{"id":1637313,"date":"2022-09-09T03:02:52","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T07:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1637313"},"modified":"2022-09-09T03:04:49","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T07:04:49","slug":"gops-unifying-midterm-strategy-should-treat-democrats-green-agenda-as-a-culture-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gops-unifying-midterm-strategy-should-treat-democrats-green-agenda-as-a-culture-war\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP\u2019s Unifying Midterm Strategy Should Treat Democrats\u2019 Green Agenda As A Culture War"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgops-unifying-midterm-strategy-should-treat-democrats-green-agenda-as-a-culture-war%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1637313&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>As midterm spending intensifies, Republicans should prepare to talk about Democrats\u2019 green agenda as another front in the elite culture war on America\u2019s middle class. Amid the GOP\u2019s struggle to bridge pre-Trump establishment politics with post-Trump populism, Democrats\u2019 class warfare makes that task much easier. <\/p>\n<p>Establishment Republicans who cut ads and cash checks are inclined to talk about dollars and cents, assuming\u00a0it\u2019s enough to motivate voters in a bad economy. They see this approach as one that is mutually exclusive with the culture war, allowing them to avoid the issues that make cocktail parties uncomfortable while also amassing power in Washington and keeping special interests happy. It\u2019s a win-win!<\/p>\n<p>Trump-aligned populists, on the other hand, saw vindication in Glenn Youngkin\u2019s blue-state gubernatorial victory last year. One lesson of that election, as we\u2019ve written here for years, is to understand the culture war as \u201cthe big tent\u201d \u2014 a narrative that when properly framed is more moral and more politically expedient than avoiding the matter altogether. <\/p>\n<p>This is at least somewhat <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/01\/mcconnell-sounds-like-he-wants-to-abandon-a-ship-rick-scott-wants-to-captain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fueling<\/a> the ongoing feud between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. As Federalist Senior Editor Christopher Bedford wrote last week, McConnell \u201cis angry the base didn\u2019t choose his guys\u201d in midterm primaries. Scott then took a shot at McConnell for publicly grumbling about certain candidates. But McConnell\u2019s distaste for culture warriors like Blake Masters needn\u2019t linger into the fall.<\/p>\n<p>When California asks people to buy electric vehicles, then <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/06\/california-dems-buy-evs-but-dont-charge-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tells them<\/a> not to charge the cars, we witness more than fiscal stupidity. The middle class is being forced to shoulder the burden of a haphazard green agenda that squeezes regular Americans in the short term for the sake of achieving foolish long-term energy goals. California\u2019s clumsy attempt to transition to renewable energy is mirrored nationally by the Biden administration. <\/p>\n<p>Americans are paying higher prices now because of Biden\u2019s regulatory war on fossil fuels. Senior Editor David Harsanyi put it well when he <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/07\/welcome-to-the-green-new-deal-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>, \u201cDemocrats are rigging the market to force you to buy a car that has a 200-mile reach and uses erratic and expensive energy when you already have increasingly efficient models in your driveway and tens of billions of easily accessible barrels of offshore fossil fuels here at home \u2014 and much more around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have centuries worth of the stuff waiting in the ground,\u201d he added. \u201cWhich gives us enough time to come up with some better ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As David points out, a Berkeley <a href=\"https:\/\/haas.berkeley.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/WP262.pdf\">study<\/a> found over 90 percent of taxpayer subsidies for electric vehicles went to the top income quintile as of 2015. The numbers overall are striking. \u201cSince 2006, U.S. households have received more than $18 billion in federal income tax credits for weatherizing their homes, installing solar panels, buying hybrid and electric vehicles, and other \u2018clean energy\u2019 investments,\u201d wrote the authors. \u201cWe find that these tax expenditures have gone predominantly to higher-income Americans. The bottom three income quintiles have received about 10% of all credits, while the top quintile has received about 60%.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Taxpayers have been funding subsidies for people who can already afford them. Money goes out of their paychecks and into their rich neighbors\u2019 Chinese solar panels. Renewables in general will replace our dependence on OPEC with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shellenbergermd\/status\/1567544336249913349?s=21&amp;t=cIE9bReM2PJJpry8YQpEwg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dependence<\/a> on China. Alternatively, we could allow Americans to go about business as usual while eliminating excess emissions where it\u2019s affordable (see: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/09\/21\/business\/energy-environment\/oil-climate-change-us-europe.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">carbon capture<\/a>), improving nuclear technology, and making other energy sources more efficient. <\/p>\n<p>If countries like China and the quickly growing India don\u2019t meet emission reduction goals, Americans will have suffered needlessly. China emits more greenhouse gases than every developed country <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-57018837\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">combined<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Higher fuel prices don\u2019t affect John Kerry like they affect the 58 percent of Americans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/06\/27\/more-than-half-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-amid-inflation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">living<\/a> paycheck to paycheck. For the laptop class, much of which resides in walkable cities, an extra few bucks in gas or taxes is annoying but fine. For others, it\u2019s enormous stress, it\u2019s a second job, it\u2019s less time with their children, more debt, or fewer drives to see relatives. <\/p>\n<p>Overall, to put it bluntly, high-profile environmentalists want to normalize a world with fewer children, less steak, and less driving. That amounts to a war on American culture. It\u2019s a political gift to Republicans and a moral imperative to fight. Not for the sake of cheap cuts of beef at Outback Steakhouse, but for the sake of communities and human flourishing.<\/p>\n<p>When white-collar Republican politicians talk about \u201cpain at the pump\u201d this fall, what they\u2019re really talking about is the consequence of a culture war on America\u2019s middle class \u2014 one that burdens the unwashed masses with lifestyle sacrifices our elites can weather more easily or simply refuse to give up altogether.  <\/p>\n<p>Many wealthy policymakers and investors will <a href=\"https:\/\/protectpublicstrust.org\/press-releases\/watchdog-files-lawsuit-demanding-records-of-granholms-energy-consultant-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">profit<\/a> majorly off the transition to \u201cclean\u201d energy while they force others to change their lives and fork over more of their paychecks. This is easy messaging for Republicans. Worried about culture warriors talking about Drag Queen Story Hours and abortion? First, don\u2019t be. Second, consider \u201cESG\u201d \u2014 environmental and social governance \u2014 as an all-encompassing corporate agenda to join forces with <a href=\"https:\/\/lifeissues.org\/environmental-groups-big-fans-planned-parenthood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">groups<\/a> like Planned Parenthood to bulldoze our culture. The left sees these causes as intertwined, and the right must understand that.<\/p>\n<p>As working-class voters shift away from the Democratic Party, the left\u2019s agenda becomes increasingly entangled with the interests of elites, from environmentalism to student loan bailouts to marriage to policing. Republicans should be shrewd enough to recognize the opportunity and smart enough to understand the stakes are higher than partisan politics. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Emily Jashinsky is culture editor at The Federalist and host of Federalist Radio Hour. She previously covered politics as a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner. Prior to joining the Examiner, Emily was the spokeswoman for Young America\u2019s Foundation. She\u2019s interviewed leading politicians and entertainers and appeared regularly as a guest on major television news programs, including \u201cFox News Sunday,\u201d \u201cMedia Buzz,\u201d and \u201cThe McLaughlin Group.\u201d Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Real Clear Politics, and more. Emily also serves as director of the National Journalism Center, host of The Hill\u2019s weekly show \u201cRising Fridays,\u201d and a visiting fellow at Independent Women&#8217;s Forum. Originally from Wisconsin, she is a graduate of George Washington University.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As midterm spending intensifies, Republicans should prepare to talk about Democrats\u2019 green agenda as another front in the elite culture war on America\u2019s middle class. Amid the GOP\u2019s struggle to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":554,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1637313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1637313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/554"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1637313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1637313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1637313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1637313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1637313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}