Republicans have, this voting season, decided that they are being attacked by Democrats unfairly though a misrepresentation of Republican ideas.

This article is to set the record straight, protect Republicans by clarifying their arguments, and criticizing those who intentionally cast aspersions on the conservative ideas to govern.

Let’s consider the “War on Women,” a charge Republicans refute in the strongest terms. Indeed, how can Republicans want a war against women when they need female voters to win any election? The very idea is, on its face, illogical and insulting.

Apparently Democrats have cited things they suggest are examples of such a war, and believe the public will be fooled by these claims.

For example, the Lilly Ledbetter Act that created legal protection for fair pay was passed into law by votes in the House and Senate that were almost exclusively Democratic. Democrats think this means Republicans are not advancing causes women care about.

Then there are the many Republican state legislatures that have since the 2010 elections sponsored new laws restricting women’s reproductive rights and attacking women’s health care providers like Planned Parenthood.

Again, Democrats cast these actions as against women with little evidence beyond these new bills and laws.

And then there are the republican attacks on teachers and other public employees. These careers are held by a majority of women, and Republican governors have acted to cut school budgets, costing teaching jobs; they have reduced state service jobs, another predominately female occupied career; and the attacks on the health care and benefits of these positions, hurting career women more than men by their higher employment numbers in these careers.

Democrats once again argue these actions are against the interests of women. Republicans know that such an attack is based only upon outcomes observed, not perceptions required during an election campaign.

Then of course there is the deviously planned student loan crisis. Let us be perfectly clear, when Democrats passed the current reduction in student loan interest rates to 3.2 percent, they added a provision to review and renew the interest cuts in 2012.

They surely knew that Republicans would be tricked into opposing continuing these interest reductions, intentionally making the Party look bad during a presidential election year.

And, surely Democrats knew that women now constitute about 58 percent of those who benefit from these reduced rate loans, once again suggesting Republicans have a War on Women with little more than facts to support the claim.

And then there is Rush Limbaugh, the unofficial chairman of all Republicans, who spent three days of his right wing wacko radio program calling a young female law student a slut and a prostitute.

Why? Because the woman disagreed with Mr. Limbaugh on the issue of availability of contraception methods to women in general.

And virtually all Republicans stood by in silence while Limbaugh continued his attacks on the woman for most of a week. A War on Women? How dare they make such a claim?

Finally, one of the leading republican presidential candidates came forth explaining that he does not even believe in the use of contraceptives by women because such methods encourage women to do things they should not do.

While it is true that 98 percent of women use contraception in their lifetimes, certainly it does not make a War on Women to claim all these women are wrong, or worse, sinful.

But did other Republicans step forward to refute this candidates’ statements? They did not.

Now if all of this constitutes a War on Women then you must be a democrat partisan, for surely any reasonable American can see that Republicans have a plan for women.

Unfortunately that plan does not support sexual freedom, education or employment. But the good news here for women is, if you want to be a stay-at-home mom you will have plenty of babies.

Who needs contraception?

 

Jim Crawford is retired educator and political enthusiast living here in the Tri-State.