Misinformation and Hypocrisy

Champions of minimal government, Republican politicians distain tax funded social programs. They work to defund and block these programs, including many popular programs that address the affordability of basic needs, healthcare, childcare, eldercare, education, retirement security, housing and food. To scare voters into supporting their agenda, they compare these programs to the worst examples of authoritarian socialist and communist states in history. These comparisons are misleading. Today, social programs of this kind are common in most democratic countries around the world.

Republican leaders invoke the real horrors of Soviet communism to frighten voters, yet they have done little to confront present-day Russian aggression. They rarely challenge President Trump's support for Vladimir Putin, have not effectively confronted Trump's efforts to undermine Ukraine's fight against Russia's brutal invasion, and have tolerated his attacks on our democratic friends in Canada and Europe. Republican acceptance of presidential actions that disregard our constitution and democratic principles exposes the contradiction at the center of their rhetoric: they condemn...