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Democrats Are Courting Disaster — and Helping Republicans
After years of pushing a far-Left agenda, the Progressives are relishing their control of the Democratic Party. They are so enamored with their own virtue and power, that they don’t see the extreme risks they are taking in trying to manipulate government, from the Congressional processes to the state and local governments. And their efforts will ultimately benefit the Republican party in spades.
The Democrats are losing out on three major fronts: legislatively at the federal level, at the SCOTUS level, and at the state and local level. And Chuck Schumer is leading the charge in the Senate:
Schumer seems to be setting up his party for failure for a couple of reasons. Many Democrats believe—or, at least, hope—he is trying to force a gut check for some individual members, like centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Demonstrating to Manchin that Democrats can’t succeed while the filibuster persists could produce some momentum toward ending the 60-vote threshold. And, at the very least, Schumer could be giving Democrats a political cudgel to beat Republicans in 2022 and beyond.
This assumption is misguided on several levels. First, Joe Manchin has alluded to the fact that although they have been silent up until now, other senators, besides Kyrsten Sinema, are not willing to eliminate the filibuster. Second, Joe Manchin doesn’t support the bills that have failed to pass, so their failure is no skin off his nose. Third, although Joe Manchin has waffled on other decisions, he appears firm about supporting the filibuster, including maintaining the 60-vote requirement. Fourth, the Democrats misjudge citizens, who will realize that they are proposing outrageous laws, and blame them for the lack of practical and beneficial laws.
Strike One against the Democrats.
* * *
The Supreme Court’s most recent rulings have shown a surprising consensus regarding several cases, and one key case ruled that unions don’t have access to business properties simply because they want to promote their agendas:
The Supreme Court decided last week in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid that a constitutional ‘taking’ of private property occurs when a regulation gives union organizers a right to enter agricultural employers’ property in order to solicit support for unionization. . .
Ideally, even those with pro-union leanings might recognize that treating property rights as fundamental — pre-existing our constitution and laws — gives power and independence to people of all stripes. It protects people from the encroachments of political majorities that could turn against any group or interest from time to time.
Certainly, Joe Biden would see this ruling as a setback, given his zealous support of unions.
Other major rulings include the following:
Fulton v. City of Philadelphia—”Philadelphia may not exclude Catholic Social Services, another Christian foster agency, simply because city bureaucrats disagree with the Catholic Church’s principles regarding marriage.”
Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee—ruled that “people who vote in the wrong precinct can have their ballots tossed out, and that restrictions on ballot collection, otherwise known as ballot harvesting, are not discriminatory.”
Justice Kagan protested this ruling saying, “In recent months, state after state has taken up or enacted barriers to voting . . . but chances are that some have the kind of impact the act was designed to prevent—that they make the political process less open to minority voters than to others.” Justice Kagan rolls out the same old tired diatribes (some of them inaccurate as well), and doesn’t disappoint by implying that minorities are incapable of complying with changes to the rules. Some things just don’t change.
Mahoney Area School District v. B.L.— Schools can regulate some student speech off-campus, but when the Pennsylvania school district suspended a member of the cheerleading team for posting a profanity on Snapchat, the Justices determined that her First Amendment rights had been violated.
Strike Two against the Democrats.
* * *
At the state and local level, the Democrats are also being criticized for their actions (or lack thereof) on other national issues. The word is finally getting out about the nature of Critical Race Theory. Although some municipal, county, and even state governments or Boards of Education have re-named the curriculum to disguise its intent, many legislators and parents are realizing what has been happening to their education system, and are actively fighting back. Several states have either banned or are in the process of deciding whether to allow CRT in their schools: Idaho, Oklahoma, Iowa, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Florida, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Texas and Arkansas.
The southern border continues to be ignored by the Biden administration. It is a disaster and continues to worsen:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection confiscated more fentanyl in the first half of 2021 than in the last three years.
CBP seized 6,494 pounds of the drug between October 2020 and April 2021, according to recently released data. Nearly 2,000 more pounds of fentanyl have been seized by CBP officials compared to last year amid the southern border surge. CBP seized 4,776 pounds in 2020 and 2,801 pounds in 2019.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott told reporters Friday that the Texas Department of Public Safety has seen an 800 percent increase from April 2020 to April 2021 of the amount of fentanyl that has been apprehended.
In a poll on the seriousness of illegal immigration from May, these results were found:
80 percent responded very or somewhat serious, including 47 percent saying ‘very serious.’ Just 5 percent responded ‘not at all serious.’ Out of a provided list of 24 distinct policy issues, 29 percent of those surveyed said immigration is one of the most important issues facing the country today — second only to coronavirus, which came in at 38 percent.
Strike Three against the Democrats.
* * *
Just for good measure, let’s add in the state of the economy. Regarding the economy, 25 governors are stopping at least a portion of federal unemployment benefits, including the enhanced benefit of $300 weekly, saying that that they are trying to end labor shortages in their states. The Congressional Democrats insisted on sending these additional funds, refusing to acknowledge that small business people were being negatively affected, as potential employees refused to seek employment.
People are also not reassured that the current signs of inflation are temporary. In a Fox News poll:
Seven voters in 10 (70 percent) call recent increases in grocery prices a financial hardship for their family. It’s a ‘serious’ hardship for 3 in 10 percent (29 percent).
The pocketbook pain is the same for gas prices, currently averaging $3 a gallon nationally, with 68 percent saying it is a hardship. That includes 29 percent who say it is a ‘serious’ hardship. Some 57 percent call increases in health care costs a hardship and 45 percent say the same about mortgage/rent.
Once again, there is no effort by the Biden administration or Congress to deal with inflation or acknowledge that their policies are negatively contributing to the situation. They are so preoccupied with getting on Joe Manchin’s good side and proposing their ideals in the form of foolish policies that nothing else seems to matter.
* * *
The Democrats will probably continue their outrageous spending, as they push their “second infrastructure bill”; they will ignore the state of the economy, looking away when anyone points out our obscene federal debt total; blame their own ineptness on the Republicans; and they will ignore the crisis at the border, as the cartels continue to contribute to the enormous influx of illegal aliens, and dump dangerous drugs in our communities.
Republicans shouldn’t get cocky, but they have a lot going for them in 2022.
Published in Elections
There. Fixed it for her. The remainder of the opinion is left to the justice herself to fix.
It continues to baffle me that people with a Left orientation can’t see how insulting their ideas are, not only to minorities but to everyone. Considering how limited the access to voting was in the past, people have a huge number of opportunities to vote. No one on the Left can see the opportunities for fraud, either; maybe that’s because they are so accustomed to it!
The stated ideas are irrelevant. All proposals are a means of consolidating power and subjugating the people. While people are made to fight about pronouns, the NEA is passing a plan to inculcate Marxist ideology in all children.As long as the Overton Window is shifting towards communism, the Left is winning. They will be losing, when society starts widely and actively suppressing Marxism and Communism.
And how will you judge when “actively suppressing” begins, @dong? How much needs to happen for you to give our resistance credit for making the changes that are needed? Unlike you, I am seeing a concerted effort to push back on many levels, and see no backing down. There are national organizations that have formed to support our “insurgents.” And the Democrats seem to be helping us along.The changes won’t happen overnight. As long as I see movement in the right direction, I will celebrate!
They’ve fallen. It’s really that simple. Each one individually has chosen his mind over the real world.
I’ve not heard it put that way, Barfly, but you are correct! When we think our thoughts and ideas are real, then legitimate reality can’t even compare. We are a one-man show!
Actually, she’s right in one respect. States are erecting barriers to voting, but legitimate voters can easily overcome them with very little effort. The barriers are there to make it more difficult for people or groups to cheat, thus securing the rights of legitimate voters to recognize a fair and legitimate election.
Right! But, of course they would say there’s no evidence of fraud or tampering in the past, so what’s to worry about? Seriously?!
Again, I get tired of people saying, “But it didn’t affect the outcome of the election.”
Balderdash! (It’s a sure sign you’re getting old when you start using words like that.) That’s like saying “Shoplifting is okay if it doesn’t affect the store’s profit too much.” Any amount of cheating is unacceptable, and when politicians refuse to look into it because of what they might find, that’s when the voters lose faith in elections. The Democrats and Rancid Republicans (never-Trumpers) are terrified there really is evidence Trump won, and the last thing anyone wants to do is figure out what the remedy is . . .
Good and hopeful analysis, and public opinion surveys, once you get past the largely meaningless job approval numbers and delve into public reactions on the policy front (inflation, border, crime, etc.), it is setting things up as a repeat of the 2010 congressional elections. Trump lost independent voters and suburban GOP women. They seem to be coming home. Stir in reapportionment in states – 30 of which are controlled by Republicans, at least governors – and there is good reason to be hopeful. We just have to remember that if it isn’t close, they can’t cheat.
The Progressives are not helping the Republicans. They are driving people to look for an alternative. Republicans at the moment seem to be only the party of “not that!” It would be nice if they were for something sustainable and able to fuse political refugees to them. That was what Trump was for those below the mean income average. But Progressives have strong allies that are loathe to stop feeding off the host. (Sigh)
I get your point. Republicans will need to be more aggressive to take advantage of the situation. Still, there are going to be a lot of unhappy people. But to win big, as @kellydjohnston states, Republicans will need to step up.
It’s a little (okay, a lot) more than that. There has to be leadership and a vision articulated.
Washington likes it when they have no responsibility to actually do anything and the “opposition” gains power just by being there. That isn’t enough, not for the current coalition as it exists/existed during the previous Federal election.
Without an articulation of leadership/vision, that coalition will not exist when it comes time to actually vote next year. I’m pessimistic (I really don’t like saying that), but it could be the one last comeuppance needed to create some true turnover. Also, there is plenty of room in midterms for candidates to express their own vision, particularly in primaries. I don’t think anyone anywhere feels strong attachments to incumbents right now, save a few bright stars.
It seems like we all keep saying, year after year, that maybe they’ll get the message this time. I keep wondering when the that time will ever come. I agree, @chrisoler.
With states strengthening voter integrity laws, we may start seeing just how inherently freedom-minded the country is. Fortunately and unfortunately, that will likely mean gains for Republicans. Unfortunately? Yes, because these gains–though I would expect them to reflect the true electorate–will not have been earned, and the media and political class will rush to draw conclusions that will handicap the causes of liberty and small government for years to come.