Hack. Pack. Pack. Tax. Slash. Grab: The Democratic agenda of 2020
That Democrats have gone far from their traditional center-left mooring is best illustrated by the path of Sen. Christopher A. Coons of Delaware. I count Coons as a friend, and he is very much a thoughtful and wonderful human being. But he has lurched left by backtracking on his commitment to the Senate’s legislative filibuster.
It was only in April of 2017 that Coons and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) organized a letter signed by 61 senators, which called on Senate leadership to “preserve existing rules, practices, and traditions,” which of course includes the legislative filibuster. Coons has more recently said it may be necessary to remove this long-standing check. That’s the “hack” referred to in my shorthand above, as in “hacking the Senate legislative filibuster to pieces.”
The word “pack” refers first to Democrats’ goal of D.C. statehood, which would add two Democratic votes to the Senate. Such a move might come paired with a push for Puerto Rico statehood, which might not add two more blue votes, but that is first and foremost an issue for the people of Puerto Rico to decide.
The other packing that looms with a Democratic sweep would be expansion of the Supreme Court. Packing the Supreme Court was a bridge too far for FDR in 1937, but not for Democrats today. Many of the Democratic primary candidates endorsed it, though Biden did not. He will, I believe, be overwhelmed by his party’s eagerness to lock down power, however, and that’s a forever change.
Taxes will skyrocket under Democratic control. I don’t know that anyone debates this. The wealth tax of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will be, I’ll wager, the first of many levies. Look to California to see what an “all blue” executive and legislature imposes on working people.
Slashing defense spending will simply be a reversion to the policies pursued by the Obama-Biden administration, when annual Pentagon spending fell from a high of nearly $700 billion a year to nearly $600 billion. Inhofe laid out for my audience how China and Russia are increasing their military spending. The shuttering of many Pentagon programs and shelving of many weapons programs would probably become a certainty.
“Grabbing guns” is a cliche that is easily understood; how far would a President Biden go? The answer isn’t clear, but this much is: Democrat Beto O’Rourke vowed during his brief presidential campaign to confiscate legally purchased assault rifles if elected. After he left the race and endorsed Biden, the former vice president said of O’Rourke: “I want to make something clear, I’m going to guarantee you this is not the last you’ve seen of him. You’re going to take care of the gun problem with me. You’re going to be the one who leads this effort.”
The push for mail-in voting continues, as do the stresses such an innovation will place on the legitimacy of elections. Republicans worry that Democratic control of Congress and the White House will lead to amnesty for many millions of immigrants with voting rights to follow; in short: creating the votes to give the party permanent control of the government.
“Hack. Pack. Pack. Tax. Slash. Grab.” It would be great if Biden were questioned closely on each subject.
It should be on Trump’s “to do” list every day to repeat again the starkness of the diverging paths ahead of the country.
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