For the Rich, By the Rich

As the disassembly of the American government continues, we must keep in mind why it’s happening.

The disassemblers want you to think that it’s solely about lowering spending and the deficit. That’s partially correct… that’s one facet. But it sounds good so that’s the part they trumpet to their MAGA followers.

It’s been a Republican principle ever since I can remember to limit government. Remember good old Grover Norquist, the guy who personally demanded pledges from GOP politicians that they will never raise a tax of any kind? He would finance a primary challenge to anyone who didn’t make the pledge.

His most salient quote is “I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

Republican leadership wants there to be no government because in such a case, those with the most money will rule. That’s them.

So now they’ve conned lower and middle-class people into voting for them and actually cheering as DOGE eliminates one government agency after another, including those that service the basic needs of all Americans. And I expect the cheers to continue right up until the next disaster hits and there’s no one left that knows how to deal with it. No FEMA, no NOAA forecasting, medical research to be done, no regulations that require banks to give you back your money, and so on.

What they are doing is criminal and I mean that literally. There is no support in the law for an appointed figure to make unilateral cuts to government personnel and agencies. And it’s especially galling once you realize that the person managing all this destruction is reaping the direct benefit because the businesses that he owns are being investigated or have business before all the agencies he’s dismantling.

This is just one.

No one on the news or in the local papers (at least MY local paper) is talking about the after-effects of all these cuts. Thousands of workers are being laid off by people who have no idea what they actually do. In some cases, like with those who oversee our nuclear capabilities, they have had to be immediately recalled, because even the rich assholes know enough not to mess around with nuclear science.

Here are some of the biggest targets so far:

·         The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose job it is to keep you from getting screwed by banks. Ask yourself, why would a legitimate politician want that removed? The only answer is so you can be screwed over by banks again.

·         OSHA, which is responsible for workplace safety. Without them, there is no one to ensure that machinery is properly guarded, workers aren’t engaging in dangerous activity, they are not getting poisoned by the atmosphere in the plant, and so forth. This department was created because business practices were so dangerous, with fatalities merely being considered “the cost of doing business.” If a business can cut a safety corner that saves them money and there is no disincentive, do you really think they’ll refrain? History tells us otherwise.

·         NOAA, which provides detailed weather forecasting free of charge to the public. They are being taken down for two reasons. One is that they are a leader in climate change research and that’s exactly what Republicans don’t want to hear about. They are still owned by the fossil fuel industry, to whom there is no such thing as climate change. The other reason is that, like with most other services, they’d rather privatize than provide, so that their people can make money from it. We’re spoiled with free hurricane reporting now. What happens when it becomes a pay service? This isn’t Only Fans, this is public safety. Not everyone can afford to drop $9.99 a month for storm warnings. But even if it doesn’t go that far, it’s still a barrier to necessary information.

·         USDA and the people who inspect our food to ensure it’s safe. Tell me why an honest politician would want to tamper with food safety? There are no legitimate reasons, only to lower standards to reduce the cost of production, without opposition. Who cares, then, when people get sick? How are they going to prove it? And prove it to whom, without a governing agency?

·         The VA. Look at how many Democratic programs get slammed because “We shouldn’t spend money on “this” while we still have homeless veterans.” These guys are cutting services to all veterans, not just the homeless ones, and there’s not a peep from all these MAGA “patriots.”

There are dozens more but it all comes down to the same thing… and this is the main reason for these actions. Small government and lower expenditures make possible the fat tax cuts they want to renew. These are tax cuts for the rich that we will barely even notice in our paychecks. And this time, they’re not even bothering to continue the lie that it will spur the economy so that the rest of us feel the difference. We know, from when these tax cuts were rolled out, that they won’t do anything for anyone other than line the pocket of the rich.

It’s not like they’re averse to spending money though, as long as it’s on themselves. TFG’s golf trips and Mar-a-Lago trips cost the taxpayers millions. But they don’t even pretend to care about these optics. After all, they see it as their right as the Ruling Class.

This is what we’re up against for the next 4 years. And I hope people remember what government service used to be like. It wasn’t always the most efficient, but at least it was there. If there’s ever another election we’re going to need everyone onboard to reset the clock. (And women, be sure you have your docs in order, Republicans have proposed a bill that will likely end the right to vote for married women who have taken their husband’s name unless they obtain a whole new set of documents.) They may fix that loophole in Committee, but they haven’t yet, and that’s telling.

We’re only about a month in. It’s going to be an ugly road ahead.