As Congress Adjourns, GOP Declares "Omission Accomplished"

If they say that about the Pope, can you imagine what they'd say about Jesus (who, if memory serves, was a child refugee himself)?

Their rhetoric is truly frightening, as the writers who follow it can attest. Terrance Heath goes spelunking in the dark caves of the human spirit so the rest of us don't have to. In Congress' last week alone, Heath found that Boehner called Sen. Harry Reid's immigration plan "nutso"; Rep. Steve Stockman suggesting that Obama was using the border crisis to push his "Third World view"; and Rep. Michele Bachmann hinting that the president might conduct medical experiments on border children.

And that's just a sampler.

But when it comes to influencing policy, they're not as crazy as they look. They're once again shifting the nation rightward, despite widespread public disapproval of their positions. (See PopulistMajority.org for more on the public's views.) And that shift applies to both the tone of the debate and the substance of the policy.

There's the petty obstructionism that manifests itself in the prevention of sensible deeds, large and small. That's what led Senate Republicans to filibuster the "Bring Jobs Home Act," for example, a bill that would end tax breaks for shipping U.S. jobs overseas and replace them with tax breaks for creating jobs here.

The GOP routinely prevents a number of common-sense acts like these -- acts that until recently would have enjoyed at least some support from members both parties -- from getting passed. It's tragic that these everyday obstructions continue to take place.

A Choice, For a Change?

But the right's real winning streak, and therefore its opponents' challenge, lies in its continued ability to shift the public conversation away from the deep-seated, systemic issues we still face. Most Democrats, whether out of discouragement or calculation, aren't proposing the kinds of bold and transformative initiatives the country still needs -- in jobs, infrastructure, trade, workplace rights, wages, economic equality, and other areas. (There are some notable exceptions to this rule.)

The upward transfer of wealth has cost the average American household $7,400 since the year 2000. Low-wage women still bear a terrible financial and job burden, as Jiao (Kitty) Lan observes. Job growth is still anemic, as millions still struggle with joblessness. Students are still burdened with debt. The highway-bill fiasco demonstrates the ongoing toll taken by austerity's ongoing grip on our politics.

And yet countless liberals still talk about how "crazy" the Republicans are, which raises the question: If they're so crazy, why are they doing so well? They may even be poised to win the Senate in November. Republicans have learned to lose battles in a way that elevates their political arguments. Where are the equally bold Democratic statements of principle?

Sure, the Republicans in Congress would shoot down those bold progressive policies. But they shoot down the timid ones, too. At least voters would finally have a clear choice between two competing ideologies. The polling shows clearly that, given a choice like that, they'd reject the right.

Say what you will about the extremist Republicans, but they know what they believe in and they've found a way to fight for it -- despite the unpopularity of their views. That raises a challenge for Democrats: Will they finally offer a clear and unashamedly progressive alternative, one that's smart both politically and as policy? Given the role money currently plays in our political system, the answer's likely to be: not until an organized and independent progressive movement demands it.