It’s been hard to summon up much gratitude on this Thanksgiving weekend, even though I’m well aware that I have many things to be thankful for right here and right now.
The question is, how many of them will just be memories after the GOP inflicts its blood-red agenda on our purple country?
While family and friends top my gratitude list, I worry about them – and myself – given the incoming administration’s contempt for safety, preparedness, expertise and basic human rights for all.
I spent a lot of time warning about this over the years, but I wish I’d expressed more appreciation for the capable and well-intentioned public officials who now must add “former” to their job titles.
Unfortunately, we all focus on the arsonist holding a torch to everything we hold dear; the heroes struggling to defend it don’t always get the recognition they deserve.
An alarming percentage of Americans have picked the arsonist. I’ll bet, though, that many of them will end up missing the outgoing administration.
What Biden did and didn’t do
President Joe Biden did his best to both stabilize our country and move it forward.
I’m grateful for what he’s done, starting with facilitating our recovery from the pandemic and the recession it caused.
And for the fruits of his Investing in America programs: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/blog/2024/11/26/president-bidens-investing-in-america-agendas-growing-durability-and-popularity/ lower drug prices for Medicare recipients, lower costs under Affordable Care Act plans, a boom in manufacturing and clean energy projects and much-needed infrastructure funding (for which some GOP politicians took credit.)
Biden also got us out of Afghanistan, restored relations with our allies and negotiated the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which prevented a global economic disaster.
And he at least tried to forgive usurious student loans, expand overtime pay to more salaried workers, force the rich and big corporations to pay their fair share of taxes, and impose term limits on Supreme Court justices, among other proposals.
Perhaps most of all, I’m grateful for what he didn’t do: cozy up to hate groups or fire Justice Department officials for prosecuting his son. Though a devout Catholic, he didn’t try to force others to adhere to those rules.
Nor did he spread unfounded rumors of voter fraud during his last campaign. Or challenge election results when his party lost. Or incite extremists to start an insurrection.
Compared with Trump, he got things done — quietly. Maybe too quietly for his own good.
Accolades for Casey
I also want to thank outgoing Sen. Bob Casey, who might have had the same problem.
After Casey conceded to his MAGA opponent, former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick, the Philadelphia Inquirer quoted colleagues and ex-staffers who “lauded his empathy and humility in a chamber where many members seek the spotlight.”
I witnessed that when Casey addressed the local chamber of commerce in our red county. Despite the “D” after his name, Chamber President Robert Carl praised him for advocating vigorously for improving health care and early childhood learning as well as for raising wages for the middle class. Casey’s own speech was long on policies like those and short on bluster.
When I talked with him afterward, he predicted that this year’s election would be “consequential” because democracy would be on the ballot. Senate Democrats tried hard to pass voting rights legislation, but “we fell short,” he said. “We have to keep coming back to it. It’s so basic.”
I’m grateful they tried, but they must keep trying. If our elected officials give up, all hope will be gone.
Food for dark thoughts
Many pundits blamed Democrats’ losses on post-pandemic inflation that marred an otherwise robust economy.
However, two professors at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business turned this idea on its head: The economy’s strength hurt the Dems.
After studying nearly a century of elections, they concluded that the Democratic Party and the safety nets it promises tend to attract voters during a weak economy. In a strong economy, they’re less averse to risk and more likely to elect Republicans, who favor lower taxes.
If Trump’s tariffs, indiscriminate tax cuts and deregulation blow up the economy the way some experts predict, 2028 could be a good year for Democrats – assuming, of course, that elections remain fair.
But even if Democrats win, they’ll have yet another mess to clean up while the other side tries to sabotage their efforts at every turn.
Lisa Von Ahn is an experienced columnist previously published in the Pottsville Republican Herald newspaper.
Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.
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