RON JOHNSON AND THE POLITICS OF CRUELTY
By Don C. Reed
I almost wish Wisconsin’s Ronald Johnson was running for Senator in California — so I could vote against him.
Why do I want a particular Senator voted out of office? Many reasons: let’s choose only three.
First, women deserve the right to make decisions about their own bodies, including when to change their life forever by having a child. No one but the woman knows when it is the right time to have a child, and when it is not. My personal opinion is Roe v. Wade got it right, setting viability (24 weeks) as the limit — but that is just my opinion.
Senator Johnson, however, seeks to control every woman’s reproductive process, from the instant sperm meets egg: conception. That microscopic joining, essentially liquid, the contents of a tampon — could happen at less than one week in the womb. According to Senator Johnson, a fertilized egg must be regarded as a full-fledged human being — and he wants to write that into the Constitution! (1)
Johnson has co-sponsored similar legislation — abortions utterly forbidden, with no exceptions for rape or incest. But don’t take my word for it. Check out Senate bill 91, the Life at Conception Act. (2)
And if you are elderly like me (77), do not count on Mr. Johnson having your back; he will not. I can prove that.
What is the program senior citizens most rely on? Social Security, of course, that vital check that comes in the mail every month, reliable as clockwork — unless Senator Johnson gets his way.
Johnson wants to make Social Security “discretionary” meaning it would be killed, taken away from us altogether. After that, it would only be brought back (if at all) as a new bill to be argued over: no longer guaranteed, as it is now. (3)
What a vicious change that would be, financially injuring so many of our elderly, our parents and grandparents.
Right now, we are taxed a certain amount (SSI)) on the promise that when we retire, we will get a monthly check — on which millions of us depend.
But if Social Security is made “discretionary”, it would have to be started up new every year: suggested, debated, and fought over as a new program — and how much cooperation do you think there would be?? You see what it is like right now, when Republicans oppose every thing Democrats offer, no matter what it is.
Should we gamble Social Security — on the possibility of Republicans suddenly becoming big-hearted caring individuals? If we do, I predict there will be a lot more senior citizens standing by the roadside, with cardboard signs reading WILL WORK 4 FOOD.
So: who actually benefits from Johnson in office? Only the rich. This is easily verified, as in the matter of tax cuts for the wealthy.
Want to see how it works? Check this out.
“…two families, both worth billions, …are among Johnson’s biggest donors….The Uihleins and Hendricks (families) contributed more than $20,000,000.00 (twenty million dollars) to groups supporting Johnson’s 2016 reelection campaign.” (4)
Did the billionaires benefit? “Dick and Liz Uihline, along with Diane Hendricks…together benefited from $215 million in tax benefits in 2018 thanks to changes (5) Johnson pushed for. …”
But people actually suffering: the middle class, senior citizens and the poor — judging by his actions, Ron Johnson loses no sleep over them.
He is an example of what I call the politics of cruelty
1. http://www.cq.com/doc/billtrack-147078?0&search=6vEiGFQA
2. https://wisdems.org/news/johnson-tries-outrunning-record-on-abortion/
3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/03/ron-johnson-medicare-social-security/
5. https://apnews.com/article/business-senate-elections-3fa3c803c5a441191604a9d24583e3fc