Republicans: Working Hard to Screw America

They run every campaign, everywhere, every time, on “jobs and the economy”, but as Republicans’ proposed bills show, they’re really working hard to screw America. This is how folks who don’t know how to govern, govern.

As the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

A change to the minimum wage that would lead to a pay cut for thousands of tip workers passed the Republican-led Minnesota House… by a vote of 73-56. In addition, the bill:

• would prevent cities or other governing entities from outpacing the state minimum wage
• put a ceiling on the minimum wage statewide

In Iowa, State Representative Chip Baltimore, chairman of the Iowa House’s Judiciary Committee, thinks a bill to deny parental right to rapists (yes, you read that right*) is “unnecessary”, according to the Globe Gazette:

Baltimore said he worries about writing a new law that casts a wide net to catch a small number of incidents. He said that could create unintended consequences, such as a young man being convicted of statutory rape then losing parental rights even though the couple remain together.
“It’s a feel-good piece of legislation that quite honestly is dissociated with reality in the real world with the way the criminal justice system and the judicial system work,” Baltimore said.

*Iowa is one of seventeen states that do not have laws denying parental rights to convicted rapists; probably because they care more about some hypothetical statutory rapist than women who have been raped. This is how the Conservative mind works. In an ironic side note, the Washington City Paper reports:

Fred W. Pagan, a staffer for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) … imported drugs from China in a plan to exchange them for sexual favors, according to new documents filed in U.S. District Court.

Couldn’t find a picture of Pagan, so here’s a reasonable facsimile.

Pagan first came on law enforcement’s radar on April 9, when customs agents found a Chinese package addressed to him in Ohio that held more than a kilo of GBL, a controlled drug akin to “date rape drug” GHB. After the search, Pagan allegedly told investigators that he had received three other GBL packages. According to the court filing, Pagan said that he handed out the GBL and meth “in exchange for sexual favors.”

Aiding and abetting rapists … just ask yourself, is it possible no one in the party knew this was going on?

Let’s move on to Conservatives’ favorite pastime: poor shaming; Wisconsin state Rep. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum), has a new idea:

I will propose a committee to study setting up state owned food pantries operated by private companies.  The plan would call for state auditors to provide oversight and report to legislative committees.

FoodShare Quest cards could only be used at the pantries where life-sustaining foods were available.  Non-essential items would not be stocked at the pantries, thus saving taxpayers millions and slashing fraud and abuse.

“Yes, it may be humbling to go into the pantry to purchase ‘needed items,’ but as I mentioned earlier, most people understand that this is meant to be a crutch and not a lifestyle. I would also love to see photo lD’s (sic) on all Quest cards and will continue to work this angle.”

Yet another Conservative fool who doesn’t know the first thing about SNAP users, as CBPP reports:

Among SNAP households with at least one working-age, non-disabled adult, more than half work while receiving SNAP — and more than 80 percent work in the year before or after receiving SNAP. The rates are even higher for families with children. (About two-thirds of SNAP recipients are not expected to work, primarily because they are children, elderly, or disabled.)

Maybe if he and his idiot Governor ever create some well paying jobs, his state’s residents won’t need assistance. According to Madison.com:

Wisconsin ranks worst among the 50 states in terms of a shrinking middle class, with real median household incomes here falling 14.7 percent since 2000, according to a new report.

The Pew Charitable Trust report showed Wisconsin with the largest decline in the percentage of families considered “middle class,” or those earning between 67 and 200 percent of their state’s median income.

By the way, that Governor would be Scott Walker, who wants to be President. Finally, what would the purpose of state authorized discrimination be if you couldn’t extend it to transportation… that’s right, transportation. Oklahoma State Sen. Jason Smalley (R-Stroud) has gone about as low as one could go, according to Red Dirt Report:

While the “Oklahoma Transportation Network Company Services Act” is setting up a regulatory framework for ridesharing in the state, the Republican Senate author rewrote the bill so companies can discriminate against gay and transgender passengers…

As noted by the Associated Press, “The version of the bill that passed the Republican-controlled Senate on a 35-11 vote defines such companies (like Uber and Lyft) as those that use a digital network or software application to connect passengers and drivers.”

… the House-passed version of the bill included language that prohibited companies like Uber and Lyft from “discriminating against customers based on sexual orientation or gender identity.” …

However, …Smalley “rewrote the bill” to eliminate the non-discrimination language so “private businesses” operating in the state could “establish their own policies regarding discrimination.”

Vermin, every last one of them.