How dare these republicans talk about their grandfathers’ Values and keep referring to the “Men Who Built This country”. 

Rick Santorum talks about his grandfather the coal miner. Remind me;   is not and wasn’t Coal Mining a Most Dangerous Job? As the story goes, the rise of the coal mining Unions was happening because of the exploitation of Miners and their Families. This became accepted history until Ronald Reagan’s Administration.  

Today, isn’t one of the republican narratives the claim that unions have too much influence and the democrats have given “handouts” that are contrary to the “Core American Values” that “built this country”? Aren’t Worker Protections (OSHA, the Dept. of labor, the right to sue (tort law), Job Security, Health Benefits, Seniority, Child Labor Laws, and the Minimum Wage under constant attack by Republicans? Was Rick Santorum’s grandfather against these things? Did Rick Santorum’s Grandfather benefit from the union‘s creation?   Does Rick Santorum actually think as a Miner (if he even really was), his Grandfather would be supportive of the Republican concept of unbinding our “Job Creators” of Government Regulations?

Didn’t any of these fantastically wealthy Republican politicians ever use the GI Bill or Pell Grants or Government help in some form to go to college, especially during the Vietnam War? Do they ever collect Social Security and Federal Pensions? Do they accept the Education Grants for their kids? Do they pay for their own Dental Care?

When we “build a country” isn’t a part of a country the social structure that civil mechanisms can ensure?

So they claim they inherited the Values of their Grandfathers’ days; I suppose this vague statement refers to hard work and rugged individuality, let the Job Creators do what they want. In America everyone has an equal chance to succeed. “My Grandfather was a coal miner, look what he passed down to me!” “We don’t need no stinkin’ unions or government telling us how to pay and treat our workers!”

The Men who built this country died enmasse in those days. They are starting to die again. The workplace has become unsafe again and the regulations that protected us are going away. Perhaps this discussion will always go back and forth.

But please get angry at the next rich man that claims he inherited his coal miner grandfather’s values. Those values led to the violent birth of organized labor and the social improvements that followed: Government Protections against dangerous workplace environments, Child Labor Laws, Minimum Wage, and Health Insurance. The list goes on and all Americans benefit from it. The Republicans’ attack on Regulations is supposed to return us back to those days before. If they attain their goals, this country will continue to become divided.