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Payback for the Rich [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-02-18
I’ve raised small children, so I feel like I’ve got some insight into the mind of Donald Trump—and I think there’s a negotiating tactic Democrats ought to employ.
Here’s a common toddler-related scenario: they want something unreasonable. You want something reasonable. And they’d really like to get their way.
They’ll propose something ridiculous—staying up until midnight, for instance.
You counter with their bedtime: 8:30.
They’ll try to dig in their heels. And there’s a tendency to compromise, even if it’s just a little.
(You might see how this connects with the intuitions of some members of Congress….)
However, a better tactic is to penalize that stubbornness. If they insist on midnight, the bedtime moves to 8:15. If they persist, it moves up to eight. At any point, they can compromise on the exact thing you proposed to start—their regular old bedtime. And eventually, they do.
We should apply this logic to Doge and the FOTUS.
If they insist on cutting social programs and essential agencies, Ds should be unified in their commitment for payback when we take back control of government—because we will take back control. For every $1 they cut, we promise to raise taxes on billionaires by $2. Half that money can be used to restore every cut they made. The other half is gravy.
Call it the Payback Pledge.
This has an added benefit: billionaires are broadly unpopular. The prospect of making them pay their fair share is appealing to just about anyone who isn’t deep in the Project 2025 morass. This crystalizes that choice; it’s an electoral winner. And if Democrats broadly stand behind the Payback Pledge, it might make the toddler-in-chief think twice about his extremist budget cut tantrum.
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