What if the Democrats win?
By Sean Aqui | Related entries in Elections, General Politics, News, Partisan HacksIn what strikes me as a sign of desperation, Republicans have been trying to scare people with the prospect of what the Democrats might do if they take over Congress. Socialized medicine! Tax hikes! Impeachment! The destruction of the country! You just know that a bunch of people are going to go trick-or-treating as Speaker Nancy Pelosi this year, claiming it’s the scariest thing they can think of.
I won’t get into the silliness of such claims, like the National Review claiming Charlie Rangel would eliminate 529 savings plans or abolish the child tax credit — all because he said he couldn’t think of a single Bush tax cut he liked.
Then there’s the little matter of Pelosi specifically ruling out impeachment proceedings.
And I’ll content myself with briefly noting that Democrats have been in charge for much of this century and the country is still standing, still a superpower, still the biggest economy on earth, and best I can recall we haven’t been invaded and conquered during that time.
Set all that aside. Let’s assume the Democrats are in fact Communists in Donkey dress, and if elected they will shed their disguises and put a bust of Lenin in the House chamber.
So what?
Even if the Democrats take both the House and the Senate, they will not command veto-proof majorities. Bush may have to exercise his veto pen for once, but his vetoes will stick unless his own party revolts against him. And the Republican minority will use all the procedural tricks they’ve decried for the past decade — filibusters, Senatorial holds, what have you — to derail Democratic bills they don’t like.
The most significant threat, in fact, doesn’t involve Pelosi at all; it involves Harry Reid. Because if the Democrats manage to take the Senate, they can block a lot of Bush’s judicial appointments. But even that power is limited; they can block, but they can’t nominate. And Bush can make recess appointments, or simply make hay out of all the judicial vacancies the Dems are letting pile up.
So the plain fact is that all the nation risks by letting the Democrats take over is a two-year standoff with the White House. That may actually be a good thing; but in any event I’d rather risk that than let the GOP remain in charge after the hash they’ve made of things in the past six years.
It’s time for a change. Republicans had their chance; let’s see what the Democrats can come up with.
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October 25th, 2006 at 9:39 am
If the Democrats win, the very fabric of time and space will rip apart. At least that’s what the latest RNC ad said.
No, I agree. At the very worst you have some gridlock, and at the very best you have some moderate Republicans, who’ve been cowed by the more hardline leadership, join ranks with more fiscally responsible Dems to bring about increased accountability when it comes to the bottom line. This will also be good for moderate Repubs because they can be seen as the new consensus builders, while Bush languishes as a lame duck and vetoing anything that has a Dem stamp on it.
October 25th, 2006 at 10:23 am
Well, so much for New Democrats - this is good ole’ tax and spend, big goberment, tax-hiking stuff. I look forward to the return of the misery index in the public lexicon of Democratic policy.
October 25th, 2006 at 10:44 am
Yes, and 60% of Americans are looking forward to it as well.
October 25th, 2006 at 11:01 am
I forgot to mention the other advantage — a Congress that actually serves as a check on the power of the executive, as the Founders intended.
October 25th, 2006 at 11:34 am
The judiciary committee is one issue that really pisses me off - for one, why did the Democrats allow a 10/8 Republican majority on that committee? They should have done anything possible to keep it even. That disparity is the reason why the nation’s entire judiciary has been rapidly sinking towards the right.
It is also the reason why Frist is a bald-faced liar for saying “up or down vote” like a broken record - because the 10/8 Republican majority in that committee blocked most of Clinton’s appointees from even getting a chance for a full Senate vote, and was the reason why so many judicial seats were empty when Bush slimed into office - so Republicans have prevented far more up or down votes than Democrats have ever attempted to block.
I look forward to a Congress that actually serves the people it’s supposed to represent rather than the corporations that bought them their positions.
October 25th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Well, there you have it ladies and gentlemen: Justin Gardner’s rational & justification for stupid economic policies that ultimately creates more poor people & suffering.
Absolutely brilliant…
Thank God, they would be more or less held at bay for 2 years. Meanwhile, I’ll try like hell to shelter income from the upcoming Carter-eque tax brackets. I’ll clear out any and all investments at 20%, looking forward, of course, to getting raped on dividend tax. My parents will go ahead and disburse their assets and liquidate their estate now, before they die so they don’t get hit with a Death Tax. Screw starting a business, when the Dems get down, I’ll be chunking over 20% in payroll taxes.
Yippe, good times, can’t wait! - forget about economic growth, ingenuity - maybe I’ll get a job working for the State - a good little bureaucrat that happily takes his paycheck for the man each month. Maybe they’ll give me some cheese and a little duplex for the fam. Go 60%
October 25th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
Find this and more over on DosPeros’ comedy blog about Libretarianism at 2 Peros.
October 25th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Dude - you are so kind. Can we hug? Really…I love you, man, even if I would have to shoot you in the upcoming revolution.
October 25th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
So DosPeros will finally have to pay his fair share of taxes that his accountants have been hiding in various shelters, poor baby, you won’t get another Lexus from Republican tax cuts for the rich again.
October 25th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Don’t the Republicans say this sort of thing about Democrats in every election? Well, other than the impeachment part, but the rest sounds like standard fare since 1992, at least.
Sleipnir, the Democrats didn’t “allow” a 10/8 split on the Judiciary committee, they took the bone that the majority party handed them. When you’re the minority party, you have to “allow” a whole lot of things.
October 25th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
If I recall, the 10/8 split predates Republican control of the Senate, not 100% sure about that though…
October 25th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
It seems almost certain that Democratic control of Congress will mean, with the aid of Jorge Arbusto (George Bush) and the RiNOs (like McCain), that the immigration amnesty/”guest worker” (read: permanent resident) plan will finally pass. I believe this will be the among the most damaging pieces of legislation to this country in its few hundred year history. True, it won’t be entirely the Dems fault, but it certainly won’t be to their credit or our national benefit, either. Its consequences will also be virtually irreversible.
October 25th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
I don’t know how anyone can warn of the disaster of Dems winning some seats in the House and the Senate with a straight face after the last 6 years with the Bush Administration.
Holy horrors, indeed!!!
October 25th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Sleipner — I have a single accountant, not multiple and he drives a Lexus. I drive a Ford Taurus on the weekdays and a Corvette on the weekends and in nice weather. The increased taxes will means Mrs. DosPeros won’t have quite the same disposable budget, which means that many people won’t be getting paid and will lose their jobs. You see, Sleipner, Mrs. DosPeros keeps the spa industry, hair products industry, Chicos, and a bunch of other shit that pays people going. When she loses her money, they lose theirs — I will keep mine. One of the worst things that could happen to this economy is for Mrs. DosPeros to loser her Visa Card and that is exactly what will happen if the Dems win.
October 25th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
they can block, but they can’t nominate. And Bush can make recess appointments
And then all those nominees leave office with him. Sounds like a good deal to me. Too bad we can’t make it retroactive and include Alito and Roberts in the bunch.
October 26th, 2006 at 12:09 am
Yeah, DosPeros…all the poor folks out there feel your trickle-down economics raining onto their heads as your type pisses on them.
It seems like what you’re saying is that rather than tax laws favoring the lower and middle classes, who usually spend ALL of their income and have little to spare, the rich deserve to not pay taxes because they only spend a small fraction of their income and invest the rest…work has no value, wealth is everything?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the rich should pay much higher percentages than everyone else, but I do believe they should pay at least the same, and I think capital investment income should be taxed just like all other income. I also think corporate tax shelters and tax breaks are immoral - if the rich and corporations paid their fair share the tax load would be far less on everyone else - after all, they’re the ones who get the most benefit out of this society, they should pay for their priviliged status.
Though I’m sure it’s almost impossible to get an accurate analysis due to all the financial tricks the rich & corporations use to hide their income, I’d be quite interested in seeing how much tax revenue would be generated by a truly even and fair tax code with all the loopholes and deductions removed, the offshore tax shelters removed, and whatever other tricks you people use to avoid paying taxes cancelled.
October 26th, 2006 at 12:57 am
You forgot what would really happen if the Democrats win…
Gay Black French Criminal Immigrant Socialist Islamic Terrorists on Welfare are going to have their way with your women and children before they charge into the Heartland of America and take all of your material goods!! Oh, and tax you, too.
These are the stakes.
October 26th, 2006 at 9:00 am
Sleipner - The world is obviously coming to an end, because I agree with you — at least I think. It sounds like your advocating for a FLAT TAX, which I am all in favor of. Good luck getting that out the bolshevik-wing of the Dems.
BTW, just for your edification Sleipner, corporate tax receipts are projected through the f-ing roof in 2006, some 300 billion or 13% of total revenues. Be nice to the good corporate citizens and they’ll be nice to you.
(P.S. when I piss on a homeless person at 2:00 am in the morning coming home from a bar, it is done to provide them with some temporary warmth and it is a piss of love. What have you done for your less fortunate brothers/sisters lately?)
October 26th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Incidentally, though I know you’ll denigrate the source of this, read this article (and the link to the Tax Policy Center) if you think the tax cuts in 2003 were fair:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/26/73827/445
To sum up, 88.3% of the total benefits of the Bush capital gains tax cut went to people with incomes of over $100,000 a year, which represents only 12.71% of all taxpayers. To put it in more absolute terms, out of $21.9 billion dollars, $19.4 billion of it went to 18.5 million people out of 145.3 million taxpayers. $16.3 billion of it went to only 4.5 million people, and $12.4 billion of it went to only 877,000 people.
The people making over $1 million a year got a capital gains tax cut of $35,491…which is more than the entire annual income of about HALF the entire taxpaying population.
Though the remainder of the tax cuts were probably not QUITE as heavily weighted towards the rich, I would bet the top quintile got at least as many of the dollars than the bottom four quintiles combined.