Republicans are bad for the economy

It is conventional wisdom that you can't time the market, but if you look at the history it is a fact that the economy does better under Democrats than Republicans. In 20/20 hindsight it is best to reduce stock market exposure when Republicans are in office.

I think there are many reasons. Republicans remove regulations that stabilize the economy, they remove progressivity from taxes, they passionately oppose unions suppressing democracy in the workplace, reducing antitrust promotes corporate concentration, and they turn a blind eye to corruption.

There has been massive long term damage from Republican policy. Most wealth has been extracted to the top .01%. It will get worse as Republicans implement tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of the vulnerable.

Institutions have been corrupted. Government is an oligarchy. The most threatening challenges are being ignored.

Republicans have been keen to dismantle the automatic economic stabilizers put in place in the 1930s. They are always ready to pare down social programs, don't think healthcare for all is worth working for, helped to revoke the Glass-Steagle Law that protected taxpayers from speculators, and now taxpayers again are on the hook.

The Republican agenda has had a devastating effect on the middle class. Since Reagan, wages have fallen, families need two paychecks, benefits cut, pensions all but disappeared, and in the latest round of Republican cuts even the most vulnerable are losing life support. Just to be sure everyone is miserable their budget would cut Social Security, roll back health care reform, revise Medicare so that it is a voucher program, cut head start programs, make higher education more unaffordable. But deliver tax cuts to the wealthy. Their religion will reward you...after you are dead. They are pro-life for the unborn, not so much the living.

Business consolidation, formerly discouraged by ant-trust law, also consolidates wealth for obscenely paid CEOs. The graduated income tax might have been a counterbalance, but it has been all but eliminated. All the Republican Presidential candidates favored a flat tax, which is highly regressive, and a gift to their already weathy donors.

The Republican zeal for deregulation assured that the market would become a wrecking ball, and it did. They are actively pushing to roll back Dodd-Frank.
Still, they have not acknowledged that markets are NOT self regulating, and that it is the job of government to see that fraud and wild speculation are not acceptable, especially when taxpayers ultimately have to take the loss.

The partisan Supreme Court consistently ruled that corporations only goal is to make money, not to serve people. The Supreme Court is not bound by ethical rules that bind lower courts, but they certainly should be. (Chris Murphy is working on it.) The Citizens United decision will short circuit our elections and destroy our republic.

Corporations, no patriots, offshored any work they could to low wage countries with no protection for the environment so they could make money. The world's largest military cannot keep a few people with box cutters from doing immense damage, but Republicans want to keep funding it as though it makes sense because the military-industrial-Congressional complex rules.

So we are back to a gilded age. Republicans, paid by oligarchs, want tax cuts for their wealthy donors, but are willing to cut life support for everyone else. The middle class is sinking fast so it cannot spend money to keep the economy running. Business, seeing no demand, will not expand except in off-shore markets where there is opportunity. Corporate money is also fleeing for 'friendly' tax havens. Money can move to find opportunity, people can not.

Impoverishing the middle class and rendering education unaffordable makes the work force more subservient. No more protests. High unemployment leaves minimum wage jobs the only ones aside from the military. Universal surveillance keeps them in line. Militarized police will be well equipped to deal with gun lovers.

Corporate consolidation continues. Banks are even larger now than when they were too big to fail. The economic calm that followed the New Deal will not be restored because market regulation is not adequate. Expect chronic high unemployment, volatile market action, and, despite Republican denial, climate change is a looming threat. Destruction of the planet now seems assured.

It is no coincidence that the best educated communities are the most liberal. See maps showing data for States.

Civilization will continue to decline because Republicans dream of a world dominating empire with the world's largest military. They would roll back healthcare reform and have no plans to improve our poor system. They don't care about climate degradation, so kids will have it even worse as more of the planet becomes uninhabitable and massive waves of immigrants flee for new homes. Rs have reneged on international treaties: the Paris agreement, the WHO, the Geneva Conventions, declared pre-emptive wars (a war crime), ignored the Non-Proliferation treaty which sought to eliminate nuclear weapons, worked to undermine the UN, refused to join the International Criminal Court, and otherwise broke international laws.

Expect fascism and misery because Republicans in office don't care if there is a functioning government. The dictionary definition of Fascism is rule by corporations and thanks to Republicans we've got that.

if Republicans continue to be elected, which they might considering their dirty tricks, here's the forecast .

Republicans Want The Economy to Fail So They Can Win The Next Election and reward their Wealthy Donors.

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