Backtalk R
PETER MORICI / GUEST COLUMNIST
Republicans Must Off er Midterm Course Correction
epublicans have reasons to be optimistic about taking back the House in 2022. President Joe Biden could have walked away from President Donald Trump’s peace deal in
Afghanistan — it required the Taliban to negotiate a cease- fi re with the former Afghan government. Biden ignored warnings that the Afghan regime could
quickly collapse from his defense secretary, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , and Middle East military commander and chose to hastily withdraw U.S. and NATO forces. As the fi asco unfolded, the president stated the original
U.S. mission was to get Osama bin Laden — something accomplished in 2011 — and not nation building. The truth is we had stayed in Afghanistan to establish a
forward guard against terrorism. Now Biden, without remorse, has made America more vulnerable, betrayed our allies in Europe and the Middle East, and seriously stained America’s honor and credibility as a reliable partner. In Central America, he suff ers the delusion that U.S. aid
can turn around dysfunctional neighbors and stem the fl ow of illegal immigrants. That’s nation building, and it’s failed in Latin America
since President John Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act was terribly excessive. Infl ation threatens to fl y out of control and wages aren’t keeping up — even as unemployment remains above fi ve percent. Crime is rampant in America’s cities — especially those
burdened by Justice Department police-practices consent decrees. Add the administration bungling the delta variant
and mask policies, and businesses that can’t fi nd workers because rescue plan stay-at-home payments discouraged work — it’s no wonder Biden’s job approval rating has fallen precipitously. It’s overdone to say midterms are a referendum on the incumbent president, as most that are eligible for another term win reelection. But those do off er voters an opportu- nity to impose a “course correction” on presidents who too often act as if they have a mandate to impose radical change when they don’t. Since the 1820s, the party of the incumbent president has
lost House seats in 34 of 36 midterm elections. The oppos- ing party has gained an average of 34 seats, and the GOP needs to pick up four to capture a majority. Just before the Afghanistan debacle, House Democratic
98 NEWSMAX | OCTOBER 2021
Congressional Campaign Chairman Sean Maloney circu- lated polling data to members that showed them trailing by six points in battleground districts. The GOP controls the redistricting process for 187 seats
and Democrats only 75, with the remaining mostly deter- mined by independent commissions. After Afghanistan, Biden won’t be much of an asset on the campaign trail, and Vice President Kamala Harris is too politically inept. Democrats have a few aces in the hole. States and cit-
ies have lots of COVID-19 relief money left to spend, and Democrats can spread that around to lock in voter loyalty.
D
emocrats have perfected buy-now-and-pay-later for voters. Bullied by the hard left, Biden off ers a per-
manent regular monthly child allowance to middle class families through the Child Tax Credit, bigger tax breaks for childcare expenses, paid family leave, and other goodies. The package will cost as much as $5.5 trillion, not the
$3.5 trillion advertised, and won’t raise as much revenue as promised taxing the rich. Those will unleash another tor- rent of defi cit spending, printing-press monetary policy, and infl ation, but much of the pain is beyond November 2022. GOP defi cit warnings will make voters’ eyes glaze over. America’s diminished standing with allies is an abstrac-
tion. Americans are war weary, and memories of the Afghanistan mess will fade by November 2022 — unless we get a major terrorist attack. Republicans must off er a program beyond opposing
all the welfare Democrats want to dole out. To economic historians, their warnings about fi scal calamity may prove prescient, but the pandemic has conditioned middle-class voters to stimulus checks and childcare allowances. And they want relief from medical and college expenses. Republicans are too much associated with the anti-
vaccine and anti-mask hysteria and denying climate change as the West suff ers the second worst drought in 1,200 years and more-frequent severe hurricanes pound the East. The GOP must articulate, for example, how it would rein
in healthcare costs, make college more aff ordable, pivot U.S. defense resources to the Pacifi c, and engage nations in trade that shifts U.S. dependence from China — and in the bargain, sharpens American competitiveness. It’s not enough to be against Bumbling Joe. Republicans must off er something attractive to get elected.
Peter Morici is an economist and emeritus business professor at the University of Maryland, and a national columnist..
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