OPINION:
As the dance over the debt ceiling and the budget continues, a definitive choice about our nation’s future is taking shape.
I have written about the rise of the extreme wing of the Democratic Party and its refusal to follow the overwhelming wishes of the American people. And I have written about growing bipartisanship in the House. Some rational Democrats have supported 86% of the bills that Speaker Kevin McCarthy has brought to the floor.
It occurred to me that these two patterns may represent a profound new way of thinking about American politics and government.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recognized the development of a new pattern in our system when she said, in her response to President Biden’s State of the Union address, “The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left; the choice is between normal or crazy.”
Certainly, the extremists who rewrite American history, promote racial discrimination, impose sexual ideology on children, and want to use the government to coerce the rest of us could be described as “crazy.” (Gad Saad’s amazing book “The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense” makes the case that we are dealing with a mental health problem more than a political ideology problem.)
How else do you explain Democrats rejecting the idea of parental rights? While 84% of all Americans favor parents’ right to know what their children are taught in school, only 12% oppose it. Yet every Democrat in the House voted against the Parents Bill of Rights. That certainly seems crazy politically.
Mr. Biden’s maneuvering around the debt ceiling and budget debate, however, made me realize there is a different contrast that may describe what’s happening more effectively. There are reasonable people trying to reach agreements that fit the desires and values of the people. And there are extremists who are fighting for a set of values supported by a small minority of the people.
The fight over the debt ceiling may be the best example of the gap between the reasonable wing of American politics and the extreme wing. Mr. Biden has said he will not negotiate. He does not want a single penny cut from spending, and he will not accept any spending changes added to the debt ceiling legislation.
The Biden position is resoundingly opposed by most Americans. Only 27% of Americans favor Mr. Biden’s position, while 45% would raise the debt ceiling only with spending cuts. Seventeen percent would not raise the ceiling at all because they believe too much government spending is waste.
If those who want to raise the debt ceiling without cuts joined with those willing to raise the ceiling with cuts, then there would be a 72% majority coalition. On the other hand, if Mr. Biden’s extreme position galvanized people in the other direction, he would face a 62% majority opposition.
Mr. McCarthy can (and should) continue to make the reasonable request that the two sides sit down and find a solution. If Mr. Biden maintains his extreme position of no negotiations and no cuts, then Mr. McCarthy can bring forward a debt ceiling bill with modest, reasonable spending changes. He knows the vast majority of the country will find Mr. Biden’s stubbornness unacceptable. In that circumstance, some of the Democrats who have been voting with Republicans may decide the best way to represent their constituents is to vote in a bipartisan coalition for a reasonable solution to the debt ceiling.
If these choices between reasonable, popular positions and extreme, fringe positions continue to define politics and government over the next two years, reasonable vs. extreme may be the theme of 2024.
• For more commentary from Newt Gingrich, visit Gingrich360.com.
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