It was not long ago that Republicans were in the same position the Democrats now find themselves entangled in. But it was inevitable, you could say, that a divided Republican party that became united under a president most of them didn’t even like but decided to eventually support. That fringe far right group the media said was so much a part of the equation for Trump and many Republicans is now less so influential as the ebbs and flows of politics goes one way and the other as it always does. Republicans, and even President Trump, are finding their ways back toward the center as all politicians eventually do once the groupie fanfare goes away and the reality of hard work and sacrifice sinks in. Now it is the Democrats turn to in-fight as the Republicans did just months, even weeks, ago. Two new big political developments have become important for consumers to know about:
Republicans Agree on Taxes
It’s true. For now, at least. The Republicans have been working on a bill to cut taxes for individuals and corporations. The House tax plan proposed overhaul is the next big project on the Republicans’ agenda after they failed to repeal Obamacare. It was supposed to benefit the middle class. Politico pointed out that it didn’t take very long for interest groups including the conservative Americans for Prosperity to make opposition heard loud and clear, particularly for a tax on imports for companies that ship jobs overseas. As a so-called Power Post asserts, it might not take long for the proposed tax overhaul to become unpopular with individual American workers as well. The Washington Post recorded Democrat Chuck Schumer’s thoughts:
“The more people find out about it, the less they’ll like,” he added. “This bill is like a dead fish. The more it’s in sunlight, the more it stinks, and that’s what’s going to happen.”
Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and others said the bill is akin to a Ponzi scheme perpetrated upon the American people. Indeed, the New York Times and Washington Post both reported that the tax overhaul will mostly be more benefits for the wealthy and corporations. In other words, more of the same. This certainly wouldn’t jive with the President’s agenda, especially when voters learn that many of the changes would actually raise taxes on approximately 13 million tax filers whose earnings are less than $100,000. The Times based that data on preliminary calculations from economic modeling software, but if held true would represent millions of angry Americans. Republicans meanwhile argue that they are shooting for a four percent growth mark for the economy. Where they come to this figure is not clear.
Democrats Divide Further
There was a lot that led up to this point: Clinton lost to Trump. Emails were hacked and Russians were fingered. It was revealed that Clinton, DNC Chair Debbie Wassermann Schulz and other members of the DNC tried to sabotage the Sanders campaign. Wassermann Schulz was fired and Tom Perez took her place, angering many in the grassroots left Bernie tribe who favored Minneapolis resident and Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison. It was recently revealed that the whole nomination process may have essentially been rigged for Clinton. As Politico put it, “Opposites agree: Trump, Warren say Democratic primary was ‘rigged'”.
Sanders would have won the election if the Democrats picked the right candidate in the first place, but as many are now finding out, the political machine of the Clintons and others in that established circle have created a cancer within the party. That party will work to cleanse itself with reform and a working-it-out process similar to the process going on with the Republican party now.
Hilary Clinton has much been the focus of much of what is wrong with the party and Democrats are losing their respect fast by standing anywhere near her. One thing is becoming clear to them: where there is smoke there is fire and there is a whole lot of smoke coming from the direction of the pant suit lady.
Both parties are unwittingly converging towards the center as public opinion and other forces pressure them into doing so by the very nature of the system itself. There is a definite push to create a more liberal Democrat party that also concerns itself with the needs of workers and the poor or disenfranchised. They cannot afford to lose those voters because without them, there is no Democrat party.
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