Far-right conservatives and die-hard Trump loyalists have flooded social media and “news” outlets with conspiracy theories of a stolen election, drag queens grooming children, gas stoves, Hunter Biden’s laptop, Disney pandering to the LGBTQ+ community, and claims that immigrants are swarming across our borders. Just this week Lauren Boebert introduced articles of impeachment against Joe Biden for “high crimes and misdemeanors” over his handling of the U.S. border with Mexico.
Across the nation, GOP legislators have passed bans on abortion after six weeks, bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth, and bans on books that mention gender and/or racism. Proposed bans on same-sex marriage, comprehensive sex education, and the legalization of marijuana are also under consideration in several states, and many GOP legislators vehemently oppose gun control legislation and affirmative action.
My question is, amidst all of the moral outrage and GOP culture wars waging against Democrats, progressives, the left, BLM, trans youth, books, minorities, Jews, women, and LGBTQ+ citizens, what has the far-right done to better the lives of Americans?
As far as I can tell, the GOP has no other agenda other than to distract us with moral outrage while they enrich the wealthy. From CRT to illegal immigrants, to welfare moms and transgender sex maniacs, it’s the same old Republican playbook: Attack vulnerable groups to distract from the fact that the party has no real plan to make our lives truly better.
As conservatives in the House battled Biden on the debt ceiling, they proposed cuts to federal health care, Social Security, Medicare, education, science, and labor programs, by billions of dollars, while keeping in place tax breaks for corporations and giving themselves a raise.
While House Republicans have been “tooting” their own horn since taking the House, bragging that they have proposed legislation to make oil drilling easier, to give parents a greater “voice” in local schools, and opposing the hiring of 87,000 IRS employees. Sorry GOP, I’m not impressed. Making oil drilling easier is not exactly battling climate change, and the Parental Rights Act (which will most likely die in the Senate) would just fan the flames of book bans, attacks on trans students, and unruly school board meetings across the country. As far as the IRS, Republican claim that the additional auditors would target hardworking Americans, but let’s get real: Additional IRS employees just might go after tax-dodging rich people.
The GOP also blames Democrats and the Biden administration for inflation and rising gas prices, however, as Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, stated “The jump in inflation has nothing to do with tax and spending policies.” It has to do with the economy rebooting to pre-COVID prices and supply chain functionality.
While the far-right yells and screams about CRT, drag queens, and trans youth, the Biden administration, Democrats, and some Republicans have been getting things done for Americans.
Under Biden’s tenure, 696,000 manufacturing jobs have been added, the unemployment rate fell from 6.3% in 2020 to 3.5% in December 2022, and average weekly earnings for American workers increased 9.5% since 2020. Then there’s the extension of the Inflation Reduction Act through 2025, the extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, efforts to forgive 43 million Americans who hold $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt, the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, and passage of the American Rescue Plan. Also of note is Biden’s leadership in forming a global alliance that has supported Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s bloody invasion, the pardoning of all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, and the historic Confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and other Federal Judges of diverse ethnic backgrounds.
As America gets closer to 2024, our Democracy is still in danger: By targeting diversity, which is the hallmark of American culture and gives a Democracy its strength, far-right talking heads and their supporters in both Washington and State legislatures are trying to burn it down.