The Republican Party War on Children

I make no apologies for my past statements that, in my view, I do not fathom how a decent and moral person person can continue to be a Republican.  And that view is without even factoring in the toxicity of Der Trumpenführer and/or the RNC's full support of Roy Moore.  If one is a true follower of Christ - and the GOP claims to be the party of "Christian values" - it is impossible not to support the feeding of the hungry, aiding the poor and/or sick, and sheltering the homeless, especially in the case of children, yet the Republican Party is engaged in an all out war on children, not to mention the elderly after Paul Ryan's announcement that in 2018 Congressional Republicans want to put Medicare. Medicaid and Social Security benefits on the chopping block in order to pay for huge tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy and large corporations.  Interestingly, at a holiday social gathering tonight I talk briefly with a friend who has historically identified as a Christian and Republican, yet who now feels that he can no longer remain a Republican.  Ironically, this individual wanted to talk to me about my departure from the GOP a significant number of years ago and how he might make the transition from the GOP to the Democrats.   Meanwhile, a piece in New York Times looks at the GOP efforts to harm children.  Here are excerpts:

Would you be willing to take health care away from a thousand children with the bad luck to have been born into low-income families so that you could give millions of extra dollars to just one wealthy heir?

You might think that this question is silly, hypothetical and has an obvious answer. But it’s not at all hypothetical, and the answer apparently isn’t obvious. For it’s a literal description of the choice Republicans in Congress seem to be making as you read this.

The Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, is basically a piece of Medicaid targeted on young Americans. It was introduced in 1997, with bipartisan support. Last year it covered 8.9 million kids. But its funding expired more than two months ago. Republicans keep saying they’ll restore the money, but they keep finding reasons not to do it; state governments, which administer the program, will soon have to start cutting children off.

The other day Senator Orrin Hatch, asked about the program (which he helped create), once again insisted that it will be funded — but without saying when or how (and there don’t seem to be any signs of movement on the issue). And he further declared, “The reason CHIP’s having trouble is that we don’t have money anymore.” Then he voted for an immense tax cut.

And one piece of that immense tax cut is a big giveaway to inheritors of large estates. Under current law, a married couple’s estate pays no tax unless it’s worth more than $11 million, so that only a handful of estates — around 5,500, or less than 0.2 percent of the total number of deaths a year — owe any tax at all. The number of taxable estates is also, by the way, well under one one-thousandth of the number of children covered by CHIP.

But Republicans still consider this tax an unacceptable burden on the rich. The Senate bill would double the exemption to $22 million; the House bill would eliminate the estate tax entirely.

So now let’s talk dollars. CHIP covers a lot of children, but children’s health care is relatively cheap compared with care for older Americans. In fiscal 2016 the program cost only $15 billion, a tiny share of the federal budget. Meanwhile, under current law the estate tax is expected to bring in about $20 billion, more than enough to pay for CHIP.

By their actions, Republicans are showing that they consider it more important to give extra millions to one already wealthy heir than to provide health care to a thousand children. . . . There is no plausible argument to the effect that letting wealthy heirs claim their inheritance tax-free will make the economy boom.

What about the argument that estate taxes are a burden on small businesses and family farms? That’s a total, thoroughly debunked myth: Each year only around 80 — eight-zero — small businesses and farms pay any estate tax at all. And when you hear about family farms broken up to pay estate tax, remember: Nobody has ever come up with a modern example.

Then there’s the argument of Senator Chuck Grassley that we need to eliminate estate taxes to reward those who don’t spend their money on “booze or women or movies.” Yes, indeed, letting the likes of Donald Trump Jr. inherit wealth tax-free is a reward for their fathers’ austere lifestyles.

Think about it. Children who get adequate care are more likely to be healthier and more productive when they become adults, which means that they’ll earn more and pay more in taxes. They’re also less likely to become disabled and need government support. One recent study estimated that the government in fact earns a return of between 2 and 7 percent on the money it spends insuring children.

[I]t’s still hard to believe that a whole political party would balk at doing the decent thing for millions of kids while rushing to further enrich a few thousand wealthy heirs.

That is, however, exactly what’s happening. And it’s as bad, in its own way, as that same party’s embrace of a child molester because they expect him to vote for tax cuts.

Again, based on this example alone, how do decent moral people remain Republicans?  Are the sticking their heads in the sand?  Or, do they think all of these children are non-whites and, therefore, disposable trash.  The moral bankruptcy is complete. I left the years ago and now I refrain from calling myself a Christian given what the evangelical Christians and "family values" republicans have done to destroy the Christian brand.