Careful what you wish for: What GOP victories would really mean for America

As the midterm election winds to a dramatic close, pollsters predict game-changing gains for Republicans. Though it’s down to the wire in many hotly contested races, these forecasts speak to the appeal of the GOP’s fiery “less government, less spending” rhetoric this campaign season. The problem is that beyond rousing slogans, not enough Americans understand the real policy changes that a Congress effectively controlled by the GOP will aim to bring about – the real consequences that would hurt real Americans.

Under the Republican Party’s blueprint for America, BP might no longer be required to fully clean up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and donors will be allowed to keep their contributions to political campaigns secret.

The GOP future for America

These positions, based on recent votes in Congress, foretell how the Republicans will govern if they win in today’s elections.

Republicans have voted against extending Medicaid to the unemployed. They effectively killed a bill that would provide treatment, screening, or compensation for Americans who assisted during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. They tried to block extensions of basic unemployment insurance. They allowed the oil industry to virtually write its own rules for oil exploration and clean up. They have called for opening up off shore areas to oil wells. And they have tried to stop funding to state governments to stimulate the economy.

And here’s the possible post-November reality – a grim outlook for all Americans, no matter how they voted.

If some of the more extreme Republican candidates get elected, their views – far outside the mainstream – suddenly have credibility. This is particularly troubling in the Senate, where one member can yield tremendous power.

These candidates have railed on the evils of unemployment insurance, want to eliminate minimum wage laws, and would do away with Social Security and Medicare. Some aim to remove most basic government regulations, gut consumer protection laws, and cut federal aid to education. Republicans that are even more radical would seek to position Christianity as the effective state religion, essentially declare war on Islam, and press for aggressive action in Iran.

Look at their track record

Still have doubts? Just look at the party’s congressional track record of late. Senate and House Republicans recently voted to prevent bills from reaching the floor, or took positions, that would: bar homosexuals from the nation’s military; allow the ash from burning 136 million tons of coal to be dumped into the nation’s waterways; object to addressing greenhouse gases and the build up of CO2 in the atmosphere through climate legislation; lead to the loss of tens of thousands of government employees; and drastically cut welfare, food stamps, health care for children, and other government programs to aid the poor.

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