We are going to need a new Congress if we expect lawmakers to address and solve the problems the American people face.

Right now, Republicans are working fast and furious to pass a tax bill that only 25 percent of Americans support (according to a Quinnipiac poll), one that is designed to give tax cuts to corporations and the rich by borrowing the money and increasing the national debt, not to mention booting 13 million off of healthcare to save $338 billion to help fund the tax cuts.

In a reality divorced from the rest of us, Republicans are rushing to pass the “attack the middle class” bill so they will be more popular in the 2018 midterm elections. Really?

Pass a terrible bill to gain support from who? The sad answer is from their donors. You see, they don’t need to care about you as they have gerrymandered their districts to win re-election no matter how they behave.

A majority of Americans want Obamacare fixed (60 percent, according to a CNN poll), while Republicans are busily finding ways to destroy what has become a far better system than pre-ACA health insurance. Do you think the Republicans will suddenly care about the 60 percent? No evidence suggests that.

Similarly, 60 percent (Quinnipiac) of Americans want stricter gun laws, but the powerful NRA lobby does not, so will Congress vote with the people or the lobbyists? Need you even ask? A Republican congress will always vote against you and for the NRA.

Republicans sit on their hands refusing to generate new immigration laws and protect the DACA kids from being deported. But the American people are far better people than their Republican congress. According to Quinnipiac, 68 percent of Americans want the illegal immigrants to stay and apply for citizenship, and 82 percent want the kids brought here as small children protected and allowed to apply for citizenship. Will the Republican Congress listen to the people? Not a prayer.

Want a giant silly wall built on our southern border? Of course not! 63 percent of Americans oppose the sixth century wall (CNN). So is the wall a dead issue? Hardly, sample wall panels are now on display, waiting for a contract.

Do you believe in climate change cause by human activity? If you do you, may support the Paris Accords, where every nation on the planet, except the U.S., has joined in committing to reduce their carbon footprint on the environment. 60 percent of Americans want us in the Paris Accord (Quinnipiac). Do Republicans? Absolutely not.

Will they change their minds, and like all the rest of the people on the planet try to save our home from further destruction? Nope. American Republicans remain the sole group on the planet to deny global warming because, they say, the science is wrong. Well, sure, that is like asking the guy changing your oil to tell you how your heart is doing,

Republicans telling science what is scientific evidence.

Republicans say they are for the working man, but ask them about raising the minimum wage to $15, something 58 percent of Americans (Pew) believe will actually help the economy, compared to tax cuts for rich corporations that will help nothing. Will you ever get a living wage from a Republican Congress? In a word, no.

The Republicans in Congress have a support rating of 15 percent; Democrats have support of 29 percent.  51 percent of Americans think Republican leadership is bad for America, only 38 percent think Republican leadership is good for America, slightly over one-third  (Quinnipiac).

Republicans oppose just about everything Americans want from their government, and that is not likely to change. And now they have one other issue, they have abandoned all ethical character to support the Alt-right president and his cronies, now under indictment and investigation.

We are going to need to toss these people out of congress if we want back the City on the Hill.

 

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