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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepublicans are causing a moral crisis in America
By Katrina vanden Heuvel
There is moral crisis afoot! So say the Republican candidates for president, their pals in Congress and in state houses. Abortion, gay marriage, contraception contraception, for Petes sake things that so shock the conscience that its a wonder The Washington Post can even print the words!
Heres something I bet you wouldnt think Id say: Theyre right. There is a moral crisis in the United States. The only thing is theyre wrong about what it is and who is causing it.
The real crisis of public morality in the United States doesnt lie in the private decisions Americans make in their lives or their bedrooms; it lies at the heart of an ideology and a set of policies that the right-wing has used to batter and browbeat their fellow Americans.
They dress these policies up sometimes, give them catchy titles like Rep. Paul Ryans Path to Prosperity. But they never cease to imbue them with the kind of moral decisions that ought to make anyone furious. Ryans latest budget really is case in point. Its a plan that says that increases in defense spending are so essential, that massive tax cuts for the wealthy are so necessary, that we must pay for them by ripping a hole in the social safety net. The poor need Medicaid to pay for medicine and treatment for their families? We care, we really do, but the wealthy need tax cuts more. Food stamps the only thing standing between your children and starvation? Listen, we feel your pain. We get it. But weve got more important things to spend money on. Like a new yacht for that guy who only has one yacht.
Its hard to point to a single priority of the Republican Party these days that isnt steeped in moral failing while being dressed up in moral righteousness. This week, for example, they are hoping the Supreme Court will be persuaded by radical (and ridiculous) constitutional arguments to throw out some or all of the Affordable Care Act. Sure, you could argue that its really nice to make sure 31 million people who didnt have health care can get it. Sure you could make the case that lifetime limits are a bad thing, that women shouldnt have to pay more for health insurance just because theyre women, that the United States shouldnt be a country where you die because you lost your coverage when you lost your job. But then again, liberty. Lets not forget liberty. Also, freedom.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-are-causing-a-moral-crisis-in-america/2012/03/26/gIQACSM2dS_story.html
w8liftinglady
(23,278 posts)I'm thinking he'd shake his head,as would Allah,Buddha,Hindu and all the others.
Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)shaking head!
w8liftinglady
(23,278 posts)(%)
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ProSense
(116,464 posts)make up something absurd, and then retract it (sort of).
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)Everyone in the GOP has been possessed by the . Think about it--they oppose universal health care, they don't have the interests in mind of gays and minorities, they want to keep the rich wealthy instead of helping the poor...the list goes on. The actions of that party ever since the Reagan era are evidence that the term "Conservative Christian" is essentially an oxymoron.
Stan Smith
(97 posts)They totally disregard the teachings of Jesus. Jesus told them to take care of the poor, yet they don't want to give up a single dime to go to social programs that help the poor that they are supposed to care for.
tblue37
(65,483 posts)Last edited Wed Mar 28, 2012, 08:26 PM - Edit history (1)
ProSense
(116,464 posts)FSogol
(45,524 posts)tk2kewl
(18,133 posts)Iliyah
(25,111 posts)care about his money and power, eff everything else. Christians, heck no, far from it. Goppers carry Bibles and guns, and hate everything that doesn't comply with them.
What would Jesus do? He would be more like a progressive.