One of the more prevailing narratives over the past several years by the mainstream media is how the Democratic Party is always in disarray. To hear some of them, you’d think Democrats can never agree on anything.
A recent article by Jeff Stein in The Washington Post drives home the idea by pointing out that there are differences in opinion between Senator Bernie Sanders in the Senate and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on how Democrats should move forward on health care.
Sanders has been a vocal advocate of Medicare for all, a government-run health care system where every citizen in the country is covered from birth to death. Pelosi is advocating for an expanded version of The Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Pelosi would like to make the ACA subsidy enhancements included in the American Rescue Act permanent. Sanders, for his part, would like to lower the Medicare eligibility age requirement to either age 55 or 60, something President Biden has signaled he’d be open to that could potentially add up to 23 million people to the popular program.
Okay. Yes, there’s a disagreement between House and Senate leaders. The progressive wing of the party, led by Sanders, would love to see an expansion of Medicare. The more centrist wing, in this case, backed by Pelosi, wants to expand the ACA. Wow. Damn it, Democrats, why can’t you get your shit together?
Meanwhile, over at the increasingly insane other side of the aisle, Republican politicians headed down to Florida over the weekend to pay homage to the Former Guy. Remember him? The one who incited an insurrection and tried to overthrow an election he lost fair and square? Yeah, that guy.
It’s as if January 6, 2021, never happened. It’s been wiped from the plates of the radical right, never to be consumed again. It’s time to move on—nothing to see here. Oh, and please make sure you keep cutting those nice checks to the disgraced former 45th president. After all, with pending litigation on the horizon, he’s going to need all the financial help he can get.
The poor sap. Let’s all fight the tears together.
Supposedly the Former Guy did not disappoint with his remarks to the sycophants and crazies in attendance this past weekend. He called Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a son-of-a-bitch, and ridiculed his former VP Mike Pence for not doing more to assure he was re-installed as President of the United States. I’m assuming he didn’t mention the folks who wanted to hang the man or reference the gallows erected outside the Capitol. It must have slipped his mind.
Here’s the deal, folks. While one political party continues to implode, embraces white supremacy, and showers the former insurrectionist-in-chief with love, the other party is trying to move the country forward with legislation like the American Rescue Act and future proposals dealing with infrastructure, immigration, and other far-reaching and meaningful action to help the American people.
And every last one of those proposals will be dead on arrival, at least as far as the insane party goes. They’ve got no interest in such things. What they do have interest in is keeping people from voting, talking about Dr. Seuss, and passing bills that pick on transgender folks.
But yeah, sure, let’s keep putting it out there that the Democrats are the ones that can’t get it together. Look, are there issues with some in the party, like Senator Joe Manchin, for one, who may not see eye to eye with everything Biden is proposing? Of course. And debate within the party is acceptable as long as it doesn’t impede progress to the point where the party can’t get anything of consequence done.
Even when you look at the differing opinions from those in Democratic leadership, some of it stems from how they will pay for things. The Stein article refers to Democrats floating the possibility of requiring pharmaceutical companies to lower their prescription drug costs or face stiff penalties.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the savings from such a deal could save the government about $450 billion over the next decade, which could allow an expansion of Medicare’s dental, vision, and hearing care. Again, we’re arguing about doing things to help folks who need it most. These are complex policy issues, and Democrats are trying to put forth ideas to solve them.
The insane party, on the other hand, sits ominously silent. One of their supposed budding stars, Representative Matt Gaetz, awaits a possible indictment for allegedly engaging in sex with an underage girl and sex trafficking. I seem to remember Senator Al Franken banished from the Democratic Party for a joke picture of him fake-grabbing a women’s breast.
The media demanded answers; the party said adios to Franken. Gaetz, meanwhile, calls it all a witch hunt by the radical left – just like his hero, the Former Guy, trained him to do. Maybe an actual indictment might force Republican House leadership to kick Gaetz to the curb. Well, they said it would, but I sure as hell wouldn’t hold my breath. Guys like Gaetz are revered in the insane party. That’s how far they’ve fallen.
In the future, never forget which party is trying to end the pandemic, build back a shattered economy, and address the increasingly complex income inequality that continues to plague our society. We must continue to ignore the media when they try to equate democratic policy differences with the disintegration of a political party that used to call itself “The Party of Lincoln.”
There is no comparison anymore. The Republican Party’s fall from grace continues. When you think they can’t go lower, they find a way. I realize the “no drama Obama” years is now “the no drama Biden” administration, and it drives many in the media crazy. The leaks they’d get from the Former Guy’s clan have dried up in the new White House. But they’ll keep trying to find something that sticks. It’s their job, I suppose.
In the meantime, I’m going to keep watching the insane party continue to drift down the river of madness, with no end in sight. Let’s hope the media finds that story a bit more important than whether Champ the dog pooped in the White House. Sadly, I doubt it.
On The Fence Voters 
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