Tuesday's New Hampshire presidential primary election offered voters an early opportunity to begin replacing the Biden administration and its failed policies. Choosing the GOP nominee for president is the first step to reversing the damage done to small businesses and the overall economy under President Biden.
However, fixing the country involves more than just replacing Biden. It means a wholesale rejection of the Democratic Party, whose platform has failed at all levels of government and will continue to fail no matter who's in charge.
Democrats' prioritization of big government over small businesses and individual freedoms reduces economic opportunity and living standards no matter who's the party's national leader. The names beside the "D" may change, but the bad policies will remain. Even liberal and longtime Democratic Party donor Jamie Dimon recently admitted President Trump was right about the economy, tax cuts, and other policies.
Consider three other key Democratic Party principles – executive overreach, fiscal irresponsibility, and the public-school status quo – that are wrong for the country.
The next Democratic presidential administration, whether it is led by Biden or someone else, will continue executive branch regulations that bypass Congress and wage war on small businesses. The Biden administration has unleashed dozens of labor and environmental regulations that make doing business far more difficult. These include new prohibitions on independent contracting and franchising, which are two popular pathways ordinary Americans use to punch their ticket to the middle class.
The Biden administration has also issued ridiculous new fuel economy standards that penalize small businesses transporting goods that don't fit into a Tesla. And it has forgiven over $100 billion in student loans, exacerbating the college cost crisis. This executive overreach would have occurred no matter what Democrat was in the White House and will continue so long as Democrats occupy it.
In Congress, Democrats unanimously support big government spending (a.k.a., Modern Monetary Theory), which has fueled historic inflation and put the nation in a perilous fiscal situation. While Biden deserves some responsibility for this reckless spending, Congress has the power of the purse, meaning Democratic senators and representatives are part of the trifecta of blame for this crisis.
Consider that nearly half of the nation's federal debt was accrued while Nancy Pelosi was Speaker of the House. Due to Democratic spending initiatives, more than $6 trillion has been added to the national debt since Biden became president. Annual deficits are now running at $2 trillion per year during a time when the economy is supposedly at full capacity. Annual interest on the debt is approaching $1 trillion, making it the third largest budget item after Medicare and Social Security.
As a result of this spending binge, prices of goods and services have increased by 20% since Biden took office, depressing American living standards. A vote for Democrats -- any Democrat -- is a vote for a continuation of this inflationary fiscal insanity.
At the state and local level, Democrats oppose education freedom, which offers ordinary students warehoused in failing government schools the opportunity to escape and get a good education. The biggest victims of the educational status quo are black and brown children trapped for no other reason than the zip code they live in, making education freedom the civil rights issue of our time.
Several states have enacted educational freedom accounts to widespread support from parents, but Democrats are nearly unanimously opposed at the behest of their teachers union donors. No Democratic Party officeholder will be able to stand up to the party's union paymasters.
Democrats have a failed governing vision. They want to dictate the energy we use, the cars we drive, and even the stoves we cook our food on. They want to insert themselves between us and our bosses, us and our doctors, and even us and our Uber drivers. Democrats loved being able to control the economy (and people's lives) during the Covid-19 pandemic -- even after it was clear that restrictions did not correlate with disease spread.
Why? Because they think they know better. And they don't believe in freedom. They want control. And power. As long as they are the ones who wield it. Voting for Democrats, whether Joe Biden or Joe Shmoe, is a vote for this failed and anti-American governing approach.
Alfredo Ortiz is president and CEO of Job Creators Network, author of “The Real Race Revolutionaries,” and co-host of the Main Street Matters podcast.
