What interests are running our government makes a difference in the lives of working people. That is true in every election from local offices to the White House and Congress. It is particularly true in this election. MAGA, a home grown version of fascism, threatens to gain control of both the Presidency and the Congress and already dominates the Supreme Court. This movement is a marriage of the traditional right wing in the Republican Party, representing Big Oil and other Wall Street interests, with the ultra right of Neo-Nazis, Christian Nationalists and White Supremacist Militias. This movement is headed up by an unstable, power hungry racist and abuser of women, who has demonstrated that he has no respect for the constitution and any laws that restrict his pursuit of power.
If MAGA prevails in this “too close to call” election, there is no doubt that things will be worse for ordinary people, both from the standpoint of democratic rights and the “kitchen table” calculations of wages, prices, and availability of basic services.
Our “kitchen table” concerns
MAGA is opposed to a livable, national, minimum wage, is committed to national “right to work” legislation that will devastate unions, and supports implementing tariffs that will drive up costs for a typical family by thousands of dollars. Taxes will be cut dramatically for billionaires and the very rich, with only token reductions for middle and working class earners. Tax cuts, along with subsidies to corporations and increased military spending will boost budget deficits which, in turn, lead to higher interest payments, an additional burden on taxpayers.
Healthcare, public education and affordable housing will be underfunded and less available with MAGA in the driving seat. The evidence is in the performance of the first Trump administration, the 2025 plan developed by Trump allies and the pronouncements of Trump, Vance and Republican leadership.
But a small handful of billionaires and corporate interests, notably those centered on oil and gas, will benefit from these policies. They are ponying up millions in election donations to have their way.
Our Rights and Freedoms
MAGA above all else stands for a dramatic hit on our democratic rights. Immigrants face mass deportation, constitutional limits on police and the courts are to be pushed aside, and election results, when not to MAGA’S liking, can expect to be challenged. The Trump effort to set aside the 2020 election culminating in a violent attack on the Capitol in January 2020 were a signal of what we can expect this time around.
Then there is the effort to deny women control of their own bodies. Following up on the overturn of Roe vs. Wade, in red states we can expect at the very least continued attacks on abortion, even when a pregnancy threatens a woman’s health or is the result of incest or rape. And the passage of a national abortion ban favored by most of the MAGA movement would extend these conditions everywhere in the country. The hysterical attacks on trans people are another element of the MAGA message which treats any deviation from a male centered, heterosexual family as unacceptable and dangerous.
Are the Democrats the answer?
For decades the Democratic Party along with Republicans deregulated business and favored trade policies that cost workers jobs and union’s power. Over the last decade progressive forces in and outside the Democratic Party pushed back against these policies and made some progress, reflected in some of the legislation passed during the last four years. The Biden administration has been the best for Labor in modern times. The child tax credit and spending on infra-structure were also measures that reduced poverty and raised the living standards for working class people.
Also a big difference between the Parties is that the Republicans deny human activity is causing climate change and an ecological meltdown while Democrats acknowledge this and have at least a limited program to address it.
The Biden administration and the leadership of both parties support Israel and its genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza. Indeed both parties are committed to a foreign policy in which an expensive U.S. military acts as the guardian of corporate interests across the globe.
What we need is an independent political force that can operate both inside and outside the Democratic Party that will campaign for an economy that will serve people, not corporate profits, that will stand for racial and gender equality, oppose the destruction of our environment and promote peace in the world. We build this independent movement beginning at the local level, organizing around issues of concern to working people and our neighbors, both in the streets and at the polls. We will need to do this work no matter what the outcome of the current election is.
But this work will be a lot easier if Harris and the Democrats win and much more difficult if MAGA prevails. So get out and vote like your life depends on it. It truly does.