Congratulations, Iowa. You just voted for a war mongering, racist, xenophobic, anti-government, gun loving, Christian theocracy supporting nut job!

If you thought Trump was scary, wait until you find out more about Ted Cruz. Donald Trump is a racist and a narcissist, and he’s xenophobic, but I’ve also felt he doesn’t necessarily believe everything he’s saying. He is often just pandering to the lunatic fringe base.

Ted Cruz is at a whole other level of scary. He’s xenophobic. Racist. A war monger. Against abortion in any way. He even says the Bible trumps the Constitution. He stands so far right on every issue that he is off the charts. And he believes in what he says. Fully believes.

These are all very scary to the future of our country, should he win.

There is a “mainstream” candidate surfacing after Iowa in Marco Rubio. But mainstream has changed. It has moved much further right. It is much less centrist, much less willing to work with others, and much worse for our country. Marco Rubio is scary. He’s very far right. Well right of any GOP nominee in our country’s history.

What would our country look like under either one of these right wing extremists?

Women’s Rights
Significant restrictions to abortion would become federal policy. It is safe to say Supreme Court nominees would need to pass the abortion litmus test. Birth control coverage would be rolled back. Equal pay would not be a consideration. Planned Parenthood would lose funding.

Budget & Economy
There would be less spending on people and more spending on military. Infrastructure would suffer. Healthcare and “welfare” would suffer. Science would suffer. The middle and lower class would pay for the tax cuts to the rich. The economy would be much more prone to dramatic boom and bust cycles. Think about how bad things were under George W Bush. Make things much, much worse. There you have it.

Guns
More guns. Less laws. Less enforcement. More gun deaths. More mass shootings. More school shootings. Any questions?

War
Count on it. We will bomb Syria. Rubio wants more bombing in Syria. Cruz wants to carpet bomb Syria until the sand glows. Whatever that means. Which will fuel even more anti-American hostility. We will withdraw for the Iran nuclear deal. Resulting in an accelerated nuclear program for Iran. Hostility will increase. Skirmishes will increase. War with Iran will be significantly more likely. If you think Afghanistan and Iraq were disasters, just wait for Iran!

Foreign Relations
Look for an end to improved relations with Cuba and Iran. Look for a more adversarial relationship with Russia. And China. Look for distancing from our European allies. Look for less international cooperation and more international strife.

Education
Look for less money for public schools and more money toward private schools. Look for a harder time affording college.

Banking
Look for less banking regulation. Stronger and bigger banks. Even though today’s banks are “too big to fail,” look for them to get bigger, take more risks, prey on “customers.”

Global Climate Change
None of the Republican candidates believes climate change is real. Look for increased carbon emissions, less focus on renewable energy, and more oil production.

Healthcare
Goodbye “Obamacare.” Hello free market. Expect less insured Americans. Expect higher costs for everyone and more difficulty getting coverage. Have a pre-existing condition? Too bad!

Gay Rights
You can kiss gay marriage goodbye. No more gays serving in the military. Open discrimination should be expected.

Social Security
Both candidates are for a higher retirement age and lower benefits. Social Security could become a privatized system. Your retirement financial security would be much less certain and much more risky. Unless you’re wealthy. In which case you’ll thrive.

It’s a bleak picture, isn’t it?