By Karen Rubin, News-Photos-Features.com
It should come as no surprise that I am endorsing the full slate of Democrats in this critical, upcoming election. It’s not about being tribal, it’s about examining the record, the character, the values and the stated policies of Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator Charles Schumer, Congressional candidate Robert Zimmerman, State Senator Anna Kaplan, State Assemblymember Gina Sillitti, and the rest of the slate in New York and other states, and feeling confident that they understand the mission of government (to improve the lives of people).
On the other hand, the Republican party wholly possessed by Trumpism, and each and every one of their candidates have demonstrated through their record, values and outright Orwellian double-speak (“Freedom!” “Choice!”) they have no interest in bettering lives, or, for that matter, believe that all people have equal rights to freedom and choice, but are mainly interested in seizing power. And what would they do with that power? They have told you so: overturning women’s reproductive freedom, voting access, climate action, gun safety, criminal justice reform.
Do this little mind exercise with me: All the progress, all the things we most cherish have happened because of programs and policies put into effect by Democrats. Just look at the transformation, the revitalization of New York’s, and now America’s infrastructure – new bridges, rebuilt airports, revitalized parks and open space, environmental protection, revitalized downtowns, new industries devoted to making the transition of our economy and society to clean, renewable energy and independence from Big Oil and brutal dictators, access to health care, public education, medical technology, advanced manufacturing.
Democrats at all levels of government have identified actual problems facing Americans (those so-called “kitchen table issues”) and devise solutions, instead of bloviating, sloganeering, fear-mongering and pandering – if only Democrats could get them through Republican obstruction.
(Example: Vibhuti N. Jha a former banking executive who is the Republican challenging Gina Sillitti for New York Assembly, called himself a “solution provider,” but when asked after the League of Women Voters forum to give an example of just one solution, he said, “I don’t want to answer.”)
During the forum, Democratic candidate for Congress (NY-3) Robert Zimmerman, tackling the thorny question of health care, declared, ‘[Republican] George [Santos] does a good job of laying out problems. But lay out solutions.” Republicans he noted have constantly assailed (and done what they could to repeal) the Affordable Care Act, and now are hearing from the rightwing their intention to put on a constant lifeline Medicare and Social Security. “We are dealing with a healthcare crisis in country made increasingly worse during pandemic, when 23 million lost coverage because they lost jobs. It is a challenge we have to face from a humanitarian level. I support health care for all – we have to guarantee a baseline level of care for everyone. That won’t put insurance out of business, just like Medicare is a baseline and people buy supplemental insurance as they see fit. We also have to make sure Medicare is protected and enhanced as is Social Security. Santos advocated privatizing which would end it as know it. Republicans are proposing to require renewal every 5 years [some even proposing annual renewal], and are still working to abolish Affordable Care Act with preexisting conditions covered. We have to work on real solutions.”
Indeed, despite Republican obstruction, this has been the most consequential Congress because of Democrats (no thanks to Republicans) since FDR and LBJ (who had larger Democratic majorities than Biden). Even the landmark Environmental Protection Act, signed by Nixon, and the National Interstate Highway Act for which Eisenhower is celebrated, were passed because Democrats controlled Congress.
Let’s review just a few of these landmark achievements in less than two years since Democrats took control: The American Rescue Act which kept millions of families afloat during the worst of the COVID pandemic; Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the biggest investment ($1 trillion) in infrastructure and jobs in history, which has been used to rebuild not only bridges, airports, roads, but expand broadband, make buildings and communities resilient against climate disasters, build the infrastructure for clean, renewable and cheap energy; The Inflation Reduction Act with the biggest investment in climate action, lowering drug costs for Medicare, and requiring the biggest corporations to pay their fair share of taxes; the CHIPS Act, investing in US manufacturing and high tech manufacturing; Made in America mandate contributing to the greatest growth in manufacturing jobs since the the end of World War II.
Under Biden, the budget deficit has been cut a record $1 trillion (Trump saw a $2 trillion increase with his 2017 tax scam), the most job creation in a President’s first two years in history, the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years.
With Democrats in control, we have seen the first gun violence legislation in 30 years, the most progress on climate change and clean renewable energy in history, the first time that equity (environmental justice, economic justice, criminal justice, political justice) is mandated in federal programs, purchasing and spending for the whole-of-government, the most forward-looking investment in America’s infrastructure since Eisenhower, designed to create a sustainable, equitable, stable economy (the most manufacturing jobs created since Reagan’s assault on unions and promotion of off0shoring jobs) and a Made in America mandate.
We see a government that is responsive to needs. When supply chain disruptions, unleashed pent-up demand, and then Putin’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine ignited inflation, Biden released unprecedented amounts of supply from the nation’s oil reserves, promoted more refining, driving down prices by more than $1 a gallon, but Republicans actually blocked Democrats’ from passing legislation to stop Big Oil from price gouging (the companies, big donors to Republican candidates, are making record profits on the backs of working families).
Same with Democrats’ effort to lower costs, and keep money in the pockets of working families, by capping the cost of life-saving insulin (that costs $10 to manufacture) to $35, from as much as $600 – Republicans blocked it, but Democrats were able to get that savings, along with capping out-of-pocket drug costs to $2000 for Medicare recipients.
When Abbott’s baby formula plant was found to be unsafe, the Biden Administration sprang into action, mounting dozens of “formula flights” to import supply.
When Putin launched a genocidal war against Ukraine resulted in gas prices rising, and threatening democratic regimes everywhere, Biden marshaled allies to enable Ukraine to defend itself against the second largest military in the world. One can only imagine that Trump, who owes his occupation of the Oval Office to Putin, would have simply said, “Be my guest, Vladimir”, indeed, Kevin McCarthy said that Republicans would likely cut off aid to Ukraine when he becomes Speaker of the House.
The only reason poverty went down instead of up as a result of the COVID pandemic is because of the American Rescue Act and the child tax credit (which cut child poverty in half) – which no Republican voted for and now attack as being the source of inflationary woes, even though Democrats supported COVID relief under Trump.
Do you really think if Republicans take over New York State government, that we won’t experience what Florida, Texas and Virginia are going through? Banning books. Criminalizing teachers and doctors, cutting access to reproductive care and voting while increasing access to guns.
Let’s see which side has the better response to addressing the pain of inflation. Republicans want to slash jobs and wages, cut Medicare and Social Security, voted AGAINST increasing veterans health benefits and erasing some student debt which they regard as inflationary. Democrats want to reduce out-of-pocket expenses hurting families by cutting costs of prescription drugs, health care, energy, and promote a transition to a stable, sustainable growth economy with good-paying jobs.
Higher prices are transitory. Reproductive rights, though, are permanent and have a life-and-death impact on every person and every family. Lee Zeldin, an anti-abortion extremist who seeks to topple Governor Kathy Hochul, is running ads saying that New York women awoke with the same reproductive rights the morning after Dobbs, but the reason New York protects women’s reproductive freedom is because Democrats have had control of the Governor’s office and Legislature, enabling Cuomo to codify Roe into state law even before the religious extremists on the Supreme Court overturned Roe with the Dobbs decision. And after, Democrats immediately passed three laws that protect access to abortion, making New York a sanctuary for women fleeing states where abortion is banned, and protecting doctors and healthworkers from prosecution.
Gun safety? While Republicans have done everything possible to EXPAND access to guns. Biden and the Democratic-lead Congress passed the first significant gun-safety legislation in 30 years, while New York Democrats, reacting to the radical rightwing SCOTUS6, passed protections to keep guns out of public transit, schools, religious places, went after ghost guns and formed a coalition of states to address the Iron Pipeline – all of which Republicans would dismantle, even challenging the new New York gun law in court.
You cherish the environment? Clean water? Clean air? Democrats see the existential urgency in transitioning to clean, renewable energy, in mitigating against climate change (two words: Superstorm Sandy, hurricane Ian, California wildfires), in creating a sustainable growth economy. All the progress that has been made has become when and because Democrats make policy and control the purse strings, but Republicans bow to Big Oil with the absurd claim that climate action somehow harms the economy – discounting the $100 billion a year spent to recover from climate disasters and priceless loss of lives and livelihoods. Republicans are working to dismantle the regulatory power of the Environmentral Protection Agency, literally ending environmental protection.
We constantly hear that affordable housing is a concern. When have Republicans EVER done anything to promote affordable housing. Their entire focus has always been and will always be reducing property taxes and promoting the interests of real estate developers, which has absolutely nothing to do with addressing the need for affordable housing. Hochul and State Democrats have funded a steady stream of affordable housing projects and legislation that requires a percentage of new housing developments to be affordable.
Health care? Democrats are solely responsible for easing access to health care – the Affordable Care Act at least provided a foundation for universal health care which is blocked at every turn by Republicans. They recognize the need for public health that addresses global pandemics (rather than ostrich-like reactions).
Within months, Biden and the Democrats had an efficient, equitable system of getting COVID vaccines to everyone (a glimpse at what universal health care would and should look like), competently addressing a public health emergency and saving at least one million lives, while keeping the economy the strongest in the world. Trump’s “plan” for COVID was for “herd immunity” – which meant that everyone would get it, with the theory that they would become immune and not spread, but that proved untrue since people can get the new variants multiple times. Now, Biden and the Democrats – including at the state level – are responding to the reality of millions who will suffer, perhaps for the rest of their lives, with long-COVID. (Republicans are blocking funding for COVID vaccinations and protection.)
Democrats see health care as a right, Republicans see it as a privilege, luck of the draw.
Who we vote for has consequences.
Republicans pander and peddle fear; Democrats devise and deliver solutions to improve the lives of the people they serve.
See also: Democrats, President Biden Deserve to Boast over Historic Progress
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