The Republican Terrorists

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is voting on a Farm Bill, which traditionally gets passed without much hoopla. It is different this year because House Republicans (Tea Party) seek to cut SNAP (The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), ie., food stamps. In the first go around they simply tried to cut SOME hungry people off the program. That met with resistance so now they came back with a version that totally fails to mention SNAP, which effectively defunds food assistance for some 42 million Americans. They are doing a very good job of scaring  a LOT of people with this Bill. 

As of July 1st, the House also failed to stop a scheduled increase in the interest rates paid by students who have government loans. The increase doubled the interest rate for students while banks and other major corporations pay half as much. This occurred because the House of Representatives simply failed to take action even though the Senate already had passed relief legislation.  Thirty-Seven million American students will be affected.

Between those two outrageous actions, the United States House Republicans (who control the House) have put 79 million Americans behind the proverbial eight ball. The Republican House has effectively terrorized all these people. They have deliberately sought to intimidate and coerce a significant part of the population of these United States and have done so for purely political purposes. The definition of Terrorism , according to the World English Dictionary is, " the systematic use of violence and intimidation to achieve some goal."  Not all violence is physical. Indeed, the worst part of terrorism is precisely the fear and panic it causes.  The Tea Party Republicans have done precisely that - caused fear and attempted to force the American People and the Democratic Party to accede to their will. They cannot win elections without threats, cheating and intimidation so this is what they have become. The no longer govern  (" to exercise restraint over; regulate or direct", Free Online Dictionary), instead they impose a reign of terror.  It is Robespierre all over again. One only hopes they do not manage to send 79 million people to the guillotine.