October 20, 2022Gronda Morin

GOP MAGAs Push Towards Autocracy Will Harm US Economy and Its Citizens

While Democratic Party candidates should be focusing on the 2 issues of saving our US democracy from devolving into a Fascist style autocracy and the restoration of women’s access to legal abortions, they should still be in the driver’s seat when faced with having to address economic issues.
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All discussion of issues by Dems when confronting GOP MAGAs’ favorite talking points of inflation, immigration, and crime should be tied back to the need for US voters to save our US democracy from devolving into an autocracy. Without a strong democracy, it’ll be mission impossible to effectively and competently address any of these real problems.
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Our voters’ economic wellbeing, our ability to keep rights like that of same sex marriage, and the right of each person to have his/ her vote counted for their intended candidate will be made much worse if GOP MAGAs are able to become the majority party in the US Congress after the November 2022 elections.
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This is because there are GOP corporate dark money donors who’ve been pushing for over 50 years for our US democracy to become a Fascist-like autocracy. These GOP wealthy donors have figured out that their plans to eliminate what they term as entitlements like social security and Medicare, the reduction of taxes for rich folks and corporations, the ending of any oversight over the production and usage of fossil fuels despite its causation of climate change problems, etc. aren’t popular issues with most Americans.  It’s too hard for their GOP MAGA candidates to enact unpopular laws that favor these GOP money bagmen interests in a well-functioning democracy. It becomes a lot easier if the US turns into an autocratic type of government.
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For more information on how for 50 plus years GOP MAGA dark money corporate donors have been influencing US politics, See:

POTUS Biden Has Been Focusing on Lifting Up All Workers Including GOP MAGAs

Democracy is messy with its frustratingly lengthy process of enacting any policy or in addressing pressing time-sensitive problems. This becomes much easier to accomplish in an autocratic government where decision making is more centralized. But then that’s the beauty of a well-functioning democracy, especially if all citizens without exception can rely on their ability to easily vote and to have their votes counted for their intended elected candidates without having to worry about systemic fraud and cheating.
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Why would any voter not be reticent to give up this power of his/ her vote, the power to influence how our elected officials represent out interests? Just look at the economic conditions of autocratic countries in our hemisphere like Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba where the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Why do average American voters think that their economic conditions won’t follow suit to become worse if the US becomes an autocratically run government?
But this is what GOP MAGA voters are being led to choose. The telltale signs that lawmakers are pushing US voters towards an autocratic governing style is when we can see in real time how legislators in GOP MAGA led states have been working overtime to enact voter suppression laws despite the absence of fraud, the selection of GOP MAGA candidates who state for the record that they support the fixing of elections in the future, along with the backing GOP MAGA candidates who openly refuse to concede losses in future elections even if the opposing party wins, fair and square. There is the demand for 100% loyalty to a party even if whatever is being proposed is counter to the what’s in the best interests of the American peoples.
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Image result for photos of weekend retreat with koch brothers and republican senators
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Here’s reality. GOP MAGA candidates backed by GOP big money corporate donors are enticing their voters by subjecting them to bait and switch sale tactics. While the GOP MAGA elected officials excite their voters by spouting culture war issues, election lies, while preying on their voters’ fears and self-professed grievances, these same folks aren’t being told that they’ll be ending up with less monies in their own pockets and worse living standards if GOP MAGA lawmakers prevail in 2022 elections where they are better able to move our democracy towards autocracy.
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How do we know this? GOP MAGA congressional leaders have already voiced their intent to extend the tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy enacted in their GOP 2017 tax cut bill; and some major GOP players have been openly proposing ways to cut what they call entitlement programs like social security and Medicare.

Health Care Is Under Attack - The Santa Barbara Independent

As per an 10/17/2022, Washington Post report,” If the GOP becomes the majority in November, they’re looking to extend provisions from former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, specifically focused on tax rates paid by individuals and corporations.”

See: GOP lawmakers are bashing Biden for driving up inflation, but they could make it worse by extending Trump’s tax cuts …https://www.businessinsider.nl

See what happened when UK conservatives passed right-wing favorite tax cuts as a way to boost its economy. All those who voted for Brexit were promised improved economic conditions, a promise based on conservative rightwing magical thinking.

As per the 10/20/2022 Daily Beast report, “Liz Truss Quits as British Prime Minister After Just 44 Days in Office” by Dan Ladden-Hall:

“A free market ideologue, Truss promised party members that she would radically slash taxes and put Britain on a path of rampant economic growth. Suank said such unfunded cuts would cause “misery for millions.” “The lights on the economy are flashing red, and the root cause is inflation,” Sunak said during one televised leadership interview in August. “I’m worried that Liz Truss’s plans will make the situation worse.”

“On Sept. 23, the British people got their first real taste of what was to come when Truss’ finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, unveiled his plan for growth. An ideological ally of Truss’, Kwarteng co-authored a book with Truss and others in 2012 titled Britannia Unchained which argued that high taxes and a bloated state were holding Britain back. Now in control of the nation’s finances, Kwarteng and Truss set about making their right-wing economic dream a reality. They announced the biggest tax cuts for 50 years, lifted the cap on bankers’ bonuses, and abolished the top rate of income tax.”

“The market response to Truss and Kwarteng’s economic plans was immediate and cataclysmic. The pound dropped to its lowest ever level against the dollar and government bond yields shot up by historic rises, creating a crisis in the mortgage market not seen since the financial crisis of 2008. Within three days, the turmoil had become so serious that the Bank of England was forced to take emergency action to stop what the central bank’s deputy governor called a “full-scale liquidation event” of pension funds triggered by Truss’ policies.”

Florida’s GOP MAGA leader, Senator Rick Scott’s plan for 2022 elections includes the possibility of sunsetting of all federal programs following scheduled reviews to be conducted every 5 years. This proposal includes placing Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block based on a GOP MAGA lie that both are financially untenable.
There’re GOP MAGA congressional representatives who’re already pledging to sabotage whatever legislation that POTUS Biden and Dem congressional members have passed to help Americans during this time of financial hardship because of rising inflation.
GOP MAGA leaders deflect from addressing serious issues by pointing to culture war issues.
As per a 3/17/2022 New York Times op-ed piece, “This is Why Autocracies Fail” by David Brooks:

“The wisdom of many is better than the wisdom of megalomaniacs. In any system, one essential trait is: How does information flow? In democracies, policymaking is usually done more or less in public, and there are thousands of experts offering facts and opinions. We still make mistakes, but the system learns.”

“Often in autocracies, decisions are made within a small, closed circle. Information flows are distorted by power. No one tells the top man what he doesn’t want to hear. The Russian intelligence failure about Ukraine has been astounding. Vladimir Putin understood nothing about what the Ukrainian people wanted, how they would fight or how his own army had been ruined by corruption and kleptocrats.”

“Government against the people is a recipe for decline. Democratic leaders, at least in theory, serve their constituents. Autocratic leaders, in practice, serve their own regime and longevity, even if it means neglecting their people. Thomas J. Bollyky, Tara Templin and Simon Wigley illustrate how life expectancy improvements have slowed in countries that have recently transitioned to autocracies. A study of more than 400 dictators across 76 countries by Richard Jong-A-Pin and Jochen O. Mierau found that a one-year increase in a dictator’s age decreases his nation’s economic growth by 0.12 percentage points.”

“When the Soviet Union fell, we learned that the C.I.A. had overstated the Soviet economy. It’s hard to successfully run a big society through centralized power.”

16 comments

  1. Outstanding! the post but to see you is better! hugs Gronda. If America dose not get it’s sh*t together (Democrat House and Senate) this midterm, everything will begin to fall. So good to see you. peace love and greetings from Oz.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  2. Dear Gary J.,

    Back at you. I’m enjoying hearing from all of my blogging family of friends.

    As of today, the political polls are painting a dismal picture for the chances of Dems keeping power in the US Congress but I’m not buying it because in US states where early voting has commenced, there has been a huge surge in voter turnout which usually bodes well for Democratic Party candidates.

    Hugs, Gronda

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
    Our dear friend Gronda gives us a spot-on and chilling analysis of where we are headed if the autocratic-minded Republican Party gains a majority in one or both chambers of Congress next year. The picture she paints is, for me at least, one that nightmares are made of. Thank you, Gronda! Great to have you back!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Jill,

      Thanks for the reblog. I’m so enjoying blogging again. I’ve missed you and others. Is Roger still around?

      I really am not buying current pundits and polls indicating that GOP candidates have the edge over Dems in this upcoming 2022 elections. Voter turnout in states with early voting has been overwhelming.

      I bet there’re lots of women who aren’t truthful to others regarding their intended vote and there are young folks who’ll simply not respond to poll callers.

      Hugs, Gronda

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Always my pleasure, Gronda! We don’t realize how much we appreciate something or someone until we miss them … I always appreciated your work, but I realized during your haitus just how much I relied on you!

        Yes, Roger is still around! I just let him know that you’re back and told him to drop in and say ‘Hi’ to you, so I’m sure he will soon! He has his own set of troubles, as we all do, and he doesn’t blog as much as before, but he’s around and usually drops in to comment a few times a day.

        I do hope you’re right … like you, I’m not completely buying into the polls … we’ve seen before just how wrong they can be! But, I feel it in the air, too … sense that the outrage over abortion a few months ago has cooled somewhat and that today what people care most about is the cost of a gallon of fuel or milk. That is, of course, important, but I think the future of our planet and our democracy have far longer impact and deserve greater consideration. Republicans would destroy both, given half a chance. Sigh.

        Hugs, dear friend!

        Liked by 1 person

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  8. Gronda, good post. I love that you are writing again. What we are seeing in the Republican party is largely based on unfavorable demographic projections which show whites will no longer be a majority in America in twenty-five years, dropping to a plurality. Steve Schmidt, a former GOP strategist, noted in the late 1990s, the Koch Brothers did a forecast that overshadowed their concerns over a declining GOP base. They plotted two separate paths to remedying this decline

    – recruit more members from non-whites, and/ or
    – restrict the impact of non-Republican aligned voters

    Since the former was not working to the satisfaction of GOP leadership, the voter and civil rights restriction path took more shape. This is one reason why an autocrat like Putin is admired by far too many people in the conservative ranks – he runs a largely white country in an authoritarian manner.

    What Schmidt said did not surprise me, but this next point did. He said one plan was to get enough Republican led state legislatures (2/3) to call a US constitutional convention and return to Senators being appointed by the state legislatures rather than voted for. This scared the crap out of me.

    As a former Republican, I can say with conviction the main mission of the Republican party is to give more money to rich people and help them keep it. Everything else is window dressing to gain voters. This is the main reason Republican leaders want conservative judges, so they will vote in favor of corporations and rich folks when sued for liability in class actions. I have said for years, over half the Republican voters are voting against their economic interests and have no idea they are.

    These voters have been gaslighted into believing imperfect laws or benefits are terrible things heightening their faults. We came within one vote of repealing the ACA with some god-awful, poorly thought legislation that would have harmed over 20 million Americans and impacted provisions in employer health plans which impact another 150 million folks. Right now, we have Republican candidates speaking of sunsetting Social Security and Medicare every five years and having politicians, who will make going to the bathroom political, vote on their continuance.

    So, this autocratic BS that is going is to make the rich people richer and help them keep it. This is a key reason why the plan to add back GOP stripped IRS agents is getting played up so much. It scares the envelope pushers on the tax filings. That would include people like the former president.

    Keith

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Dear Keith,

    Your comments are right on. What’s so disheartening to see in real time as to how so few GOP leaders are stepping up to salvage our US democracy which has been in decline for years due to GOP lawmakers’ abject obeisance to our defeated ex-president and the GOP dark money corporate donors who back them.

    The GOP MAGA voter are clueless to understand that once these GOP MAGA moneymen are able to turn our democracy into an autocracy where decision making is centralized under a few powerful leaders, this same coalition of GOP MAGA voters will be discarded like rubbish because their votes will no longer be needed. While they’re being sold on culture war issues which won’t add one penny to their wallets, they’ll end up losing their financial shirts along with the power of their votes.

    Hugs, Gronda

    Like

    Reply

    • Gronda, well said about being discarded. One of the authors of the many books about the former president spoke of his disdain for his followers and their naivete. His famous comment about shooting someone of 5th Avenue and still being liked is actually an insult.

      Keith

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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