The hypocrisy of the Republican Party in the current deficit debate is nothing short of mind boggling. As they try to seize some kind of ‘high ground’ in the confrontation, demanding a stringent abstemious approach to spending and cutting deficits, people with short memories may well forget how profligate they were when they had control of congress and the White House.
First, they passed the insane Bush tax cuts to the tune of over $1.7 trillion and which none other than the esteemed Financial Times has disclosed were essentially useless and increased the deficits.(Consult Richard Bernstein's Analysis: FT, 9/15/10) All these pernicious cuts have done is transfer tax obligations to future generations with zero upside for them!
Then they waded into a trillion dollar war of choice in Iraq (some estimate it will be over $3 trillion when all the costs are added, including medical), based on smoke and mirrors, and outright lies from an Iraqi source nicknamed "curveball". Well, that was one damned curve ball they ought to have seen coming. Worse, they refused to pay for it with any tax increases when anyone of enough age recalls all past wars were paid for. That includes the tax sacrifices made during WWII (including rationing of fuel and specific foods) as well as Korea, and Vietnam. Never, EVER in this country’s history has one or more occupations or conflicts been engaged without assuring the taxes to pay for them! So all this caterwauling of the repups now about wild spending is just utterly hilarious!
Finally, these pork masters approved an unfunded prescription drug plan when the existing (Medicare Plan B) was just fine. This new “D” plan ultimately figured to cost taxpayers over $900 billion by GAO estimates in 2003, through promoter scum like Billy Tauzin (R-La) who led the drive to pass it (and was later hired as a PhRMA lobbyist), and consistently lowballed it. Also, much of its benefit redounds to the PhRMA companies as corporate welfare!
Now, fast forward to the recent budget battle and the GOP’s attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. Before continuing, bear in mind this is the party supposedly out to save money and also save babies’ lives. So it behooves us to examine what would have happened had they succeeded with this move.
First, Planned Parenthood by virtue of economies of scale is the largest reproductive health provider. That means distributing artificial birth control as well as conducting cervical and other exams. Minus PP, at least 3 million low income patients would have had to have been accommodated at other public providers, often Medicaid or local clinic providers, at a cost to government of $200 million a year.
Are poor folk going there for abortions? No, according to the Guttmacher Institute they are attempting to get family planning assistance which would be too costly otherwise. As the Institute ascertained, every $1 spent on family planning (birth control pills, condoms or IUDs) saves taxpayers nearly $4 on costs for unintended pregnancies. That is a LOT of tax savings that the Repukes’ crusade against PP would have brought to a halt.
The Guttmacher Institute further estimates that with some 2.5 million family planning consults a year, Planned Parenthood PREVENTS 620,000 unintended pregnancies of which 220,000 would have been aborted. In effect, had the Repukes succeeded in their effort to shut off PP funding, they’d likely have been responsible for 220,000 more abortions per year – and that’s probably a conservative estimate because of the over 2 million poor women that might now be having babies they cannot afford.
The Guttmacher Institute also squelched another big lie, repeated by Arizona Sen. John Kyl only days ago, that 90% of PP’s services are for abortions. (a Kyl spokesperson later came out to inform journalists that Kyl wasn’t speaking “factually” but using political rhetoric. Hmmm…then maybe we should never believe any word he or any repuke says, eh?) According to the GI, abortion accounts for only 3% of PP’s services. The other 97% and ALL of its $383 million federal funding is for health services, including 1 million yearly cervical cancer screenings, 830,000 breast exams, and on average 4 million tests for STDs.
In other words, had Planned Parenthood been defunded as the repukes planned, women would likely have been dying in droves from ill health – cancers, STDs, etc. even as the Repukes now want to see Medicare dissolved and seniors turned into corpses. As it is things will be severe for women and low income families, since the Rs demanded $600 million in funding for low income clinics. Now, those clinics will have to turn millions of suffering low -income earners away. A national tragedy!
People, working people, need to understand where their vested interests lie, and that they aren’t with Republicans! The Repukes, as I call them, could care less about working class people. If they did, they wouldn't have trashed many of the very services they depend upon, while trying to decimate others like PP!
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