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“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time,” the saying goes.  Remember that when Republicans try to soften their extreme plans to end important pillars of our way of life.  Wanting to see for myself the Republican agenda for our state, I looked up the Republican party platform for 2022 and encourage you to read it for yourselves as well.    

Echoing what Republicans in Congress have been saying, the Minnesota GOP platform calls for a complete end of Social Security.  They call for an end to public welfare saying, “People in need should be assisted through private charity and faith-based programs instead of government support.”

Republicans, if they take control of Minnesota’s legislature, will end LGA, (Local Government Aid), which many communities rely on for their budgets and special projects.

Although our state, nation and the globe are experiencing the disasters from global warming with droughts, floods and the accompanying financial disasters, Republicans, in their platform, reject and plan to repeal any legislation aimed at reducing our carbon emissions.  They will repeal the “Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment and all laws derived from it. They state their plans to repeal the 2007 Next Generation Energy Act, which has set goals to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the effects of global warming.                                                                   

The Republican platform calls for an end to health screenings of infants at birth, health screenings for preschool children and K-12 students. Their platform calls for an end to all public funding for students needing financial assistance to attend college, saying college education should be privately funded.

Republicans plan to declare fetuses as possessing full personhood at conception therefore abortions would be illegal.  Father’s will also be allowed the right to object to abortions.  Internet doctor appointments to obtain prescription medicine to end a pregnancy or to obtain “morning after” pills will be made illegal.

Under Republican leadership guns will be able to be purchased without permit or registration. State sponsored gambling will be outlawed as well as same-sex marriage.

Republicans plan to end mandated wages for public works projects.  Marijuana would be illegal.  Internet access expansion would only be done by businesses with no government support.

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, business and corporate taxes will be cut while taxes for ordinary citizens will rise.  The Republican vision for us is that our citizens will be unhealthy, uneducated and impoverished.

The Republican party platform is truly a dark and scary plan for our state.  It reflects no care for the well-being or human rights of our people.

Barb Finley-Shea

Austin, MN