The Future Of The United States Hangs In The Balance In Georgia

 

Everything hangs in the balance.

That’s a phrase you’ve likely heard several hundred times over the last few months. Whether in the mainstream press, alternative media, or from friends and family, “hangs in the balance” has found a nice home for itself in the mouths of millions of Americans.

First, the nation hung in the balance depending on the outcome of the November 3 election—regardless of which side of the aisle you found yourself on. After the media declared Joe Biden the winner of the election, and after certain pending Senate seats were decided, the next “hangs in the balance” moment was shifted to January 5.

Side bar—for the purposes of clarity, while I voted for President Trump, and have kept myself open to the possibility of the various allegations of irregularities and fraud being proven in the courts of law and public opinion (though the latter would be nearly impossible), I’m not hanging my hat on a come-from-behind victory for Team Trump.

Anyway, the reason why January 5 is so important is because on that date, two Senate runoff elections will take place in the state of Georgia, and those elections will decide which political party has control over the Senate for the next two years—but there’s so much more to it than that.

For the Democrats, control of the Senate essentially translates to a total monopoly of power in Washington D.C.

While a Republican-controlled Senate would likely cause gridlock for at least the next two years, the combination of a Democratic president, a Democrat-controlled Senate, and a Democrat-controlled House would mean that the Leftist agenda that’s been tenuously held back by President Trump and the Republican-dominated Senate could actually come to fruition with little pushback.

Just two months ago, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told MSNBC’s Joy Reid: “I’m not busting my chops to become majority leader to do very little or nothing. We are going to get a whole lot done. And as I’ve said, everything, everything is on the table.”

When probed as to whether statehood for Puerto Rico and D.C. were on the docket, Schumer replied: “I would — believe me, on D.C. and Puerto Rico, particularly if Puerto Rico votes for it, D.C. already has voted for it and wants it. I’d love to make them states.”

If the Democrats win both runoff races on January 5, they will have a 50-seat (plus tie-breaker Kamala Harris) majority in the Senate. If Sen. Schumer does what he said he wants to do, and Congress grants statehood to Puerto Rico and D.C., four additional senators would be added to the current body, all of whom would likely be Democrats—further shifting the balance of power to a formidable 54-50 Democrat majority.

During a recent interview with Lester Holt of NBC, Joe Biden said: “I will send [an] immigration bill to the United States Senate with a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people in America.”

If the Democrats win both runoff races on January 5, and thus have majority power, a bill providing a “pathway to citizenship” for 11 million illegal immigrants will likely pass both chambers of Congress, and be signed into law by a President Biden. It’s likely that such a pathway would guarantee voting rights, which would, by the data, give the Democratic Party a new and powerful electoral advantage, as Hispanic immigrants and Asian voters overall tend to favor Democrats.

According to The Wall Street Journal: “Among Hispanic immigrants eligible to vote, 53% are Democrats or lean that way, while 39% are Republicans or lean that way, according to December 2019 Pew data. … a 2018 survey of all Asian voters by researcher AAPI Data found 58% were favorable toward the Democratic Party and 34% toward the Republican Party.”

It’s also not unreasonable to believe that a higher percentage of illegal immigrants than legal immigrants would vote for Democrats as a gesture of thanks for their new citizenship.

At a September press conference with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), when asked about ending the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court, Sen. Schumer said that “if we win the majority, everything is on the table.”

Democratic Senator Ed Markey (MA) was more direct, tweeting: “Mitch McConnell won’t back down, and neither will we. We can defeat him if we mobilize and organize. That is why we must make it absolutely clear that if McConnell attempts to fill this seat, we will abolish the filibuster and expand the court when we retake the Senate.”

Even former President Barack Obama recently called for an end to the filibuster: “If all this takes eliminating the filibuster, another Jim Crow relic, in order to secure the God-given rights of every American, then that’s what we should do.”

If the Democrats win both runoff races on January 5, and thus have majority power, they will likely pack the Supreme Court and end the filibuster—appointing activist justices who would legislate from the bench, and axing a rule that encourages coalition-building and prevents simple-majority tyranny in the Senate.

What’s described above is not the whole of the Democratic wish-list, but sufficient enough to justify ringing the alarm bell.

This is what “hangs in the balance.”

There is certainly more to life than politics, but our political system and the ways in which our leaders are permitted to behave have a profound impact on that life—whether we want them to or not.

And so, the primary means by which we, as Americans, can prevent the Democrats from enacting their agenda is by supporting Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, whether that’s by voting for them (if you reside in Georgia), by donating to or volunteering for their campaigns, or by keeping the conversation alive on social media and in your real lives.