Democratic Socialists of America are hijacking Democratic Party
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Americans have every right to be frustrated. We need to be angry. But anyone who believes in embracing the Democratic Socialists of America, a movement that started in 1973 by Michael Harrington, probably also believes in the Wizard of Oz.
They are glib but they are truly delusional. Yet, they seem to have hijacked the Democratic Party and its principles. Or are they what the Tea Party and MAGA have been for the Republican Party? All of these factions, regrettably, have been major contributors to a polarized America. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” President Abraham Lincoln once said. May God help America.
For starters, the problem in our government is not with liberals, progressives, conservatives, or MAGA. It is a lack of accountability due to political gridlock.
Americans have been lied to as elected officials face zero consequences. The villain – who is not the left or right, establishment or anti-establishment – is simply the lack of compromise. So going further to the left or the right only makes the prospects of compromise all the more difficult.
No worries, however. The DSA folks want to get rid of the filibuster – a procedure that promotes bipartisanship by requiring 60-votes in order to stop debate and vote on legislation in the Senate. They also want to totally abolish that chamber. Yes, that would require a constitutional amendment as would many of their other “wild and bizarre” ideas. Good luck with that.
The hate for the opposition must stop. Can anyone think of the last time President Donald Trump genuinely talked to Democrats or sought their input or help?
To get the results the American people deserve we must punish elected officials in Washington for not doing their job. We must hit their personal pocketbooks with a fine equal to 15% to 20% of their adjusted gross income for not doing the basics of their job: producing a budget (ideally a balanced one) and paying our bills both on time under Regular Order. These tasks have not been achieved this entire century.
In 1994, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich devised the “Contract with America” which promised to do 10 things in 100 days. If not, GOP members of Congress would pay a price. That idea worked well. Today, politicians should promise to get certain measures done or else be subject to fines. If their failures are chronic and repeated, then they should be forced to resign. We do some form of this and we will get real results for the American people.
Talk is cheap. Not being able to end the gridlock should be expensive – not for America but for members of Congress, as well as the president and vice president. Members of Congress, do your job!
As for the DSA’s popularity as of late, well, who does not like free stuff? The problem is that very few things worthwhile in life are “free.”
The DSA platform includes eventually eliminating the police and prisons, in addition to getting rid of the Senate. Their idealistic approach to many of our nation’s ills entails making things free – free college, childcare, healthcare, and student loan forgiveness.
But how do you pay for all that? Heck, we have deficit spending today. Even if we drastically cut our military spending we also would not be able to pay our bills. So taxing the rich enough to pay for all of the DSA’s crazy ideas cannot be proven to work without making people pay substantially more in taxes than their net income. The DSA would impose a wealth tax that would hit all of your assets including money saved, financial securities, personal trusts, pension plans, assets in insurance, and property owned.
Today there are four nations that have a “wealth tax.” Emulating Spain, Norway, Columbia, and Switzerland should make every American apprehensive. At one time 12 nations tried a wealth tax but eventually grew wise in abolishing the practice. Do we want to copy failure?
About this time in 2022 it looked like the GOP was about to ride a political “red wave,” overtaking many Democratic seats in Congress. Former President Joe Biden’s polling numbers were abysmal. We had a porous U.S.-Mexico border with thousands of illegals rushing across into America daily. Both Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris (the administration’s “Border Czar”) said they could not do anything to stop the invasion. And all while Biden’s mental acuity was declining right before our eyes.
How could the GOP have failed to take control of the Senate and ascertain only modest gains in the House? The red wave never happened.
Today we have the inverse. President Donald Trump’s approval rating is around 34%. His approval even among Republicans has fallen to a “C” grade – 78% in the latest polls. Independents despise him. As the famous black author James Baldwin once wrote, “I cannot believe what you say… because I see what you do.” A phrase that is apropos of Trump sadly. “America First”? I don’t think so.
So Trump’s approval numbers are in the toilet while the GOP-controlled Congress would give impotence a new meaning. Can the GOP avoid a “blue wave” in the upcoming midterm elections? This wave might not happen. And this could happen not because of what the Republicans have accomplished, but because the Democrats went too far to the left.
In 2022 the GOP’s effort to impose a national abortion ban caused women of all political persuasions to have second thoughts about the GOP – despite the failures of Biden and the Democrats. The result was a shocking number of GOP defeats.
There was a GOP senator who felt a national ban on abortions was what the nation really needed. He went too far to the right. This was in direct conflict with the Supreme Court decision rendered that same year to make abortion a states’ rights issue.
And today, well, the Democrats are doing exactly what the Republicans did in 2022, in “their” own way. They are going too far to the political left. The promotion of DSA candidates could wreck the Democrats’ chances of riding a blue wave in November.
History has a way of repeating itself. We will have to wait and see if the DSA candidates of 2026 will be the albatross around the Democrats’ neck – in the same way that the GOP’s embrace of a national abortion ban was their pitfall in 2022.
Our problem is our lack of working together, creating win-win situations, compromising and having accountability for failures. Forget the left, right, conservative, progressive, MAGA or liberals. We must wake up and realize that we are all Americans and in this together.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Gary Franks served three terms as a congressman from Connecticut’s 5th District. He was the first Black conservative elected to Congress and first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years. Host: Podcast “We Speak Frankly” www.garyfranksphilanthropy.org