Analysis: Why Republicans Also Fail Workers
Republicans serve the same extractive class as Democrats, just with different marketing.
The Republican Con
Republicans claim to be the party of small government and low taxes, but deliver massive corporate welfare and subsidies, giant defense contractor budgets, tax cuts that primarily benefit wealthy and corporations, deregulation that enables monopolization and extraction, and opposition to worker power that keeps wages low.
Tax Cut Lie
Republicans cut taxes on corporations and wealth, then force workers to make up the difference through higher payroll taxes on workers, increased state and local taxes including property and sales taxes, reduced services requiring private payment, user fees and tolls, and higher healthcare costs due to deregulation.
A worker making $60,000 gets a $500 tax cut while paying $2,000 more in healthcare premiums because Republicans gutted regulations. Meanwhile, billionaires save millions and corporations pay nothing.
Small Government Lie
Republicans claim to want small government but increase military spending as corporate welfare to defense contractors, expand surveillance and policing, subsidize oil, agriculture, and pharmaceutical companies, bail out banks and corporations, use government power to restrict labor organizing, and regulate women’s bodies and personal choices.
They don’t want small government. They want government that serves capital instead of workers.
Deregulation Enables Extraction
Banking deregulation led to the 2008 financial crisis where workers lost homes. Healthcare deregulation created monopoly hospital systems and insurance companies denying coverage. Environmental deregulation allows corporations to pollute, making workers sick and poisoning communities. Labor deregulation enables wage theft, unsafe conditions, and union busting. Food safety deregulation creates contamination, illness, with corporate profits prioritized over safety.
Every “deregulation” is permission for corporations to extract more from workers and communities.
The Pattern
Republican governance enriches the same extractive class as Democratic governance, just through different mechanisms. Democrats tax workers, give contracts to consultants, and allow corporate capture. Republicans cut taxes on wealth, deregulate extraction, and crush worker power.
Both serve capital. Both enable extraction. Different aesthetics, same result.
Why Republican “Solutions” Fail Workers
“Right to Work” Laws
Marketed as freedom, these laws actually destroy union power so corporations can pay less. The result is lower wages, worse benefits, and more workplace injuries. Workers in right-to-work states make $1,500 less annually. All savings go to corporate profits, not workers.
Tax Cuts for “Job Creators”
The theory is that cutting corporate taxes leads to companies hiring more workers. The reality is that cutting corporate taxes leads to stock buybacks and executive bonuses. The Kansas experiment of massive tax cuts led to budget collapse, no job growth, and defunded schools. Workers pay through reduced services while corporations pocket savings.
“Free Market” Healthcare
The theory is that competition lowers prices. The reality is that insurance companies collude, hospitals consolidate, and pharmaceutical companies price gouge. Workers pay more, get less, and go bankrupt from medical bills. Republicans oppose single-payer while insurance companies extract billions.
Deregulation for “Economic Growth”
The theory is that removing regulations allows businesses to thrive and workers benefit. The reality is that removing regulations allows corporations to externalize costs onto workers and communities. This creates pollution, wage theft, unsafe conditions, and contaminated products. Growth occurs in corporate profits while worker wellbeing declines.
“School Choice” and Vouchers
The theory is that competition improves education. The reality is that this defunds public schools and funnels money to religious and for-profit schools. Working class students get worse education. Wealthy students already had school choice through private schools. Public education is destroyed while workers’ children lose opportunity.
The Republican Coalition
Republicans maintain power by splitting workers from each other through racist messaging about immigrants taking jobs, urban crime, and welfare queens, cultural grievance about guns, abortion, and trans panic, religious appeals about Christian nation and traditional values, and geographic division between rural and urban.
This prevents working class solidarity across race, region, and culture. While workers fight each other, corporations extract from all of them.
Republican Governance in Practice
Red state examples reveal the pattern. Texas has no state income tax but the highest property taxes, which crush workers while corporations get exemptions. Florida has low taxes but insurance costs are skyrocketing, wages are low, and right-to-work suppresses unions. Mississippi has the lowest taxes and is also the poorest state with the worst healthcare and worst education outcomes. Tennessee provides corporate giveaways while infrastructure crumbles.
Low taxes on capital, high extraction from workers through private costs, failing services.
Federal Republican Policy
The 2017 tax cuts gave $1.9 trillion to corporations and wealthy while workers got temporary crumbs. Republicans attempted to eliminate the ACA, which would have removed healthcare from millions. They oppose minimum wage increases to keep worker wages low. They support at-will employment to maximize corporate power over workers. They oppose paid leave, overtime protections, and workplace safety regulations. They protect monopolies by opposing anti-trust enforcement and support corporate merger approvals.
Why Both Parties Serve the Same Interests
Campaign finance reveals the alignment. Both parties are funded by the same extractive interests. Pharma funds both parties to prevent single-payer. Defense contractors fund both to maintain military spending. The finance sector funds both to prevent regulation. Tech monopolies fund both to avoid anti-trust. Real estate funds both to prevent public housing.
The extractive class hedges bets by controlling both parties.
The revolving door operates under both parties. Republicans install oil executives to run the EPA, pharma executives to run the FDA, and Goldman Sachs to run Treasury. Democrats allow Citigroup to pick Obama’s cabinet, tech executives to advise on policy, and consultants everywhere.
Different personnel, same corporate capture.
Policy Overlap on Extraction
Both parties protect corporate monopolies with no serious anti-trust enforcement. Both allow pharmaceutical price gouging. Both subsidize profitable corporations. Both bail out banks and corporations. Both permit tax havens and offshore profit shifting. Both enable consulting and contractor waste. Both support military budget growth.
They disagree on cultural issues and how to distribute scraps. They agree on protecting extraction.
The Democratic Socialist Alternative to Both
Not incremental reform of either party’s approach. Fundamental restructuring is required. This means breaking corporate capture that controls both parties through public campaign finance and revolving door bans. It means taxing wealth and corporations progressively to end low or no tax for extractors. It means building worker power through cooperative ownership, union rights, and democratic workplaces. It means providing universal public services to eliminate private extraction. It means breaking monopolies through progressive corporate tax and active anti-trust. It means attacking unnecessary consumption by ending planned obsolescence and establishing right to repair. It means direct public action, not contractors, not tax credits, but actual public construction and provision.
This requires building power outside both parties, not reforming either from within.