Serious Question: What would the GOP do if it held all three branches of government? (interview, illegal)
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The Republican Party is deceased. We now have something else that impersonates the GOP. The most recent experience with what passes for a Republican Congress is that they have no idea of how to govern. They are so used to being obstructionist that they lost any governance skill and any notion of compromise. Since the days of Reagan, they have settled on a tendency to promote celebrity candidates for higher offices and will continue that practice. These candidates have little or no experience in government and only a passing 8th grade familiarity with the constitution. They rely on advice from others or personal whim or prejudice for decisions. Their attempts to appoint “only the best” means friends or sycophants. Budgetary and revenue actions will be to continue with their borrow and spend policy with tax reduction and protection for the wealthy. Running up the deficit serves to undercut social programs, which is exactly what they want to reduce or eliminate. Court appointments will be based on various predispositions to religious or culture war positions. There is a certain “get it while you can” apocalyptic mindset within the “party” based on demographic and immigration patterns.
I don’t think the country is sustainable under those conditions for more than a short term.
It sounds to me like you already know what the Republicans are going to do:
Finish the Mexican Border Wall to stop illegal aliens from entering the United States from Mexico.
People are coming for asylum in full view, knocking at the door. Not sneaking in.
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Crack down heavily on crime in America's cities and return those cities to law-abiding citizens.
Put the criminals back in prison where they belong.
Strengthen the police.
With what money? Most every police force is facing serious shortage of officers and struggling to recruit. They need a raise.
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Strengthen the United States military.
It is already 10x stronger than the nearest competitor China. The next nearest competitor is Russia and they can't even beat little Ukraine. What are you afraid of exactly?
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Reduce inflation.
HOW???
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Increase domestic oil production.
The energy sector is also in worker shortage. And by the way we are producing more oil than at any time except late 2019, early 2020.
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Get the economy and stock market back on track.
The stock market is up over 100% over 7 years ago. What's wrong with it exactly? That it's given up a small portion of record breaking gains?
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Stop killing babies in the 3rd trimester of a woman's pregnancy.
People have a short memory. The GOP did hold the White House, Senate, and House from January 2017 thru January 2019. Yet they barely got the Border Wall funded and construction had barely started when it was abruptly halted in January 2021. The tax cut they passed in 2017 was never repealed when the Democrats took over.
Here's what I hope the GOP would do:
1. Finish the Border Wall. This is low-hanging fruit.
2. Deport illegals who have criminal records.
3. Create an atmosphere where the police are no longer under attack.
4. Bring back jobs from overseas, particularly China (even my incumbent Democrat Congressman in PA-8 is saying this).
5. Build back American industry -- in addition to just bringing back jobs, we need to rebuild whole industries.
6. End the war in Ukraine.
7. Rebuild relationships with dictators around the world who are bent on starting wars.
8. Resume energy independence.
Here's what I hope they will not do:
1. Pack the court.
2. End the filibuster.
3. Prosecute political enemies.
4. Curtail freedom of speech.
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I was born in 1960 and throughout most of my life the Left was in ascendency and the Establishment-Right was clinging to power. Now the Left is the Establishment, and they are acting like the Right did, clinging to power. I don't think it's safe to safe yet that the Right is in ascendancy, but they seem to have the revolutionary fervor that the Left had in the 1960's.
People have a short memory. The GOP did hold the White House, Senate, and House from January 2017 thru January 2019. Yet they barely got the Border Wall funded and construction had barely started when it was abruptly halted in January 2021. The tax cut they passed in 2017 was never repealed when the Democrats took over.
Here's what I hope the GOP would do:
1. Finish the Border Wall. This is low-hanging fruit.
2. Deport illegals who have criminal records.
3. Create an atmosphere where the police are no longer under attack.
4. Bring back jobs from overseas, particularly China (even my incumbent Democrat Congressman in PA-8 is saying this).
5. Build back American industry -- in addition to just bringing back jobs, we need to rebuild whole industries.
6. End the war in Ukraine.
7. Rebuild relationships with dictators around the world who are bent on starting wars.
8. Resume energy independence.
Here's what I hope they will not do:
1. Pack the court.
2. End the filibuster.
3. Prosecute political enemies.
4. Curtail freedom of speech.
===
I was born in 1960 and throughout most of my life the Left was in ascendency and the Establishment-Right was clinging to power. Now the Left is the Establishment, and they are acting like the Right did, clinging to power. I don't think it's safe to safe yet that the Right is in ascendancy, but they seem to have the revolutionary fervor that the Left had in the 1960's.
I just want to point out that items # 4, 5 and 8 of your first list are key objectives of the Biden administration, not only in the speeches and so on but in legislation being passed by Democrats right now. Real action is being taken on those.
I am not in favor of "building relationships with dictators" if it means becoming more like them, embracing and validating their ideologies, or giving them whatever they want so that they don't throw violent tantrums. And if coupled with disengagement from our traditional allies and other democracies in the world, it really does come off as taking a side. I am not afraid of Russia. Nor am I afraid of China, because they like our money and they don't want to burn the trade bridges with us. I have...opinions...about the whole thing of the right and their alignment with some of these countries, but I won't get into that. I'm trying to behave myself regarding the tone of this thread.
The number one, top worry I have by far with regard to what Republicans might do if they had enough power to do it, is that our democracy that at least INVOLVES consent of the governed, will be destroyed. As a poster upthread said, they are tired of letting the people have a voice. Dictators the world over are desperate to make the point that "democracy is too messy and doesn't work." But our country was FOUNDED on it. Built on it. We welcomed people of a million colors and backgrounds to come here and start and build lives, based on the premise that all citizens can have a voice and a vote. Can assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances! But dude is like, "hit em with a fire hose, yeah."
The second you go down that road, that "yes, we need one strong man and everyone else can shut up"... You have said that one kind of person, one way of life, one set of beliefs and attributes, is the definition of "real America" and no one else deserves or should have the same rights, privileges and protections. And I'm not talking about handouts, I'm talking about the right to work for your own life, to the same protection of your property and freedom. The same right to a vote and a voice, once you've earned your citizenship and can give it to your children.
I don't want to live in an America where an agenda of supremacy for any one man or kind of person is ruling us all with an iron fist, where different voices and values and ideologies just can't be tolerated and must be shut down, with force. I don't think that most of us want that. I frankly wonder why anybody who DOES want that, is even still here, that's how un-American I believe it to be.
So sure, as I've laid out in other posts, I have a laundry list of concerns based on my own positions on the issues and all. But it's the difference between maybe having to live with things not being great for a while with the hope of eventual improvement... versus if we lose our democracy, the character of the nation as it was founded will be transformed, possibly for generations.
We had armed goons show up at ballot drop boxes here in Maricopa county, AZ to intimidate voters over the weekend. So you'll pardon me if I see the present tactics of the right (and more specifically the feverish lunacy of the alt-right) as a real threat to our democratic principles.
A recent law in Georgia has made it so that anyone can issue a "challenge" to any other voter's registration. If you are challenged thusly, you may only cast an in person provisional ballot and will have to show up in person to prove your identity. It is of course completely possible to obtain lists of those who are registered as affiliated with the Democratic Party, and simply spam repeated challenges against all of them.
Well...simple solution, right? Just show up and prove your identity and residence? Well, for some, yes, though poll workers have had some confusion and it's been a bit messy, but for one group in particular it is IMPOSSIBLE to do... Military members stationed not only overseas but in other states, but who must vote in their state of residence although not physically present there.
And of course Kemp has assembled a volunteer team of "vigilante" challengers to disenfranchise registered Democrats and prevent them from voting.
Oh, you'll say they must be illegals or dead people or something. But they're not. They are citizens. Legal and eligible. Many serving in our Armed Forces but now not allowed to vote.
I don't know if I'd want any political party to control all of the government and power... even if it was one that hypothetically shared all of my own views and priorities. Go live in China if you want that nightmare scenario. Actually gridlock is probably the best function of a western liberal democracy... I know it's trendy to complain about the stuff you'd like to see not getting done, but maybe stuff not getting done in general, is the entire reason we're mostly left alone and relatively free in the first place. Extreme anything gets tossed out on both sides, and the central moderates crunch together tiny incremental changes. It provides for great stability, if not flashiness.
Anyway, what would happen in that hypothetical all-GOP scenario, would hugely depend on the details. Depends on if we're talking about northeastern sensible Mitt Romney/Chris Christie types in the various key leadership positions, or Marjorie Greene nutcases and extremists controlling everything, or what. Both in terms of the white house and congress and everything else adjacent. Also it would depend on what level of majority we're talking... as a lot of things require 60 votes in the senate and etc. Also a point to look at would be if the president won the popular vote in this scenario (and thus had some semblance of actual mandate), or as usual snuck in via the anti-democratic electoral college and its inherent Republican advantage, since obviously no Republican has won a popular vote since Bush Sr 1988, except for the lone one Bush Jr's incumbent re-election in 2004.
As a liberal who definitely doesn't want that scenario, it would be easy for me to point to the possibility of a nationwide restriction on abortion, but since the majority of the populace is pro-choice (estimated at least around 55%), I feel like there would be a mass civil revolt, if they actually tried to push something like that in any serious way. As the Republicans are the all-talk party of general weakness, meaningless self-contradictory nonsense (the city's taxes are too high! strengthen the police! etc.), I doubt they would have the organizational strength to do very much at all, and then 4 years later the Dems would come back fired up, (assuming they still allow people to vote, and there's a fair and democratic election with the result respected). As was pointed out earlier in the thread, for the 2016 cycle, the country's right base rallied around the campaign of anti-immigrant bigotry, they got their guy elected, and nothing much came of that. The absurd wall project failed and was thankfully not completed.
As for the border wall, tunnels are a thing, btw. Ladders are a thing. Cutting through the wall is a thing. If people want to come into the country, they will do so. The way to completely eliminate illegal immigration, is to completely legalize immigration. Hand anyone who's peaceful a work visa, and only toss them out if they commit a crime. I don't care what they look like or what language they speak. The US does not have an official language. We can commonly speak multiple languages... that's not a problem. It's obviously all about racist hate and irrational nonsense. We are all individuals.
IMO, jertheber and sonic pretty much said it all for me. But there is more, so here goes.
Total control of 3 branches of government by the GOP will mean these things:
- No abortions, ever, for any reason.
- No birth control.
- No same sex marriage.
- No medical or regular marijuana.
- Taxpayer funded religious schools.
- End of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, etc. (Social Darwinism, You're On Your Own - the YOYO World).
- No taxes on corporations or the mythical job creators.
- No EPA, pollution runs rampant for the fossil fuel and chemical industries.
- They'll find ways to keep women and people of color from voting.
- Unions will be outlawed.
- Public schools must teach religion or be de-funded.
Trust me, I've seen this coming for years, it can happen if we don't vote in overwhelming numbers to stop it.
^^^ All of the above and they would also continue working towards a police state. They already protect abhorrent police behavior. They would probably pull cameras from police vehicles and would weaponize the police against law-abiding citizens who are in opposition to the GOP. The freedom of speech they are so precious about would be suppressed just like Putin does to Russia.
They would also ensure special treatment and safety for wealthy and/or donor zip codes while using low income areas as dumping grounds for anything dangerous.
And of course they would continue to appoint completely corrupted officials to the Justice Dept such as William Barr to protect them from any/every felony, like they've done for Trump.
Truth or lies, fact or fiction, right or wrong would all be replaced by us vs them. They would be like the most powerful mafia ever seen.
I'm not posting this in the P&OC forum because I don't want name-calling, snark, or comparison with Biden and the Democrats, but some serious answers. If the GOP recaptures Congress AND the presidency in 2024, what would they actually do? I'm curious because the GOP has no recent plarty platform, just what DJT said he wanted in 2022:
I'm pretty sure that in Trump's first 2 years, republicans controlled the senate and the house.
Go ahead and ask them why they didn't get anything done
The scenario Mike laid out in his post seems to be different than the one I had interpreted of the question. That seems like an extreme hypothetical, of a whole different general populace entirely, or a scenario which would lead to those specific extreme results. Especially when you consider states' rights, and how much of the Republican politicians at least give lip service to the idea that they are for states' rights, as in the rights of states to disagree on major policies and have their own laws and such.
As I currently reside in the very liberal state of Washington, where the local politics here would seemingly never lead to "no birth control/no abortion/no same sex marriage/no marijuana/no taxes on corporations", etc., it would be a truly strange dystopia world if the west coast outlawed those things which seem core and central to west coast values across the board.
I think we can probably look at some Republican controlled states and see a hint of what it would be like. Not a pretty sight. My former state is a GOP basket case. Scandal after scandal. Voter/citizen rights are ignored. Citizen passed election referendums are negated by the GOP run legislature with the complicity of the GOP governor. Of course reproductive rights are almost non-existant. Racial tension is rampant. The GOP fosters and fuels the urban-rural divide at every opportunity. The courts are silent.
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