The Power Struggle Begins

The Iowa caucuses mark the beginning of one of the largest power struggles that happen in the United States. Iowa voters will gather and begin the process of selecting which political party will lead this country for the next four years. What will be left out of the process for most people is a real understanding of what our two main political parties actually stand for. While many people say there is no difference between the parties, this viewpoint is nowhere near reality. In order to understand this power struggle, let’s stand back and look at what each party stands for.

First, is the Democrat Party. Their central platform reflects a viewpoint that the public is not capable of solving problems on their own and it’s only the government that can provide a pathway to the success. How to translate this into a person’s daily life? Well just look at how many regulations Democrats are currently putting into place such as mandating only EV cars be allowed. Or new regulations mandating items like dishwashers, furnaces, ceiling fans and a whole host of other everyday items be reworked to new specifications that raise the costs to consumers. Not once have the Democrats taken their proposals and put them up to a vote by the American public. Yet, this is the same party that gets on TV and makes statements about how they are the protectors of our democracy! Seems they are afraid of allowing the public a chance to express their feeling about their policy changes.

Also, the Democrat Party is the party of handouts. They profess the idea that they stand up for the little guy and the middle class. Currently, they are pushing for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15.00 an hour. On the surface, this sounds okay. Reality, the free market has already taken care of this issue. Very few jobs pay the federal minimum wage. Even today, many businesses are struggling to attract workers for jobs paying twice the federal minimum wage. So why not mandate a higher minimum wage? Well if that is done, then $15.00 an hour becomes the new $7.25 minimum wage. And because it will be the least amount that can be paid, every worker who currently are earning more than $15.00 per hour will feel the need to see their wages increased, thereby causing a rise in inflation. As has been seen with the huge inflation increases of the last few years, both the lowest paid workers and the middle class are the ones who end up suffering the most because of the inflationary prices increases. Oh yes, wages went up, but for the majority of workers, their wage increases haven’t stopped them from struggling just to maintain the lifestyle they had before inflation.

Now, onto the Republican Party. Their party’s platform advocates for small government, less regulations and lower taxes. On the surface, most might think this is a great platform. But it is hard to sell. Democrats quickly hammer the idea of smaller government saying that smaller government opens the door to exploitation. That could happen if the cuts made to shrink the government are done across the board, instead of targeting specific areas for the cuts. Simple example, if the proposals being made by the Democrats for changes in our cars and appliances are so great, why do they have to be mandated? Won’t the marketplace work it out because of the benefits these regulations should bring to the public? Seems Democrats don’t trust the public or the marketplace. And in one aspect they have a valid concern. As mentioned above about cutting regulations targeting specific areas, the Republican Party has a very outspoken extreme conservative base. Those very conservative members could advocate for across the board regulation cuts without thinking through the results this action could produce. And, going on national TV in order to say that the Republican Party wants to let you keep more of what you earn is not as appealing as proposing free government handouts.

The one area where the difference between the Parties is very apparent is in the question of immigration. Democrats believe in an open border policy. Today, our southern border is being over whelmed by millions of people crossing into this country. The blue Democrat states have sanctuary cities that made speeches about how much they support the illegals entering this country. Well now that has all changed when the Republican governors of the southern states, that have bore the brunt of this flood of people, started bussing the illegals to those cities. Republicans believe in immigration. But they want an orderly process that begins with securing the border with a wall that allows the Border Patrol to manage the crossings. Democrats instead want to change the process whereby people obtain citizenship and continue to allow this flood of people to continue. This issue of illegal immigrants entering this country might be the deciding factor as to who get the reins of power.

Feel free to leave your comments on this subject in the comment area below. You are not required to fill out any personal information if you choose not to.