Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) warned the Democrat Party this week that they are going to get decimated in the midterms if they do not deliver significant results for the American people in the coming months.
“Given all that we face, now is not the time to think small. It is time to think big, very big,” Sanders, a twice-failed presidential candidate, said last night, according to remarks recorded by McClatchy reporter Francesca Chambers. “With Joe Biden as president and Democrats controlling the House and Senate for the first time since 2010, we will be judged on what we deliver for the American people in their time of need. The people want action, not excuses.”
“And let me be very clear. I have zero doubt that unless we significantly improve the lives of the American people this year, Democrats will get wiped out in the 2022 midterm elections,” continued Sanders. “That is what happened when Democrats had the House, the Senate and the presidency under Bill Clinton in 1994 and that is what happened under Barack Obama in 2010.”
“Politicians and media focus a great deal on drama, personality and conflict,” he concluded. “That’s how they define politics. That is not my view. Politics is nothing more complicated than delivering policy that positively impacts the lives of working families.”
Bernie with a prediction tonight that Dems will get "wiped out in 2022" unless they significantly improve the lives of Americans. pic.twitter.com/kXa358A0v9
— Francesca Chambers (@fran_chambers) January 22, 2021
As Sanders correctly highlights, the party in power usually takes a hit during midterm elections, especially if things are not going well in the country.
The Senate is technically split right now, although with a Democrat administration in office the vice president breaks any ties in the Senate, which effectively gives Democrats control of the chamber. Democrats also saw their margin in the House of Representatives significantly shrink after November’s elections, despite widespread predictions that they were going to gain seats.
Biden’s economic agenda could potentially cause damage to the U.S. economy, according to various reports that have been published in recent days.
“Biden’s effort to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour is estimated to kill as many as 3.7 million jobs, according to a recent nonpartisan analysis by the Congressional Budget Office,” Fox Business reported. “Based on the CBO’s median estimate, 1.3 million workers who would otherwise be employed would be jobless in an average week in 2025, an 0.8% reduction. However, the CBO also noted that a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour would increase the wages of 17 million workers in an average week in 2025.”
Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement also could harm the U.S. economy.
The decision “will be cheered by environmental alarmists and those who envision a world with the United States subservient to international organizations as their preferred model,” Heritage Foundation Senior Advisor Mike Howell wrote. “The Paris agreement was — and always has been — a sham. And it’s an expensive sham for Americans, projected to cost 400,000 jobs, an average income loss of more than $20,000 for families of four, and a $2.5 trillion hit to the nation’s gross domestic product.”