Morgan Ortagus: Inflation is 'the reality' for families ahead of midterms
'Special Report' panelists Morgan Ortagus, Bill Bennett and Mara Liasson discuss the latest midterm polls and the impact abortion, inflation and education are having in races.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board warned Sunday "what’s really on the ballot in November" is increased taxes, permanent changes to voting processes, and the abolishment of the Senate filibuster if Democrats maintain control of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections.
"If the election polls are right, Democrats have a good chance of adding to their majority in the Senate and even keeping it in the House," the editors wrote.
"Toward that end they are trying to convince voters that abortion and Donald Trump are the main election issues. But the real issue, by far the most important for actual policy, is whether voters will put a legislative check on the political left," they continued.
The editors argued with Trump not on the ballot and national abortion legislation is unlikely to pass the Senate, voters should instead consider 2022 as an opportunity to limit the power of the current administration.
ECONOMIC ISSUES FAR OUTPACE SOCIAL ISSUES AMONG VOTER CONCERNS AHEAD OF NOVEMBER MIDTERMS
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., listens as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during an event where President Joe Biden will sign H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
"[T]he Democratic election strategy is a new version of their 2020 campaign bait-and-switch," said the editors. In 2020, they argued, Democrats presented their campaigns as a referendum on Trump and the government's COVID-19 pandemic response, but once elected, they "pivoted to advance a far-left labor agenda and enact the biggest expansion of government in modern history."
"The Democratic left hasn’t given up on any of this, however, as they are admitting if you pay attention," the editorial board wrote. "The media are ignoring this as they echo the abortion and Trump narrative. So it’s worth laying out what Democrats really have in mind, based on what they tried to do this Congress and are promising for the next."
The editors warned that Democrats will target the filibuster as "priority one because a 51-vote Senate majority opens the door to everything the current House has passed," with their candidates already promising to kill it.
They also argued that a Democrat-led Senate would push to make D.C. a state, override right to work laws and pile on new entitlements. Further, they said Democrats would vote to fundamentally change national elections forever and mandate that any changes in state election laws first be approved by Biden's Department of Justice.
BIDEN INJECTS SOME UNCERTAINTY INTO 2024 WITH HIS ‘MUCH TOO EARLY’ RE-ELECTION COMMENT
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 16: U.S. President Joe Biden (R) moves to give Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) (L) the pen he used to sign The Inflation Reduction Act with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) in the State Dining Room of the White House August 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
They warned that Democrats would also use their power to pass crushing environmental regulations, the consequences of which have already led to energy shortages and soaring prices throughout Europe and the United States.
"Major tax increases will also be back in play," the editors warned. "Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal recently told a Bloomberg reporter that Democrats will raise individual and corporate tax rates if they keep power."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., alongside other senate Republicans, speaks to members of the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, about the impact of proposed tax increases on the middle class on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)
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"There’s much more we could include here, but you get the idea," the editors concluded. "If Democrats add seats in the Senate and hold the House, there won’t be much of a check on progressive ambitions. If they accomplish this with inflation at 8%, they will be even more emboldened. That is what’s really on the ballot in November."