False Patriots

When the vote to pass the continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown was held in the House 90 Republicans voted no, 16 of them were from Texas including Chip Roy who represents Comal County. In the Senate, Ted Cruz is one of 9 Republicans who voted no. Cruz and his fellow cranks were perfectly willing to put well over 6 million Americans out of work. 4 million of who would lose out on their pay entirely as they are contract workers such as office cleaning staff, groundskeepers, and others who don’t work directly for federal agencies.

Then there are all the businesses that depend on those employees to spend their money, like the food truck or sandwich shop nearby which then furloughs employees or cuts their hours. In addition, when national parks are closed it isn’t just the park rangers who suffer, there are all the folks who made plans months in advance that would not be allowed visit the park or would be forced to leave early, the hotels they’d have stayed in, the restaurants they’d have eaten in, the gift shop in the park that is also closed so their staff is laid off. The overall economic impact on small businesses is staggering. Most estimates suggest a shutdown costs the economy over $310 million per day in direct costs.

There is also the affect a shutdown has on citizens who have business with federal agencies, often with appointments that were set weeks or months in advance. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) would stop insuring some new mortgages. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) would stop new loan and loan guarantee activity.

All the turmoil and damage to peoples’ lives and a lot of Republicans don’t seem to care at all. Here’s one example, in an interview on C-SPAN Republican Rep. Brandon Williamson of New York said “I don't think you're going to find a huge amount of sympathy, you know, for people that have been furloughed, or early retirement, or laid off, or their pension going bankrupt.”

The big concession that was made to pass the bill to keep the federal government open for 45 more days was eliminating funding for aid to Ukraine in it’s war to eject the Russian occupiers from its territory and protect its people from the murders, rapes, and kidnapping that have been perpetrated by Russian troops. Republicans talk a good game about defending freedom and were big on “fighting communism” but they’re just fine with autocrats invading democracies. The Russian invasion of Ukraine orchestrated by Vladimir Putin was unprovoked and illegal under international law, but Donald Trump and his MAGA crowd including members of the House like Paul Gosar (AZ) and Matt Gaetz (FL), was well as J.D. Vance (OH) among others in the Senate are willing to turn their backs on the desperate people of Ukraine. They are unwilling to stand up to the bully even though no American troops are involved and most European countries are handing over equipment, ammunition, and supplies in addition to providing training for troops and repairs to damaged equipment.

Anyone who thinks that if Putin succeeds in Ukraine he’ll stop hasn’t studied history at all. They should go back and review Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement when Hitler violated the terms of the treaty that ended World War 1. Hint, Hitler invaded Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia, and Greece in just 2 years.

Republicans are willing to wreck American lives and the economy as well as world peace. Remember that when they claim to be patriots.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - October 4, 2023