Democrats are in policy hibernation: Stuart Varney
The left has had a wonderful summer. They largely avoided negative publicity. They feasted on the president's troubles. They run much of the media and easily shifted attention away from their own failures.
That’s unfortunate because the left should be under close scrutiny. What do the Democrats have to offer, if Republican ideas are so bad?
The answer is not much.
How about a Democrat growth plan? They are offering ‘a better deal,’ but it’s vague and frankly ‘same old same old’ - beat up billionaires and big companies - it’s really just a focus-group approved slogan.
How about wage growth? Their idea is a legislated $15 an hour. That’s not working. Entry level jobs are drying up as technology and automation take over. That’s a failed policy.
Health care? Medicare for all is the Democrat answer to fix the ObamaCare mess they created. That doesn't lower medical costs! And how do you pay for it?
Which brings us to ‘tax the rich’. Bear in mind, they will not tax the wealth of their wealthy supporters, just the income of the striver class! That doesn't grow the economy.
Don't forget energy policy – the Democrats cling to their contempt for oil and gas. They hate fracking, which has helped cut the cost of heating homes and made America the dominant energy power!
Growth, healthcare, taxation, energy - surely these are the issues that affect most of us, most of the time.
But, those are not the issues that the media puts in front of us. They are not the issues the Democrats want to talk about. Of course not. If you don't have any new ideas and your old policies are revealed as failures, you change the subject.
Well try this: the summer is coming to an end, and it’s time to bring the Democrats out of their policy hibernation. Let’s discuss how to grow the economy. Let’s really talk about getting health care costs down, and wages up.
I doubt it’s going to happen. Look at the Washington Post today: Trump is irresponsible for ‘glancing’ at the sun without protective glasses. An op/ed questions the sanity of the president. And another article is scornful towards the Treasury Secretary's wife because she posts the fashion brands she wears on social media.
Much easier to do that than bring up the absolute poverty of serious thinking within the Democrat Party.