Republicans spent us into a hole again with tax cuts for the rich & dumb wars. Once again Dems face the dilemma: do they opt for austerity (even in the face of intense public demands for relief) or do they find some way to raise taxes and get the money back?
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... and raise taxes on the middle class too. There's no way to fund a robust social democracy with only taxes on the rich.
So which is it? The immediate political comfort of "no new taxes" or getting started on the work of persuasion & organization required to raise taxes sufficiently?
I don't mean to be glib about this, there really is no good answer. Austerity will squander Dems' opportunity (like it squandered so much of Obama's) but anti-tax sentiment is deeeeeep in US consciousness & will be extremely difficult to change.
One thing that wouldn't bypass the dilemma but would at least ease it a bit is robust economic growth. That requires investing & building & not hanging the entire economy on an AI bubble.
I really don't know. What's the answer?
Even just reversing Trump's tax cuts is going to be a titanic battle in which they will be pilloried for "raising taxes while the country is hurting."
But if we want the US to become a real grown-up country with a decent safety net & public infrastructure, they'll have to go beyond that ...