Swept into office in 1994, a younger generation of Americans (mainly Republicans) began to take center stage in the nation's politics. This generation was the Baby Boomers, those Americans born in the aftermath of World War II until the early 1960s. This began an era of gridlock and stagnation in federal governance, spurred on by the new generation of representatives who were far to the right of conservative icon Ronald Reagan.
Fast forward to today, and the Baby Boomers are firmly entrenched in power, making up more than half of the membership of the House and Senate. This generation, which took advantage of the great opportunity afforded to them by the New Deal and Great Society in their youth, decided they would rather not pay taxes to continue America's prosperity, severely damaging the potential of the Millennial Generation, and probably the one after that.
Unfortunately, we are now seeing a disturbing trend in Republican politics: the politicians of Generation X (born approximately from the mid-60s to the early 70s) actually seem to favor even more conservative policies than their predecessor generation. Generation X has brought us such winners as Paul Ryan, Tom Cotton, Scott DesJarlais, Mike Lee, Tim Scott and Ted Cruz.
It's not just the politicians, either. Residents of red states filled with conservative Democrats (Kentucky, Arkansas, etc) will tell you that the middle-aged folks are much more conservative than older generations. Most Baby Boomers and current seniors scoff at the idea of cutting Social Security and MediCare; the younger conservatives have made it an important part of their goals, exemplified by the Ryan budget plan. People in their 30s, 40s and 50s are more likely to deny climate change than their elders. The Tea Party movement is filled with people in this age group.
Dozens of Generation X Republicans were swept into office during the wave of 2010, and we've seen how they behave. They are more divisive, more conservative, and even more sure of themselves than any group of Republicans we've seen in recent history, and they will be running the show in the next decade if Democrats can't wrest the Congress back from their hands.
My generation has already been crushed by conservative government policies. I don't even want to think about what my unborn children will have to go through if these people keep their hands on our government.