Oklahoma spent eight years under full GOP rule, with Republicans
controlling the governorship and the legislature, passing a fully
ALEC-compliant slate of laws that benefited the wealthy at the expense
of the poor; the result has been a catastrophe for the party’s fortunes in Oklahoma, to say nothing of a catastrophe for Oklahomans, whose schools are running four day weeks so teachers can made ends meet by getting a day’s work at Walmart (no wonder they’re on the verge of striking); while Republican lawmakers have run amok, introducing bills demanding that creationism be taught in schools; or that protesters be bankrupted for peaceful assembly; and making the state a haven for forced-labor camps masquerading as drug rehab centers.
Now the party is in total disarray as they scramble to patch the
enormous holes in the state’s budget without upsetting their friends in
big business, especially the fossil fuel industry. The “compromise”
position that the least reality-denying faction has come up with is to
increase taxes on poor people, which will leave their corporate
donors intact. That isn’t playing with state Democrats, and the GOP
can’t pass those tax hikes without them (or without convincing Tea Party
purists to hold their noses and vote for a tax hike).
Meanwhile, in nearby Minnesota, a suite of redistributive, semi-socialist policies have created an economic miracle of growth and prosperity.
It’s true: reality has a well-known left-wing bias.
Look at what happens when Republicans get to apply their governing philosophy without any moderating influences, and you will find – without exception – the complete destruction of any public service, anything that makes life better for the common good, anything at all that gives people who are not already wealthy the opportunity to live The American Dream.
Republicans stand for the destruction of the common good, the transfer of public funds into private hands, and the complete control of your choices about your religion, your body, who you love.
A quick glance at Kansas under Brownback and Oklahoma under ALEC-sponsored Republicans is all it takes to see what a disastrous failure the GOP is for everyone who is not already rich and white and male.
