Time for Dems to go on offense in the culture wars. Ask why Republicans think our cadets are snowflakes who must be shielded from hard historical truths and why they won't endure a tiny vaccine pinprick to protect friends' and neighbors' lives. New piece: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
The old right-wing culture war: God, guns, and gays.
The new right-wing culture war: Vaccine derangement, validation of white racial innocence, and valorization of insurrectionists.
How to put Republicans on the defensive in the culture wars:
Republicans should be the ones who are forced to fend off charges about themselves that are true, rather than Dems constantly being the ones denying charges about themselves that are false.
GOP Senators are once again pretending to be outraged that Dems have linked the bipartisan bill to the reconciliation one. But no one should pretend to believe them. They *already pulled* this stunt. Dems cannot let Rs bait them into infighting. New piece: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
When news leaked that moderates want to limit reconciliation bill to $3.5 trillion, some called it a loss for the left.
But a source tells me this is on top of the $579 billion in bipartisan bill, totaling more than $4 trillion, Biden's original plan:
Good news: Dems are quietly working to get the Global Minimum Tax provisions into the reconciliation bill, I'm told. This would be a huge deal: A blow to international tax avoidance and a powerful rebuttal to Trumpian populist nationalism. My latest: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Trumpian nationalists say multilateralism threatens national sovereignty. JD Vance says globalist elites have "plundered" the USA.
But the Global Minimum Tax *expands* the scope of democratic action, to solve problems that nationalists have no answer to:
Appalling: Conservative groups are pressuring Republicans to oppose funding IRS enforcement. But this would bring in revenues from the rich and corps that they *already owe.* This also sets up a big test for "anti-elite populists" like JD Vance. My latest: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
JD Vance:
"When companies have effectively rigged the economy such that they pay a lower tax rate than my middle-class sister, that’s not fair.”
You're in luck, JD! Biden and Dems are currently pushing numerous proposals to address exactly this problem:
We could have a real debate over the Dem proposals.
But the pull of right wing media totems (jackbooted IRS, Biden as "globalist") will make it harder for people like JD Vance to develop a serious conservative populist response to them.
Politico reports that the only Rs eager to join 1/6 committee are Marjorie Greene/Jim Jordan types. "Serious" Rs have no interest. This shows a real probe has no upside for Rs: Only full fabulists/insurrectionists can make this work for them. New piece: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
One GOPer admits to Politico that no good at all will come from appointing more serious Rs to the 1/6 committee.
The reason is obvious: Any serious accounting can *only* reveal that the insurrection and GOP complicity were *worse* than we thought:
Pelosi has jammed Kevin McCarthy into a corner on the 1/6 committee. Picking Republicans who supported the Big Lie will show how deeply implicated the party is in the crime. Yet he can't pick Rs who will treat the proceedings seriously, either. My latest: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Kevin McCarthy may pick Elise Stefanik and Jim Jordan for the 1/6 committee, according to Punchbowl News.
They are both major proponents of the Big Lie.
Indeed, virtually every GOPer floated by Punchbowl voted against Biden's electors:
Trump is now raging at Wisconsin Republicans for not doing *enough* to find fictional fraud and overturn his loss. This again shows that his movement will never be pacified by audits and investigations. Only a future steal attempt will suffice. My latest: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
A naive pundit reading holds that if Republicans pass "election integrity" measures, it'll be easier for them to rebuff demands to subvert future results that Trumpists say are fraudulent.
Trump's raging lunacy in Wisconsin should crush those fantasies:
These audits aren't good faith efforts to empirically confirm the results for folks who are "misled." They're dry runs at creating pretexts for questioning/overturning future elections.
Fealty to Trump means being willing to subvert *legitimate* results: