This past Friday the House of Representatives voted on the Build Back Better Act,
the $2 trillion social spending bill that would fund a wide variety of programs, including those
dedicated to mitigating climate change, expanding access to affordable health care,
funding education, and investing in affordable housing.
The vote had been planned for Thursday, but it was held up by a bit of grandstanding on the part of
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who staged a lengthy, rambling floor speech that forced the
Democrats to push the vote to the next day. In typical Republican fashion, McCarthy’s speech,
which frequently veered off into irrelevant, grievance-filled tangents, was packed with
distortions, fearmongering, and outright lying about the contents of the legislation,
and pathologically preoccupied with the amount of federal spending contained in the bill.
Like I said, typical Republican fashion, which is why I’m not going to waste my breath talking
to Republicans or conservatives with this video. Democrats spend
way too much time and energy begging Republicans for votes
when they should be energizing their base — and more importantly, working to expand that
base — by reminding everyone of who they are and what their priorities ought to be.
So, I’m talking to my fellow Democrats, and specifically to those who are more moderate or
centrist in their thinking when it comes to government spending. The version of the Build Back
Better Act that passed the House on Friday was already reduced from what it could have been — and
I would argue, should have been — because of concerns from some Democrats about the amount of
spending it represented. And now it’s going over to the Senate, where it will no doubt be trimmed
down even further in order to satisfy the likes of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
And my question to my fellow Democrats is: why do we do this? For far, far longer than
I have been alive, Republicans have attacked Democrats for wanting to spend too much money.
“Tax and Spend Democrats” has been the epithet thrown from that side of the aisle for decades,
and there has always been this segment of both the Democrat voting base and Democrat
elected officials who fear this label, who seem stung by it, who act as though they are
determined to prove that whatever they are, they definitely are not “Tax and Spend Democrats.”
Again, my question: why? Why do we give a shit what Republicans say about us to other
Republicans? And more importantly, why are we so goddamn afraid of being “Tax and Spend Democrats”?
We shouldn’t be, so long as we’re taxing the right people, and spending on the right things!
One of the major hold-ups in getting the bill to a vote in the House — prior to McCarthy’s
bullshit floor speech — was moderate Democrats insisting that the provisions of the bill be
“paid for” — in other words, that the cost of the bill wouldn’t increase the budget deficit.
And that’s fair enough, but many of these same Democrats are also reluctant to support
the most reliable way to fund government spending:
raising taxes! Because they don’t want to be seen as “tax and spend Democrats.”
So, they have to get creative when it comes to “paying for” the bill by
cutting funding to other programs, or by increasing tax revenue without
technically raising taxes, like by closing loopholes or empowering the IRS to be more
proactive in collecting taxes that are owed but haven’t been paid, that sort of thing.
And again, all of that is fine — close the loopholes that people use to escape
paying their fair share, collect taxes that are already owed. But why are Democrats so afraid
to just raise taxes to pay for things the government needs
to do? Instead of running from that right-wing epithet, we should be making it our own.
When Republicans accuse us of being “Tax and Spend Democrats,” we should say,
“You’re right — we tax the rich and spend on the poor.”
That’s how it should work! If the government needs money to expand Medicaid and Medicare, or
build affordable, sustainable housing, or improve transportation access to low-income communities,
or make child care more affordable, or increase funding to public schools,
or anything else that will help to lift people out of poverty
and improve the quality of life for those who are suffering and struggling the most,
the money to help those most in need should come from those who need that money the least.
How is this even a point of discussion? Among Democrats?! Republicans, I get it — they live
in an alternate reality where the only way to achieve an ideal society is by giving rich people
whatever they want — but Democrats? Why are we bashful about the idea of raising taxes on the
wealthiest people in this country, taking money they won’t even miss, that will not force them to
alter their lifestyles even slightly, and using that to fund investments in schools and health
care and housing and transportation and social welfare programs that will change peoples’ lives?
Instead of running from this, Democrats should be running on this. Instead of denying it,
or trying to sidestep it, or acting ashamed of it, we should be saying yes,
we are tax and spend Democrats, we tax those who have the most so we can improve the lives of
those who have the least, and if you elect us, we will use the power of government the way it
should be used: to build a just and humane and sustainable society by helping those in need.
And if Republicans complain and call us names, let ‘em. If rich people whine and play victim
about having to pay higher taxes, let ‘em. They’ll still have more money than they know what to do
with, they’ll be fine, and the money they give up in higher taxes will be put to good use. Which is
as it should be, because other people’s money should not be more important than other people.