The magical thinking of Republicans

<Switzernote:  This was written, apparently, in August, and never published.  I decided to go ahead and post it because...well, why not.  So, it isn't new or anything, just old thoughts.  Please make a note of it.>

Well, frick.  No sooner do I write about Bush's gas-tax blah blah blah (see post below), Devilstower at  Kos goes and does a better job of it.  Read my version if you want, but you must read DT's version.

This brain dump is about something I've been pondering for a while - the magical thinking of modern Republicans.  I keep listening for some sort of logic or proof point in their policies and public statements, but I just keep hearing the same bizarre belief that if you just don't do anything, good stuff magically happens.  They live in an evidence-free world, where the poor are happily getting rich off the government, the rich are poor, and teenagers wouldn't have sex without Democratic insistence.

• Infrastructure - no new taxes.  As long as we "prioritize", the trillions needed for our overall infrastructure will magically materialize
• The poor - no government help.  No proof of this, no study has ever shown it to be true, but they've convinced themselves that government assistance for people who can't afford food somehow forces those folks into dependence.  If you just let them starve, they'll magically find jobs and money for food.
• Healthcare - get the government out of it.  If you help folks who can't afford healthcare, they won't magically get better! 
• Sex - if we prevent kids from gaining any knowledge of how sex works, they won't have any until they're married.  Hormones are magically blocked!
• Evolution - the evidence is all wrong!  Humans were magically created from clay.  Everything else was magically created from nothing (this is the root of the Republican problem).

I can go on and on, but you see the problem.  Their solution to all problems is to either do nothing or do less.  Looking out for number one is magically seen as helping the community.  In the case of our infrastructure, Bush seriously seems to believe that it's worse to ask for a few hundred bucks from Americans than it is to see them die in repeated tragedies as bridges collapse, blackouts increase and sewers give way.