Sunset in America

If you get by on a modest income, be forewarned: The life you’ve grown accustomed to is beginning to unravel.

The 2010 election that flipped 20 state legislatures, 10 governors’ seats and the U.S. House of Representatives to Republican control has brought with it an onslaught of anti-middle class, anti-worker legislation.

GOP members have wasted no time advancing their corporate donors’ agenda. From dismantling Medicare and Medicaid (they’ve got their sights set on Social Security, too) to gutting public education through deep budget cuts and sweeping voucher programs, to raising taxes on poor people and pensioners, all while lowering taxes for the very rich and corporations, Republican lawmakers are leaving no stone unturned in their search for more profits for their big business backers.

And you, your grandmother and your children are (or soon will be) paying the price.

If you live in Michigan, you’ll pay by way of a new tax on your pension, a loss of $300 for each of your children’s public education and higher tuition for their college. (These are just the highlights; Republican lawmakers also want to eliminate prevailing wage laws, institute right-to-work zones and repeal the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They’ve already passed an Emergency Financial Manger law that enables their appointed cronies to nullify local contracts and remove our elected city councils and school boards.)

If you live in Ohio, you might end up working for one of the governor’s  hand-picked contractors who won’t have to comply with workplace safety regulations or even pay a legal wage. And they don’t have to pay state taxes either.

For those of you in Maine and Missouri, Republicans want to exploit your children and drive down wages by rolling back child labor laws. These state Republicans also are seeking to enact right-to-work and other initiatives (paycheck deception, prevailing wage, etc.) that would undercut union members’ collective power in political races.

And thanks to the Republicans in Indiana, Hoosiers can look forward to their tax dollars funding unaccountable private, mostly religious, schools each year, despite Article 1 of the state’s constitution that states: “No money shall be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any religious or theological institution.” The voucher program, the largest in the nation, is just one part of the governor’s

education reform agenda that also includes taking away teachers’ collective bargaining rights.

The list goes on.

Despite unprecedented grassroots uprisings in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio Wisconsin and elsewhere – and numerous polls showing their priorities are deeply unpopular with the vast majority of Americans – the GOP and their corporate bosses are making speedy progress toward returning the nation to the days of the robber barons, where workers (and children) toil for low wages in unsafe conditions, pay higher taxes and eek out impoverished retirements, and corporations and the very rich skirt their taxes and hoard their treasures.

Recall efforts, such as those under way in Wisconsin, and citizen vetoes, as in

Ohio, demonstrations and lobbying are all critical steps in making our voices heard in a democracy, but they haven’t yet proved powerful enough to prevent Republicans from passing legislation that is quickly advancing their corporate puppet masters’ goals: to disarm the middle-class and workers who support their democratic opponents.

In the end, it will be our voting strength in 2012 that returns us to a time of economic growth, shared prosperity and a new dawn for our children and our nation.