The republicans have just done the one thing that their master strategists have avoided for decades — they have revealed with stunning clarity their whole agenda in one bill. Usually they would tack a rider onto something , hoping no one would notice it. They pecked and chipped away at everything Roosevelt and each Democrat after him had accomplished, content with the steady erosion. They were surprisingly successful with this approach, but it took time.
But now, due to factors largely beyond their control (starts with “T”), they are forced to make a big move at a time when they are actually weak and holding power with a very skimpy leash. They have to go for broke, and by so doing, they have revealed themselves fully to the attendant backlash.
What they are pushing is the biggest attempt at social engineering ever. The vile nature of this bill needs no further exposition by me; everyone knows clearly what it means. They have revealed themselves as servants of some of the American people, but not the rest of us. This attitude needs to be corrected.
If you don’t like what they are doing, make a list. We will need to know what has to be removed or restored when the time comes. The republicans themselves seem to anticipate this end — they are planning to sacrifice congress in the next election and have Trump stand as their firewall to hold up their agenda with vetoes until 2020. To me, this strategy indicates that they think significant short term damage can be done in three years to make it worth their while, even if their party crashes as a result. Their long term social goals would take more than these few years, but a great amount of economic damage can be done during that time.
The republicans have shown themselves to be the party of robber barons and bigots. They have thrown away their validity as honest adversaries, and need to be replaced with people more rational and less greedy.
Right now I see a massive surge coming up from the grassroots of the Democratic Party to fill that need, people with fire in their bellies. These people have names unfamiliar to me, but they certainly have the right stuff. This is our wave, but it is still out to sea and still small. We need to reinforce that surge and build on it, so when it crashes on shore, it will be irresistible.
To repeat my thesis: The republicans have handed us a great gift. It is up to us to make the most of it.
Resist. . . Persist. . . Win