"I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States," Ryan said as he introduced the president to the gathered lawmakers. Ryan, Vice President Mike Pence, and other GOP leaders stood and applauded over and over as Trump lied about crime, terrorism, or immigration.
Weren't they supposed to be the decent ones?
But the Republicans in Congress have tamed Trump, too. Tuesday's speech largely toed the Republican party line.
Take infrastructure. On the campaign trail, Trump promised major government investment. On Tuesday, he promised a financial boon for corporations and bankers.
He promised no American would go without healthcare. But the ideas Trump floated on Tuesday could have been written by the insurance executives he hosted on Monday -- and probably were. There, too, Trump's political independence has been replaced by Republican orthodoxy. There, too, Trump's political independence has been replaced by Republican orthodoxy. He used stale GOP rhetoric when he promised "access" to insurance without mentioning affordability. Americans get no benefit from "access" to coverage they can't afford.
He has promised not to cut Social Security or Medicare, as Congressional Republicans are determined to do. But he pointedly refused to repeat that promise on Tuesday night.
Republicans applauded lustily for most of Trump's speech. But the applause seemed to grow tepid on both sides of the aisle when Trump mentioned having killed the TPP trade agreement. The TPP, like NAFTA and other such pacts, was a bad deal for American workers. Nevertheless, a "bipartisan" consensus of Washington insiders -- a group that is heavily funded by corporate contributions -- has supported those agreements for decades.
Small DreamsBut it is Trump's optimism in the speech, not the specifics, that many people will remember. And with Trump's approval rating at historic lows, he has no place to go but up.
That's why it's so frustrating to see so many Democrats continue to flounder in the face of a political phenomenon they don't seem to understand. Americans in the Republican base feel hopeless, so they vote for politicians like Trump. Americans in the Democratic base feel hopeless, too, so many of them don't vote at all.
Trump offered a bold-sounding vision of trillion-dollar spending and major policy reform. But the policy portion of former Kentucky governor Steve Beshear's Democratic response began with Beshear boasting that he had been "fiscally responsible" balanced our budget and turned deficits into surpluses without raising taxes."
Too many Democrats remain obsessed with irrelevant political processes and outdated fiscal notions, even as their nemesis weaves a vision of a better life for millions. These self-appointed arbiters of expectation behave as if idealism itself was irresponsible. They seem to pride themselves on the smallness of their dreams.
Beshear led off by explaining that while he is a Democrat, he is also "a proud Republican and Democrat and mostly American." That may have just been a gaffe, but it reflects a long-standing Democratic reluctance to associate themselves with their own party.
For what it's worth, Beshear improved considerably after that.
Restarting the EngineIf Trump scored points with his proposal for a "deregulation task force," was he also scoring a subliminal association with his "deportation force"? That's partly because Democrats have failed to make the case for government's vital role in keeping Americans safe and secure.
If his childcare plan sounded generous when it's actually a giveaway to the rich, that's partly because Dems haven't agreed on one of their own.
And if his underhanded corporate giveaway on infrastructure raised some people's hopes, that's partly because so many Democrats haven't dared to think big for a long time.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
