NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Have Americans got such short memories that they’ve forgotten the damage done by Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats just two-plus years ago? Do they really want to go down the path of open borders, high crime and suffocating cancel culture all over again?
That’s what’s in store if Republicans stay home on Election Day. Democrats are campaigning on mythical “affordability” measures, but mainly they talk about opposing Donald Trump. Why? Because their policies are unpopular or unworkable and they know it.
If they recover the majority in Congress, Democrats will spend time reversing the gains Trump has made on securing the border, growing our domestic energy output and suppressing the injurious DEI programs that Biden introduced.
HOUSE DEMS PLOT TRUMP INVESTIGATION BLITZ IF THEY SEIZE MAJORITY
Moreover, they will immediately start “investigating” President Trump. They’ll hire Hollywood producers to film their outrage, just as they did after the January 6 riots. As in 2021, if the GOP retains control of the senate, impeachment efforts will be stymied, but Democrats won’t care.
The only mystery is which Republican in The Sequel will play Liz Cheney, the anti-Trumper who sanctimoniously betrayed her party in trying to impeach the president.
DEMOCRATS SAY THEY’LL MAKE LIFE AFFORDABLE. YOUR WALLET MAY DISAGREE
Democrats will waste time and money attacking Donald Trump because hating the president is literally the only thing gluing the party together. Voters will wait in vain for their newly-minted representatives to “fix” affordability, their principal campaign promise, because the far Left and more moderate Democrats cannot possibly agree on how to proceed.
Medicare for all? Good luck getting that perennial fantasy by union-loving Democrats. Members of the UAW or the AFL-CIO know how great their healthcare benefits are and will fight tooth and nail any attempt to take them away. An organizing memo from last year puts it best: “UAW members like those at General Motors’ Spring Hill Manufacturing plant pay no premiums for the family plan, have no deductible, and have limited co-pays with a maximum of $25 .” You think Uncle Sam is going to do better?
Make housing more affordable? The New Democrat Coalition, a centrist group of legislators, wants to: “Cut red tape and update permitting and zoning to build four million homes in the next decade”, sounding a lot like Trump, who has prioritized permitting reform for years. They also back “innovative construction technologies to accelerate home production”.
The first proposal will run smack into the environmentalists who have pushed housing costs through the roof in Democrat-run states like California and New York. According to a study by Realtor.com, there are only 11 states in which, using the 30% housing-cost threshold, a median-income household can afford the median-priced home. All but two voted for Trump in 2024. The most affordable housing in the country is in Iowa; the least affordable is in New York.
The second idea, which is smart, will alienate union voters who hate any innovation that might eliminate jobs (see longshoreman settlement 2025.)
Another big expense on the ballot in November is energy costs, which Democrats have promised to bring down. Returning to the New Democrat coalition, accelerated permitting is again on the menu to facilitate building “energy transmission and generation infrastructure.” Also touted is ensuring energy is “abundant and available” through “establishing a level playing field for all forms of energy”. That’s code for eliminating what the Left considers unnecessary tax breaks for oil and gas companies and ramping up taxpayer-funded subsidies for renewables like wind and solar. Democrats also promise to protect consumers from price hikes driven by data centers, an issue which should be solved at the local level and not by Washington bureaucrats.
The Coalition fails to prioritize exploiting America’s enormous reserves of fossil fuels which over time will guarantee affordable energy. Joe Biden did his best to squash climbing oil and gas production, by canceling or delaying lease sales, drilling permits and the XL Pipeline, raising fees on production and taking promising acreage off the table. The anti-oil war waged by the Biden White House, beholden to the green lobby, was a costly hit to U.S. national security and our economy. Blocking new production, like in Alaska, will inevitably lead to higher oil prices. We cannot let that happen.
Yes, we need faster permitting of the build-out of the electric grid, and, yes, we should embrace an “all of the above” energy program. That is not what the Left will allow.
Progressives like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani aim to make life more affordable by having the government provide “free” housing, childcare and other services. He and his young followers do not understand that greater government involvement all but guarantees inefficiency and higher costs. Look at higher education. Billions of taxpayer dollars have funded kids wanting to go to college; tuition costs have soared way above the rate of inflation, and the value of the diploma has cratered.
Also, of course, nothing is free. The Left wants to tax the rich and businesses, but corporations will pass the higher levies along via price increases, and higher-income Americans will decamp to lower-tax locales, as is happening in New York.
Meanwhile, government spending on entitlements and benefits has driven our national debt to $40 trillion, pushing interest rates and mortgage costs higher. Under President Joe Biden, spending exploded to levels commensurate with World War II; it remains at unsustainable levels. The Trump White House has put some limits on Medicaid and other expensive programs — limits Democrats will surely race to eliminate — and is trying to root out hundreds of billions in fraudulent payments. Much more needs to be done, but Democrats have zero appetite for cutting spending.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION
Instead, Democrats will offer up programs that will inflate our national debt even more. Consider the price tag for Medicare-for-all, estimated to cost a staggering $25 to $35 trillion over the next ten years. And that’s just one item on their to-do list.
Voters should not be fooled: Democrats will not lower prices. They cannot.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM LIZ PEEK
