Now that Republicans will control the house, senate, and POTUS in 2017 I imagine we’ll see some changes. I’ve seen a lot of doom and gloom from my left-leaning friends so decided to figure out what might actually happen now that Republicans have essentially complete control of the federal government. As I’m not all up on all the facts I googled “what do republicans believe” and found republicanviews.org which appears to be a real Republican site written by Republicans. Here’s what I found:
-Abortion – This is pretty clear and should not be a surprise to anyone. Republicans believe abortions are immoral and should be illegal. So abortion may be out… or will it? According to Gallup polling 79% of people in the US believe abortion should be legal under at least some circumstances. If Republicans really make abortion illegal it would be incredibly unpopular. I’d be amazed if even a newly right-leaning Supreme Court would repeal Roe v Wade. My guess is they’ll just continue to do what they’re doing now which is to make abortions more difficult to obtain while not banning them outright.
-Jobs – The first thing they have written about “Jobs” is factually wrong – “With unemployment at historic highs…” but it probably just hasn’t been updated since 2008. It’s a long read but from what I gleaned from it I expect government regulations on businesses will be rolled back, corporate taxes will be lowered, minimum wage won’t change much if at all, somehow we’ll try to export billions more or will try to import billions less, and there will be incentives for employers to offer employees stock.
-Gay Marriage – Another clear and obvious view. “The Republican Party stands behind a traditional definition of marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman.” I did find it heartening at the end of the page where they acknowledge the shifting support for gay marriage country-wide (58% support it) and within their own party (39%). I really wonder if Republicans will actually do much of substance to end gay marriage as the political backlash may be too much to bear. My guess is they will continue to push that states should have the right to decide for themselves if they want to recognize gay marriage.
-Global Warming – This was an interesting read as the opinions of Republicans related to it are varied. Some acknowledge it is probably occurring and some deny it completely. Some believe in global warming but question whether humans have anything to do with it. The policies regarding global warming and environmental stuff could go any which way based on the article which means, to me, that nothing will likely change.
-National Security – No surprise here. Based on the article I imagine the government will spend even more money on the military and will be more likely to put troops/tanks/jets/etc into action when there is a threat of terrorism. Sounds to me like the TSA’s days may be numbered and Guantanamo Bay isn’t going anywhere.
-Obamacare – This one is fascinating. It’s clear that Republicans want to repeal it but they know they have to replace it with something or 19 million people would potentially lose their medical insurance. The article actually points out that the House voted to repeal Obamacare 59 times but did not once vote for a replacement. I suppose they’ll have to come up with something at this point now that Republicans have the wheel.
-Drugs – Drugs are bad m’kay? The view here is we need stricter enforcement for drug-related crime and marijuana should not be legalized. It is more than a little ironic that Republicans want stricter federal regulations over marijuana to combat “the rampant state legalizations for medical and recreational use”. It seems that states rights are paramount when it comes to gay marriage but not so much when dealing with marijuana.
So there you have it. Will much change in the next four years? Maybe yes and maybe no. The thing is that now that the Republicans have complete control over what the federal government does for the next two years (at minimum) they also have complete ownership of whatever the outcome is (at least when it comes to social issues). I think if Republicans actually do what they say they want to do in regards to abortion and gay rights they’ll be effectively putting a gun to their party’s head and pulling the trigger twice. Obamacare might be repealed but it has to be replaced and the honest alternatives proposed so far don’t sound that different than the original Affordable Care Act itself. Marijuana is gaining some serious momentum as an accepted vice and tax revenue generator plus it is being driven by state-by-state voting. National security spending will go up but when hasn’t it? Perhaps environmental protections will be reduced but I have my doubts much will actually change. The corporate tax might be cut but something must take its place as 11% of all tax revenues come from it. This is the same for all the proposed tax cuts.
Basically, I think things will more-or-less stay the same for the next few years except that we’ll have a buffoon as our president who says inappropriate things and embarrasses the country on a monthly if not weekly basis.
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