From requests to place one’s garbage in the freezer to defunding the police, the list of progressive policy absurdities continues to grow.
Certainly, those on the left have every right to profess their opinions. However, they must expect reasonable criticism when those views, as they frequently do, fail to meet expectations of logic and viability.
In areas as global as defense spending and as local as waste policy, the programs and practices Progressives advocate have invariably caused significant harm while producing little or no benefits.
Start with defunding the police. As Rep. Clay Higgens reported in 2022, “’Defund the police’” was more than just a catchphrase for the radical left. Democratic cities across the country reduced funding for their police forces over the past two years. Minneapolis, which saw some of the year’s most violent riots, cut its police budget by $8 million. Los Angeles slashed police funding by $150 million, and New York City shrank the NYPD’s budget by $1 billion. As a result, 14 major Democrat-run cities saw their highest homicide levels on record in 2021. The upward trend has not stopped. Fox News recently analyzed data from seven major cities and found that this year, violent crimes have increased up to 40% over 2021. The increase has been particularly pronounced in New York City and Seattle, two cities that were on the leading edge of the “defund the police” movement. Though, it’s not just homicide rates that are up. Carjackings have become commonplace in many cities, and major increases in organized retail theft have left business owners struggling, frustrated, and feeling abandoned by local leaders. Democrats are blaming everyone except their own policies for the drastic increase in violent crimes.”
Progressive spending policies, which did little to address infrastructure or any other issue, has put the U.S. Treasury in a deep hole. America is at the highest level of indebtedness in history.
The Biden White House was the most progressive in U.S. history. In foreign policy, his Administration’s disastrous weakness was a factor in Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine. His abject surrender of $7 billion dollars of military equipment to the Taliban produced incalculable harm. His refusal to condemn terrorism, in the Middle East or on college campuses, resulted in the greatest threats to Jews across the globe since the fall of the Third Reich. Similarly, his failure to address assaults on Christians in Africa and elsewhere produced an unprecedented diminution of religious liberty.
Progressive policies have jeopardized national security. Leftist spending policies during the Biden Administration resulted in net decreases in after counting for inflation, at a rime when China has openly threatened U.S. interests, Russia has mobilized for war, North Korea has enhanced it nuclear forces, and Iran is on the verge of getting nuclear weaponry.
In issues more local and mundane, the irrationality of progressive legislation has made life miserable for the citizenry. Consider a few examples.
America’s large cities are beset by traffic. Rather than address that dilemma, so-called infrastructure spending during the ultra-progressive Biden Administration was diverted to environmental policies that did little to help the environment but soaked up dollars that could have been utilized for traffic remediation. Inadequate road space has been made even more sparse by absurd policies that take up road space for bike lanes, which are viable for a microscopically small percent of commuters.
Perhaps one of the most salient examples of Progressive insanity comes from New York City, where extreme environmentalists have mandated composting for food scrapes. When residents have asked where to store the waste material, which cannot be placed with regular garbage and is only collected once a week, they were instructed to place the garbage in their freezers!
The list could go on indefinitely, including items such as giving illegal aliens vast amounts of funds that should have been directed to shoring up increasing shortfalls in safety net programs meant for American citizens. However, the militancy of Progressive politicians and their supporters defiantly ignores any utilization of common sense and practicality.
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