The Modern Confederacy
The current occupant of the White House and his cronies in the administration are the modern embodiment of the creators of the old Confederacy. Those Legislators in 1860 were willing to destroy the Union of States for the most despicable of reasons. The goal was to create a Government that would guarantee their wealth and power by protecting the institution of slavery. If it took the dissolution of the Union, then so be it!
In a similar fashion the current Republican Party, beginning with President Reagan, tapped into the racism of the southern states over the fight for civil rights to build a Party supported by some of the worst elements of our society. Using tax cuts Reagan proved to his moneyed backers that their money was well placed. It is a specific tool the Party uses to maintain power. The aim is to weaken the Federal Government so it cannot oversee and regulate the harms the Capitalist side of our nature can produce. Less income means a weaker Government. The Party has chosen our own Government as the enemy they will save us all from with the miracle of unfettered Capitalism.
Grover Norquist head of Americans for Tax Reform promoted his ‘No Tax Pledge’ getting many Republican Legislators to sign on. He described the goal by saying this,” I don’t want to abolish government. I just want to shrink it down to a size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”
Every Republican President has followed this plan. Huge tax cuts for the wealthy and large businesses while shifting the cost of government to the poor and middle class thereby weakening the Federal Government even further. We went from one worker supporting a family of 4 to 2 workers with one having 2 jobs and barely getting by.
Evidence of this to the extreme is everywhere in the Trump Administration. He has gutted the State Department and failed to make competent appointments to vital positions and filled the Justice Department and other departments with his yes men much to the detriment of the country. The effort to privatize the Post Office is another example. Recently, after originally denying the danger of the ongoing pandemic, he said the Federal Government had no role in the response to the crisis. He then told the State Governors that, they were on their own! Some even set up border crossings to turn back travelers!
This is as close to the dissolution of the Union as we have gotten since the Civil War. The Party of Lincoln has turned 180 degrees into a band of modern Confederates willing to dissolve the Union to maintain their wealth and power.
Crisis brings change. WWII brought us the vibrant middle class which has been under attack since Reagan. Hopefully when we get on the other side of the current crisis we will come to our senses and realize that the ideal is a beneficial compromise of capitalist and socialist policies that benefit and create a bright future for all our citizens.