One of the things Democrats will have to improve
on, to win the 2024 elections, is their messaging. Even though many statistics
are favorable, there remains a general impression of economic and social
disaster everywhere we turn. A lot of that is because Conservative messaging is
so pervasive, overwhelming, and ultimately effective. As we’ve learned over the
last decade, the more a lie is repeated, the more it’s taken as fact.
Here’s an example of the kind of under-the-radar messaging that we see and seem to accept, even though if you scratch the surface at all, it falls apart.
My beef with this cartoon is that the big red arrows are
a mirage, all of which would certainly be worse if Republicans were fully in
charge. Let’s look:
US Debt: The
deficit has come steadily down under President Biden. And it could come down a
lot more if there was even a smattering of Republican support for repealing TFG’s
tax cut for the rich, which not coincidentally, was the biggest contributor to
the deficit in the first place.
Republicans love to rail about the deficit when they’re
not in charge, using the opportunity to cut programs that don’t benefit them or
their wealthy benefactors, but only make up a minute portion of the debt. Then
as soon as they’re back in control it’s like, “What deficit? Let’s cut taxes!” Each time, they claim the tax cuts
will pay for themselves via economic boom, but it never, ever, happens. The big
companies don’t use the money to hire more or pay more, they just pocket it or
use it for stock buybacks, which greatly benefit the stockholders (which
usually includes their own board members with the most stock in hand.) Republicans
do not care about US debt other than as a way to chisel out more Federal money
for themselves.
Inflation: The
US has the lowest post-COVID inflation rates among similarly developed
countries. It came in hard with COVID but has been lowering ever since. The
reason people are not feeling it at the store is because of corporate price
gouging, not inflation. If inflation was truly the reason for high consumer
prices, the big suppliers and retailers wouldn’t be posting record profits.
They are keeping prices artificially high and blaming it on inflation or “supply
chain” issues, that they know people don’t fully understand.
Putting it plainly, suppliers are setting prices far
higher than it would take to account for any hikes in supply prices. They do
that because they want to. And if you’re prone to conspiracy thinking, you could
say that they’re keeping their prices high because they know that President
Biden is taking the heat for it. Big business generally supports Republicans,
who they know are eager to keep regulations low and enable all efforts to
maximize profits, regardless of any possible harm to US citizens and the
environment.
Crime: This is
always the big Go-To for law and order Republicans… big city crime! New York!
Chicago! All cesspools of rape, robbery, and murder. Except when you look at
the real statistics that show much higher crime rates in the Red States. More gun
deaths, more homicides, more poverty, all courtesy of Republican leadership and
policies.
The siren call about crime is really just racism. They
want to appear “Tough on Crime” so they appoint police chiefs who will install
policies like “Stop and Frisk,” which means police are urged to question and
detain basically anyone they want, to see if there’s something for which they
can arrest them. Basically, it’s a blank check to go out and pick up all the
black and brown men, bring them to jail, and store them there until the DA
eventually lets them back out.
Republicans: always tough on crime, unless it’s white-collar crime. Then, it’s just the cost of doing business. What’s a few hundred
thousand between fellow MBAs? But everyone else is guilty until proven
innocent.
Homeless: I
don’t really know of any recent stats or reporting on homelessness, although we
all know that home ownership is becoming increasingly hard to obtain, and rent is skyrocketing. But I’ll ask you this: What have Republicans ever proposed
to address homelessness?
I’ll tell you, nothing. Their best idea to combat
homelessness is to put more people in jail. (See item above.) Republicans want
the homeless not to be seen in places Republicans go. They’ll move them around
or shut down encampments, but a real solution? The next one will be the first
one.
Border Crisis:
I’ll agree that the border is a mess. There needs to be a coherent national policy
on immigration. The snag is that the Republican philosophy on immigration is
for there not to be any immigration (from the South. Members of the Swedish
Bikini Team, as well as Eastern European mail-order brides, are always welcome.)
So it’s no wonder they reject anything Democrats put on the table to bring
order to the chaos. Plus, it’s a winner of a campaign issue with their MAGA
base.
So they make up a bunch of shit about terrorists pouring
over the border, which no one can corroborate, or that they’re smuggling Fentanyl
into the country, while most of the supply is coming from US citizens making
round trips. But like with abortion, they'd rather use it to campaign than solve it, because it’s an effective way to terrorize Middle America into
voting for the party that promises to keep the invading brown people from overwhelming
their towns, drugging their kids, and raping their women.
So yes, once you realize that these scary red arrows are just big Red Herrings, the Dems should definitely address why Biden’s support is so scarce. Our Constitution literally depends on it.
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