DON'T LET SCROOGE FALL OFF THE WAGON
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 17:48:08
It's the holiday season and I'm up early, cup of steaming java in my hand, perusing the front page of the newspaper. Stories of good will and cheer abound; Christmas dinners doled out to the homeless at the downtown mission, Marines collecting toys for tots and the needy delighted to find a basket of groceries delivered to their doorstep.
But on the same front page, there's another story devoid of all good will and cheer-it's the tale of the Republican legislative agenda for 2011. It's like Scrooge woke up on New Years Day and decided to revert to his mean spirited, miserly old ways.
The GOP, by their own account, are dead set on scuttling healthcare, education, highway and bridge repair, scientific research and nutrition for the poor. They are also determined to deep six the financial regulations put in place to prevent a repeat of the 2008 collapse which dragged us down into this Big Double Dip.
We're going to be hearing a lot about reigning in the deficit in 2011. Turning a blind eye to the vast sums we're spending on hapless military adventures across the globe, the Republicans (and way too many Democrats) are hell bent on staunching the flow of red ink by cutting back the very programs vital to our recovery.
We're building schools in Afghanistan while our own education system is on life support. We're paying for firefights in Kandahar, and can't afford to pay for firefighters at home. We're bulldozing superhighways from Kabul to Karachi, while our infrastructure is crumbling. Doesn't anybody get the irony here?
Yes, peace on earth and good will toward men; but first, peace here in America instead of class war and good will toward all the inhabitants of this marvelous country, rich and poor alike. Merry Christmas everybody, and a happy, hopeful new year.