{"id":548750,"date":"2023-02-07T01:31:41","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T22:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/house-gop-seeks-to-divide-conquer-democrats-on-socialism\/"},"modified":"2023-02-07T01:31:41","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T22:31:41","slug":"house-gop-seeks-to-divide-conquer-democrats-on-socialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/house-gop-seeks-to-divide-conquer-democrats-on-socialism\/","title":{"rendered":"#House GOP seeks to divide, conquer Democrats on socialism"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2400bf6f141\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2400bf6f141\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/house-gop-seeks-to-divide-conquer-democrats-on-socialism\/#House_GOP_seeks_to_divide_conquer_Democrats_on_socialism\" >House GOP seeks to divide, conquer Democrats on socialism<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"House_GOP_seeks_to_divide_conquer_Democrats_on_socialism\"><\/span>House GOP seeks to divide, conquer Democrats on socialism<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/mccarthykevin_020223ag6_w.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>As House Republicans aim to use their majority to divide Democrats on toxic political issues, they found early success this month making new hay out of an old idea: the \u201chorrors\u201d of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>ism.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>House GOP leaders staged a vote Thursday on a resolution\u00a0condemning socialism as a fundamental threat to American prosperity and independence \u2014 a proposal that split Democrats and provided a potentially potent new attack line for GOP candidates heading into the 2024 elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>While a majority of Democrats voted in favor of the measure, 100 of the 212-member caucus declined to endorse it. And GOP leaders wasted no time pouncing when the tally was in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat wasn\u2019t a college vote on a college campus. That was a vote in the U.S. Congress that 100 Democrats couldn\u2019t say socialism was wrong,\u201d Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters in the Capitol. \u201cThat\u2019s a scary point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a logical argument, Republican attacks on socialism have been undermined by their support for social-welfare programs, including McCarthy\u2019s recent vow to protect federal benefits under Social Security and Medicare \u2014 programs that are run exclusively by the government and funded collectively by taxpayers, who are required to contribute.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have, for decades, castigated those entitlements as socialist initiatives that trample on free enterprise and individual liberties, and Democrats are warning that, despite the rhetoric, GOP leaders are still eyeing cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not fooled by Speaker McCarthy\u2019s promises, by the way,\u201d Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, said. \u201cWe know what he means when he says he wants to \u2018protect these programs,\u2019 it\u2019s code for cuts. We\u2019ve seen this movie before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From a political vantage, however, the GOP\u2019s efforts to link Democrats to \u201csocialism\u201d as an abstract concept have historically been effective, resonating with broad swaths of conservative voters and helping Republicans gain vast ground in states like Florida, which has shifted squarely in recent years from a purple battleground to a red stronghold.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Among outside political experts, there\u2019s some disagreement about just how effective the GOP\u2019s strategy will be.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tobe Berkovitz, associate professor of advertising emeritus at Boston University, noted that each party has, for years, sought to characterize the other as \u201cradical\u201d and \u201cout of step with most Americans.\u201d He pointed to former President Reagan\u2019s effort to portray Democrats as soft on defense, and George H.W. Bush\u2019s campaign to depict Democrats as weak on crime.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been going on forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Both of those strategies proved successful, and Berkovitz predicted that vulnerable Democrats may have a tough time explaining why so many in their party voted against the Republicans\u2019 anti-socialism resolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you are running in a contested seat, it positions you very badly because your party is advocating for something that is probably out of step with voters in these swingier districts or states. And then it just provides grist for your opponent. \u2018See, the congresswoman is lining up with the socialists,&#8217;\u201d said Berkovitz, who has worked for roughly five decades advising candidates of both parties on their media strategies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo it is pretty effective, because really both parties have been pandering to their base, and yet it\u2019s not always the base that\u2019s going to win in a contested election.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Others aren\u2019t so sure. Karlyn Bowman, an elections expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the attacks on socialism \u201cprobably could be effective\u201d in \u201ca few\u201d pockets of the country. She singled out Florida, with its relatively high concentration of Cuban and Venezuelan Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But nationally, Bowman suggested the issue will pale in comparison to lingering concerns about the volatile economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt could make life tougher for some Dems in some battleground districts,\u201d Bowman said in an email, \u201cbut would it rank above something such as inflation or the economy and jobs? I doubt it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Democrats who opted against supporting the resolution voiced various reservations, but the largest was the potential threat to entitlement programs. Despite agreeing with the overt goal of the resolution \u2014 to denounce socialist leaders and atrocities committed under such regimes \u2014 some Democrats saw the effort as a veiled step in the GOP crusade against Social Security and Medicare.<\/p>\n<p>They sought to separate the two issues with an amendment \u2014 proposed by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) \u2014 that would have added language to say \u201cany opposition to \u2018socialist\u2019 policy implementation in the United States does not include existing Federal programs\u201d like Social Security and Medicare. But Republicans on the Rules Committee rejected the addition in a 4-9 vote, a decision that moved the needle for some Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was prepared to vote for this resolution,\u201d Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said. \u201cSocialism is clearly not the best path for America, and who wants to be associated with Stalin and the others that this resolution denounces, really thugs that were masquerading as socialists?\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cBut when the promoters of this worthless resolution rejected the Takano amendment to protect Social Security and Medicare, their goal became clear,\u201d he added. \u201cThis resolution is the foundation for continued attacks on better Medicare for more Americans, and their attempt to cut Social Security benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) said the resolution was meant to \u201cprovide cover\u201d for Republicans \u201cto try to undermine an agenda that is designed to lift up the health, safety and well-being of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe American people should not be fooled by anything that takes place on the floor today with respect to the so-called resolution on socialism,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Republicans, however, argued the resolution was strictly about denouncing socialism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be clear, this resolution is not about Social Security or Medicare, two programs with broad bipartisan support,\u201d Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said last week. \u201cIt is about a sick ideology that has destroyed nations, ruined lives, and resulted in death and destruction around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The GOP\u2019s vocal defense of the entitlements marks a sharp break from the party\u2019s historic position, which held that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are fundamentally socialist initiatives that undermine free markets and individual freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>Even before Medicare\u2019s creation in 1965, Reagan warned\u00a0of the fundamental dangers of \u201csocialized medicine.\u201d Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) hoped for Medicare\u00a0\u201cto wither on the vine.\u201d Former President George W. Bush privatized parts of Medicare, and sought to do the same with Social Security. And former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), as chair of the Budget Committee, had proposed annual budgets\u00a0that ended traditional Medicare and privatized Social Security.<\/p>\n<p>With the ascent of former President Trump \u2014 who vowed from the first day of his 2016 campaign to \u201csave Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, without cuts\u201d \u2014 Republicans have largely toned down those attacks. And GOP leaders are now treading delicately around the issue heading into a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of budget debates, where some conservatives are already urging entitlement \u201creforms\u201d in the name of keeping the programs solvent.<\/p>\n<p>Recent polls hint at the pressure they\u2019re facing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A January Economist-YouGov survey\u00a0found that only 17 percent of respondents supported cuts to Medicare and Social Security, versus 70 percent who oppose such action.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Older polls\u00a0reveal another factor driving the debate: Republican voters are far more likely to oppose \u201csocialism\u201d broadly, but are less likely to consider the entitlement programs to fall into that category.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSocial Security and Medicare are very important to many older average Americans. And the last thing that the Republicans need to do is say, basically, \u2018We\u2019re going to screw you,\u2019\u201d said Berkovitz.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just depends whose ox is being gored, and who is getting a benefit from any of these programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/3846091-house-gop-seeks-to-divide-conquer-democrats-on-socialism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House GOP seeks to divide, conquer Democrats on socialism As House Republicans aim to use their majority to divide Democrats on toxic political issues, they found early success this month making new hay out of an old idea: the \u201chorrors\u201d of socialism.\u00a0\u00a0 House GOP leaders staged a vote Thursday on a resolution\u00a0condemning socialism as a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":548751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/mccarthykevin_020223ag6_w.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[139532,117,134343,73798,134420,124783,134825,35813,134354,71998],"class_list":["post-548750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bush","tag-business","tag-campaign","tag-defense","tag-equilibrium-sustainability","tag-international","tag-jim-mcgovern","tag-kevin-mccarthy","tag-nexstar-media-wire-news","tag-socialism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}