Bruce Springsteen has taken a fair amount of criticism for the ad he starred in during the Super Bowl. The message was that Americans need to, “meet in the middle”. The commercial was filmed in Lebanon, Kansas, the absolute middle of The United States, and featured a chapel that is open to all Americans all day and every day of the year. The message is NOT that we should all meet in Kansas and work out our differences. He is suggesting that we should meet in the center of America’s ideological spectrum, which is certainly in line with The View From the Middle’s message.
Bruce is being criticized because he has been a partisan supporter of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden whose followers boldly claimed to be part of “the resistance” to the Trump administration before he even took office. The hypocrisy is thick. Four years ago, their motto was “Resist, Divide and Demonize”, but now those very same people are calling for unity! And it seems that the message from the Biden administration is not consistent with Mr. Springsteen’s. It seems clear to me that Biden’s definition of “unity” is that conservatives need to abandon their principles and core beliefs and embrace the ideology of the far left, then we can have unity.
After running on a “unity” platform, I have seen no sign that President Biden actually plans to deliver on that promise. His first move was to sign more executive orders in his first two weeks in office than any other President in our country’s history. This is the opposite of reaching out to the other side of the aisle. It is the action of an out-of-touch partisan at best or a dictator at the worst. Next, he could have signaled an attempt at unifying the country by suggesting that the House and Senate drop the unconstitutional and meaningless impeachment of President Trump, but he didn’t. And now he seems more concerned about allowing transgender boys to play girls’ sports than he does about jobs in the very “middle America” that Mr. Springsteen was talking about, the promised land for our political discourse.
But the final and biggest abandonment of his “unity” promise might be yet to come. Many of us were encouraged when President Biden met with 10 Republican Senators to discuss the Democrat 1.9 Trillion-dollar Coronavirus relief bill. There are actually some legitimate concerns about the size and scope of this bill that could and even should be addressed. For example, Republicans would like the $1,400 stimulus checks to go to a smaller but needier group of citizens, say those individuals making $50,000 a year or couples making $100,000. This would borrow less money and will reduce the future burden we are piling on our children and grandchildren. This is NOT a crazy thought and should become part of the compromise bill if uncle Joe actually wants to unite anyone!
Second, this relief bill includes $350 billion to be paid to cities and states across the country. This is way more than is needed to compensate these localities for the costs of fighting the pandemic. Everyone knows that this is simply a move to force states like Arkansas and Kansas (the middle of the country) to pay for the fiscally irresponsible states like New York and California. Again, this is NOT a crazy idea and at a minimum that $350 billion should be reduced if President Biden is serious about seeking bi-partisan solutions. And finally, there are some serious concerns on both sides of the political aisle that this amount of stimulus will lead to hyper-inflation for the country. That would hurt low-income and middle-income Americans the most. Again, this is not a crazy concern.
But the word on the streets of Washington now it that this 1.9 Trillion-dollar bill will be passed without any changes and without a single Republican vote in either house of congress. If this bill passes with a 51 to 50 vote in the Senate and no change in the 1.9 Trillion-dollar price tag, it will be a slap in the face of every conservative in this country. The very people he promised to reach out to and to represent. What part of “unity” does Joe Biden not understand?
But, of course, I still support the message that “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen delivered on Super Bowl Sunday. I think Republicans are willing to work with Democrats to create compromise, bi-partisan legislation. Democrats, however, need to stop demonizing everyone who has a different opinion and actually listen to them. This whole “unity” message may have been a sham from the beginning just to get elected. But, let’s hope not.
