Senator Jon Tester Could Have Forced Biden to Take Action at The Border
This year a third of the Senate is up for reelection. In addition to possibly getting a new President we could also flip the Senate to Republican control. While Joe Biden gets most of the blame for the invasion taking place at our southern border, after all he invited millions in, I do think individual Senate Democrats deserve part of the blame as well. Because they could have stopped it.
It’s been said that all politics is local, and to me that implies that a member of the Senate has a certain amount of insulation from blame, and on this scale a national catastrophe. The average Montanan may not believe that their Senator can stop an invasion of this magnitude, surely that is just the fault of our senile commander and chief.
So should the people of Montana, or any other state for that matter, blame their Democrat senator, Jon Tester in this example, for the invasion at our southern border? After all he is just one member of the Senate, and Tester has acknowledged that there is a problem. Surely, he is doing everything he can. And he has said he is willing to work with Republicans to find a solution.
Is it accurate, and fair for Montana voters to hold Tester responsible? Yes, it is! It is totally fair and warranted.
In January of 2021 Joe Biden was inaugurated as President. His party had a majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate was split 50-50, with the Vice President as the tie breaking vote. Biden could not afford to lose a single Democrat on really any issue. Every Democrat Senator was a potential defector, a holdout that could make a demand. In effect a King. Senator Manchin of West Virginia used this leverage to force Biden and Democrats to move in a number of areas. For example, he held out to reduce spending.
If Tester really wanted to stop the invasion, he could have told Biden, “I want to help you Mr. President, but I want one thing. A secure border. And without it you can’t count on my support.” What could Biden do? Get mad? Yell at him? So, what. Would Biden threaten to come to Montana and campaign against Tester, vow to tell the people of Montana that Tester is blocking his agenda? That would actually help Tester. Montana is a red state. Trump carried Montana big.
Clearly Biden needed Tester more than Tester needed Biden. So, Biden would have caved, or at least made a concession or two. Maybe not a fully secure border, but there would be some concessions. Perhaps, getting rid of catch and release, or the retention of title 42, or the retention of remain in Mexico. Perhaps a promise to speed up some deportations. Anything. But Tester didn’t make a single demand as far as I can tell.
Why didn’t Tester didn’t push Biden? Why didn’t he use such obvious leverage? Because Tester is an open borders Democrat. He once mockingly declared a border wall was a relic from “medieval times.”
Montana Republicans should accuse Tester of doing nothing about the open border, because he did nothing to stop the invasion. He had the power to force Biden to change. And Tester failed to use his leverage.
This same argument should be used against every Senate Democrat. Manchin used the leverage that came with a tied Senate. Too bad Tester didn’t use the same leverage. Now our shelters are being overrun by migrants. Crime has increased, and taxpayers will get squeezed.
David Shephard is the Author of a new book, “Norton’s Choice; An Inside Politics Expose.”
1 comment
💯