Susan Young is the opinion editor of the Bangor Daily News.
In post-campaign ads, Republican candidates in last month’s election touted the poor economic climate. He blamed President Joe Biden, governors like Janet Mills of Maine and other Democrats for mismanaging the economy and fueling inflation, which has raised the prices of many goods and services. Not realizing that inflation is a global problem, with the war in Ukraine, the consequences of the COVID pandemic and continuing supply issues that lead to shortages and rising prices.
And Republicans have dropped the familiar line that Democrats are soft on crime and want open borders, neither of which is correct.
So, now that the Republicans will be in control of the US House of Representatives, what is their economic reform plan? Will they provide sufficient compensation for immigration reform and border security?
It’s hard to tell because so far, House Republican leaders have ceded their energy to positive moves, promising to investigate Biden’s administration and family and promising to oust Democrats from House committees.
The leader of the Republican party in the US House of Representatives in the US, Kevin McCarthy, has promised that one of the first things his party will do when he takes over the committee in January will be to do so. read the entire US Constitution above the House. This, obviously, is supposed to reflect the party’s bias.
The announcement came after McCarthy proudly announced that the House sessions would begin with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer with Republicans in charge. Apparently that’s how episodes start now. It is written in the rules of the House. Therefore, McCarthy’s good publicity was meaningless.
McCarthy has promised to remove three Democrats, who have been at odds with Republicans, from House committees. He, however, does not have the power alone to do so; it requires a vote of the entire House.
McCarthy also promised to hold the Biden administration accountable, with a long list of investigations. If government officials do something illegal, they should be held accountable. Ditto for the president’s son, Hunter Biden, who is already under federal investigation.
A fresh look at US withdrawal from Afghanistan would be helpful, as would a review of US border policies and operations.
However, if the investigation is merely an embarrassment to Biden and his members – which seems likely – McCarthy and his team have already shown that they are not sure about governing. Hindsight may be helpful, but it won’t solve inflation and other problems that Republicans have promised to tackle.
Shortly after the Nov. 8, which had no red tide, in Maine or in the rest of the country, the Republicans lamented their loss, or the lack of more victory. What went wrong?
In Maine, some GOP members said voters didn’t get their message.
But, here’s a thought: Maybe voters heard the message but didn’t buy it?
For example, former Gov. Paul LePage, criticized Gov. Janet Mills for her handling of Maine’s finances when she tried, but failed, to remove him. He has fixed Maine’s economy in the past and will do it again, he said proudly. The problem is that LePage was very limited on how to fix the economy. He promised to lower prices, but did not say how he would do it. He promised to reduce government spending but did not say much. And, of course, he said he wanted to lower taxes, but he didn’t offer concrete solutions to the loss of revenue.
Republicans – both in leadership in the deeply divided US House next year, and in the minority in the Maine Legislature – have a tough job. They should be more than Democrats. They need to show the public that they have real solutions to the real problems facing Americans.
Reading the Constitution does not lower food prices or fill gas tanks.
