At the beginning of 2021, it appeared that the left had a generational opportunity to replace the dollar store economy with something that was much more worker-friendly through a massive increase in the size of the American welfare state. While some progress was made, in the end, the revolution didn’t happen, for two reasons: first, there weren’t enough votes for it in the Senate; and second, the additional federal spending contributed to inflation. It doesn’t make any sense to mandate wage increases if businesses can then just turn around and raise prices by the same amount. So what now?
There is no prospect of enacting any of the left’s agenda in the next two years with a GOP majority in the House. Worse, the Democrats will be defending several vulnerable Senate seats in 2024; their chances of picking up seats will depend solely on Trump’s willingness to split the GOP. As a result, the left will be playing defense for at least the next four years even if it continues to hold the White House.
Where should progressives focus their energy under these circumstances? I will post on that tomorrow.