It has been amazing to hear apolitical people express fear for what is happening. They don’t quite understand what is transpiring. They don’t really understand the naked aggression against middle America and small businesses, the glue that has held this nation together since its founding.
They know their paycheck isn’t going nearly as far as it used to. They know that if they get a raise, it is still not enough. There are people who are underemployed yet don’t want to find a new, higher paying job knowing that the next shoe to drop is a deadly recession that will result in the newest employees being let go before those with more seniority (unless you’re a white teacher in Minneapolis). That’s their dilemma. Some are taking second jobs that are barely allowing them to keep their heads above water.
Few in middle America believe that the raid on a former president’s home is justified. They don’t believe destroying our energy industry is justified. They don’t believe that what appears as an intentional destruction of the nation’s economy is justified.
They fail to understand why trans “rights” are a thing. They don’t understand why these beliefs are being thrust down their throats and infecting their children like smallpox. They know the government is, in fact, doing this to them but they don’t understand why.
They have believed that all of the warnings have been overblown hyperbole: a political faction against another political faction that has nothing to do with them. Now they’re beginning to understand that one side is being overly aggressive—to say it mildly—against the other and that they are the ones who will be assaulted next. Their world is turning upside down and they are still struggling with the concept as the real deal arrives.
They don’t like what’s going on. They want a path to a solution. They want leadership.
Truly we are in strange times and the end can’t be forecast any better than the ball bouncing around on a roulette wheel.
If there is to be a chance to turn back the tide, it has to come from a dedicated effort within the government directed by those dedicated outside of the government. The America First movement is the legitimate challenge to this crumbling status quo.
Liz Cheney never expected to win after her stand against this movement. She is the gnashing teeth of the Republican elite, cheered on by the likes of Mitch McConnel and his coterie of imbecilic “statesmen” in waiting; Cassidy, Portman, Cornyn, Thune, Romney, et.al. still believe they are in a game where they retain the loyal opposition moniker and get their crumbs from the spendaholic elites. They still don’t understand they’ve been played and are complicit in every totalitarian crusade from these soul suckers of the Democratic Party.
Donald Trump is key (said with a Well, no shit tone).
It’s the fact that at the moment he would be sworn in, he would not be beholden to the Republican elites in order to be reelected because he would be a lame duck.
At the end of his first term, he had already put into motion the reigning-in of the Deep State—the reason Republican elites broke from him for good. A second term would begin its dismantling.
Some suggest that the America First movement has eclipsed the former president and could use new leadership with much less baggage. People with that mentality fail to understand that any president elected with the same goals as America First would have to be willing to be a one-term president or else compromise with the devil for a second term. The changes to be made will not just poke the wasp nest, as was done in the first term; it will hit the nest with a big stick. There will be no speaking softly.
Any changes to the Deep State would have to be made as permanent as possible; a coordinating Congress would be required. Then there are structural changes to be made within the House that could, from this layman’s mind, be enacted without constitutional amendments. So, let me wave my magical wand and see some of the items that are must haves.
First a balanced budget rule should be adopted that would require a two-thirds vote to change this new House rule.
Zero-based budgeting must become required. Instead of giving automatic increases in spending by department, each agency should begin their request for funding at zero and justify the future level of spending they seek.
End omnibus bills—these monstrosities are where democracy dies. Again, House and Senate rules can be adopted to guarantee that only single-issue bills are voted upon.
While I believe that income taxes are immoral and that the 16th Amendment should be repealed, flat income tax legislation can be enacted that, once again, could only be changed by a two-thirds vote in both houses. A flat tax could be instituted that would exclude all deductions that are used today. It could be graduated at rates of 5, 10,15, and 20%, for example, and would apply to corporate and individual earners—no more picking of winners and losers by the government. There is a whole wasteful industry based upon the current tax structure that require a large portion of our citizens to pay for tax preparation services. No one should have to spend money in order to pay the government its “share”. (How many times have we been promised a tax system where the filer could disclose income and taxes owed/paid on a postcard?)
The killer of our country is our national debt. We are at a point where the Fed is having to raise interest rates to help stem inflation—good luck with that—which in turn increases the interest rates our government must pay bond holders. This immoral debt is eating up our budgets at a time when social benefits are costing more than the country can afford. Debt in both cases will decrease other services that the federal government is required to provide; we are a nation whose citizens are laboring to pay off debt. We then have to borrow more money just to pay for the basic services.
I’m not an economist but I believe that our national debt can be spun off from the budget into a new taxation entity that would be paid for by a federal sales tax and tariffs, with no additional debt incurred. Again, this may be Pollyanna thinking but at least let’s start talking about the reorganization of our debt before it’s too late—it might be a minute past midnight too late anyway.
These are the issues that will have to be on the plate for 2024. A Republican congress elected this year won’t be able to do much; as long as Biden’s hand is steady enough to sign legislation or vetoes, gridlock will ensue (not a bad thing for now). If Republicans promise an end to all of this insanity in 2022, who will the people blame then? Lay out a multi-year agenda, explain it to the people and they will follow. Meander, as Republicans tend to do, and the time to fix this mess has come and gone.