from Robert Reich
I’m continuing my tour through “red” America. Now, in eastern Tennessee. As elsewhere, I’ve found self-described Republicans to be decent and commonsensical. Many are economically stressed. Yet the Republicans who run the state have been using social issues (proposals over school prayer and public displays of the Ten Commandments, moves to publish the names of doctors who give abortions, to prevent teachers from discussing homosexuality or sex, and to require teachers to treat evolution and climate change as “controversies”) as smokescreens to hide what they’re really up to. Republican officials are refusing to extend Medicaid to the working class (even though the federal government will pick up 100% of the cost for the first three years, and 90% thereafter). And they're hiding their gifts to the wealthy, such as reduced taxes on inheritances.
In their latest move, they’ve put on the ballot a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would forever ban income taxes. This would make the state almost entirely dependent on its sales tax – already among the highest in the nation – for funding schools and social services in coming years. It’s a hugely regressive move. But I’ve come across very few here who know about it. Most people seem to be paying more attention to the debates over sex and religion, which is exactly what the moneyed interests want.
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for those of us who wonder.
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