Republicans: Rightward shift has US out of balance

A spectrum shift has occurred in U.S. politics. Today’s GOP isn’t the same as it used to be. Presidents Eisenhower or Nixon wouldn’t last long in the party today.

Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency and signed the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. Did anybody ask “How will you pay for it?”

During Dwight Eisenhower’s presidency, the top tax rate was 91 percent. America thrived in the 1950s; one bread-winner’s income was able to support a family of four quite well.

Today, we have a president who’s brought what were considered extreme right-wing views into public policy. Today’s Republicans consider corporate executives that support LGBT rights or say “Happy Holidays” in December as far left.

How can Democrats work across the aisle with a rightward-shifting GOP?

Democrats are making a valiant effort to return the U.S. to the more balanced and equitable policies of the past, which created the largest middle class in history.

The far right has succeeded in moving the country’s politics so far away from the center that the sensible policies of the ‘60s and ’70s now appear revolutionary.

This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Republicans: Rightward shift has US out of balance."