Republicans’ dream is our nightmare

The Koch Brothers, who control the second largest private held company in the United States, will spend more money on the upcoming elections than the Republican and Democratic parties; that’s why Republicans will give them what they want. The Koch Brothers’ dream will be a nightmare for our country.

The Kochs’ dream, which will be carried out by whomever the Republicans nominate, should they become president is to eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the departments of Interior, Labor, Health and Human Resources and Education.

The Republicans will build a wall on the Mexican border, but ignore immigration reform. They will continue to employ millions of illegal immigrants at slave wages. If the Republicans control all three branches of government, you can forget a raise in the minimum wage. They will cut taxes for the Kochs, Donald Trump and the Walton family. The Affordable Care Act will be repealed, but not replaced, causing upwards of 20 million to lose the health insurance the achieved because of the ACA. Paid health care leave will be cut back if not eliminated. Women will lose their right to make decisions regarding their own reproductive system. They will be forced to carry to term any unwanted, unaffordable pregnancy, regardless of the cause of the pregnancy, or her doctors opinion. Women’s health insurance will no longer cover birth control pills.

Protection of the environment as well as the endangered species act will be a thing of the past. If you don’t believe me, you haven’t been listening to Ted Cruz and other extremists in the House and Senate. They not only deny that man contributes to climate change, but also don’t want to invest in renewable energy, not even Ethanol. This is a nightmare.

A good example of Republican policy gone amok is what happened in Flint, Mich. The Republican governor’s appointed cronies changed the source of the city’s safe water supply to the polluted Flint River simply because it was cheaper. Now all the pipes are corroded and the replacement cost is prohibitive. Many children will suffer from lead poisoning for the rest of their lives. So much for Republican family values. Much credit should go to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow for her exposure of this man-made disaster.

Compare this Republican nightmare with the dreams of Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Here are some of Sanders’ dreams. Raise the minimum wage to $15 a hour over the next three years, provide free college tuition to all qualified students, and reform campaign financing that would prevent the Koch Brothers from buying election. Sanders also wants equal pay for equal work regardless of race, creed or gender. He wants 30 days paid maternity leave for both spouses, and paid time off to care for sick children. He wants more free healthcare clinics for women, (including Planned Parenthood); preventing the closures will stifle Republican attempts to stop all abortions. And he wants single payer healthcare for all, such as they have in Canada and England and most developed countries. Bernie is promising the moon. God bless him.

If you are a progressive that all sounds very good. If you are a college student you are thrilled to have tuition paid for, but it’s not going to happen. It’s extremely costly and can not be paid for by simply raising the taxes on the very wealthy. As long as the Republicans control the House and Senate it is most likely none of Sanders’ plans will even get to a vote on the floor and not a single one of them will become law anytime soon, leaving us right where we are today. They are wonderful dreams and that‘s all. I love Bernie, even if he only recently became a Democrat.

We must be more practical if we are to accomplish anything. That’s why I support Hillary Clinton. She’s pragmatic and has demonstrated she can work with Republicans to get things done. She’ll get a substantial increase in the minimum wage, but it won’t be $15. She’ll improve and expand the ACA. She’ll get tuition loan interest rates cut, maybe eliminated. Absolutely no one will be better on women’s issues. She’ll get equal pay passed and end Republican attempts to over throw Roe vs. Wade by closing clinics, fining doctors, and all the other back door ways they are using to end a woman’s Constitutional right to a safe abortion. Without a doubt, of all the candidates, Republicans included, she will be the toughest defender of this country.

She will be a great Commander in Chief because she will get the job done, not just talk about it.

Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@phonewave.net