From Bernie Sanders:

Here’s the interesting point. You talk about Republican principles. The Republicans forgot to tell the American people what their principles are, so let me make a prediction. Let me make a prediction, and a year from now invite me back and we’ll see if I am right or wrong. This is exactly what they will do. The American people want to expand Social Security. What the Republicans will do is attempt to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and give huge tax breaks to the wealthy and large corporation. They will do exactly what the American people don’t want them to do. You talked about raising the minimum wage. They don’t believe in that. They want to do away with the concept of the minimum wage, so people will work for five bucks or four bucks an hour.

….They will make the effort, and you talk about the Republican principles are to make the very richest people in this country richer at the expense of working families.

Now that the election is over, perhaps we will finally hear Republican stances on issues. It may seem a bit backwards to make the electorate wait until after the election, but that seems to be the way things work. After all how many of us would have been in such a hurry to vote for the likes of Joni Ernst or David Young had it been made known that they were in favor of turning Social Security funds over to Wall Street gamblers or making Medicare a voucher system? Perhaps if media would have pursued the real issues we could have found out, but that might require making someone uncomfortable.

Joni Ernst ran from interviews with the Des Moines Register, Cedar Rapids Gazette and Dubuque Telegraph. Do you understand why now? Not because of her claim that these papers had already made up their minds. No, she ran at full speed away from interviews with potential real journalists who would not take obfuscation nor avoidance as acceptable answers. If I had something to hide – like a really unpopular stance on minimum wage – I would have run also. Especially when all I wanted to do was talk about how Bruce Braley dissed Chuck Grassley and how to castrate hogs.

Of course, Ernst was only one of hundreds of Republican candidates whose whole campaign was based on framing their opponent as the devil incarnate and then claiming your not him. If Jesus Christ would have run he would have been assailed as anti-capitalist, from the Middle East (we all know what that means) and in favor of letting the poor get health care. Then Jesus’ Republican opponent would come on and say “I am not Jesus!” and never mention where he or she stood on issues.

Naturally there will also be many commercials stating you love motherhood, apple pie and America’s soldiers.

One of the most comical vents in the whole campaign was to see Mitch McConnell in Kentucky avoid getting cornered on the ACA (which he will now attempt to destroy) and ends up saying that the K-nect – the Kentucky ACA website is really good and he won’t change it. Just gut its purpose, but he couldn’t admit it.

So now that the election is over we will finally get a look at what the Tea Party really has in mind for America and its states. Their police can be summed up rather simply – what do their billionaire buyers want and probably more important, what do they NOT want. They do not want Social Security, but if there is some sort of mandatory long term program such as SS, let the gamblers on Wall Street run it. Medicare? It will be pretty hard to kill, so lets let the insurance companies run it. Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment and any welfare can all be lumped under “if people are poor it is their fault and the government shouldn’t spend my money to help anyone.”

Right off the bat we can expect assaults on Dodd-Franks so financial institutions can shed the awful burden of having to deal honestly with consumers. Then we can fully expect an assault on the ACA. if the Supreme Court fails to do its job and cripple the ACA over a typo in the bill.

All these will be tied to legislation that if not signed will shut the government down. Did Ernst give any idea she would be involved in such shenanigans? Well I guess it was on a need to know basis and the only ones that seems to need to know were the billionaires she will be working for. Iowans probably couldn’t understand such details anyway.

Along the way we will no doubt have some high sounding legislation that cuts minimum wage, makes bigger cuts to education or food stamps and maybe a special one that allows employers to cut overtime pay.

Many among us tried to get warnings out, but that is a hard task when the airwaves and broadcast media are filled with right-wing messages and there are few outlets for liberal messages anymore.

Task #1 is to save internet neutrality. Without the internet we are nearly shut out of communications options.

Task #2 is to let our representatives know where Americans stand on issues.

Task #3 is to get involved with your local Democratic Party. Become the party and fight for liberal policies.