Karen Rubin, Columnist
It should come as no surprise that I am endorsing the full slate of Democrats in this critical, upcoming election. It’s not about being tribal, it’s about examining the record, the character, the values and the stated policies of Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, Congressional candidate Robert Zimmerman, state Sen. Anna Kaplan, Assemblymember Gina Sillitti, and the rest of the slate, and feeling confident that they understand the mission of government (to improve the lives of people).
Do this little mind exercise with me: All the progress, all the things we most cherish have happened because of programs and policies put into effect by Democrats. Just look at the transformation, the revitalization of infrastructure – new bridges, rebuilt airports, revitalized parks and open space, environmental protection, revitalized downtowns, new industries devoted to making the transition of our economy and society to clean, renewable energy and independence from Big Oil and brutal dictators; access to health care, public education, parental leave, child care, livable wage.
Democrats at all levels of government have identified actual problems facing Americans (those so-called “kitchen table issues”) and devised solutions, instead of bloviating and fear mongering (Crime! Inflation! Books!). If only they could get them through Republican obstruction.
Indeed, despite Republican obstruction, this has been the most consequential Congress since FDR and LBJ (who also had Democratic majorities). Even Nixon’s landmark Environmental Protection Act and Eisenhower’s National Interstate Highways Act were passed because Democrats controlled Congress.
Let’s review just a few of these landmark achievements: The American Rescue Act, which kept millions of families afloat during the worst of the COVID pandemic; Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the biggest investment ($1 trillion) in infrastructure and jobs in history; The Inflation Reduction Act with the biggest investment in climate action, lowering drug costs for Medicare, and requiring the biggest corporations to pay their fair share of taxes; the CHIPS Act, investing in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing; Made in America mandate contributing to the greatest growth in manufacturing jobs since the end of World War II; and the first significant gun violence legislation in 30 years.
Under Biden, the budget deficit has been cut a record $1 trillion (Trump saw a $2 trillion increase with his 2017 tax scam), the most jobs created in a president’s first two years in history (10 million), the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years.
We see a government that is responsive to needs. When supply chain disruptions, unleashed pent-up demand, and Putin’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine ignited inflation, Biden released unprecedented amounts of supply from the nation’s oil reserves and promoted more refining, but Republicans actually blocked Democrats from passing legislation to stop Big Oil and meat-packers from price gouging (the companies, big donors to Republican candidates, are making record profits on the backs of working families).
Within weeks, of taking control, Biden and the Democrats had an efficient, equitable system of getting COVID vaccines to everyone who wanted it (a glimpse at what universal health care would and should look like), competently addressing a public health emergency and saving at least one million lives, while keeping the economy the strongest in the world. Now, Biden and the Democrats – including at the state level – are responding to the reality of millions who will suffer, perhaps for the rest of their lives, with long COVID. Think of the “pre-existing conditions” issue when you hear Republicans again calling to repeal Obamacare for the 70th time.
Let’s see which side has the better response to addressing the pain of inflation. Republicans want to slash jobs and wages, cut Medicare and Social Security, while voting AGAINST increasing veterans’ health benefits and erasing some student debt which they regard as inflationary. Democrats want to reduce out-of-pocket expenses hurting families by cutting costs of prescription drugs, health care, energy.
Reproductive rights, though, are permanent and have a life-and-death impact on every person and every family. Lee Zelden, an anti-abortion extremist who seeks to topple Hochul as governor, is running ads saying that New York women awakened with the same reproductive rights the morning after Dobbs. But the reason New York protects women’s reproductive freedom is because Democrats have had control, codifying Roe into state law even before the SCOTUS6 religious extremists overturned Roe. Immediately after, Hochul and Democrats passed new laws protecting access to abortion, making New York a sanctuary for women fleeing states where abortion is banned, and protecting doctors and health workers from prosecution for their care.
Gun safety? While Republicans have done everything possible to expand access to guns. Biden and the Democratic-led Congress passed the first significant gun-safety legislation in 30 years. New York Democrats, reacting to the radical rightwing SCOTUS6, passed protections to keep guns out of public transit, schools, religious places, went after ghost guns and formed a coalition of states to cut off the Iron Pipeline – all of which Republicans would dismantle, and are already challenging the new New York gun law in court. (Per capita murder rates are 40 percent higher in states won by Trump than in those won by Joe Biden.)
Crime is increasing everywhere (up 34% in Nassau County under Republican Bruce Blakeman), largely because of gun violence, record numbers of hate crimes and political violence sparked since Trump, but Democrats are trying to do something about it: Biden’s Safer America Plan includes $20 billion for community policing; state Sen. Anna Kaplan is seeking $500 million in grants to law enforcement organizations to upgrade technological infrastructure.
You cherish the environment? Clean water? Clean air? Democrats see the existential urgency in transitioning to clean, renewable energy, in mitigating against climate change (two words: Superstorm Sandy), and creating a sustainable growth economy. All the progress that has been made on climate – instead of shelling out $100 billion a year cleaning up climate disasters – has come when and because Democrats make policy and control the purse strings.
Health care? Democrats are solely responsible for easing access to health care – the Affordable Care Act at least provided a foundation for universal health care which is blocked at every turn by Republicans. Democrats recognize the need for public health that addresses global pandemics (rather than Republicans’ ostrich-like reaction). Democrats see health care as a right; Republicans see it as a privilege, luck of the draw.
These are the “kitchen-table issues” that affect our daily living, our ability to build a better future.
Republicans pander and peddle fear in order to win power; Democrats devise solutions and deliver to improve the lives of the people they serve.
