Quelle horreur—Barack Obama is wrong about something Donald Trump did!
At a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris this week, the former president criticized Trump for signing the pandemic-era stimulus checks that went out to Americans.
The thing is: Trump was right to sign those checks, and Obama and President Joe Biden were wrong.
What Democrats see as “feeding his ego” is actually savvy marketing so that people know 1) the government is looking out for them, and 2) who in government is looking out for them.
There is an absolute disconnect between what the government does for people, and how people perceive that. Remember the infamous tea party protester with the “Goverment keep your hands of my Medicare” sign?
People have no clue what the government does, how it works, or how it serves them … even when they’re getting checks from the government.
I have literally seen social media posts from low-information people (including people of color) arguing that Trump sent them money, so why didn’t Biden? And of course, the Biden administration did send out COVID relief checks, but had the Treasury secretary sign them because of some high-minded idealism that really is a disservice to American voters.
We also see this in the way Republicans vote against legislation and shamelessly take credit for any resulting spending in their districts.
The latest is South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, who is crowing about a major infrastructure project she voted against.
“We helped secure $195 million,” Mace brags, when she literally voted against the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. She didn’t “help” secure it—she tried to sabotage and eliminate it. But government spending is popular! So she’s working hard to claim credit for something she opposed. And voters have no idea what to believe, so they go along with it.
You know those signs around road construction zones that say “Your tax dollars at work”?
What if those signs listed the names of the politicians made the project happen for local constituents? So in the case of this major interchange project in Mace’s district, the sign would list PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN—and no one else.
A similar project in Boston might have Biden’s name, along with Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Stephen Lynch—the state and local Democrats who voted in favor of the bill.
First, it would incentivize elected officials to vote for projects that are popular in their districts and kneecap any performative efforts to cut government spending. And second, it would inform voters about the individuals who actually helped make that project possible. You like that new bridge in town? Thank the people who voted to make it happen, not the grifters and parasites who take credit for something they did everything to sabotage.
So let’s stop pretending that taking credit for the good work our government does is somehow unseemly and shameful. There is no virtue in shunning credit for a president’s accomplishments, or a Congress’ achievements. The better we brand our government, the better it’ll be for Democrats (who are the party of government), and the better it’ll be for good government policy.
