To Bitch and Cry

By David Glenn Cox

The Republican strategy for the upcoming elections is in. Get ready, as you are about to be told of the terrors of inflation world. Oh, it’s a terrible, terrible world out there is the first part of their battle plan. I know it’s true. I heard it on late night talk radio.

Factors that drive the inflation numbers. First home prices are being driven by low interest rates. Meaning you can buy more house than you could five years ago, for less money. But because of that fact, home sellers jack up the price of the property to get their share of the pie. Because of low interest rates, the home market is super-heated. Because of that, builders are throwing up new homes as fast they can. The builders all know that this is a boom-and-bust business. And has always been so.

Why is there so much inflation at The Home Depot? Because contractors don’t care about the price of the 2×4 when they get to sell a $200,000 house for $350,000. During the Covid pandemic and shut down building materials were in short supply, pushing the prices up even higher. Why lower them now?

So,  get ready, the Republican plan is to push pocketbook issues. To tell a story of American life so dark and dire, as to make hell look attractive. Fuel prices are skyrocketing, just like they always skyrocket during a war with a major oil producing country. Just like they always do this time of year, when the refineries switch over to the summer blend of gasoline.

Do I like it? Of course I don’t, but its not Joe Biden’s fault. We could have cheap gas, if we were just willing to tuck our tail between our legs and kiss Vladimir Putin’s ass. Fuck the Ukrainians and fuck America’s standing in the world! My Hummer is thirsty! Damn you Joe Biden!

The Republican plan in a single word is fear. Take a single grain of salt and turn it into a salt cavern. To scare the living shit out of the average American. But the grocery store has empty shelves! We’re all doomed! Now, if you drive a truck over the road, you can make a real nice living. It’s nice and lucrative, but hard. There is a high burnout factor, which means there are always openings. The truck driver that delivers your groceries locally, doesn’t earn near the money of an over the road trucker.

He stops and starts all day, pushing carts of potato chips or bread into the grocery store. All they need is the CDL and they can leave the chump change behind. Leave that asshole counting loaves of bread behind. The jobs are the same, but you’re paid extra for living in a parking lot a thousand miles away from your family. To live in one small metal box eating junk food and staring down a highway all day. You’re being paid extra for your CDL.

Fear, fear, fear Smithfield Foods is shutting down hog production in California. Oh god! We’re all going to die! No bacon! No pork sandwiches! We’re all doomed! But there has been an ongoing drought causing water to be scarce in the West, and so more expensive. When I lived in Ohio, Smithfield had big hog processing plant. That used to get crazy busy around Christmas producing hams. They have water in Ohio, that they don’t have in California.

But, but, but Tesla is having a layoff! It’s the end of the world! Tesla is having layoffs of salaried workers while still hiring hourly workers. (Hint: most auto workers are paid hourly.) The Republicans will stand on the sidewalks and jeer, without offering any suggestions themselves of how to make it any better. Instead, they will run with the mantra, It’s all Joe’s fault. Millions of Americans must choose between food and rent and that’s wrong! And it’s all Joe’s fault!

But I have an idea, let’s raise the minimum wage and raise Social Security to a decent level. So those people won’t suffer so. “Oh God no! Don’t do that! That’s inflationary.” It’s terrible they say, all those poor suffering Americans, but if you suggest helping them. (crickets) The Republicans have no plan to help these poor struggling Americans. But instead to use their suffering as a strategy to gain higher office and fix the economy the only way they know how. Tax cuts for the wealthy and budgets cuts for the schools.

The Republicans would rather not talk about the current political situation. Let’s talk about inflation or Transgenders in the swimming pool instead! They’d rather not talk about congressional hearings and sedition. A bonafide plot to destroy the world as you know it! To modify your government into an orange oligarchy, where the decisions are made in back rooms and your opinion doesn’t mean bupkis.

The Orange apocalypse KNEW that he had lost the election, but instead decided to push a big lie and tear this country apart. He did so with the full knowledge and support of the Republican Party. And then, they stood on the sidelines and cheered him on and pretended it was all so real. Clearly, they don’t give tinker’s damn about the average American or American democracy! They get angry when someone takes a knee and become blind to the honest suffering of millions.

Can we be honest here for a moment and forget all the psychobabble? As the American population rises, public education becomes ever more expensive. Due to automation and offshoring, America really doesn’t need that many educated workers. So those with the largest tax bills ask themselves, why educate them at all? The children of the affluent will supply us with enough workers and if we need more engineers or doctors, we can always look overseas.  

Call it the Appalachia expansion program. Thank you but your services are no longer necessary, find a nice street corner and live on it! Defund public schools, despite public schools being the founding Fathers most fervent dream for America. Sing “America the Beautiful” real loud, while voting to roll back environmental standards.

Cry, “why aren’t we pumping American oil?” Because of most of American oil is fracked oil. The costliest and most environmentally damaging fuels on Earth. Fracking is nature of telling you, “that you need to find a new fuel Bub.” But if we built the Keystone pipeline, then we’d have lots of gas! Whaaa!! The Keystone pipeline was designed to move Canadian crude oil through the United States for export overseas. Repeat, Export overseas.

What the Republicans are actually complaining about is Capitalism, and they don’t like it. If you had strong labor unions, you wouldn’t have the problems of Americans who can’t work enough hours to keep a roof over their head or afford healthcare.  Unions wouldn’t let wages fall to a brutal level of basic subsistence. But the Republicans don’t like Unions and they don’t like electric cars either. They don’t like public schools or environmental legislation.

They like coal and fracking instead of solar. They hate public schools, and they love guns. Big guns, the bigger the better! They’ve vowed to keep wages down by hook or crook and destroy Medicare and Social Security. To turn America into a nation have’s and have nots, and guess where you come in?

The Republican plan is to bitch and cry crocodile tears about inflation, like a scalded cat on a hot stove lid.  And to keep their actual plans for you and yours, under their hat!

“Maybe our supporters are right. Maybe they should hang Mike Pence.” – Donald Twump