Lloyd Lofthouse

An old friend of mine whose talk show guru is Dennis Prager sees himself as a libertarian, neo-conservative, born-again fundamentalist Christian, who once said in an e-mail that G. W. Bush was the greatest president ever.

But when I point out the Cause and Effect between the GOP and all kinds of bad stuff going on in the states they control, he usually points out how there is no way to prove that conservative politics has anything to do with high crime rates, violence, poverty, corruption in politics, etc.

Here’s my latest comparison between the GOP and the Democratic Party that might reveal the best political agenda for the most people.

24/7 Wall Street published the list. Click on the previous link to discover how this list of the 10 states with the worst quality of life was compiled. To discover the party that controlled each state, I had to do some research on my own through Google.

#10. Georgia: 100% GOP controlled

#9. New Mexico: GOP governor but the state legislature has a Democratic majority

#8. Louisiana: 100% GOP controlled

#7. South Caroline: 100% GOP controlled

#6. Oklahoma: 100% GOP controlled

#5. Tennessee:  100% GOP controlled

#4. West Virginia: 100% Democratic controlled

#3. Arkansas: Democratic governor but the state legislature has a GOP majority

#2. Alabama: 100% GOP controlled

#1. Mississippi: 100% GOP controlled

To discover the possible cause and effect, you may want to read The Nation’s 7 GOP Governors Who May Lose Re-Election. The Nation says, “Their extremist [tea party] policies have made them so vulnerable that corporate America is scrambling to save them. … The failure of the GOP [tea party] austerity agenda stands in stark contrast to the success of states where Democratic governors have invested in infrastructure, services and schools.”

To complete the comparison, here are the 10 states with the best quality of life, also from 24/7 Wall Street. Again, click the link for the details.

#10. Wisconsin: 100% GOP controlled

#9. Washington: 100% Democrat controlled

#8. Maine: 100% Democrat controlled

#7. Massachusetts: 100% Democrat controlled

#6. Colorado: 100% Democrat controlled

#5. North Dakota: 100% GOP controlled

#4. Iowa: Mostly GOP controlled. The Democrats have a 2-seat advantage in State Senate, but the governor is a Republican and the State House has a GOP majority.

#3. Vermont: 110% Democrat controlled

#2. Minnesota: 100% Democrat controlled

#1. New Hampshire: Mostly democratic. The GOP has a 2-seat advantage in the State Senate but the Democrats have the governor and a large majority in the State House.

The Conclusion: 80-percent of the states with the worst qualify of life are controlled by the GOP, while 70-percent of the states with the best quality of life are controlled by the Democratic Party. I think the worst thing the GOP had done was to let neo-conservatives have too much power during the G. W. Bush era and letting the Tea Party—born the moment Obama won the presidency—become a power base inside the Republican Party. It’s also obvious that the GOP agenda is great for billionaires and corporate profits but horrible for Americans living in poverty and the shrinking middle class.  But, the GOP and its billionaire masters are really great at fooling a large number of American voters like my old friend.

You may also be interested in Conservative Red versus Liberal Blue—a new way to see politics in America [posted August 2012]

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Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam Veteran,
who taught in the public schools for thirty years (1975 – 2005).

His third book is Crazy is Normal, a classroom exposé, a memoir. “Lofthouse presents us with grungy classrooms, kids who don’t want to be in school, and the consequences of growing up in a hardscrabble world. While some parents support his efforts, many sabotage them—and isolated administrators make the work of Lofthouse and his peers even more difficult.” – Bruce Reeves

Lofthouse’s first novel was the award winning historical fiction My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. His second novel was the award winning thriller Running with the Enemy. His short story A Night at the “Well of Purity” was named a finalist of the 2007 Chicago Literary Awards. His wife is Anchee Min, the international, best-selling, award winning author of Red Azalea, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year (1992).

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