Democrats paid the price for abandoning moderate Clinton-era policies
2025-01-02
Category: opinion

Let’s face it, the Democratic Party got off track. &nbsp; Back in the late ’90s, President Bill Clinton had approval ratings in the 70s as the party stood for a form of centrist progressivism. It meant finding a vital center in which the party looked to give people in need a helping hand but required people take responsibility for their own actions. That meant the adoption of policies like Pell Grants that required a B average or work requirements for welfare or a balanced budget. The economy soared. &nbsp; But the left fought these policies, and gradually they regained more and more power, beginning especially with the second term of President Barack Obama and ultimately becoming the guiding hand of the Biden administration. The Sanders-Biden pack, combined with a raft of Obama staff in key positions, sent the party into uncharted waters.&nbsp; DNC POWERHOUSE FUNDRAISER ANNOUNCES EXIT FROM DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOLLOWING ATTACKS: 'IT'S LIKE LEAVING A CULT' The border was thrown open while disingenuously claiming it was just fine. In came millions of unscreened migrants including murderers and gang members. &nbsp;  Democrats passed huge spending bills using COVID-19 as cover to dump trillions of dollars into climate change policies designed to wipe out fossil fuel use, even as alternatives are not really ready. &nbsp; The Justice Department under Merrick Garland became an enforcer of left-wing policies, arresting political opponents, handcuffing the police, even going after parents complaining to school boards as though they were terrorists. &nbsp; While government spending and deficits ballooned, companies were falsely blamed for inflation that served as the ultimate regressive tax on all Americans.&nbsp; The cultural wars left Americans dumbfounded as criminals were elevated to victims, gender ideology and enforced pronouns ruled policy, religion was shown the back seat and identity became more important that individual character in rewarding success.&nbsp;  Young people were fed a steady diet of all this through TikTok and academics justified it even as it defied common sense. &nbsp; CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION Even foreign policy was turned on its head as friendly allies were summarily abandoned in the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal that was a turning point in the Biden presidency. Iran received billions that they used to extend terrorism, and Israel was continually restrained and chastised while no red lines were drawn for hostages to be released or face the consequences. And hundreds of billions were spent on the Ukraine war without any serious diplomatic activity or even capability.&nbsp; And free speech was equated with violence; tech companies were used to implement speech codes that deflected criticism of the administration’s policies. This degrading of the First Amendment, America’s core value, is yet another example of how the party has strayed from its most basic foundational American values. &nbsp; Democrats passed huge spending bills using COVID-19 as cover to dump trillions of dollars into climate change policies designed to wipe out fossil fuel use, even as alternatives are not really ready.  All the while, the president pretended the Hunter Biden laptop was fake while in reality it exposed a scheme to bilk $20 million dollars out of various foreign interests with the now obvious help of President Joe Biden, whose denials were as phony as the idea he was ready to run for a second term. &nbsp; CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP As a parting gift in absurdity the president, after pardoning his son for crimes including tax evasion, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 murders who committed the most heinous of crimes.&nbsp; Yes, the Democratic Party needs a reset. It’s time to hit the button on that. &nbsp; CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MARK PENN