Conservatism reclaims its hold on America
The Republican Party has prevailed over Barack Obama with its decisive victory in the Midterm elections and with it is a litany of cuts and reversals of policy that have been in place for the past six years. Essentially, those at the receiving end of GOP anti-Obama actions will be the poor and underprivileged.
The leaders of both the House and the Senate, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell respectively have already signaled that their first port of call would be the Affordable Care Act (ACA) popularly called Obama care. And Obama himself has admitted that some parts of his flagship law would be refined. Which parts would be refined would be a matter of concern to all Americans who are already enjoying the benefits of the law.
Other issues that could be on the table but may not necessarily be reconsidered by any of the two chambers for obvious reasons include the Immigration Reform Act. Perhaps one of the most important priorities of the administration, the Act affects millions of people, principally, undocumented aliens in the country, some of who have been here for two or more generations.
The decision to increase the minimum wage has been fiercely fought and predictably it may be dropped from the White House’s agenda for the rest of the administration’s term. Indeed most pro-poor policies that invariably affect millions of people of color will also be curtailed by the GOP, now the ruling party.
American democracy is simply interesting and its workings could be counterproductive. In spite of the enormous powers that the constitution proffers the president the legislature holds the key to the success or failure of any administration and the Obama administration, no doubt has been one such unlucky administration in recent history. The emergence of the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party in the first term of the president ended the promise Obama held for the poor and underprivileged in the United States. Most of the cuts sponsored by the GOP in the Congress affected the lives of the poor communities. Cuts in education have led to some schools in some jurisdiction taken over by their respective states. Public universities have now become unaffordable to several Americans because of the reduction and withdrawal of several forms of funding. The list is endless.
We would want to remind the party that the majority of its membership and sympathizers happen to be poor. We also would remind the party that there is no reason for any American to be poor: not when the country prides itself as the wealthiest nation on earth.
While we wish the Republicans well in their endeavors we hope they would rethink their intractable stand on several issues.
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