A political reality check: Democrats are getting things done while Republicans are bragging about guns for grandkids.
The GOP can’t compete on ideas. They can’t compete on competence. They can’t even compete on building a better economy, or on national security or even on law and order. They are bankrupt.
Earth day… Rachel Carson, Wisconsin, the beginning of a new consciousness, where we first understood that we could not continue the unchecked exploitation of the planet without endangering ourselves. We never stopped, never suggested stopping things like mining, manufacturing, construction- all the stuff of the modern economy. We did begin some mitigation. And with that we invited a backlash that has come crashing upon us all these years later.
But we have also made progress.
We have a government that is getting things done. Out west, the Colorado River basin is drying up. This is a disaster of proportions almost unimaginable. 40 million people rely on this water. It powers hydro plants that keep lights on in cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It irrigates some of the most productive agriculture in the world, feeding people everywhere.
The Biden Administration is taking action before it’s too late.
$281 million for 21 water recycling projects that are expected to increase annual water capacity by 127,000 acre-feet annually
Almost the same amount for water conservation funding
Another roughly $150m for infrastructure repairs on water delivery systems
More funding targeting 32 drought resiliency projects and new water storage investments
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Some of this funding came from the bipartisan infrastructure act. Some was included in the Inflation Reduction Act that had no GOP votes. As helpful as these steps are, they will not be sufficient. The Biden Administration has stepped up to force the politically difficult decisions that need to be made to reduce water consumption. Of course, the last administration didn’t have the courage to address this catastrophe. And the current GOP, in character, proposes no solutions, but is poised to declare any restrictions socialist overreach.
Meanwhile, in the just ended tax filing season, according to Reuters, the IRS provided live assistance to 87 percent of taxpayers who called in for help. That’s up 15% from the previous year. They answered 2.4 million more calls than they year before. And call waiting times went from 27 minutes to 4.
The improved performance is entirely the result of new hires authorized and paid for by the Inflation Reduction Act passed and signed into law during this Administration.
The IRS expects the extra hires will cut the time it takes for filers to get their refunds processed. They expect to be able to modernize computer systems, improve taxpayer services, and beef up enforcement and audits for wealthy taxpayers and partnerships.
Naturally, the House Republicans describe the new IRS staff as deep state agents weaponizing government to terrorize ordinary Americans. They have made firing these new hires a condition for agreeing not to plunge the US and the world economy into chaos by defaulting on the nation’s debt.
This week we endured another week of mass shootings-- the absolutely certain outcome of an over-armed nation. I cannot make a current list of the slaughter because the killings happen so often. 4 killed and 32 injured at a birthday party in Alabama. It is hard to remember, but all the political noise in Tennessee, the protests and the expulsion of two legislators- all that was in response to a mass shooting of little children in Nashville.
The horror is worse in places with high viewership of FOX, the championing of stand your ground laws and the incessant language of fear and hate.
In Missouri, a young man knocked on the wrong door looking for his brothers. An elderly white man, watching FOX News at the time, claimed to be terrified and shot him. In Upstate New York, another man shot and killed someone for mistakenly pulling her car into his driveway. In Texas, two teenage cheerleaders were in a supermarket parking lot. One of them accidentally opened the door of the wrong car thinking it was hers. You know what happened, the guy got out of the car and shot the girls. They survived, but really?
Americans see all of this and are appalled. They support sensible gun laws. But the captured Supreme Court pretends the constitution prohibits these. For now, the Court has the power to impose. Meanwhile Republicans are tripping all over themselves to identify with the shooters. They wear AK 47 lapel pins on the floor of the House after a mass shooting. South Dakota Gov Kristi Noem recently bragged that her two-year old granddaughter has her own gun. A two year old.
Speaking of the culture of life. These folks with blood on their hands, are the ones who just a few weeks ago told us that the Constitution required abortion to be a state decision. Now they are scheming to ban reproductive choice everywhere. The outrageous case against mifepristone is just the latest example where it is clear their view of law is that law is an instrument of power that they can use to enforce their will.
Americans are not having it. And Republicans know it. But power is their drug, and they will not let go.
But here’s the thing- it isn’t just that their crazy culture war is unpopular. Americans want the government to get things done. We want to do big things again. Well, Republicans have no ideas. Wait, maybe we can cut taxes for rich folks again. Or maybe we can let the west run out of water. Why not? That would be just another slaughter in the name of freedom.
They can’t compete on ideas. They can’t compete on competence. They can’t even compete on building a better economy, or on national security or even on law and order. They are bankrupt. And that’s what makes them dangerous. That’s why they are working feverishly to undermine voting rights, to draw political districts that guarantee them power, to put in place the processes to nullify election results.
We need not pretend this is normal. We will not let them use the protections we put in place to have the most inclusive democratic debate be turned against democracy itself.
They have been at this fight for decades. We joined it only recently. Yet already they are on the defensive. Their scorched earth tactics will not carry the day. The liar Tucker Carlson can look straight into the camera and say what he will. The good people of this great nation are looking at the carnage and chaos they have unleashed, and we are also looking at the accomplishments of serious minded people and we know the difference.
We are winning. Stay in the fight.