Column by Joe Gallenstein

I wish I knew what the Republican Party plan was for economic recovery. It appears to be nothing short of Social Darwinism, as they have fought any relief our president has offered. He has been able to cut taxes for all but the top 5 percent of this country, attempted to make education more affordable to help build sustainable growth, and has worked to better our relations with our closest neighbors. However, all we have heard from Republicans are cries of socialism, and protests that effectively mock the sentiment behind one of our nations first steps toward independence.

And what have they said would cure our economic woes? Strip federal spending from the top to the bottom. On their Web site, The Nation noted so-called Republican moderates, such as Susan Collins of Maine, on April 27 for calling for the removal of pandemic prevention from the stimulus bill. In need of their votes, it was removed. The result? We are less prepared for the Swine Flu, a flu that has, according to the Associated Press, caused tremors in the world markets the past week as fears that it might spread globally worsen.

You would think after the trouble of the Avian Flu, Collins would realize the connection of illness to production, but judging by her behavior, even the few almost sane voices in the upper echelon of the Republican Party have adopted support for the most ridiculous of positions. Which, I guess, means I should not be surprised that our own senator, Mitch McConnell, has helped lead the way in opposing the president’s proposed Health and Human Services Director, former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius (who hails from that great bastion of modern liberalism).

Just Monday, Medical News Today ran an article on McConnell’s attempt to block the nomination, although a deal may be made for a vote that will require 60 votes. The hold up is over her support of the constitutionally protected women’s right to choose. While many senators, including Democrats, may have a problem with the legality of abortion, most realize that the Health and Human Services department must follow the law. Further, we need to make sure the department is operational, with an actual head that can make sure that care is being provided.

I guess I should learn not to expect any real ideas of progressivism from a party who has opposed President Obama’s plans for recovery at every step of the way for the sole reason that he is not a Republican. Despite his overtures to conservatives, and his willingness to listen to them, it appears that GOP Chairman Michael Steele, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the rest of the national leaders of the Republican Party are following Rush Limbaugh’s lead. They too are hoping our President fails, that our country fails to recover, that we are not prepared to protect ourselves from pandemics, and that the only hope for recovery are the scraps that may occasionally be given to the poor by the country club elites that govern the direction of the Republican Party.