As conservatives and Tea Party activists are applauding the Republican takeover of the House, many new Republican governorships, and a gain in seats in the Senate, the American people are apparently unaware of the economic calamity that faces us in the next two years! π
The emphasis is on cutting taxes in a totally irresponsible way, which will increase the national debt! But of course, the GOP answer is to cut spending as well, which will mean MASSIVE cuts in public jobs in the states ( teachers, firefighters, police officers, prison guards, librarians, park workers, other state and local government agencies), adding to the unemployment rates!
It also means a tremendous drop in public services–larger number of students in each classroom, fewer firefighters to respond to fires, fewer cops to fight crime, fewer staff for prisons, fewer hours of libraries and parks, fewer locations and hours for state and local government services, which will all worsen the quality of life for all Americans! π
All of the states will have massive deficits, with the larger states in true crisis mode–California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey–and with all of the above states run by Republican governors, except California, New York and Illinois!
No stimulus money will be coming from the federal government, as the GOP will have the “power of the purse”, so we will see massive deprivation and poverty, and we will be on the road to far worse conditions than we are in at the moment! π
This harsh, hard line approach in the states and the federal government will bring millions more unemployment and home foreclosures, and the potential is there for the Great Depression of the 1930s to be perceived as minor, compared to what might be happening over the next two years! π
Also, the danger exists that if there is great human suffering and deprivation that we could see the horrors of the breakdown of law and order, and see bloodshed in the streets of America!
This is a human crisis of major proportions, and it is hard to see “the light at the end of the tunnel”, a term from the Vietnam War era! π