this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
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In his remarks, not only does Johnson claim Roe “gave constitutional cover to the elective killing of unborn children,” but he rails against the imagined economic detriments of abortion, pushing his caucus’ outlandish claim that by depleting a hypothetical workforce, abortion has defunded social security: “Think about the implications of that on the economy. We’re all struggling here to cover the bases of social security and Medicare and Medicaid and all the rest,” Johnson says. “If we had all those able-bodied workers in the economy we wouldn’t be going upside down and toppling over like this... Roe was a terrible corruption.” Mind you, social security and health care have been gutted in the last several years by Republican lawmakers, not people who choose to end a pregnancy.

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[–] weedazz@lemmy.world 131 points 10 months ago (10 children)

I love how they don't realize these unaborted kids are likely going to be unwanted, unloved, impoverished, lack education...and instead of turning into "able bodies workers" they will turn into the criminals Republicans think lurk around every corner ready to shoot them

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 99 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I prefer the Carlin take: "They want live babies so they can turn them into dead soldiers"

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[–] ourob@discuss.tchncs.de 46 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Oh they are fully aware. More criminals means more prisoners, which means more money for the prison industrial complex and super cheap (basically slave) labor.

[–] Caaaaarrrrlll@lemmy.ml 17 points 10 months ago

It's not basically slave labor. It is slave labor. The US Constitution still has codified slavery as long as you're a prisoner.

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[–] Restaldt@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thats exactly what they want.

They need poor uneducated voters to stay in power.

They need poor uneducated criminals to hate lest they focus on themselves and tear themselves apart.

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[–] Daft_ish@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago

You forget about the prison pipeline?

[–] TurboDiesel@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

I don't think they're unaware of that at all. Until those kids become criminals, most of them will have to survive somehow. Given their presumed lack of education and prospects, that means meat to throw in the "entry level" grinder.

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[–] MedicPigBabySaver@lemm.ee 81 points 11 months ago (4 children)

POS nutjob. Our government is so broken. 🤨

[–] Candelestine@lemmy.world 32 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Well, if you think about it, in order to take over in a democracy, you have to break the democracy first. This is simply a necessary first step towards accomplishing the given goal. There would be no other method that might work here, since military coups are particularly difficult when we make our whole army swear an oath to defend a specific piece of paper from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

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[–] Evilcoleslaw@lemmy.world 72 points 10 months ago (2 children)

We’re all struggling here to cover the bases of social security and Medicare and Medicaid

Yeah and a bunch of extra kids surely won't increase costs of Medicaid.

[–] akilou@sh.itjust.works 17 points 10 months ago

This was the take I was going to comment. If Republicans are so into running the government like a business, the per unit net income of each additional human would have to be positive for this argument to work. And if that were the case the programs he seems so worried about wouldn't have a problem to begin with. It's not like there are flat costs that, through volume alone, will make the program profitable.

[–] UnspecificGravity@lemmings.world 9 points 10 months ago

This guy isn't planning past his own lifetime. Those kids will be someone eases problem. He just wants to make sure that he gets every penny he is due and that means they need more wage slaves.

[–] treefrog@lemm.ee 59 points 11 months ago (1 children)

So he must be big on making immigration easier.

Right?

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 50 points 11 months ago (1 children)

He doesn't want more of those type of people. He wants the sort of person that has a name like "Mike Johnson."

[–] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Mike Johsons dating profile would read:

Looking for smart, white, christian, gun lover.

Racist is a strong plus.

Loose morals otherwise are acceptable.

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[–] rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 43 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

In his remarks, (...) he rails against the imagined economic detriments of abortion, pushing his caucus’ outlandish claim that by depleting a hypothetical workforce, abortion has defunded social security: (...)

If abortion truly defunded social security, shouldn't small-government Republicans support it?

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

They should be handing them out like candy if that's the case. Their ultimate goal realized!

[–] Clbull@lemmy.world 42 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Newsflash: people aren't having kids because the cost of living is too expensive and the elite are strangling poor families, not because of abortion rights.

Sometimes I look at US politics and question how a country can be terminally stupid enough to elect Republicans...

[–] TheHighRoad@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

My friend, there are a lot of stupid fucking morons that live in this country.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 37 points 10 months ago

If he really cared about funding for social security, maybe he should just have a closer look at tax evasion and creative accounting by the rich and the larger companies. Or at the numerous pork barrels on his parties list.

[–] MedicatedMaybe@lemmy.world 32 points 10 months ago (2 children)

"WE NEED MORE HUMANS FOR THE HUMAN CRUSHING MACHINE" -GOP

[–] swab148@startrek.website 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)
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[–] LavaPlanet@lemmy.world 31 points 10 months ago (5 children)

That's them saying the quiet bit out loud. They see population growth stagnating to dangerous levels and they need more poor people to feed thier capitalism machine, while not acknowledging that low population growth is occurring because they've starved people of the necessary resources to keep a child alive and enjoy / be able to afford parenting. The choice was provide adequate resources or force people to have babies without resources.

[–] NateNate60@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago (4 children)

There are really only two ways to fix demographic decline:

  • Increase fertility rate
  • Replace dying people with people from elsewhere (i.e. immigration)

The first requires social spending at levels that the Republican Party absolutely refuses to consider. Subsidies for childcare! Bigger tax breaks for poor and middle-class parents! Free preschool education! Mandatory paid parental leave! Higher wages for family breadwinners! Oh, the horror!

The second requires admitting brown people into the country! Oh, the other horror!

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[–] PeterPoopshit@lemmy.world 31 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Heil ~~Hitler~~ Mark Johnson

This guy is pure evil. History just took a dark turn.

[–] nicetomeetyouIMVEGAN@lemmings.world 11 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Trump was going to be the last one you could laugh at. Now he's only paid lipservice, the void will be filled. From now on forward things are going to get serious.

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[–] figaro@lemdro.id 30 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Ah, so this is how The Handmaid's Tale starts.

[–] funktion@lemm.ee 9 points 10 months ago

As if we aren't already smack dab in the middle of it

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[–] fne8w2ah@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The Handmaid's Tale is fast becoming a reality in the 21st century. 😱

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[–] books@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago

In that thumbnail, boebs is looking at him like she wants to take him to beetlejuice

[–] BeautifulMind@lemmy.world 23 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Oh, he's concerned about funding social security?

Bullshit. He doesn't give a fuck about that.

The reason Social Security faces solvency problems is that wages (on the low end, at least) have been kept flat for close to 30 years. Wages are the basis for Social Security funding!
Its solvency challenges aren't because the Boomers are retiring, the actuaries were able to see that coming when the Boomers were kids. The thing they didn't see coming was that suppressing wages would become a bipartisan affair.

When Johnson says he's going to fund social security, he's not going to fund social security- he's going to dangle that as bait to get stupid people to support a national ban on abortion in hopes it will soften the backlash against the GOP for its unpopular anti-abortion politics.

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[–] joker125@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

That thumbnail...

"Give em that old Razzle Dazzle," minus of any of it.

What a pathetic hairball the GOP was forced to cough up at the last minute.

Daily reminder to please vote responsibly in 2024.

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[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Should probably make it so people can afford to do that and subsidize gay reproduction.

Also, funny how he blames that and not 50+ years where tax cuts were considered sacred and proposing raising taxes was a profane abomination. Well we’re right back where we were before those taxes were raised.

[–] MonsiuerPatEBrown@reddthat.com 18 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I am convinced that a black and white filter needs to be used on every media photograph of the GOP.

I would show how much these guys look just like the NAZIs in photos.

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[–] sr_388@mastodon.social 18 points 10 months ago

@FlyingSquid oh, look, another reason to sharpen the axes and prep the guillotine against the rich.

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 18 points 10 months ago

I know they've been screaming the quiet part, but that's just... fucking hell....

[–] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Very bold move considering how much voters are furious about Roe.

There's articles every now and again about how some Republican or PAC is going to fix the issue for Republicans by going moderate, and this is exactly why it won't work. Unless you have utter chaos like in the House or are a radical, the #1 rule is to not criticize your fellow Republicans.

How's a Republican moderate going to do that while also advocating for a moderate policy? They'd have to say the Speaker and their other colleagues are wrong, and they don't want to do that. But if they don't say it, then they can't advocate for a moderate policy, people are seeing right through it. The true believers are making it impossible for the party to stop hemorrhaging.

Republicans wanted to overturn Roe, so let them reap the consequences.

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[–] spider@lemmy.nz 17 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

Wants Women to Pop Out 'Able-Bodied Workers' to Fund Social Security

Translation: Wants women to pop out more white babies who (they assume) will vote Republican.

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[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

able-bodied

Oh he wants everyone to hate him, huh? Us disabled folk who've been working, disabled, don't contribute at all I see.

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[–] djsoren19@yiffit.net 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Why are Republicans still banging this drum? They packed a court shitty enough to strike down Roe and people across the country fucking hated it. All the states ran by functioning governments immediately put protections in place to allow abortions, and all the shitholes run by Republicans immediately enacted extremist bans that nearly half their constituency disagrees with. Is the next goal to try working towards a national ban? Are they stupid enough to not realize that would be political suicide?

[–] roboticide@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Is the next goal to try working towards a national ban?

Yes.

Are they stupid enough to not realize that would be political suicide?

Yes.

Some have expressed an interest in targeting contraception next. Keep in mind, many believe in replacement theory and want to restrict immigration (of people of color), which is the only thing currently keeping our replacement rate positive. So the fulfillment of their dream to eliminate immigration without also tanking our future economy is basically by forcing people to have babies. Ideally white babies, but they're probably not too picky on who is picking crops, flipping burgers, and building cars, because they can also keep gerrymandering the shit out of states to keep minorities from gaining proportional voting power.

[–] jandar_fett@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

I just see this as one more revolution. Not the good kind, just the "neutral" kind that the great George Carlin talked about, as we continue to circle the drain as a species...

[–] ghostdoggtv@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

Capitalism fails without cheap labor to rob.

[–] snekerpimp@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

You, along with all your slimy fellows that voted for you, are doing the EXACT opposite of struggling. You are struggling with the will of the American people and the direction of this country, but that’s about the only thing you are struggling with.

[–] Grant_M@lemmy.ca 9 points 10 months ago

This guy Johnson is a psychopath imo

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