As Americans look ahead to the upcoming Presidential Inauguration, a pattern is emerging from the political left. Here are some predictions on the direction that Democrats will take in the coming year.
- Democrats will continue to attempt to delegitimize the election results through tainted rhetoric and threats. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said that she would not meet or work with Donald Trump: “I’m not going to sit down with him. I’m not going to go. I’m not going to go pretend — I’m not pretending.”
Waters is the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee. Her statement should be seen for exactly what it is: obstructionism. Waters has declared political war on the incoming administration.
- She is not alone. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., echoed Waters’ sentiments: “The only way we’re going to work with him is if he moves completely in our direction and abandons his Republican colleagues.”
When pressed by CNN’s Dana Bash, Schumer did admit to enjoying “deal making”. When Republicans employed rhetoric like this about then-incoming President Obama’s policy plans they were roundly criticized for it and rightly so.
- Democrats will remain immovable on key policy ideas. Take school choice, for example. Public school officials will continue to oppose the charter school movement while parents seek options.
Inner-city parents have been dealt a very specific hand as it relates to their children’s education. Each child has one year to successfully complete a grade level in school. If that doesn’t occur, the well-meaning policy ideas of those who want to save failed inner city public schools are irrelevant.
Each year that their child is trapped in a failing school is one year too many. This fact is only of consequence to parents with children in those schools. The people making the policies that keep children there often have no children of their own or have their own precious students in elite private schools. The policymakers are detached from the consequences of their decisions, which is a primary reason for the lack of movement on education reform.
Parents must assume the responsibility for educating their children, while working within the existing system and demanding options outside of it; school choice must be one of those options.
- Democrats will continue to use language about blacks that places the government in the role of savior to an oppressed minority, which cannot help itself. This is perhaps the most insulting prediction for 2017, yet it is based on historical evidence.
As a black woman in America I am certain there is no “man” who is working in concert with other whites to keep me down or prevent goal attainment. Yet the refrain from progressive Democrats is that blacks are victims, and can only make it with the constant intervention of the government.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights protect the rights of all Americans. Historically, the Supreme Court made egregious rulings against the rights of blacks Americans, but those rulings have been corrected. American thought on race has positively shifted since the Jim Crow era; one result was the election of the first black president of the United States.
Racial tensions will exist as long as humanity does, and no amount of government tinkering will ever completely eradicate racism. Instead of a constant drumbeat of negativity, successful people prefer to focus on can be done personally to improve circumstances while working through civic channels to ameliorate the rest. As a nation America will continue to move forward as long as we make the decision to do so regardless of party affiliation.
- Final prediction: The politics of division, in an atmosphere of hatred and angry finger-pointing, will continue to threaten the bonds that hold our society together — unless Americans decide that enough is enough. A new president will be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and his name is Donald Trump.
Giving the incoming administration a chance to improve the lives of all Americans, including those negatively impacted by the failed policy decisions of the past eight years, isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the American thing to do.