A recent news item raises the question for Republican voters: Is this really what you want the Republican Party to be doing?
Much attention has been focused on the truly awful Supreme Court rulings on womens’ health care, firearm safety, and EPA’s ability to fulfill its role. In all three cases the court ruled in ways that the majority of Americans, and in these three cases, the majority of Republicans, opposed. If those you send to Congress are acting against your wishes and your self-interest do you really want to keep sending them?
The news item mentioned above actually has nothing to do with the Supreme Court rulings, but is in the same vein. Two facts to put this in context. The majority of microchips made in the world are made in Taiwan. Around 75% of all the chips that power your phone, your car, your microwave, are made in Taiwan.
A bi-partisan bill in Congress called the CHIPS Act is meant to change that. This bill would invest taxpayer funds to provide the seed money so that chip manufacturers can bring those factories here. It would have two big impacts that any American would support. It will create high tech jobs here in the US, good-paying, good-benefits jobs. Lots of them. It will also improve American security by having critical products made here rather than elsewhere.
You may be aware that mainland China very much wants to take over Taiwan. Imagine what would happen if most of our chips were coming from a hostile power and the kind of influence on our economy they could assert.
The CHIPS Act had bi-partisan support and was easily moved through both houses of Congress. But, since the Supreme Court ruling on EPA, Democrats are pushing legislation that can give the EPA its capabilities back and Mitch McConnell doesn’t like that. The new EPA bill may negatively impact the coal industry. So Mitch decided to block the CHIPS Act.
Rather than allow some regulations to stop the worst of pollution associated with coal, Mitch plans to kill a bill that could literally create thousands of jobs, that could make us a more secure nation. Again, it begs the question: Is that what Republican voters really want?
Maybe this is the election where you decide not to keep sending the same people to Congress or the state legislature. We are four months from the November election. Do some digging into the words and deeds of the Republicans in your area and do the same for the Democrats. Don’t take the word of the media, do your own searching. What you will see is that the right-wing media distorts, fabricates and exaggerates the policies and positions of many Democrats. Look for yourself. Talk to us. We can have a civil discussion without calling you names or issuing threats (as some Republicans do). You’ll see that most of our policies actually are for the benefit of people just like you. You’ll see that casting a vote for the Democrat in the fall may be the start of the change you want.