New Democratic congress should be progressive, not retributive
The November 3 election gave the Democratic Party in Congress a strong majority in both houses. As a result, they have the ability to pass anything they want. That majority came about because large numbers of independents and moderate republicans were upset and disappointed in the actions of president Trump. The war, the economy, the deficits and the excesses of ICE were major factors in the defection resulting in those “swing” voters voting for democrats in the election. They voted against those items and simply want them to end and expect Democrats to do that.
Many or most democrats voted because they are angry at the vicious and vindictive way Trump has attacked liberals, immigrants and institutions. In addition to the “swing” items, many or most democrats voted for revenge. They want Congress to be as vindictive in return as Trump was to them.
The democratic response in Congress can be negative or positive. If they choose to respond negatively and to cater to the democratic base and be vindictive, they can impeach, investigate and attack this administration, and there is more than enough reason to do so.
However, impeaching Trump for the umpteenth time accomplishes nothing. There aren’t votes to convict and remove him from office and worse yet, impeachment could generate sympathy for Trump among the moderates that voted against him.He will not be on the ballot in 2028 and those moderates need a new reason to continue to vote democratic.
Even if they could get the Republican votes to remove him, it would allow JD Vance to have the advantage of incumbency in the next election. They can spend lots of time investigating the myriad of questionable and legally dubious actions of this administration.
But that is not what the swing voters voted for. They want it to discontinue in the future, but the past is past and they only want a better future. A negative Democratic congress risks losing their gains among swing voters. In the short term it would feel good, but the long term loss of those voters would be costly.
A positive response would be to enact legislation that is popular among the majority of Americans rather than attacks that only appeal to the base. There are many positive bills that the congress could pass in the next budget that would be popular among both democrats and swing voters. Among them:
Deficit reduction. Clinton left a budget that did not require borrowing. The congress could reverse the Bush and Trump tax cuts and return to the balanced budget tax rates of Clinton. And a spending plan within those limits. Increase taxes on billionaires. In addition to the Clinton tax rates, a modest increase in tax rates on the highest income levels would be popular and help balance the budget.
Reducing or eliminating tax subsidies to corporations. Not necessary to raise tax rates, but subsidies such as oil companies that made three times as much profit during the war as they did the year previously.
Defunding ICE. Make major reductions in ICE while requiring professional behavior. The training and leadership has been abysmal and Congress should require improvements.
Defunding the war. Trump has ramped up the military to be an offensive weapon of war on other countries, rather than a defense of America first. The military needed to defend America is vastly smaller that one that wages war. We don’t need more veterans of FOREIGN wars.
Restoring fairness to all Americans. Restore the university research that has maintained American technological and intellectual leadership in the world and been the solid base for economic growth.
Limit the ability to levy tariffs which are a sales tax on Americans. Tariffs were the single largest tax increase in history. Some tariffs are necessary or at least useful.
Restore military aid to Ukraine, allowing them to resist tyranny.
These initiatives do two things that are advantageous to Democrats. They show that the Democratic Party can not only complain, but can govern. That is critical. They also put Donald Trump in an impossible position. These items are popular, but Trump would not want Democrats to be able to take credit for them. However, vetoing them would continue to alienate swing voters. Worse yet, vetoing a budget would shut down the country.
Trump has had four government shutdowns and none have been beneficial to him. The 2018 shutdown was particularly humiliating. He can’t afford that. It is the positive way to generate negative results for Trump and pave the way for future victories.
The Democratic Congress will have to demonstrate a certain amount of vindictiveness to placate the democratic base. And there should be consequences for the outrageous acts of this administration.
But it should not be the focus. Those investigations should not be where Democrats spend their media attention. The media will cover it extensively because it is news. The Democratic congress should focus its attention on showing America the positive things they believe in and are working on, not just because it is good for America, but because promoting positive bills will demonstrate the ability to govern and can maintain the coalition that they will need in future elections.
John Cunningham of Sioux Falls has spent his career in local government finance, including in Fulton County, Ga., and Atlanta. He has a master of public administration from Harvard and has done consultant work in four foreign countries
Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons
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