Welcome To The Future, Republicans

Created
Fri, 09/08/2024 - 23:00
Updated
Fri, 09/08/2024 - 23:00
We’re not going back If Republicans expect to lead in the 21st century they might first try living in it. Donald Trump’s view of the world stopped developing along with his emotional maturity before he was a teen. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Republicans claimed Sir Ronald of Reagan had slain the Evil Empire and won the Cold War. Decades into the 21st century, they are still fighting it, invoking communists and Marxists and socialists (Oh, my!) as a slur against every political foe, always “to the left of [Fox News liberal bogeyman here].” President Harry Truman declared in 1952 that socialism is “a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years.” Scare tactics are still their go-to. Over 70 years later, The Wall Street Journal this week inveighed against Minnesota under Gov. Tim Walz (D) for moving his state “sharply to the left.” Among Walz’s sins: • Funding “the North Star Promise Program, which provides free college for students with a family income under $80,000,” including illegal immigrants. • Creating a state system for paid family and medical leave, capped at a combined 20 weeks a year and funded by a 0.88% payroll tax. • Mandating that public utilities generate 80% carbon-free electricity by 2030, ramping up to 100% by 2040. He’s a fervent believer in “climate action.” • Subsidizing electric vehicles by “requiring EV charging infrastructure within or adjacent to new commercial and multi-family buildings,” as the…