BY VERN TURNER

While cleaning out my cat’s litter box today, I was reminded of what I’ve heard and read about the nauseating “tax reform” lump that was just emitted by the Republicans in Congress. I also noticed that 24 more Republicans than Democrats voted for this pile of excrement in the House. I was also reminded of other things regarding certain kinds of houses from the public discourse following along this bill like hanging stink from a garbage heap.

Reading what Republicans said about how their donors would shun them if they didn’t pass this giveaway to the rich reminded me of those unfortunate people who make their living on their backs. Here we have a cabal of very rich men and women answering to the knock of even richer people to make them richer still. By adding the real estate tax loophole at the last minute, they assured that those politicians, like Bob Corker, would expose their privates and vote for this aromatic monstrosity while scuttling off into the sunset at the end of their elected term.

I guess the trough in which they feed finally grew fetid enough from poor hygiene that even their jaded noses couldn’t stand the stench.

This last insult to the working classes, by the smirking cretin Paul Ryan, and the malevolence of Mitch McConnell, reminded me of a comment made by Henry Wallace back in 1944. One must remember that the United States was engaged in a death struggle with the Nazis, the Japanese and international fascism around the world at this time. It was also when Sen. Harry S. Truman took the fat cats of the day to the woodshed for not only gouging the taxpayer for war bucks, but also for producing inferior products [combat boots that fell apart in the field] or charging for work not done [barracks at Ft. Leonard Wood not being built] and a host of other egregious attempts to maximize profit at the expense of our troops fighting desperate battles.

This, history shows, became a harbinger of things to come. No-bid and cost-plus contracts are still with us today.

Henry Wallace, 1944: “American fascists claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjugation.

Enter House Speaker Ryan, who now boldly states that next year he and his fellow Republican/fascists want to go after Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare because these things “are the biggest drivers of our national debt.” This from the opening that just declared that people would come to like having their money stolen and handed to the oligarchs.

Ryan and friends just created a $1.4 trillion add-on to our national debt and want to pay for it by making poor people poorer, denying sick and elderly people their earned benefits and laughing at us all along the way.

How does it feel to have your nose rubbed into the mess created by elected thieves passing themselves off as politicians?

Does their “mess” smell any better because they wear Armani suits and were elected by those whose noses are sensing the fragrance of their own gullibility?

Even the most craven working family has to be reeling from the odor of greed, lies, graft and outright theft of their hard-earned wages and benefits. Can the mid-term elections come soon enough?

Thomas Jefferson: I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others.” I guess Jefferson never conceived today’s brand of Republican fascist, either.

Ayn Rand: Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities [and the smallest minority on earth is the individual].” So, even Paul Ryan’s guru said that screwing people was not supposed to be in the realm of governing. I guess he nodded off during that part.

A little piece from Isaiah 10: Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed.

To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people…

I wonder how Ryan and Vice President Mike Pence justify their actions against the poor with their approval of this “unrighteous decree.” This reminds me of another word from Isaiah: h-y-p-o-c-r-i-s-y.

We shouldn’t ignore the coming set-up by Republican mouthpieces like Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, who boldly stated that Democrats refused to participate in developing this tax reform thing. I hasten to point out that most Republicans didn’t participate, either.

The bill was basically written by the Koch Brothers’ surrogates, ALEC [American Legislative Exchange Council]. This “organization,” along with the spidery network of state “Public Policy Foundations,” are merely fronts for the fascist corporatists to write the legislation that gives them what they want. Since they already own the Republican Party, this is the easiest part.

This lie coming from Cornyn, et al, is the set-up line for 2018 when the “reform” falls on its face and the stock market collapses: Blame the Democrats. You see, none of the tax reduction for corporate/banking America will find its way to the consumers and the middle class. It’s all going to the stockholders. Stockholders don’t spend money that creates jobs. They hoard money so that their perceived wealth increases. That’s why wealth inequality has increased all through the “Great Recession” while the rest of the world lost $40 trillion in a few months.

So, the Republicans are getting their way for now. The oligarchs have succeeded fulfilling the requests of Lewis Powell for corporate/banking America to purchase the influence of government to do their whims. Now, as we saw in 1929, when the Republicans/fascists have their way with government and the economy, they screw it up.

More simply put, the rich simply cannot contain themselves and will hoard as much money as they can, thus removing that money from circulation and from the hands of the consumers that make them rich. Dumb, isn’t it? But that’s what greed does.

Well, we’re going to have to clean up after this squalor of greed. 2018 can’t come soon enough. It’s just that cleaning up the mess the Republicans have left and sweeping the garbage out of our hallowed chambers of government is going to be a lot like cleaning out my cat’s litter box without a scoop.

The process of cleaning out the Republicans will be dirty, foul and ugly. We’ll all be taking long, hot showers after it’s done. But do it we must.

– Vern Turner lives in Denver and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer. His latest book, Racing to the Brink: The End Game for Race and Capitalism, is available through Amazon.com.