The resolution passed today in the U.S. House of Representatives, condemning Trump’s racist comments directed at Members of Congress is an amazing piece of writing. Its primary author is U.S. Congressman Thomasz Malinowski [D-NJ], who is, himself, an immigrant and, judging from the inspiring language of his resolution, a damn fine writer, thinker and believer in the ideals that Americans love to tout [but not always live by]. It’s hard to imagine how anyone could disagree with the sentiments expressed in this eloquent document. He quotes Ronald Reagan, for goodness sake, implicitly asking Republicans to choose the optimistic views of their erstwhile patron saint over the carnage of Trump. And yet, only four Republicans had the courage to buck Trump and vote for the measure. Really, though, it shouldn’t take very much courage at all to agree with the basic principles set out in this resolution, or to at least voice concern about the continuous river of hate speech spewing from the highest office in the land. When only four Republicans and one Independent tiptoe over the line to side with decency, we are living in a dangerous world. I applaud Democrats for taking this stand, even if it won’t change a single mind.

Here’s the full text of the resolution. Kudos to Malinowski. We need to hear more from him.

RESOLUTION

Condemning President Trump’s racist comments directed at Members of Congress.

Whereas the Founders conceived America as a haven of refuge for people fleeing from religious and political persecution, and Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison all emphasized that the Nation gained as it attracted new people in search of freedom and livelihood for their families;

Whereas the Declaration of Independence defined America as a covenant based on equality, the unalienable Rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and government by the consent of the people;

Whereas Benjamin Franklin said at the Constitutional convention, “When foreigners after looking about for some other Country in which they can obtain more happiness, give a preference to ours, it is a proof of attachment which ought to excite our confidence and affection”;

Whereas President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists”;

Whereas immigration of people from all over the Earth has defined every stage of American history and propelled our social, economic, political, scientific, cultural, artistic, and technological progress as a people, and all Americans, except for the descendants of Native people and enslaved African-Americans, are immigrants or descendants of immigrants;

Whereas the commitment to immigration and asylum has been not a partisan cause but a powerful national value that has infused the work of many Presidents;

Whereas American patriotism is defined not by race or ethnicity but by devotion to the Constitutional ideals of equality, liberty, inclusion, and democracy and by service to our communities and struggle for the common good;

Whereas President John F. Kennedy, whose family came to the United States from Ireland, stated in his 1958 book “A Nation of Immigrants” that “The contribution of immigrants can be seen in every aspect of our national life. We see it in religion, in politics, in business, in the arts, in education, even in athletics and entertainment. There is no part of our nation that has not been touched by our immigrant background. Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life.”;

Whereas President Ronald Reagan in his last speech as President conveyed “An observation about a country which I love”;

Whereas as President Reagan observed, the torch of Lady Liberty symbolizes our freedom and represents our heritage, the compact with our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors, and it is the Statue of Liberty and its values that give us our great and special place in the world;

Whereas other countries may seek to compete with us, but in one vital area, as “a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on Earth comes close”;

Whereas it is the great life force of “each generation of new Americans that guarantees that America’s triumph shall continue unsurpassed” through the 21st century and beyond and is part of the “magical, intoxicating power of America”;

Whereas this is “one of the most important sources of America’s greatness: we lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people — our strength — from every country and every corner of the world, and by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation”;

Whereas “thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge”, always leading the world to the next frontier;

Whereas this openness is vital to our future as a Nation, and “if we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost”; and

Whereas President Trump’s racist comments have legitimized fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color: Now, therefore, be it resolved, That the House of Representatives —

(1) believes that immigrants and their descendants have made America stronger, and that those who take the oath of citizenship are every bit as American as those whose families have lived in the United States for many generations;

(2) is committed to keeping America open to those lawfully seeking refuge and asylum from violence and oppression, and those who are willing to work hard to live the American Dream, no matter their race, ethnicity, faith, or country of origin; and

(3) condemns President Donald Trump’s racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color by saying that our fellow Americans who are immigrants, and those who may look to the President like immigrants, should “go back” to other countries, by referring to immigrants and asylum seekers as “invaders,” and by saying that Members of Congress who are immigrants (or those of our colleagues who are wrongly assumed to be immigrants) do not belong in Congress or in the United States of America.

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It’s fun to live in a zip code that politicos view as split between Republicans and Democrats. I get phone calls, door knocks and mailings from both sides. And this week, I got a doozy: the 2015 Reagan Ranch calendar.

Each month features a photo of saint Ronald himself engaged in a ranch-y activity: Reagan cutting a log with a chain-saw. Reagan paddling a canoe. Reagan riding a horse. If I hang this on the wall, I can relive those wonderful days of yesteryear, when all was right with the world, before the evil interloper Barack Obama took away our freedoms, became a dictator and simultaneously didn’t do his job.

Sadly, there are no pictures of Reagan killing PATCO, the air-traffic-controllers’ union—a very visible opening salvo in the continuing war on working people and collective bargaining. No pictures of him tripling the national debt, or of the giant Reagan Office Building in Washington DC that gives the lie to Reagan’s espousal of smaller government. And no pictures of Reagan’s closest advisors sabotaging Jimmy Carter’s efforts to release the hostages held by Iran, or of Iran-Contra. That he worked on some of these issues and crises at the Ranch—also known as the Western White House during his term in office—makes me cringe even more.

The four-page letter accompanying the calendar comes “from the desk of Michael Reagan,” Ronnie’s son, to whom has fallen the job of preserving the former president’s saintly image and his 688-acre ranch in southern California. You see, gripes Michael, “the Clinton administration had no interest in saving the site. The California assembly passed up the opportunity to preserve it,” too.

That should tell us something. But Michael presses on.

“Thankfully, Young America’s Foundation—the premier conservative student outreach organization in America—stepped in to save the Ranch…They recognized the powerful impact the Ranch could have in teaching our nation’s youth about conservative principles.”

“…In these days when the leftists in Washington are expanding government and radically transforming our nation, it is vitally important that America’s youth understand my dad’s vision of freedom, so they can fight back against socialism.”

Let’s see: I seem to recall that when Ronald Reagan was a “young American,” he was a Democrat and a union leader–in fact, a six-term president of the AFL-CIO affiliated Screen Actors Guild. As late as 1980, early in his presidency, he spoke out against Poland’s crackdown on labor unions, saying,” one of the most elemental human rights [is] the right to belong to a trade union.”

Reagan also expanded Medicaid several times during his presidency and signed legislation that laid the foundation for what is now the Affordable Care Act.

Ignoring these facts, Michael wants me to donate so that young people can go to the ranch for seminars led by “top conservative speakers, such as: “Ted Cruz. Rand Paul. Dr. Ben Carson. Senator Mike Lee. Steve Forbes. Michelle Malkin. Gov. Scott Walker. Ed Meese, and Senator Rick Santorum.”

That’s a rogue’s gallery of some of the worst right-wing conservatives, whose policies hurt young people [especially if they are non-white and/or economically disadvantaged], and restrict their freedoms, such as voting. The young Ronald Reagan—maybe even the older one—would have been shocked.

So, sorry Michael. I know you loved your daddy. But I won’t be contributing $15, $25, $50, $100, $500, or$1,000 “to ensure that President Reagan’s freedom philosophy and accomplishments are passed on to today’s youth and future generations.” Even if I have to pass up the opportunity, for $1,000, to have my name “engraved on the Freedom Wall at the Reagan Ranch.”

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$18.9 billion.  That’s what the 2011 debt-limit standoff and the threatened U.S. credit default will be costing taxpayers in higher interest payments over the next decade, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

And who was responsible for those billions?  That would be the Republicans in the House and Senate who some of us loyally vote for election after election, no matter how destructive their governance.

Way to go, voters.  Were you MIA when the memo came out outlining which party shows up wearing the pretend mantle of fiscal responsibility and which one actually suits up, rolls up its sleeves, and goes to work fashioning rational solutions to real problems—not the manufactured ones?

Way to go, Republican imposters! You sure did fool some of us. That first salvo at economic chaos two years ago sure did a lot to lower our taxes!  And wow, did that ever cut the feds’ spending! Thanks to you, I’m feeling really optimistic right now about paying off my part of that wasted $18.9 billion!

Guess what? 2011 was just act one of an invented fiscal crisis fashioned lovingly by the Grand Old Party. If you thought act one was disturbing, get ready for act two coming to D.C. some time before cherry-blossom time.

That’s when those same warm and fuzzy Republicans will be putting shoulder to the battering ram again, trying one more time to push us (and the world) to the brink.

Think their shenanigans have nothing to do with you? Well, think again. Here’s a short (and, admittedly, simplified) sampling from various online sources of where the pain could land this time around if Republicans succeed.

• Further downgrading of U.S. credit rating (Hey, we already lost the triple-A, it won’t feel so shocking this time around, will it?)
• Putting at risk continuing safe-haven investments by individuals and countries in U.S. treasuries
• Defaults on the federal government’s legal obligations
• Stocks and bonds (Watch ‘em fall.)
• Delayed Social Security and Medicare payments to fixed-income grandmas and grandpas
• Delayed payments of salaries to people in the military, and benefits to their families
• Delayed tax refunds and federal payments to investors
• Gutting of programs, such as food stamps,  to those in need
• Higher interest rates on U.S. treasuries, home mortgages, car and college loans, credit cards, and federal grants to cities, counties, and states (Hey, who amongst us isn’t craving higher state and property taxes?)
• Plunging 401ks  (Early retirement? Forget about it.)

Perhaps you don’t trust my Internet wise guys’ take on the fallout from the economic catastrophe Republicans are shoving us into. Then what about the words of Saint Ronald—holy patron saint of Republican economics?  Would you trust his instead?

Here he is, Reagan himself, in a radio address of September 1987, decrying the catastrophic effects of playing chicken with the debt ceiling.

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