In an op-ed printed Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) identified the sharp contrasts between Republicans’ financial insurance policies and progressive Democrats’ ambitions, laying out quite a lot of insurance policies which have in style assist among the many public however which can be opposed by the GOP.
Writing in The Hill, Sanders acknowledged that the Democratic Social gathering is “removed from good,” whereas urging voters to contemplate Republicans’ stances on key financial points like Social Safety and Medicare — two crucial anti-poverty programs that members of the occasion have plausibly threatened to chop if the GOP takes the Home within the midterm election.
“Too many Democratic members of Congress have been unwilling to face as much as the massive cash pursuits that dominate Washington and struggle for working households,” Sanders wrote. On the identical time, he stated, “right here is the easy actuality: the Republicans in Congress are far worse on the subject of addressing the wants of the working class.”
He then listed quite a lot of insurance policies that Republicans almost uniformly oppose, like reducing the costs of all kinds of prescribed drugs; elevating the minimal wage; implementing common well being care; reducing little one poverty by way of the expanded little one tax credit score; increasing staff’ unionization rights; and shutting loopholes that permit companies and the rich to keep away from paying federal earnings taxes.
The GOP additionally opposes taking up company greed by way of a company windfall tax, which Sanders proposed in a invoice earlier this yr amid hovering worldwide inflation that has been coupled with hovering company income.
“Not a single Republican in Washington agrees” with these insurance policies, he wrote a number of occasions.
In actual fact, many Republicans assist insurance policies that solely worsen these issues. Reasonably than closing tax loopholes for the rich, as an illustration, they’ve slashed tax charges for firms and the 1 p.c. And, as an alternative of supporting the union motion and boosting staff’ wages and rights within the office, because the progressive motion has achieved, Republicans have vowed to go after the labor motion and prime labor regulators in the event that they take the Home.
Sanders has spent this month emphasizing that the Democratic Social gathering needs to be focusing extra on financial points in the event that they wish to win over voters and hold management of Congress this yr. In interviews, op-eds and on social media, the senator has stated that Democrats should tout their financial platform — and have the “guts” to comply with by way of and lead on daring measures taking up company energy.
Certainly, as Sanders has identified, multiple polls have shown that voters belief Republicans greater than Democrats on financial points. That is seemingly the results of years of misleading messaging from the occasion branding themselves as deficit hawks (however solely when Democrats are in energy) or blaming Democrats for points like gasoline costs which can be typically out of their management.
On the identical time, the economic system and inflation are prime of thoughts for voters this election. Polls have found that inflation constantly ranks as a prime concern for voters casting a midterm poll, suggesting that Sanders is correct in his speculation that specializing in the economic system can be a successful technique for the Democratic Social gathering.
