In 1982, first lady Nancy Reagan hit the road with a catchy slogan: “Just Say No”. Her message was music to Republican ears. Three words. One syllable apiece. Easy to chant. Puritanical. Condescending. Simplistic. And absolutely useless for fixing the drug abuse crisis that it purported to address.
Over time her campaign became a model for right-wing politics. That it was ineffective in solving the problem was beside the point; it was a winner when it came to motivating the Republican base.
Soon empty-headed mantras popped up everywhere. “Soft on crime” to resist legal reforms. “Tax and spend” to denounce government programs. “Right to life” and “Abortion on demand” to demonise women’s reproductive freedom. “True love waits” in lieu of sex education. “Build the wall” instead of immigration reform.
Sometimes two words sufficed. “Death panels” to oppose universal health care. “Family values” to dog-whistle against feminism and homosexuality. “Judicial activism” when judges upheld individual rights. “Liberal media” to defame and intimidate the free press.
Along the way, the GOP morphed into the NO Party. A movement that defines itself by what it stands against rather than what it’s for.
Against abortion. Against gun restrictions. Against taxes on the wealthy. Against regulations. Against climate change mitigation. Against universal health care. Against voting rights. Against immigration. Against unions. Against wage rises. Against family leave. Against child care. Against child tax credits. Against LGBTQIA+ equality. Against affirmative action. Against criminal justice reform.
Against abortion
In June the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, eviscerating women’s reproductive autonomy at the stroke of a pen. Republicans, typically jubilant in victory, were muted in celebration of their political triumph. That’s because they know 61% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, and that politicians should not interfere with women’s health choices.
Last week a ballot in Kansas reinforced this majority view. Voters flocked to the polls to stop an amendment that would have repealed a state constitutional protection for abortion by a 59%-41% margin. This in ruby-red Kansas, where Donald Trump won by a 15-point margin in 2020, and which hasn’t backed a Democrat since Lyndon B Johnson in 1964. Republican legislators in Indiana showed their contempt for public opinion, responding with a near-total abortion ban three days later.
Against gun restrictions
Across the country, Republican state lawmakers have made it their mission to eliminate barriers for people to own, carry and shoot firearms. These measures are at odds with public sentiment, with clear support for stricter gun safety policies. In June Congress enacted the first new gun law in nearly three decades. Two-thirds of Americans approve of it, and 63% want Congress to pass stronger limits on access to guns. Thirty-three Republican senators, two-thirds of their contingent, voted against the bill — 193 House Republicans, 92% of that caucus, rejected it.
Against taxes on the wealthy
Eighty per cent of Americans believe that corporations and the wealthy don’t pay their fair share of taxes. Only one-third say the same about poor people. On Sunday the US Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, imposing a 15% minimum corporate tax rate on companies with more than US$1 billion in annual income, a 1% excise on stock buybacks, and US$124 billion to bolster tax collection by the Internal Revenue Service. Every Republican senator voted no.
Against climate change mitigation
Three-quarters of Americans accept that human activity has contributed to climate change, with seven in 10 favouring initiatives to curtail future damage. The Inflation Reduction Act includes the largest package of climate change provisions in American history, with US$369 billion allocated to clean energy investments that will help slash greenhouse gas emissions. Again, every Senate Republican opposed this plan. House Republicans have vowed to do the same when they vote on the bill this Friday.
Against universal health care
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was the crowning achievement of the Obama administration. It followed a long trail of failure to extend healthcare to all by successive administrations. Theodore Roosevelt failed. Harry S Truman failed. Richard Nixon failed. And Bill Clinton failed too. Launched in 2014, a half-century after Medicare provided national health insurance to retirees, the ACA offered 48 million uninsured Americans access to medical care. It also enhanced several health insurance benefits for all Americans, and prohibited the denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
The legislation was modelled on a similar statewide scheme adopted by Massachusetts in 2006, and signed into law by then Republican governor and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Obama’s officials hoped that mirroring Romney’s comprehensive health plan would help secure Republican backing. They were wrong. Romney himself opposed it, effectively repudiating his own idea. Politics doesn’t get more cynical than that. Republicans spent the next decade doing all they could to undermine and destroy the law, even as it became widely accepted and popular among Americans. Two-thirds now favour federal government-guaranteed healthcare.
Since President Biden’s inauguration, Republican nihilism has only worsened. Angling to reclaim control of Congress in this year’s November midterm elections, the party has dusted off its 2010 playbook. Obstruction at every turn. It worked then, ushering the Tea Party landslide in the House of Representatives. Why not now?
This year it resisted providing $28 million to ease the baby formula shortage, after falsely blaming the Biden administration for the market failure. It opposed a bill to ban gas price gouging, while slamming Biden for soaring gas prices. It rejected the CHIPS and Science Act, while claiming to support American jobs and national security. It blocked a proposal to cap insulin costs at $35 a month for diabetics, after piously demanding action be taken. It voted against same-sex marriage. It voted against contraception. And it voted against the PACT Act to provide health benefits to sick war veterans, before public outrage forced it to back down.
The list goes on and on.
At some point Americans will tire of the Republicans’ dog-and-pony show. Wanton obstruction in the pursuit of power is no longer a sure bet. If the GOP continues to reject ideas preferred by strong majorities of its fellow citizens, it will pay at the ballot box.
Nancy Reagan’s exhortation rallied the faithful, but it did nothing to help Americans in need. Forty years later the drugs epidemic is worse than ever. Proof that shallow sound bites are no substitute for practical policies.
