…when you step back, open your eyes and look at the proverbial Big Picture, you get so much a better view of the entire forest. You see that Republicans are against Social Security, Medicare, health care, and against unemployment insurance. They were against child labor laws, the 40-hour work week, and against - always against - raising the minimum wage. Against the Civil Rights bills. Against Affirmative Action. In legal circles, this is called “pattern and practice.” No matter how thoughtful any one argument alone may appear close up, all the arguments together - decade after decade - show clearly that the Republican Party continually is against helping people when they are in need of help. And if it means that you’ll starve, or be destitute, or die without assistance, “tough…” - in the words of Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) - “shit.