Do you think if Democrats controlled the Presidency and Congress and had discovered that the main Republican fundraising tool flouted the law as ActBlue has since 2008 that they wouldn’t have indicted all employees of that tool? If you don’t think that the January 6 over-prosecution of non-violent trespassers is proof enough that they would, you are delusional. Add in the zealous pursuit of Donald Trump since 2016—two impeachments, the fraudulent Robert Mueller investigation, the Hunter Biden laptop hoax, Letitia James and Jack Smith prosecutions, and more—as well as the efforts to take down Jeffrey Clark and John Eastman (among other Team Trump folks) and the proof of the Left’s relentlessness is irrefutable.
If the Left has taught us anything over the last decade, it is that they don’t squander power when they hold it. We on the Right might abhor what they do, but we have to admire their tenacity to leverage power to the fullest. Republicans in the U.S. Senate led by John “Mr. Feckless” Thune can’t even bring a vote on the SAVE Act to the floor despite passage in the U.S. House and pleas by Trump to get it done to minimize voter fraud.
Again, we on the Right can deplore what the Left wants to do once they secure the presidency and Congress and eliminate the filibuster, but at least they tell us upfront what their plans are:
Pack the U.S. Supreme Court to ensure they get the decisions they want;
Add heavily Democrat states to secure more Electoral Votes and U.S. Senators;
Abolish the U.S. Senate;
Replace the Electoral College with a national popular vote;
Open the borders to any and all illegal immigrants;
Allow non-citizens to vote;
Amnesty for all illegal immigrants currently here;
Mandate soft-on-crime policies for criminals;
Eliminate U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
Make Medicare for everyone;
Push their Green New Deal climate change agenda to cripple America’s carbon energy producers; and
Raise taxes massively on anyone making $250,000 or worth $1,000,000 or more.
That agenda is radical and will accelerate the breakup of the United States when Red states decline to be permanently ruled by a federal government controlled by the fringe socialist Left.
Never fear, however, Jim Jordan has it under control, as he is going to hold more hearings and issue more press releases until the Democrats likely take control in January 2027. The fact that Jordan et al. can never connect the dots between losing power and getting nothing done is jaw-dropping to me. In the decade since Trump was first elected, other than Kevin Clinesmith getting a wrist-slap, not one person on the Left who engaged in any of the Trump hoaxes, the over-prosecution of non-violent 1/6ers, Biden Administration scandals, contempt of Congress, and ActBlue fundraising felonies has paid so much as a penny in price for their actions. If that isn’t fecklessness, I don’t know what is.
In Ohio, the increasingly desperate Vivek Ramaswamy-Rob McColley campaign can only manage to me-too Amy Acton on policy ideas. Whether you like the state gas tax suspension idea or not, there is no argument that it started with Acton. Ramaswamy then me-tooed Acton’s idea over six hours later. Ramaswamy’s slam on Acton is she didn’t get the Ohio General Assembly to call a special legislative session to suspend the gas tax, as if the supermajority Republican Ohio General Assembly would have heeded her call. Oh, and let’s not forget, despite Ramaswamy’s effort to play shadow governor, the actual governor Mike DeWine isn’t involved in this gimmick and has previously nixed suspending the gas tax.
Other statewide Establishment Republicans such as Frank LaRose and Keith Faber joined the fray in support of the gas tax suspension. Ohio Chamber of Commerce President Steve Stivers reversed his position on suspending the gas tax. Where have these guys been on so many other vital issues crushing Ohioans and their businesses re using special sessions for emergency measures? These men (Ramaswamy wasn’t engaged in politics or even in Ohio at the time) sat on their hands and did nothing to stop John Kasich’s unilateral expansion of Medicaid in 2013, with Speaker Bill Batchelder’s last minute, smoky filled backroom switch of Controlling Board members. I fought that fight alone.
It would be nice if these men showed a modicum of courage by criticizing Trump for his Iran debacle that is the actual cause of the gas price spike that is crushing Americans. Robbing Peter (i.e., taking state funds from elsewhere) to pay Paul (voters) less than forty-five days before an election isn’t courageous. It’s desperate, irresponsible, and counterproductive. Heck, if they want to fund a gas tax suspension, take the funds from JobsOhio. God knows they don’t use the funds effectively. And, if suspending the gas tax is such a great idea, why not suspend the sales tax, too? And the state income tax? How about using the special session to pass right-to-work as an emergency measure as I’ve previously laid out in June 2017 given Ohio’s systemically moribund jobs economy? That long-term problem is far more damaging to Ohioan’s pocketbooks than temporarily higher gas prices, as the lack of competition for workers keeps wages and benefits suppressed no matter how low gas prices are. If wages don’t go up, Ohioans will never catch up and surpass the Biden Era inflation let alone the low-but-still-higher-than-wage-increases Trump inflation rates.
Let me make two more salient points. First, why invite such complications involved with suspending the state gas tax, with moving multiple pieces around the chessboard for a temporary tax cut when a far better alternative is staring Ramaswamy et al. in the face? Don’t me-too Acton. Do her one better by passing a state income tax cut dropping the rate to 2.25% backdated to January 1, 2026, that also raises the trigger amount of earnings to $104,200, with those Ohioans whose earnings haven’t reached the current $26,050 threshold receiving rebate checks of $500. Taking this approach is consistent with Ramaswamy’s adoption of my plan to eliminate the state income tax and would have a far more positive economic impact than suspending the state gas tax for ninety days. Get stated on eliminating the state income tax NOW!!!!
Secondly, the fact that Ramaswamy and Ohio General Assembly leaders have totally humiliated DeWine by excluding him entirely from the process must be embarrassing for DeWine during his swan song phase. It shows he is simply irrelevant. I’m not aware of anything like this happening anywhere in America ever. It takes the term “lame duck” to a whole new level. The fact that the only people who can make DeWine relevant again are Democrats who are needed in the Ohio House to push the vote beyond DeWine’s involvement is enormously ironic. Will the Democrats save DeWine from being totally emasculated?
As the folks at Plunderbund noted, once you bring a bill to the floor, Democrats can add amendments that force Republicans to vote on those amendments. It will be interesting to watch what amendments they offer to force Republicans to cast ugly votes that will immediately get injected into the elections just as Ohioans start voting early. It is quite possible Ramaswamy’s special legislative session move backfires on him and other Republicans just when polling numbers are showing a growing Democrat wave. For what its worth, Acton’s Polymarket lead is the largest its been (60%-40%) as of one minute ago, so the bettors aren’t being swayed by the state gas tax suspension scheme. We will see if voters are moved.
P.S. Will the Left ever stop being so ridiculous about Trump? For David Ignatius and the Washington Post, “autocrat” is doing some serious heavy lifting…
