In 1838, Abraham Lincoln spoke before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois.  There, Lincoln observed that "America will never be destroyed from the outside.  If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."  While Lincoln was talking about the dangers of slavery, his message also applies today.  More particularly, congressional Democrats are so obsessed with defeating the president that they have lost touch with reality.  Some of the proposed policies by those on the far left will serve to destroy the country from within by leaving the country more porous, more vulnerable, and in dire financial shape.  For this reason, these far-left policies must be rejected.

Immigration

Almost three weeks ago, President Trump announced a three-week temporary end to the partial government shutdown that did not include funding for a border wall.  In doing so, he put country over politics and put the onus on the Democrats to negotiate in good faith and to put partisan politics aside on the issue of border security.  The three-week period ends today.  According to the Washington Examiner, just days away from another potential government shutdown, House and Senate negotiators reached a "bipartisan" deal "in principle" that provided 1.375 billion dollars in funding for physical barriers along 55 miles of the Rio Grande Valley.  In addition, per PBS, the deal would include "funding for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain an average of 45,274 people a day for the rest of this fiscal year, which Democrats assert would force ICE to cut daily detentions for the rest of the year.

If the president does not have adequate funds to build the wall, our borders will remain highly porous, and people who are in the country illegally could be set free.  In addition, "Senate Democrats recently introduced legislation to prevent the president from using military and disaster relief funds to construct the U.S.-Mexico border wall should he declare a national emergency," according to The Hill.  In other words, they blatantly attempted to circumvent the president's powers under the National Emergency Act.

The Democrats' refusal to adequately fund the border wall simply to get back at the president is dangerous and leaves the country more porous and more vulnerable.    

Taxes

According to some of the far left, the time has come to significantly raise taxes on the wealthy.  There is no better example than the State of New York.  According to the New York Post, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren (D) and New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently proposed that "Americans who happen to be very rich pay upward of 70 percent tax on their incomes."  Ocasio-Cortez intended to use the tax hike to fund her Green New Deal.  According to Americans for Tax Reform, "[t]he current top federal income tax rate is 37 percent, so the Ocasio-Cortez plan will nearly double the tax rate for the top bracket.  New York State has a top income tax rate of 8.82 percent while New York City has a top rate of 3.876 percent.  So under this proposal, her constituents would pay a top combined income tax rate of 82.7 percent."

While some might argue that the "very rich" should pay more in taxes, the "progressive" proposals by Warren and Ocasio-Cortez have historically failed and carry certain risks.  For example, the wealthiest people in New York (and elsewhere if other states follow suit) could decide to leave the state for a more tax-friendly environment.  Additionally, companies could decide against setting up shop in New York if they face exorbitant taxes, making for fewer job opportunities.  This socialistic approach was previously implemented in Sweden and failed miserably.

The impact of such exorbitant tax hikes would hurt individuals, businesses, and jobs throughout the country.  Sadly, these failures would be the byproduct of our own policies and decisions.

Medicare for All

Medicare for All sounds nice on paper.  Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and several other Democrats have strongly pushed for this type of system.  In essence, this system abolishes Medicare and outlaws private insurance.  Therefore, the government controls everyone's medical care and decides on the payment schedules, treatment options, and coverage (and limitations thereto).

However, because the government will be paying for all medical care, it will pay doctors and hospitals at reduced rates.  As such, since doctors can't make up their losses by billing private insurance (which is barred), they will have to see more patients, thereby reducing the quality of care.  This would ultimately hurt everyone.  Elderly patients would be hit particularly hard because their medical conditions are typically more complicated, and doctors would push them to the end of the line, given the amount of time it would take to see them.  According to The Hill:

There's no disputing what Medicare-for-all would cost.  The left-leaning Urban Institute and the right-leaning Mercatus Center at George Mason University estimate $32 trillion over 10 years.  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wants to hike the marginal rate on the uber-rich to 70 percent.  That would raise less than $1 trillion dollars in a decade, a mere fraction of the cost of Medicare-for-all.

Sanders himself offered several tax-hike proposals, including a job-killing hike in the capital gains rate to as much as 64.2 percent, but all of his tax-hike proposals together would bring in less than half the revenue needed.

Here's the bitter truth: According to Congressional Budget Office data, raising $32 trillion in tax revenue would require adding 36 percentage points to the marginal tax rate of every federal income taxpayer in the United States.  Not just the rich — everyone.  The single woman earning $82,500 and the couple earning $165,000 would see their rates soar from 24 percent to 60 percent.  Ouch.

As is evident, this far-left system (proposed by some within the United States), is virtually impossible to maintain and is un-sustainable.

The United States is a melting pot with people from all over the world.  It is a country that welcomes people with open arms and gives them the opportunity to live the American dream.  Our freedoms rely on our nation's laws and policies, the majority of which are just and fair.  Unfortunately, some of the proposed policies by those on the far left will serve to seriously hurt the country by leaving the country more porous, more vulnerable, and in dire financial shape.  For this reason, these far-left policies must be rejected. 

Mr. Hakim is a writer, commentator, and practicing attorney.  His articles have been published in The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, The Western Journal, American Thinker, and other online publications.  

https://thoughtfullyconservative.wordpress.com

Twitter: @ThoughtfulGOP