Economics Index and Qualifications
By Richard Bruce BA, MA, and PhC in Economics
Former Instructor St. John's University, New York City

---

Is Impeachment Good Politics?

From Nixon to Trump every elected Republican President has faced an attempt by one or more Democratic members of the House to impeach him. These years from 1973 to the present have not been good for the Democrats.

Sure they have won many elections, but they had to move to the right to win. Politics should be evaluated not by who won, but by what actually happened on the most important issues.

The Democrat party is the party of income equality. There was a trend toward income equality in the United States for several decades before Watergate. In 1973 the US had its lowest level of income inequality in American history. But after 1973 income inequality increased until the last couple of decades have seen some of the greatest inequality in American history.

Before Watergate the percentage of Americans falling below the official poverty threshold was decreasing. Since 1973 the percentage of Americans in poverty has never gotten down to the level attained in 1973. Not good for the Democrats who are supposed to be the antipoverty party.

Another major Democratic issue is the environment. In 1973 America was a world leader on environmental issues. In the 90s all but two major industrial democracies, Australia and America signed on to the Kyoto Protocol. But in Australia it was at least close. In the US the Senate voted 95 to 0 to reject the idea, and the actual treaty was never submitted for ratification. This year the Democratic Senators voted present rather than go on record as favoring the Green New Deal.

This era of impeachment has been one of failure for the Democrats on the major issues, but they have collected many participation trophies. For example, the name of a mountain in Alaska was changed to the traditional native American name. It could perhaps be argued that impeaching Trump without convicting him and removing him from office is just another feel good participation trophy.

Just because this era of impeachment has been so bad for the causes that the Democrats claim to champion does not mean that the Democrats constant attempts to impeach Republican presidents are the cause of those failures. However, it might be fairly safe to say the endless series of investigations have not proved to be a super effective strategy for enacting the Democratic platform into law.

---

Here is an index to my other pages on economics and politics, and a short review of my qualifications in economics.

Tell me what you think. Here is my contact info.

Posted May 22, 2020