Pirate's Cove

These Democrats are the exact reason that the 17th Amendment should be repealed: Senators would be elected by state general assemblies, as originally intended, which would pull the power of the federal government back to the states where it belongs. Because they are really, really enthused to give the Central Government more power, which means taking away your choice and liberty. And money. To the point that the Washington Post’s Dan Balz noticed

Democrats signal a turn toward liberal ambitions and government activism

The first debate of the 2020 presidential campaign offered a clear road map of a new Democratic Party, one that favors a series of ambitious and liberal domestic initiatives and that is more willing than some Democrats of the past to use the powers of the federal government to intervene in the economy.

On a range of issues, including immigration, climate change, health care, the economy and more, the Democratic candidates were unabashed in their enthusiasm for more government activism, signaling not only differences with President Trump but also with a more cautious approach by Democratic politicians of the past two decades.

Well, with the rise of the Democratic Socialist bloc in the House, and pretty much every Democrat on the stage suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, they seem more willing to expose their Progressive/Marxist/Socialist/Fascist/Authoritarian (we’ll just call that Modern Socialism) beliefs more than they normally would. This might play well with their base, but, it won’t play in the general election. And it risks turning off moderate Democrats

The economy described by the candidates bore little resemblance to the economy the president speaks about on an almost daily basis. At a time when unemployment is at a half-century low and the stock market continues to rise, the Democrats spoke of the imbalance between giant corporations and wealthy individuals and working families who candidates said are being taken advantage of.

“When you’ve got an economy that does great for those with money and isn’t doing great for everyone else, that is corruption, pure and simple,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), who is one of the leading voices pushing the party to the left. “We need to call it out. We need to attack it head on.”

Warren was far from the only candidate who offered that diagnosis of the economy. The Democrats might have differed on some of the specifics of how to attack the problem — such as the potential breakup of big tech companies — but there was widespread agreement that Democrats in the White House would seek to redistribute power and the fruits of the economy.

I’m surprised they didn’t discuss nationalizing private corporations

On health care, Democrats differed over whether the path to universal coverage should mean Medicare-for-all and an end to private insurance or be accomplished on a more piecemeal basis. But all signaled a new aggressiveness on the part of their party to move beyond the Affordable Care Act that was one of the prime successes of the administration of former president Barack Obama.

Warren and De Blasio stated that they would get rid of all private insurance.

Booker and Klobuchar are both enthused to use the power of government to violate the Constitution and restrict 2nd Amendment Rights.

They were all also super-enthused to expand abortion on demand, and then there was immigration

Immigration produced some of the sharpest exchanges, as former housing secretary Julián Castro challenged others, most specifically fellow Texan Beto O’Rourke, a former congressman, to join him in changing the offense for crossing the border illegally from a criminal to a civil penalty. But overall, the Democrats’ indictment of the Trump administration was consistent and strong.

It is technically a civil penalty for a first offense: a small fine and deportation. What they really mean, though, is “penalizing” them with no fine, no deportation, and free citizenship.

Next up is the 2nd debate with the Dems polling higher, which should also be a fun fest of increasing the power of the government.