The showdown that exposed the rift between Republican

New Post Public Reply Private Reply Replies (0) Message Board

Mar 27, 2017 at 11:46 AM 117

Quote:

The showdown that exposed the rift between Republican ideology and reality

Heather Richardson

Saturday 25 March 2017 20.15 EDT Last modified on Sunday 26 March 2017 19.01 EDT

On Friday, not with a final stand but with an ignominious retreat, the modern Republican party died. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan had to pull the Republicans’ repeal of America’s Affordable Care Act before members of his own party killed it.

That legislative defeat was the moment Republican ideology engaged in its first real battle with reality, and reality won. The Republican party can never again be the same.

Since 1980, Republican leadership has embraced the draconian goal of dismantling the New Deal state. When Democrats under Franklin D Roosevelt put in place policies to regulate business and finance, protect workers, and provide a basic social safety net in the hope of preventing another Great Depression, a reactionary rump of pro-business Republicans howled.

Government efforts to maintain a level economic playing field among Americans amounted to socialism, they said, because regulations and the taxes necessary to fund welfare policies infringed on individual liberty by redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor.

This argument was initially limited to a small group of naysayers but, by 1980, this was the ideology that drove the Republican party. In 1980, newly elected President Ronald Reagan warned that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem”, and the party devoted itself to tax cuts, planning to starve the government to death.

But the stark ideology of the Republicans calling for a return to the pro-business government of the 1920s never reflected political reality.

The policies Republicans loathed were actually quite popular. So, to garner support for their attack on an activist government, they turned to a mythological narrative that drew on America’s long history of racism and sexism.

They won voters not by convincing them of the merits of returning to a world in which businessmen ran the country, but rather by insisting that taxes redistributed wealth from hardworking white people to lazy minorities and feminists who wanted abortions on demand.

Their narrative was simple. Hardworking white Christian men were under attack by a behemoth government, designed by Democrats, that sucked them dry with high taxes funneled to poor minorities and grasping women, who, in turn, supported Democrats for the government goodies they provided.

This narrative of the individual under attack by an empire – the same storyline that drove the 1977 hit film Star Wars – worked. Voters rallied to Reagan’s attacks on an apocryphal Welfare Queen, a black woman who had become rich by collecting welfare cheques under 80 different names, and thrilled to his promise to protect regular Americans from the taxes that supported such parasites.

But while white men ever since have embraced the heroic idea that they were independent individuals under attack by a government that catered to minorities, the reality has always been that Americans actually believe that the government has a key role to play in business regulation and social welfare.

Republicans have been able to paper over the vast gulf between their ideology and reality, so long as they could blame Democrats for their inability to put their ideology into law.

They could rail about lower taxes and liberty, and then, when Democrats saved the policies that voters liked, could blame the socialistic Democrats for Republicans’ own failure to enact their ideological vision.

This tactic was at the heart of their rage against Obamacare, the symbol of their oppression since it passed seven years ago. Republicans in the House of Representatives voted more than 50 times to repeal the law, knowing they could count on Obama’s veto to protect them from voters who would, in reality, be furious at the loss of their healthcare.

But the installation of the Trump administration in Washington marked the moment of reckoning, when Republicans had to face the gulf between their rhetoric and reality.

Suddenly in control of both Congress and the White House, Republicans had to stop carping and start delivering. President Trump vowed to begin by overturning Obamacare on day one, promising that the process would be “easy”.

It was not. The initial draft of the bill reflected Republican ideological principles by giving the wealthiest Americans an $880bn tax cut.

Even still, its retention of government regulations on healthcare were too much for purists. Members of the far-right Freedom Caucus insisted that the government must not interfere in healthcare, defending the principle that the law must be repealed entirely to resurrect American liberty.

Other members of Congress, swamped by popular outcry against repeal, had to bow to reality: Americans actually like the law.

The showdown over Obamacare finally brought into the open the fundamental rift between Republican ideology and reality. Speaker Ryan and President Trump tried to skirt that gulf by forcing the bill through in an astonishing 17 days.

When that failed, Trump tried to bluster it out with the old Republican narrative, blaming Democrats, who are in the minority, for this epic failure.

Neither worked. Since 1980, the Republican party has won power by hiding its unpopular ideology under a winning narrative, and reality has finally intruded.

Heather Richardson is professor of history at Boston College

Newer

Older

Scroll down for more posts ▼

Top 10 Most Recent News Articles

Nature-Based Solutions: The Economic And Community Impact

Harnessing Nature to Boost Economies You ever stop to think about how nature itself might just be the best investment? Well, the Walton Family Foundation surely does, betting big on nature-based solutions. Their latest initiative, 'Human Nature,' is shedding light on how these solutions aren't just saving ecosystems — they're fortifying economies and enriching...

Tenera Care's Tech Triumph: Halving Falls with Simplicity

Every once in a while, a piece of tech comes along that makes you sit up and say, ‘Now that’s a game-changer!’ And with the recent rave reviews, Tenera Care seems to hit just that sweet spot for folks in the senior living game. By handing Dublin Glenn Memory Care the gold in the KISS category at the 2026 McKnight's Technology Awards, it’s clear the industry is...

Molex's VersaBeam Mini Pushes AI Data Center Limits

Game-Changer for AI Data Centers? Across the tech landscape, space is a premium, and Molex's new VersaBeam Mini arrives like a hail Mary in the fourth quarter. In AI data centers, squeezing down every single component counts—especially when optical density's in play. What we're seeing here is a potential paradigm shift. A 3x density improvement from a tiny 3.5 x 9 mm...

NACD Honors Top Board Leaders with 2026 Awards

Celebrating Boardroom Mavericks at NACD Gala September 2026 has brought some sparkling recognition to the elites guiding today's corporate governance landscapes. The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) has announced their Directorship 100 honorees, tipping their hats to stellar individuals firing on all cylinders in the boardroom. Who's Getting the Nod?...

Lawsuit Targets Electrical Consultants' Labor Practices

Trouble Brews at Electrical Consultants, Inc. Right on the heels of a long workday, some employees of Electrical Consultants, Inc. seem to be getting a double whammy. The company is tangled up in a class action lawsuit lodged by the well-known Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP. This ain't your everyday grievance, folks; we're talking meal and rest period...

Navigating AI's New Era: Dresner's 2026 Findings

Big Insights in the AI World of 2026 Well folks, if there's one thing making waves in the boardrooms this year, it's AI. Dresner Advisory Services just threw down a gauntlet for companies with their fresh batch of reports focused on the dizzying world of AI. They ripped right into it, exploring how firms can bag a heap of benefits and deal with the hurdles that come with...

Castillo Engineering Gears Up with New VP Appointments

New Leadership to Drive Expansion In a boost to its commitment to scaling up, Castillo Engineering, based in Maitland, Florida, has roped in two veterans from the renewables sector as vice presidents. Aaron Carrillo and Devin Radovich, who share a history of successful collaboration at Renewable Energy Systems Americas (RES), are set to guide Castillo's growth in the...

Lititz Mutual Embraces AI with Guidewire ProNavigator

It's not every day you see a company like Lititz Mutual making moves in the artificial intelligence (AI) arena. Based out of Lititz, Pennsylvania, this insurance firm has decided to shake things up with Guidewire's ProNavigator AI assistant. Forging New Paths in Insurance Lititz Mutual is set to inject some serious tech into their operations. The goal? Make life easier...

Spencer Peterman Hosts Eco-Friendly Wood Bowl Sale

Just when you think you've seen it all in the world of craftsmanship, along comes a dynamo like Spencer Peterman. For over 25 years, he's been turning what others discard into treasures. Fallen trees? Most folks see firewood. Spencer sees a future masterpiece. And now, he’s rolling out the welcome mat for his loyal customers with a special sale that runs until December...

Lavior and CR Fitness Team for Wellness Reach

Botanical Care Meets Gym Life in the Southeast Lavior, the botanical whiz kids of wound and skin care out of Miami, are shaking hands with CR Fitness, Crunch's big-time franchise operator carrying the flag across the Southeast. They’ve ironed out a deal that’ll park Lavior’s products in more than 60 gyms covering Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas. It’s a...