Coffee Time

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Orwellian doublespeak

From the Orwell dictionary:

Right to work. A labor law philosophy that gives workers the rights to be paid low wages, work in unsafe and unfavorable working conditions, and be fired at any time with no notice and no reason.

Voter integrity. Measures intended to prevent certain groups of people from voting, ostensibly to combat the rampant in-person voter fraud. Measures include draconian photo identification requirements and restrictions on same-day voter registration and early voting.

Entitlement reform. Any number of measures intended to kill New Deal programs and their derivatives. Typically this means doing things like raising the retirement age, and privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Also known as increasing big banks' and insurance companies' market shares.

School choice. Any number of measures aimed at giving taxpayer dollars to private businesses and religious groups, so that parents can have a choice to not send their kids to school with "those people."

Protecting women's health. Imposing prohibitively expensive and unnecessary regulations on clinics that provide abortions, causing many to close, is supposed to protect women's health. Also, preventing women from free or low-cost cancer screenings, contraception, and other services is protecting women's health.

Fiscal restraint. Usually means first cutting the top marginal income tax rates, then increasing defense spending (including often going to war of some kind or another).

Tax reform. Shifting from progressive income taxes to regressive sales taxes. Frequently includes imposing new sales taxes on goods and services used by working class people (movie tickets, car and appliance repairs), but not on goods and services used by more affluent folks (greens fees, brokerage fees).

Flat tax. The ultimate tax reform, resulting in a single tax rate with no deductions. "Submit your tax return on a postcard" to some unknown entity, because a flat tax includes abolishing the IRS. The flat tax does not usually include income from investments (capital gains, interest, dividends), which punishes labor and rewards wealth.

Gun safety. Having a loaded gun, with safety off, everywhere, all the time, in order to either repel the hordes of radical Islamic terrorists or take out, with sniper precision, some "bad guy with a gun" in a dark movie theater or crowded subway car or church worship service or local bar. Also having a 30-round semi-automatic .223 lightweight rifle to resist the tyrannical government's B-2 bombers and FA-18 jets and artillery and tanks, or to make deer sausage in the field.

Immigration reform. Making sure certain business sectors (agriculture, construction, hospitality, healthcare) have a steady supply of cheap workers who can't complain about pay or working conditions for fear of being deported. In other words, maintaining the status quo.



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