Why Are Republicans Being Such Assholes?

[Nevilledog]

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2020/07/why-are-republicans-being-such-assholes/

The $600 bonus unemployment payments put in place in March expire today, and let’s get this out of the way up front: the main reason for extending them is because there are millions of Americans who are out of work and they desperately need the money. There’s no reason to add to the anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic itself by making them wonder if they’ll keep getting these payments.

That said, there’s another reason to extend the UI payments. I’m not the first to say this, or probably even the millionth, but if the payments are cut off it will devastate an already ravaged economy. Here is EPI’s estimate from a few weeks ago of what the payments are doing to keep the economy afloat:

We estimate that extending the $600 UI benefits through the middle of 2021 would provide an average quarterly boost to gross domestic product (GDP) of 3.7% and employment of 5.1 million workers.

Now, you can argue with EPI’s precise number. You can propose, say, a $400 UI benefit along with a repeat of the $1,200 stimulus checks. That’s all fine, and it ought to be an easy negotiation. It also ought to be a negotiation that took place a month ago, when it was obvious that we hadn’t beaten COVID-19 and continued support for the economy would be needed.

*snip*

[iemitsu]

1. Republicans are always assholes.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Because they can...

and so far, they haven't paid much of a price for it.

[gopiscrap]

3. repukes are always assholes

they're just not afraid to show it now that the asshole in chief is president

[sakabatou]

4. As long as others are hurt, they love it

They're bullies who feed on cruelty.

[poli-junkie]

5. Starve people to suppress the vote

[napi21]

6. Yhe person who said Now they aren't afraid to say the things they always thought is correct! They

have always had the same hatred, thought the same thoughts, & kept it all behind their closed doors because it wasn't acceptable in society. DT changed all that. I had one RWer tell me just how hated Obama was and they had to endure 8 LONG YEARS of him & is family living in their White House,, so I should just shut up and live with it now! Most of the Repugs I've encountered have only one position...What's mine is mine & there's no limit to how much I can get by whatever means necessary. They don't care about ANYONE ELSE and never have. Probably never will.

[NanceGreggs]

7. Common sense dictates ...

... that the economy cannot 'come back' if people have no money to spend.

Common sense also dictates that people will not go back to jobs that could ultimately prove fatal, to themselves and/or their families.

It is common sense to know that the pandemic has to be dealt with first in order for people to start working again - which in turn boosts the economy.

The Republicans aren't working from common sense - and that has to be deliberate. As I've often said, the PTB in the GOP may be all kinds of nasty things - but they're not stupid. They know what they're doing is destroying the nation financially and emotionally.

IMHO, they know they'll soon be out of power, and they've embarked on a two-pronged plan.

Prong one is take the money and run. We've seen this in action with billions in PPP money being funneled to GOP cronies and corporate donors, DeVos channeling money to private education, PPP money going to churches in order to assuage the GOP evangelical base - the list goes on.

Prong two is leaving the country in as bad a shape as possible, forcing the Democrats to spend their time in office cleaning up the mess - while the Republicans stand on the sidelines and bitch endlessly about how little progress the Dems in power are accomplishing in "fixing" all that has been broken.

Trump being ousted from the WH is now inevitable, and the Republicans know it. They also know that many of them are going down with him. So they're cramming as much cash into their own pockets, and the pockets of reliable donors, as possible.

People will die as a result of the GOP's actions. Some people will be bankrupted, some will lose their businesses, their farms, their homes. The Republicans know that, too. They just don't care.

The plan seems to be that President Biden inherit a nation that is literally dying on every level imaginable. And dead citizens are the price they're willing to pay to see that happen.

[Nexus2]

10. So its the typical asshole tenant 'plan'

Rip out the wiring, plumbing and anything valuable, trash everything else, plant a few dead fish in the vents, upper deck all the toilets then move as far as possible, leaving a false forwarding address.

[yuiyoshida]

8. Well because they are

Assholes. Been Assholes for a long. long time... probably since Reagan... or Nixon?? .. but yeah,. Assholes. for sure.

[Celerity]

9. Racism, Misogyny, Greed, Hate, Entitlement, and Fear, underpinned with the lunacy that is religion

It is centuries now of a toxic distillation of the worst parts of the zeitgeist within a relative geographic isolation (no true land border threats) where the consequences of massive and systemically pervasive wickedness never truly had to be paid for. Even the Civil War was a let-off, as Reconstruction was never remotely accomplished.

[maxrandb]

11. Why does shit smell bad?

Why do birds fly?

Why do maggots eat rotting flesh?

These are all questions that are as difficult to answer as "why are Retrumplicans such assholes"?