With the elections coming up in less than a week, prophesies of doom and gloom for democrats are filling the news sites. News sites love bad news, and even though the pollsters have not changed their methods to accommodate a changing demographic, the future certainly looks bleak.
So let's play Worst Case Scenario, brought to you by the Doom and Gloom Theater.
Worst case: Republicans win a huge majority. Not only huge, but overwhelming enough that they can override a veto. Solid democrats are swept away. Mainline Republicans have been replaced by Tea Party demagogues. Nancy Pelosi won, but because of Democratic timidity, isn't even on the Democratic leadership. John Boehner is Speaker of the House.
The times they are a changin'. The Republicans are dancing in the streets. Cash is flowing. Happy political times are here again.
Except that Obama is still President. That's alright. First item on the agenda, investigations and impeachment.
Next up. Campaign Reform Legislation. Yup. Only the wrong way. Count on the Republicans to want to legislatively cripple their Democratic opponents. Extreme district gerrymandering and loopholes for corporate and foreign moneys, elimination of penalties and disclosure policies. And they will do it under the guise of reform. Also, voter fraud laws will be put in place. Anyone without three pieces of identification will be deemed trying to commit voter fraud and arrested. Police will be allowed to search for suspects at polling places.
Third: Financial Reform, as in deregulation. Go far beyond removing the recent restraints on Wall Street. Think draconian measures for consumer defaults while giving credit card companies and banks free reign to rake in fees and penalties. Remove "Obamacare". It costs too much, and people don't need insurance they don't want. Remove regulations from the Insurance industry and allow them to withhold payments if paperwork is not precise. Make it harder for individuals to declare bankruptcy.
Fourth: Remove the minimum wage. Call the minimum wage a law that "suppresses wages", and you have the ticket to allow wages to sink to slave-wage lows.
Fifth: Remove regulations from business and industry. Reform the Environmental Protection Agency into a useless shell, and focus on "property rights" -- particularly the right to pollute. Safety regulations go out the window as Ron Paul insists that businesses know their industry best and can regulate themselves. That's what he told miners after the Massey mine disaster.
Sixth: Defund education. All education decisions are local -- except that teaching creationism will be mandatory and all sex education will be abstinence. Religious education will be "encouraged" (funded) while secular ideas are denounced. After those new federal guidelines are put in, all teachers whose students fall below the average in testing will be fired, effectively removing half of the experienced teachers each year. With these in place, the rest of education decisions will be local ones.
Seventh: Remove unemployment insurance. Call it tax relief for businesses.
Eighth: Remove food stamps and other welfare items like the WIC program for food for women and infant children. Those who are unemployed should starve rather than rely on the public dole.
Ninth: Eliminate Social Security by replacing it with private accounts. Medicare and Medicaid become privatized insurance, and insurance rates triple.
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Really, how bad can it get? You know all this won't happen. They are only items that various tea party people have proposed. You can trust them to do the right thing. They are good, honorable, Christian people who know what's best for America. Remember, God tells them what they should do.
So please, since you are disgusted with Obama for not getting everything done, stay home and lodge a protest unvote. Then sit back and watch the fun.
After all, in two more years you will have another chance to vote.
Maybe.
Possibly.
If there is a country left.
Really? How bad can it get if you don't vote?