The Republicans have passed their tax bill, designed from top to bottom to shift money from the bottom 99.9% to the top .1%, with those of us in the top 20% being robbed the least, while those in the bottom are being robbed the most. It is class warfare on an unprecedented scale, and given past Republican attacks in the class war, that’s saying a lot.
Despite the best efforts of the Fox propagandists, and the sometimes ludicrous both siderism of the mainstream press (Dean Baker points out here that the Washington Post claims that the bill had working class roots), the bill, if the pollsters are to be believed, is the most unpopular piece of major legislation in the history of polling.
This presents a challenge to Democrats: How, in the face of Donald Trump’s unpopularity and the unpopularity of this, the Republicans only major legislative accomplishment, are they going to manage to blow it in 2018? I, for one, think they’re up to the challenge.
But lets, for the moment, assume that the Democrats wanted to take maximum advantage of these gifts? How would they do it, with respect to this tax deform bill?
As I pointed out above, the bill amounts to class warfare. Normally there are two sides in a war, and I would strongly suggest that the Democrats throw in their lot with the folks the Republicans are attacking. That means accepting the fact that this is class war and being unabashedly on the side that’s being attacked.
We have a funny tradition in this country. The Republicans stage an attack in this war and when the Democrats feebly protest, it is the Democrats who are accused of being class warriors while the Republicans get a pass. They get it because the Democrats meekly back down. Despite the fact that it is Republicans who are the aggressors in this war, it is the Democrats that consistently take the blame for the war itself.
Once again, what’s needed is a consistent Democratic message. My modest proposal here is that part of that message consist of commercials contrasting the effects of this tax bill on ordinary Americans with the benefits conferred on specifically identified Americans, such as the Koch Brothers and various members of the Trump Crime Syndicate, including Trump. A variant: there are rich people out there who are perfectly willing to say that they don’t need or want this gift. Find them, and put them on such a commercial, contrasting the benefits they are getting that they don’t need, with the human costs being inflicted on the rest of us, particularly on people living on the margins. Add in, by the way, some clips of people like Marco Rubio admitting that the tax bill represents the opening wedge in the achievement of the Republican Holy Grail: the final destruction of Medicare and Social Security. It really shouldn’t be difficult to put together some truly effective spots driving these messages home, and, unlike the Republicans, we wouldn’t even have to lie.
Of course the Democrats will be attacked once again for engaging in class warfare. And here I have a stunning suggestion: ignore the attacks and keep fighting. It is class warfare. They’ve got the money but we’ve got the numbers (apologies to Jim Morrison and the Doors for that one). We can win if our side gets out and votes; but that’s not going to happen if the Democrats assume their typical defensive crouch.
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