GOP Still In It To Win It

Just a friendly reminder from Steve M. that the damage from ceding control of a majority of states in 2010 to the Tea Party GOP will continue for at least the rest of President Obama's term, and most likely the next President's term as well.

Katrina? Hey, displacement plus the demonization of the Democratic mayor of New Orleans helped make a somewhat purple state much redder. What's for Republicans to dislike?

And meanwhile, Republicans control a majority of states, which gives them the wherewithal to gerrymander, disenfranchise, bust unions, make taxation regressive, and severely restrict reproductive rights.

Why on earth would Republicans think they're failing? Things are looking pretty damn good for them.

Not to mention, as Steve points out, that the wars Bush started are still dominating Obama's foreign policy...as are a lot of Bush policies still in place under Obama.

Katrina has made Louisiana a blood red state for good, more or less.  From Texas all the way around the coast to Virginia, the GOP controls it all in the South now, and throw in the central Midwest, mountain West, Indiana, Missouri, and more...including complete control over Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida at the state level.

In other words, right now Democrats are the regional party of NY/NE,  Illinois/Minnesota, and the West Coast.  The GOP runs everything else, and they will for a very, very long time.

Who's your state senator and representative?  Do you even know?  Odds are real damn good it's a Republican.  There's lots of love for Ohio's state Senator from Cleveland, Nina Turner.  You know what?  The GOP in Ohio's state senate outnumber the Dems 23-10.  It's 59-40 in the General Assembly.  Ohio Republicans can pass whatever the hell they want to now.

Gov. John Kasich for example has a new budget proposal out, and while it would expand Ohio Medicare to thousands of people, it would also add sales taxes to services that aren't taxed at all now, raising taxes on all Ohioans.

At the same time, the wealthiest Ohioans would get ten times that tax hike on sales taxes in savings from a 20% income tax cut.  The 1% would see about a $750 rise in sales taxes...and save $10,000 in income taxes per year.  Meanwhile, everyone else in the state would get hit with the sales tax increase of hundreds of dollars a year.

So yeah, Republicans are getting what they want.  Sure, they're pissed about the White House, but so what?  They control, what, 35 states?  They've gerrymandered the House through 2020?  We're just now beginning to see the damage they are doing, and will keep doing for the next decade.