CZERNEJEWSKI: Is Democracy On The Ballot?

By Christine Czernejewski for Daily Caller News Foundation

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden used the waning days before the midterm elections to lecture Americans on what’s at stake this Tuesday.

“They [Americans] see that democracy is on the ballot this year, and they’re deeply concerned about it.”

Americans are right to be concerned about democracy. Our hard-won form of government and our freedoms are never a given and must be vigilantly defended, whether on a battlefield abroad or through the legal system here at home.

But democracy isn’t on the ballot. Rather, what’s on the ballot is something much bigger than that. It’s the very essence of America itself. If polls are correct, voters will be choosing the party that’s willing to defend America’s foundations accordingly.

There’s ample reason for them to do so, considering the Democrats’ record during their reign over the executive and legislative branches the last two years. On every major issue, Democrats have pushed a radical agenda that sows division, deepens the country’s problems, diminishes unity and undermines the principles that have made America a beacon of hope and opportunity.

Let’s start with the economy. Democrats passed nearly $2 trillion in unnecessary spending under the guise of COVID, even after five pandemic relief bills had passed the prior year — and before that money had even been spent. They tried to push through another $1.75 trillion infrastructure spending bill.

Biden also announced student loan forgiveness, which is projected to cost $379 billion over three decades and will be paid for on the backs of those who chose not to take on the cost of a four-year degree or who paid their loans off.

The reckless spending has driven inflation to a 40-year high and the national debt to over 133% of the economy. With an interest burden on the debt now approaching $1 billion a year, younger Americans will be grappling with this issue for the foreseeable future.

When Americans aren’t looking inside their dwindling pocketbooks, they’re looking cautiously outside for signs of crime or violence. The left has supported low bail policies, the early release of offenders and rhetoric that demonizes and demoralizes the police, all of which are contributing to rising crime.

Urban areas are more violent than they’ve ever been, with homicides at record levels. Suburban areas too have seen increased carjackings, theft and reckless driving. Even in mid-sized cities like metropolitan Milwaukee, crime has been prolific.

Nearby Waukesha County just watched the trial of a repeat criminal offender who, because he could meet a low bail amount from a previous offense, was able to drive his car through a Christmas parade, killing six and injuring 60. A few months later, eight people were injured at a shooting at a mall only a few miles from the parade. And shortly after that, 21 people were injured in three separate shootings only blocks away from where fans were leaving a Milwaukee Bucks playoff game. Then there are the everyday shootings that have become numbingly routine.

This is a microcosm of what’s happening in cities across America.

Finally, parents are revolting over the left’s education policies. Schools should be sanctuaries of learning but have become laboratories for gender ideology and race baiting under progressive regimes.

This, at a time when educators should be focused on making up for the devastating learning loss due to lockdowns driven by teachers’ unions. According to test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), all the gains students made in reading and math the past two decades have been erased in only two years.

Yet learning loss could have been avoided.

As recently noted by the leader of a Catholic school organization, “if all U.S. Catholic schools were a state, their 1.6 million students would rank first in the nation across the NAEP reading and math tests for fourth and eighth graders.” Catholic schools by and large stayed open throughout the pandemic.

So, is democracy on the ballot on Tuesday? Ask the small business owner struggling to find workers or the mom tucking her child in at night while worrying about the safety of tomorrow morning’s walk to school, or the parent fighting for their child to learn the very basics instead of age inappropriate curricula on gender.

They know democracy is critical to keeping the American dream alive. But they wonder if there will even be an American dream to live for under the policies of the progressive left. And that, Mr. President is what’s on the ballot on Tuesday.

Christine Czernejewski is a Milwaukee-based communications professional. She previously served in the Bush administration and on Capitol Hill. Views are her own.

Link to the original article on the Daily Caller website.