Monday, March 23, 2015

Don't blame me for my congressman's GOP budget proposal. I voted against Tom Price

I want all my fellow Americans to know that the budget just submitted by House Budget Committee Chair Tom Price (R-GA) is not my fault.   I have voted for his opponent, whoever it is, every chance I get -- ever since redistricting shifted me from John Lewis' district over into the heavily Republican 6th Congressional.

Tom Price is not one of the crazies.   He's actually a respectable orthopedic surgeon who never makes headlines with crazy talk.   He has a very subdued profile for a politician.   He and his wife, an anesthesiologist, seem like typical educated, country club type Republicans.   No, it's not him personally;  it's his conservative policies.

But his budget priorities are horrendous, and I am embarrassed to have him represent my district in congress.

He has just released the GOP budget proposal, which calls for a $5.5 trillion savings over the next decade, while increasing defense spending and cutting taxes for the rich and for multinational corporations.   A typical GOP budget -- a la Paul Ryan, a la Ayn Rand -- it makes deep, deep cuts in domestic spending to offset their priorities, while also cutting the deficit.

It calls for repealing Obamacare and replacing it with some as-yet-unwritten plan, plus converting Medicare into fixed-sum block grants to states.   The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this would perhaps double the number of uninsureds over what we have now.  In addition, the Price budget deregulates everything they don't like and cuts funds for programs that benefit poor families, children, college students, and seniors.

The party that wraps itself in Christian piety puts its policy priorities in exactly the opposite order from the teachings of Jesus?   They have become the party of military might, big business, rich donors, and unforgiving moral scourges.   

Don't they ever ask themselves, "WWJD?"    If they do, then they do exactly the opposite of what Jesus would do.   Just look at the record.

Ralph

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