GOP sinks U.S. to Third World status

Stanley R. Goldfarb, Las Vegas

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 | 2:04 a.m.

So, the Republicans won. We Democrats fought them every step of the way, but with dedication, perseverance and unflagging dedication to the cause, the Republicans won. Congratulations to them — they finally did it. Republicans succeeded in “starving the beast.” They’ve reduced revenue and spent us into the poorhouse.

Their efforts turned us into a debtor nation so that government could no longer do as much as it had been doing. As the Republicans planned, America is in a position where spending must be drastically curtailed. To their credit, they have been quite open about their goals since the strategy was formulated in the 1970s.

Republicans call for deep cuts in social programs and a concurrent elimination of regulating agencies. Public schools, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are targeted for elimination or drastic cutbacks. They’ve put us over a barrel and all we progressives can do is argue about how much will be taken out of which programs.

So tell me, are Republicans proud of themselves? Is this what they want? Really? In their ideological quest for power, they’ve reduced America to a shadow of its former self and sent us headlong into a Third World status where the wealth of an entire nation is in the hands of a ruling elite. We’re there. A few hundred individuals own more than a hundred thousand of us do. That is what Mexico looks like, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

I might understand why the superrich, the captains of industry and their Republican lackeys think this is a great direction to take us, but are average American citizens so gullible that they are convinced this is in their best interests, too?