Georgia voters this week put national governance in the hands of a single party, the Democrats — all too many of whom can’t wait to make radical changes that could affect every American. For years.
The runoff victories by the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff leave the Senate split 50-50, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ tiebreaker vote will put Democrats in control there, on top of owning the House and the White House. Buckle your seat belt.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer may watch out for some of New York’s interests (expect the Gateway Tunnel to finally get big funding), but he’ll also have to answer to the party’s radical base, as will Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden. The extremists want to ram through a multitrillion-dollar Green New Deal and socialized medicine and defund police, even as urban murder rates soar.
Their narrow majorities may prevent the worst, but Senate control means they can certainly hike taxes and rapidly undo recent Team Trump deregulation moves, dragging down the recovering economy,
Happily, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has already said he won’t go along with plans to end the Senate filibuster, pack the Supreme Court and add new left-leaning states, so as to cement Democrats’ power for years. On the other hand, an unexpected death or retirement could yet give the majority the power to go radical despite Manchin.
For now, the filibuster — and Pelosi’s razor-thin margin of control in the House — will let Republicans block any major regulation. But Biden will be able to confirm judges rapidly, and Democratic-run committees will provide only minimal oversight of what his appointees do across the vast administrative branch.
In short, the best the nation can hope for is gridlock.
Much blame falls on Republicans themselves: Their Georgia candidates were weak, and GOPers mostly either sat silent or joined in as President Trump spent weeks screaming about a “stolen” election, boosting Democratic turnout in the runoffs.
Especially after Wednesday’s horror show in the Capitol, it’ll be a tough road back for Republicans — and for the country. On the other hand, the midterms are just two years away . . .