A victory for Republicans on November 8 could be the undoing of Social Security and Medicare

By Michael Grant
TriceEdneyWire.com Guest Columnist

While watching MSNBC’s “The Beat,” hosted by Ari Melber, I heard something that was truly alarming: Democratic strategist James Carville said if the Republicans win back control of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, as Speaker of the House, is prepared to shut down the government and put Social Security and Medicare on the negotiating table.

If this happens, something far worst than 8.2 percent inflation will confront the country’s seniors: Fixed incomes will be strained to the point of incredulity. Our country’s most vulnerable citizens will be forced to deal with day-to-day survival not seen since the Great Depression.

Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson were the architects of several social safety net programs that allowed senior citizens to live out the remaining years of their lives with dignity.

For decades, the Republican Party has sought to underfund what they call “Social Programs.” Recent history will reveal that George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump were quick to give millionaires and billionaires tax breaks that cost the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. They showed little concern for deficit spending when it benefitted the wealthy. However, when the issue of securing some of the most vulnerable members of society comes up, Republicans turn a cold shoulder and repeat their favorite mantra, “We must end deficit spending.”

The next reason that I am delivering this urgent message to voters is this: Donald Trump and his army of election deniers are looking to take complete control of a Republican Party that has turned a deaf ear to Trump’s fascist, racist, sexist and zenophobic bigotry. His followers – as the January 6 attack on the citadel of American Democracy demonstrated – care nothing for the rule of law.

Make no mistake about it, Trumpism is all about subverting democracy and giving unbridled power to some of the most hate-filled bigots since the halcyon days of the Klu Klux Klan. Trump and his “cultist” followers intend to turn the clock backward to a time when black and brown people were marginalized and disenfranchised. They will go to any lengths to suppress the vote and to intimidate voters who disagree with their diabolical tactics.

Two other times in U.S. history, during the Civil War and the 1940’s with the rise of Hitler’s Nazi Germany, our union was tested. When Donald Trump lost an election that his own advisers told him was fair and devoid of widespread fraud, his minions, listening to his lies and conspiracy theories, are now actively working to undermine the election results if they don’t win.

It is not hyperbole to say that Trump and his followers are creating an existential threat to our American Democracy. The only way to stop them is to stand up to them with your vote. A recent NBC poll suggested that 78 percent of Republicans are excited about voting; that number is only 68 percent for Democrats. Conclusion: Trump’s people are planning to vote in droves – even though they deceptively claim that our election system is rigged.

If you want to halt Trump’s very organized efforts to undermine American democracy, please consider doing the following: 1. Read this article twice and research the facts to determine whether they are true. 2. Call at least 10 family members and friends and ask them to vote and take others to the polls. 3. Ask your pastor to read the contents of this article to the congregation during services before election day. 4. Donate to candidates who have demonstrated that they respect our inclusive democracy and the rule of law. 5. Please do something to reverse this growing tide of fascism in America. Remember the exhortation of our great, slain leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speaking to each of us, he said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” A word to the wise is sufficient.

May God continue to bless America and our troubled world!

This article originally published in the October 31, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.