Even though “Democrat Achievements of 2009” would fall into the category of titles of the world’s shortest books, such a book would not be entirely empty. In fact, Democrats can legitimately claim that in the last year, they have accomplished something that the GOP has repeatedly failed to do for at least two decades. The Democrats have managed thoroughly to discredit liberal political philosophy and governance. This is no small achievement.
In the years after Reagan, Republican politicians warned against liberals; run against liberals; chastised, ridiculed and accused liberals in order to gain political advantage. Liberals even changed their name–to “progressives”–to avoid the feared liberal label. But the charges began to ring hollow as big-government Republicans raised taxes, increased spending, expanded entitlements, and argued for lenient immigration policies. Were liberal politics only bad when practiced by Democrats, and tolerable when enacted by Republicans? Evidently not, because the GOP lost control of Congress in the past decade when they offered no clear alternative to liberal Democrats. In 2008, they lost the White House, too.
Suddenly, the Democrats had a commanding majority in the House, a supermajority in the Senate, and one of their own in the White House. They enjoyed an adoringly uncritical media and a wave of electoral bliss seldom equaled. In effect, they had a brand new credit card with almost unlimited political capital. How did they spend it?
President Obama began by assembling a cabinet and administration full of tax cheats, liars, strong-arm political operatives and communists
President Obama began by assembling a cabinet and administration full of tax cheats, liars, strong-arm political operatives and communists–many of whom were amateurs at national politics, but almost all of whom had more experience than their boss. Democrats funded bail-outs and stimulus bills that were full of earmarks, political pay-backs and liberal pet projects that doubled the already swelling debt. As terrorists attacks again struck American soil–in Little Rock, Fort Hood, and on a Detroit-bound plane--Obama fought to empty Guantanamo and give terrorists the Constitutional rights of American citizens. Obama’s team nationalized private industry, abandoned long-time allies, bowed in supplication before our enemies, and embarked on passing massively expensive and unintelligible health care reform that would multiply our debt yet again.
As details and cost analysis of all these plans filtered down to the American people, the Democrat agenda became less and less popular. So, as it happens, did Democrats. The approval ratings of Congress continued to slide downward from even the low marks legislators earned during the Bush administration. But even more surprising, the historic, unprecedented, hope-and-changeling in the White House also saw his numbers fall. And the more he tried to sell the liberal package of multi-trillion dollar big government programs, the further he dropped.
None of this could have happened if the Democrats did not have the power to enact their agenda over the protests of conservatives and common sense. Democrats believe that the answer to bloated government is more government. The answer to ballooning debt is more spending. The answer to high taxes is even higher taxes. The answer to international threats is to apologize for our past, betray our allies, and promise to look the other way when rogue nations go on the warpath.
Any conservative who tried to warn us that this would be the result of Democrat control of two branches of government would have been dismissed as an extremist. Eighteen months ago, the idea of the United States in economic, diplomatic, and moral decline would have been unthinkable. Today, it’s an undeniable trend.
The Democrats have proved that, given no checks and balances, they are determined to bring this nation to its knees and saddle us with enough debt to keep us there. They have given the American people a year’s preview of a future under Democratic governance, and a majority of us want no part of it. Suddenly, the iron grip Democrats had on Congress is slipping away, with each new announcement of retiring legislators or party-switching representatives. Barack Obama is no longer a messenger of hope and change, but a huckster peddling an increasingly unpopular line of hokum. Conservative principles are defining the debate, only a year after so many pundits pronounced conservatism dead.
Moreover, the media that waved its pom-poms for Barack Obama is no longer cheering from the press box. It began with a few respectful questions that were ignored, avoided, or ridiculed by the party in power. But now, as the media senses weakness, they will become more aggressive, more insistent, more adversarial. Reporters read the polls, too, and no news outlet wants to be behind the trend. As they see Obama, Reid and Pelosi faltering, the press will turn on them, hound them, savage them, and participate in their downfall. Because if an outcome seems inevitable, the media likes us to believe that we heard it from them first.
So let us give thanks to the Democrats who governed in 2009. These true believers have done to the liberal religion what no heretic could manage. They have exposed their impotent idols and false prophets for all the world to see, and have quickened their own demise.
