If politics was about running on your record, well, the comparison says it all.
Voters often make decision based on politics alone- it's worth taking some time to think about governing as well.
Most of the media covers politics, because it is easier and edgier than covering government, and it creates a level of engagement that the hard work of getting things done does not. The loudest part of American politics involves pointing out the failures and outrages of our adversaries. I have done plenty of that myself. But as we head into this important Midterm election, there is a lot to learn from considering what each side claims as victories.
What has each party accomplished when in power? What makes them proud? How do they perform when it comes to the actual work they are tasked to do? The answers to these questions tell us quite a bit about the choice we face in the 2022 midterms.
Trump Administration Accomplishments
We often hear Republicans say that they are proud of the Trump Administration’s accomplishments. Even Republicans who are walking away from Donald Trump himself go out of their way to talk about building upon the achievements of those years. I searched statements by current Republicans and the archived web pages of the Trump White House to see what those accomplishments were.
The culmination of a thirty plus year effort, the Trump White House and Republicans today are most proud to have reshaped the judiciary generally, and the Supreme Court in particular. Large majorities of Americans, however, see quite differently-- the undermining of one of the most important guarantors of human freedom. Republicans proudly packed the court with political activists rather than jurisprudential scholars. The results include overturning Roe , (the voters in Kansas had something to say about that this week!) gutting the Voting Rights Act, unleashing unlimited dark money into politics, closing the federal courts to gerrymandering cases, and making it far harder for the EPA to protect the environment.
The Trump Administration’s proudest legislative victory was the Republican Tax Bill. This sweeping overhaul of the tax code permanently cut corporate taxes to 21% from 35%. At the time, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the law would increase GDP by 3% and quickly pay for itself. Instead, it made the rich richer and blew a hole in the federal budget.
The third thing they tout was deregulation. This one is difficult to nail down because it touches so many areas. Polluters found it easier to pollute. Food companies no longer faced the same level of inspections. Employers no longer faced the same oversight when it came to workers’ safety. Companies did save time and expense, but, for example, workers in meet packing plants during the pandemic paid a terrible price.
In foreign policy, the Republicans point to the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states. This one is, I think, a real accomplishment.
It is also interesting to note what the Republicans do not talk about. There is, for example, almost no talk of Operation Warp Speed, a public private partnership that helped industry develop and test coronavirus vaccines. This was a real accomplishment, but I can understand not bringing it up as the rest of President Trump’s coronavirus response was epically disastrous. Same goes for the Space Force- an important effort handled in such a ridiculous manner that Americans could not take it seriously. Nor is there talk about President Trump’s personal diplomacy- something he was very proud of at the time. This includes his craven off the record meetings with Vladmir Putin and his embarrassing relationship with Kim Jong Un. Republicans only rarely mention his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, or repeated threats to walk away from NATO.
Biden Administration Accomplishments
Halfway through the term, the Biden Administration has its own accomplishments that the President and other Democrats proudly point to when they can.
High on the list is the American Rescue Plan. This effort helped get Americans vaccinated in record numbers and delivered economic relief to families and businesses hurt by the pandemic. Unquestionably, this effort helped tame the pandemic and led to the strongest economic recovery in the world. Some, however, think the effort may have contributed to later inflation.
In this divisive time, President Biden is particularly proud of passing bi-partisan legislation, starting with the Infrastructure Law. This accomplishment eluded the Trump Administration, even when the GOP held majorities in the House and Senate. The bill will repair roads, bridges, water systems, airports, and transit systems. It will create tens of thousands of jobs. It also expands internet access to rural and other underserved areas.
A second bipartisan bill, the CHIPS+ bill provides incentives to American companies to build the massive factories necessary to build the most advanced computer chips here in the U.S. Currently these are produced in Taiwan, with additional capacity being built in China. The bill will reduce our reliance on China, and the risk of relying on Taiwan. It will create new jobs and a new generation of engineering and scientific leadership in America.
A third bipartisan bill is the first law in decades to address the gun violence plaguing the nation. While the bill did not go nearly as far as most gun safety advocates wanted, all say it counts as real progress.
A fourth bipartisan bill was the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
The other legislative accomplishment that Democrats are proud of required the use of reconciliation to overcome the Republican filibuster. This is the Inflation Reduction Act. That law raises new revenue by closing corporate tax loopholes, enforcing a minimum corporate tax and spends about half of that revenue to fight climate change, secure domestic energy production and to extend the Affordable Care Act. It is the largest action on climate change ever taken in the US, and it accomplishes another very long-standing Democratic goal- allowing the federal government to negotiate with Pharma over the cost of prescription drugs covered by Medicare. It is expected to pass this coming week.
Like the Trump Administration, Democrats are proud of their efforts to appoint judges to federal courts. They point to 73 federal judges confirmed so far, and to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court. While it is too early to know how any of these judges might rule, it is expected that they will do so with independence and jurisprudential judgment rather than as part of a political party.
Democrats are also proud of actions they have taken in the House that have not become law due to the filibuster in the Senate. These include passage of voting rights legislation, laws to restrict the flow of money into campaigns, an assault weapons ban, and laws that respond to recent Supreme Court decisions on abortion and anticipated ones on marriage equality.
On foreign policy, the President has rebuilt NATO, and countered Russian aggression in Ukraine without allowing that war to expand to other countries. He ended our seemingly endless war in Afghanistan but continues to fight terrorists there- this week a targeted CIA assassination in that country killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda leader who plotted the 9/11 attack.
Competent Government
Beyond the question of policy is a question of competence. Is one party more capable of managing the government than the other? On this, there is simply no comparison. Donald Trump was impeached the first time for undermining the Department of State by running a rogue foreign policy to shake down Ukraine for domestic political purposes. He was impeached the second time for undermining the Department of Justice by seeking to enlist it in his fake elector scheme. His appointees were incapable of managing the Postal Service. We are now learning that they badly mishandled Homeland Security and they politicized the Secret Service.
In fairness, Democrats believe that the government plays an important role in American life and tend to want it to be successful. Republicans often run against the government, and so are less likely to care about making it work. But the difference is a cost to taxpayers and undermines our confidence that we can still do great things.
Takeaways
We do not have to engage in the usual vitriol to see vast differences between the two parties. The Republicans are proud to campaign for a world where woman cannot get an abortion, where the government does not regulate businesses, where guns are ubiquitous, where voting rights are less rights than preferences, where the wealthiest benefit most the country’s economic output, and where America goes it alone the world. Democrats stand tallest when they are fighting for reproductive choice, sensible regulation of weapons, the security of voting rights, expanded participation in economic growth, and strong alliances in the world.
Before voting, ask yourself which of those two worlds you want to live in.
