The
House speaker's "economic agenda" would fix the economy in the same
way a vet fixes your dog.
By
Attention people, there’s big news out of Washington: Paul Ryan,
the Republican speaker of the House, has announced that he has an idea!
This is news because the GOP leadership hasn’t offered a new
idea in years.
Instead, they’ve simply been the party of no, opposing all
proposals put forward by Democrats and nixing everything that big majorities of
Americans want Congress to act on — like a jobs program to repair our
collapsing infrastructure and a raise in the minimum wage to above the poverty
level.
So some were excited when Speaker Ryan called a major press
conference to present his idea for fixing the economy.
But, sheesh.
It’s a rehash of the same old stale “idea” the GOP has for every issue: Eliminate government protections for consumers, workers, our environment, and so forth, so corporate profiteers can run roughshod over us.
That’s the sole idea in the highly hyped, 57-page “economic agenda” that Ryan
is peddling like a snake oil salesman.
His “fix” is to roll back hundreds of important regulations that restrain corporate rapaciousness.
For example, he wants to free Wall Street bankers, for-profit colleges, cable
giants, and others from rules that prevent them from ripping off and otherwise
harming consumers.
A provision in the plan also repeals “all climate change
regulations under the Clean Air Act” — a sweet favor for Big Coal and electric
utility companies.
Ryan would even cancel ethics rules that require retirement
advisers to act in their client’s best interests, rather than taking kickbacks
for persuading clients to put their savings in bad investments.
By calling these rank corporate giveaways an “economic agenda,”
Ryan himself is committing a shameful, immoral fraud against the American
people. His plan would “fix” our economy in the same way a veterinarian fixes
your dog.
OtherWords columnist Jim
Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. He’s the editor
of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown. OtherWords.org.