“I approve this ad.”
This week that was enough to get a grin out of most Democrats. I suspect you know why. With 30 million views in its first 12 hours, the latest Biden-Harris ad must have reached all Idahoans in a week--except maybe a few backpacking in the wilderness.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, aka MTG, was chosen to fire up volunteers attending a Turning Point Action Conference in Florida and get them ready to work America’s grassroots. The organization–whose website says they’re looking to hire 1,000 activists across the country– has endorsed 17 Congressional candidates and one governor, Ron DeSantos of Florida. Previous events include only three DeSantos rallies.
Apparently, this is one of the well-funded anti-Trump organizations that corporations are said to be fielding.
Many of the endorsed candidates were ranked high for opposition to censorship by big tech, drugs, election fraud, and more IRS agents--and for support for states’ rights, school choice, the 2nd amendment, and, strangely, “medical freedom.” (That may just be anti-mask and anti-vaccine, but it sounds pro-choice.)
Those joining TPAction (would that short version attract youth support or derision?) can also join coalitions for Latinos, Blacks, Healthcare Workers, and Educators, among others.
Now MTG is known for supporting conspiracy theories from pizzagate to COVID-19 vaccinations. And she was outspoken about support for Vladimir Putin when he invaded Ukraine.
So I can envision someone at TPAction asking her to skip the conspiracy theories and focus on the issues that Republicans agree on–perhaps expecting something like the “wedge” issues their rankings are based on.
So Greene set out to blast the real issues that separate Democrats and Republicans at all levels. And she did it so well that the Biden-Harris team could make an ad using taped excerpts..
Greene expected Republicans to unite in rejecting investment in “social infrastructure” and environmental programs–which “FDR had started”, “LBJ expanded”, and Biden is out to complete.
Maybe she wasn’t aware that many Republicans who argued against Biden’s bills are now at home claiming credit for the money coming to their states. But she was apparently aware those terms are vague–so she took the time to list area after area where the Biden team has made progress. Education. Medical care. Urban problems. Rural poverty. Transportation. Medicare. Medicaid. Labor unions.
And Greene is right–Republican leaders across the nation have fought progress in every one of these areas.
I’m sorry she didn’t include programs which the Biden administration has promoted so far without real success. Voting rights–no state should be allowed to purge voters from the electorate when it’s too late to reinstate them before an election–and ninety-minute waits are voter suppression.
And corporations should not be able to buy a medical facility or water company, add the cost of repaying themselves to the facility’s debt, triple prices to make the payments–and then buy competing facilities in the area and up prices there also so customers have no choice.
Republicans love to argue that Biden’s spending is hurting the economy, but the opposite is true. Our inflation rate is now lower than that of European allies that aren’t seeing the new jobs and rising wages we are. In two years of the Biden administration, manufacturing investment has grown at twice the rate of Trump’s four years–and created 800,000 new manufacturing jobs.
Biden has also succeeded in wringing some excessive prices out of the pharmaceutical industry and is working to lessen U.S. dependence on foreign manufacturing and shipping.
Listen to Greene’s words and understand what it means to stand with Republicans on the real issues.