Thread by @julianzelizer

For all the concern about the “capitalism question” with Democrats, reporters should be pressing Republicans about where they stand vis-à-vis @realDonaldTrump’s extreme budget. Some thoughts.

Whereas capitalism is not really on the chopping block, major social safety net programs are.
vox.com/policy-and-pol…

Yet the potential for drastic cuts in domestic spending does not receive the same level of scrutiny. There is a similar problem with the serious deregulatory moves that @realDonaldTrump has made during his time in office. brookings.edu/interactives/t…

@Eric_Alterman has written a number of important pieces on the “false equivalency” problem, where the media treats polarization as a product of “both sides” doing it. In fact, one side, the GOP, became much more extreme as a party than did the Democrats.
thenation.com/article/how-fa…

Now, we face a different variation of the problem where the media gives disproportionate attention to handful of progressives in one party while downplaying the grip of extremism on the leadership of the other.

The constant narrative about whether the GOP will “cave” to @realDonaldTrump ignores the fact that the party and the president are already on the same page. He is the product, not the cause, of our current era. @KevinMKruse and I have written about this.

Too many journalists are focusing on David and missing Goliath.

Within the GOP, the president, @senatemajldr, and the @freedomcaucus are all consistently pushing policies that are on the extreme end of the political spectrum, out-of-whack with majority public opinion (see gun control, climate change, taxes).

In a story that could come out of @TheOnion, Republicans are talking about a resolution to let Trump use emergency power for his wall—but constrain future presidents from being able to do the same. Ok. @ThePlumLineGS breaks this down.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…

We can call this the “Trump Standard.”

Instead of asking the former businessman and centrist Democrat John Hickenlooper whether he supports capitalism, maybe it is time to ask Republican Senators and Representatives if they support slashing Medicare benefits for elderly Americans?

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