Well!

.

Huh. That’s the last time I’ll let people think for themselves. Hello gray skies!

Last night there was what looked like a landslide in favor of the GOP (though sometimes the Media indulges in wishful thinking), and except for a Democrat governor for PA, the turtles have taken over the country!

What does this mean, really? Those who vote Republican, and even those who run for office for the GOP, are far from being unified philosophically (just as Democrats do not walk in lock-step, either) except in their statements to the Media, of course, which are uniformly paranoid. But there are a few things they do agree on, in the majority.

Taxes, Interest Rates, and the Economy

We can say goodbye to raising the minimum wage, though the GOP media geniuses will be able to point back to 2015 as the year when “things began to look better,” though they will not! But the price of oil will go down even further, which will result in jobs of certain sorts.

Despite their stated hatred of raising taxes, the GOP will raise taxes. Republican presidents have always raised taxes more than Democrat presidents have, but I have a feeling a GOP Congress will also raise taxes, and blame it on the President. This is a god-given opportunity to do it. This will increase government spending, and create jobs. Stealing from the Democrat play-book is always a good plan because the Democrats have the ONLY decent plays.

I really don’t know about inflation (and raising interest rates); that sort of thing is done by the Fed, and the link to political philosophy is a little harder to see.

But the political climate will certainly be even more Pro-Business than it has been for a while, and we’ll probably see a certain amount of Pro-Business legislation that favors Business Owners over labor. And probably Big Business far more than Small Business. Banking laws, I hope, will not be liberalized, because everybody knows that Wall Street is dangerous when it gets going. On the other hand, the Top 1% who really pull the strings of the country probably feel that it is fine to relax the chains on Wall Street and let her rip, as long as they keep their private jets fueled, for a quick getaway in case things go kaplooey. And of course, there will be lots of guns on every table, and plenty of drugs in every pot. I don’t know why I suspect that, and I certainly don’t know whether drug crime goes with one party or the other. We do know, however, that most of the drug demand comes from wealthy white-collar folks, though it is poor blacks and Latinos who get caught.

Health Care, Social Security, and Welfare

Welfare and Social Security will both be in serious danger, especially if the new Red Congress has younger legislators in it. There was some thinking already, among members of both parties, that the only way to continue to keep Senior Citizens adequately supported was to cut services to the most affluent retirees.

It is hard to tell what will happen to Health Care, though. If Obamacare is repealed in its entirety, a lot of people will lose health insurance which they have had for a year, and it might be a tough sell for the GOP to convince people that this is a Good Thing. This is especially so if they’re unable to improve all the situations which they claimed were screwed up because of Obamacare. This is the cost of lying: it's tough when you’re called on it.

But, on the other hand, the GOP has lied to the people for decades, the The People have bought it, with little or no impunity few bad consequences (and moderate impunity, actually).

International Politics and the Military

This is also tricky to predict, but generally speaking, the US will go to war on some pretext or another. Look out, ISIS, here we come. This is especially true if there is Oil in ISIS territory, though of course we don’t really need their oil, since we have so much of our own under the Polar Bears in the Arctic. Look out for Polar Bears to join forces with ISIS.

Education

Well, my thinking is that education is going to take a major hit. What the GOP wants most is to ensure a Republican President in 2016, and they will do all sorts of clever maneuvering to ensure this. But they have very few ideas among themselves, so they will try to resuscitate various Democrat measures that they have succeeded in defeating thus far, but present them in new guises. But one idea that has worked well for them is to vilify teachers, and they will do this with all their might. They will vilify colleges and universities, too, though in fact colleges and universities have really provided them with all the steam they have used to get into power.  Consider this:

Business Departments across the country have educated their students to take advantage of all sorts of political climates. A recession is an opportunity to cut back on employment and raise prices. A boom is an opportunity to raise prices even more, and get the populace hooked on new commodities.

Economics Departments across the country have educated their students to preach the inevitability of the supremacy of business.

Political Science Departments across the country have educated their students to take advantage of both Republican Administrations (in good times and in bad), and Democrat Administrations (in good times and in bad), so that no matter what cloud is passing overhead, there is always a silver lining! This is how we have evolved to such a point that political office is now only held by opportunists, who make their money quickly while in office, and then parlay their connections to business. No electoral district can depend on a congressman or representative to look after their interests long term.

So, colleges and universities have been friends to Business, and conservatives generally.  But they will attack colleges and universities, because it goes over well with the rural conservatives. Colleges and Universities have been trained to sing the praises of Capital even if they're attacked. They grumble, but they lick the whip.

The Environment

Well, we know what’s going to happen to that. We’re going to drill. We’ll know more about how the Environment is going to get beheaded in a few months. It looked as though the gas-guzzling behemoths were on their way out. But now, with gasoline pouring in at pre-2008 prices, maybe it’s time to dust off the old Expedition, or Escalade, or Suburban, and fill her up.

Well, I guess we knew this would happen!  That's why we didn't vote!!  But we had a wonderful six years. Funny, but I can't remember them being that wonderful...

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