren't responsible for every crackpot thing a Democrat says.

[DannyZuco]

33 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

It might make me think that they don't really care for us, if they aren't careful. Now, power, that may be important to them. 

(Washington Post)

Opinion: The GOP doesn’t care about the suffering it causes — even among its own base

By Jennifer Rubin
Columnist
|
Follow
Today at 10:00 a.m. EST

Given that innumerable Republican leaders (including the former president) have been spreading lies about the coronavirus, peddling quack cures and discouraging effective vaccines for well more than a year, no one should be surprised they are once again throwing up hurdles to public health measures. That does not make it any less appalling.

Axios reported on Monday that “Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Tennessee have changed their unemployment insurance rules to allow workers who are fired or quit over vaccine mandates to receive benefits.” Yes, they are incentivizing people to quit work and remain unvaccinated. So much for the party of “work” and “life.”

Meanwhile, former White House physician and now-Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) — known for his unintentionally comedic flattery of the former president and for describing the Biden administration’s vaccine program as “socialist communist Marxist” — has piped up again with an insane conspiracy theory:

Here comes the MEV - the Midterm Election Variant! They NEED a reason to push unsolicited nationwide mail-in ballots. Democrats will do anything to CHEAT during an election - but we're not going to let them!

Other Republicans are attempting to nix federal mandates that have proved successful in getting more than 90 percent of the federal workforce vaccinated. As NPR reported, “Conservative lawmakers in Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, Wyoming and North Dakota have already completed special sessions and passed bills aimed at nullifying new federal mandates.”

The results are predictable: More Republicans are dying because Republican leaders and the right-wing media are misleading them. My colleague Philip Bump reports: “The vast majority of those now dying of the coronavirus were unvaccinated, a group that’s disproportionately Republican. Florida has now seen more than 61,000 coronavirus deaths, about 284 for every 100,000 residents. New York, by comparison, has seen 56,645 deaths, 280 per 100,000 residents. One year ago, before the vaccines, New York’s per capita toll was nearly twice Florida’s.”

Republicans, therefore, are contributing to the deaths of their most loyal followers. They then blame President Biden for failing to stop the pandemic — even though they have no intention of stopping their campaign of disinformation, anti-vaccine hysteria and effort to discredit Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony S. Fauci. Regarding the smear campaign that MAGA senators have launched against him, Fauci said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”: “I’m just going to do my job and I’m going to be saving lives and they’re going to be lying.”

Their coronavirus death cult may be the most egregious example of Republicans’ destructive oppositional behavior, but it is hardly the only one. MAGA hard-liners still want to punish the 13 House Republicans who had the temerity to vote for the infrastructure bill on the grounds that it would help their constituents. They’ll countenance none of that!

Likewise, Republicans voted unanimously against the American Rescue Plan, but then touted its benefits, including the bills program to help struggling restaurants. And while Republicans have been ranting about inflation, they also voted unanimously in the House against the Build Back Better Plan, which would, among other things, have reduced the costs of child care, housing, Affordable Care Act premiums and prescription drugs for millions of Americans.

It’s almost as though Republicans are rooting for inflation to devastate Americans. Actually, strike the “almost.” That is precisely what they are doing, as NBC News reported:

“This is going to be devastating for them,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the head of the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, which is running ads during the Thanksgiving holiday highlighting higher gas and food prices.
In an earlier interview with The Wall Street Journal, he called the issue “a gold mine” for Republicans.
And don’t forget that the vast majority of congressional Republicans were happy to let the United States bump up against the debt ceiling, despite the economic debacle it would have caused.

This is hardly the only time Republicans have weaponized congressional deadlines (recall the 2013 and 2018-2019 shutdowns). They have long pioneered anti-government animus, and when things are not going badly enough to suit their political interests, they stand at the ready to make matters worse. Entirely foreseeable consequences, such as their own supporters dying or suffering financial hardship, do not dissuade them from engaging in reckless behavior. They still fan anti-vaccine hysteria even though many of them have been vaccinated themselves.

Should unnecessary deaths and economic hardship increase because of covid-19, you can bet Republicans will consider it a triumph — so long as they win the House majority. Their willingness to increase suffering is many things (irresponsible, un-Christian, unpatriotic, cruel), but it is not “pro-life.” Maybe their constituents will start to notice.

Whoopie--another OP-ED from the Parrot himself. 

[DannyZuco]

4 minutes ago, Monte1076 said:

Wanna know why? Because I can see that the Emperor has no clothes. Can you?

I'm not responsible for every wacky thing a Republican says, just like you aren't responsible for every crackpot thing a Democrat says.

But by god he will parrot everything one of those crackpots says. There is NO intellect when it comes to parroting the MSM. 

[osup116]

1 hour ago, BarryLaverty said:

Most Democrats I know want their voters to be vaccinated and follow basic safety measures. Most Republican leaders, while getting vaccinated themselves, use the issue as a wedge and endanger their constituents by doing so. That clear enough for you? See how I stayed focused on the relevant issue? 

Interpretation 

Most democrats want you to obey and give up freedom of choice

most republicans believe in freedom of choice

[ObiOne]

15 minutes ago, osup116 said:

Interpretation 

Most democrats want you to obey and give up freedom of choice

most republicans believe in freedom of choice

I'm old enough to remember when dims were anti-censorship and gop wanted to take away your smut books.  My how times have changed.

[EnjoyLife]

1 hour ago, BarryLaverty said:

'THIS is a politically motivated movement that has probably caused people to die, by neglecting their health care.' 

Right wingers dont believe in healthcare...at least for the poor...even poor right wingers. Go figure.............................

[Monte1076]

24 minutes ago, EnjoyLife said:

Right wingers dont believe in healthcare...at least for the poor...even poor right wingers. Go figure.............................

Since when?

[ObiOne]

24 minutes ago, Monte1076 said:

Since when?

He's talking about free healthcare for illegals....funded by tax payers.  

[DaveTV1]

2 hours ago, Monte1076 said:

It's more about your intellectual dishonesty. Most politicians, Democrat and Republican alike, are mostly very likely psychopaths.

That's one place where you and I differ, Barry. I think politicians care about getting elected. You think they care about you, personally. Because as I've said before: We're watching a show. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be.

And consider this: The politicians "in charge", really pay no price if they're wrong, do they?

Trump cared about all Americans and wanted America to come first over all others.  We don't see that much anymore.  

[mellon]

[DaveTV1]

2 hours ago, DannyZuco said:

But by god he will parrot everything one of those crackpots says. There is NO intellect when it comes to parroting the MSM. 

Exactly correct, and he cares for no one other than himself and his own family because he has a government job.  He doesn't care about inflation as long as he gets his cost of living increase.  This op-ed writer is even worse.  Florida now has lower cases of the Wuhan than New York meaning it's still spreading in New York, but not Florida.  Then this idiot op-ed writer wants to bring up the build back better snafu, but two paragraphs later complains about the U.S. bumping at the debt ceiling while the Democrats want to spend $1.5 trillion more with the build back better that will send us way past the debt ceiling. 

Who are the Republican politicians that are anti-vaccine ?  I haven't heard any Republican say not to get the vaccine, but that the American people have the right to choose.  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is anti-vaccine and was banned from instagram because of his misinformation.  Other than Conservatives on Smoaky, what prominent Conservatives are anti-vaccine.  Having a choice is not anti vaccine.  

[DaveTV1]

1 hour ago, EnjoyLife said:

Right wingers dont believe in healthcare...at least for the poor...even poor right wingers. Go figure.............................

We simply believe that the Government has no place in the healthcare industry.  The ACA was the worst thing for healthcare.  

[DannyZuco]

2 hours ago, EnjoyLife said:

Right wingers dont believe in healthcare...at least for the poor...even poor right wingers. Go figure.............................

WRONG, everyone believes in healthcare--JUST NOT GOVERNMENT RUN healthcare. Because the government is the world's worst at running anything that should be done by a businessman. Your problems seems to be that YOU think the GOVERNMENT should be in control of it, and it does NOT work well anywhere, especially in a country the size of the United States--and I would NEVER want to give up 50% or more of my income to pay for something the GOVERNMENT can NOT run efficiently. Because socialist countries have to poor more and more into their "healthcare" systems. I'd rather have my money and spend it on things I NEED, not on someone else because they are too cheap to purchase or ILLEGALLY here. 

[EnjoyLife]

8 minutes ago, DannyZuco said:

WRONG, everyone believes in healthcare--JUST NOT GOVERNMENT RUN healthcare. Because the government is the world's worst at running anything that should be done by a businessman. Your problems seems to be that YOU think the GOVERNMENT should be in control of it, and it does NOT work well anywhere, especially in a country the size of the United States--and I would NEVER want to give up 50% or more of my income to pay for something the GOVERNMENT can NOT run efficiently. Because socialist countries have to poor more and more into their "healthcare" systems. I'd rather have my money and spend it on things I NEED, not on someone else because they are too cheap to purchase or ILLEGALLY here. 

American Healthcare is already ran like a business...because that is what it is. Our Healthcare system does not exist to provide a vital public service...it exists to maximize profits, executive compensation and investor returns. No "for profit" business ever does anything for the benefit of the customer...their only goal is to make as much $ as possible. Other advanced countries Healthcare systems deliver measurably better results and cover all of their people at a per capita cost that is half of what Americans pay. Why do you think that not one single other advanced nation copies the US Healthcare model?

[EnjoyLife]

58 minutes ago, DaveTV1 said:

We simply believe that the Government has no place in the healthcare industry.  The ACA was the worst thing for healthcare.  

I agree with you about Obamacare. It was a huge giveaway to the insurance companies and did almost nothing to address the real problem...that healthcare in America costs far, far more than in other "first world" nations. 

[EnjoyLife]

1 hour ago, ObiOne said:

He's talking about free healthcare for illegals....funded by tax payers.  

Apparently you have not read any of my posts about Border security. 

[DannyZuco]

6 minutes ago, EnjoyLife said:

American Healthcare is already ran like a business...because that is what it is. Our Healthcare system does not exist to provide a vital public service...it exists to maximize profits, executive compensation and investor returns. No "for profit" business ever does anything for the benefit of the customer...their only goal is to make as much $ as possible. Other advanced countries Healthcare systems deliver measurably better results and cover all of their people at a per capita cost that is half of what Americans pay. Why do you think that not one single other advanced nation copies the US Healthcare model?

I have stated before that I would agree to government regulations of parts of the American Healthcare system. Such as limits to increases in Health Insurance costs, or repayment of health insurance programs if you did not use your insurance for a year. A law to end "co-pays" would be great also. Why if I am spending $500 a month on insurance to I also have to have a freaking "co-pay". Isn't that what insurance is for? 

But I will never want the United States government in charge of a healthcare program, look at how bad medicare and medicaid is run, and you want this for everyone. That is sick. And in other countries, their healthcare may serve them all, but the people pay for it through higher income and other taxes. We already have enough taxes here and they are TOO HIGH already. Government don't care about people either, they care about re-elections and power. So don't act like governments are better than businesses in ANY aspects. SMH. (see Retired--I can control myself with letters. LOL)

[Purpleforever]

4 hours ago, BarryLaverty said:

Actually, I think your response is reflective of your diffident, endless quibbling over CRT and election fraud and public education and poor, poor white people, while trying to steer clear of GOP drenched association and stay clean. You can't just openly come out and say, 'THIS is a politically motivated movement that has probably caused people to die, by neglecting their health care.' 

Not just politicians being politicians on the wrong side of an issue in a party you openly and endlessly support.

Not my 'intellectual dishonesty'. 

My body, my choice. Plain and simple. your vaccinated, so you are safe. Live free or die, my choice. Live with it.