As part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan that passed in March (with zero Republican support), the child tax credit was increased from a maximum of $2,000 per year to $3,600, beginning last July. An estimated 39 million households with 88 percent of U.S. children could be eligible for the money, according to the IRS.
At the time, Politico’s Playbook weighed in, “Democrats around the nation have one major job today: Make sure everyone they talk to knows that their party is responsible for hundreds of dollars that will hit the bank accounts of parents today.”
Politico dubbed it “The Art of the Sale.”
Essentially, Democrats pass legislation transferring billions—or trillions—of taxpayer dollars to millions of Americans, many of whom are not struggling financially, and then rush to make sure voters know who was responsible for that largess.
And then criticize Republicans who don’t go along. Politico revealed that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a series of press releases attacking nay-saying Republicans. For example:
“GOP Rep. BRIAN FITZPATRICK fashions himself to be a moderate who seeks to solve problems — but when he had the chance to benefit more than 100,000 children in his district, he voted no.”
Was that money to help struggling families, or was there another reason?
We think the other reason was vote buying.
Now Democrats in Congress are trying to reach a consensus on what to include in their $3.5 trillion spending spree. And they want to dictate to employers how much family leave they must provide employees. As Politico’s Playbook notes:
“The biggest bones of contention are over how many weeks of leave to offer and which federal agency should run it: the Social Security Administration or Treasury Department. If it happens, Democrats are optimistic they’ll be rewarded in next year’s midterms, particularly by female voters.” (emphasis added)
Buying votes is an old practice. But at least in the past, it was usually on a small scale and politicians mostly used their own money.
Today, vote buying has moved to a grand scale, and politicians are using taxpayer or employer dollars.
The irony is that the old-style practice that affected very few votes was illegal and despised. The current practice, which is intended to buy millions of votes—and elections—is both legal and cheered.
September 8, 2021