美国人的记性真的这么差，已经忘记了乔·拜登和他的民主党同僚在短短两年多前造成的破坏吗？他们真的想再次走上开放边境、高犯罪率和令人窒息的取消文化的道路吗？
Have Americans got such short memories that they’ve forgotten the damage done by Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats just two-plus years ago? Do they really want to go down the path of open borders, high crime and suffocating cancel culture all over again?
如果共和党人在选举日选择留在家中，等待他们的就是这些。民主党人正在兜售虚构的“可承受性”举措，但他们主要谈论的还是反对唐纳德·特朗普。为什么？因为他们的政策并不得人心，也无法行之有效，他们对此心知肚明。
That’s what’s in store if Republicans stay home on Election Day. Democrats are campaigning on mythical "affordability" measures, but mainly they talk about opposing Donald Trump. Why? Because their policies are unpopular or unworkable and they know it.
如果民主党人重新夺回国会多数席位，他们将花时间推迟特朗普在确保边境安全、增加国内能源产量以及压制拜登引入的有害的多元、公平与包容（DEI）项目方面取得的成果。
If they recover the majority in Congress, Democrats will spend time reversing the gains Trump has made on securing the border, growing our domestic energy output and suppressing the injurious DEI programs that Biden introduced.
此外，他们将立即开始“调查”特朗普总统。他们会像在1月6日国会山骚乱之后一样，雇佣好莱坞制片人来拍摄他们的愤怒。正如2021年那样，如果共和党人保住对参议院的控制权，弹劾努力将会受阻，但民主党人根本不在乎。
Moreover, they will immediately start "investigating" President Trump. They’ll hire Hollywood producers to film their outrage, just as they did after the January 6 riots. As in 2021, if the GOP retains control of the senate, impeachment efforts will be stymied, but Democrats won’t care.
唯一的谜团是，在这部“续集”中，哪个共和党人会扮演利兹·切尼——那个在试图弹劾总统时伪善地背叛了自己党派的反特朗普人士。
The only mystery is which Republican in The Sequel will play Liz Cheney, the anti-Trumper who sanctimoniously betrayed her party in trying to impeach the president.
民主党人将浪费时间和金钱攻击唐纳德·特朗普，因为痛恨总统简直是将该党凝聚在一起的唯一纽带。选民们将白白等待他们新当选的代表去“解决”可承受性问题——这是他们竞选的核心承诺，因为极左翼和更为温和的民主党人根本无法就如何推进达成一致。
Democrats will waste time and money attacking Donald Trump because hating the president is literally the only thing gluing the party together. Voters will wait in vain for their newly-minted representatives to "fix" affordability, their principal campaign promise, because the far Left and more moderate Democrats cannot possibly agree on how to proceed.
全民医保？祝那些亲工会的民主党人能实现这个老掉牙的幻想吧。美国汽车工人联合会（UAW）或美国劳联-产联（AFL-CIO）的成员深知他们的医疗福利有多优厚，并将竭尽全力反对任何剥夺这些福利的企图。去年的一份组织备忘录对此作出了最好的诠释：“通用汽车斯普林希尔制造厂等地的UAW成员无需为家庭计划支付保费，没有免赔额，且共同支付额有限，最高仅为25美元。”你以为山姆大叔能做得更好吗？
Medicare for all? Good luck getting that perennial fantasy by union-loving Democrats. Members of the UAW or the AFL-CIO know how great their healthcare benefits are and will fight tooth and nail any attempt to take them away. An organizing memo from last year puts it best: "UAW members like those at General Motors’ Spring Hill Manufacturing plant pay no premiums for the family plan, have no deductible, and have limited co-pays with a maximum of $25 ." You think Uncle Sam is going to do better?
让住房更可负担？由温和派议员组成的中间派团体“新民主党联盟”希望：“在未来十年内砍掉繁文缛节，更新审批和分区规划以建造400万套住房”，这听起来很像特朗普，后者多年来一直将审批改革放在首位。他们还支持“利用创新的建筑技术来加速住房生产”。
Make housing more affordable? The New Democrat Coalition, a centrist group of legislators, wants to: "Cut red tape and update permitting and zoning to build four million homes in the next decade", sounding a lot like Trump, who has prioritized permitting reform for years. They also back "innovative construction technologies to accelerate home production".
第一项提案将不可避免地与环保主义者发生冲突，正是这些环保主义者推高了加利福尼亚州和纽约州等民主党执政州的住房成本。根据Realtor.com的一项研究，按照30%的住房成本门槛来算，全美只有11个州的收入中位数家庭能够买得起中位数价格的住房。在2024年的大选中，除了两个州之外，其余各州都投票支持了特朗普。全美住房最可负担的州是艾奥瓦州；最不可负担的则是纽约州。
The first proposal will run smack into the environmentalists who have pushed housing costs through the roof in Democrat-run states like California and New York. According to a study by Realtor.com, there are only 11 states in which, using the 30% housing-cost threshold, a median-income household can afford the median-priced home. All but two voted for Trump in 2024. The most affordable housing in the country is in Iowa; the least affordable is in New York.
第二项构想很聪明，但会疏远那些痛恨任何可能消除工作岗位的创新的工会选民（参见2025年码头工人协议）。11月选票上的另一项重大开支是能源成本，民主党人曾承诺将其降下来。回归新民主党联盟后，加速审批再次被提上日程，以便利建设“能源输送与发电基础设施”。同样被大力宣扬的是，通过“为所有形式的能源建立公平的竞争环境”，确保能源“充足且可用”。
The second idea, which is smart, will alienate union voters who hate any innovation that might eliminate jobs (see longshoreman settlement 2025.) Another big expense on the ballot in November is energy costs, which Democrats have promised to bring down. Returning to the New Democrat coalition, accelerated permitting is again on the menu to facilitate building "energy transmission and generation infrastructure." Also touted is ensuring energy is "abundant and available" through "establishing a level playing field for all forms of energy".
这其实是隐晦地表示：取消左翼认为对石油和天然气公司不必要的税收减免，并增加纳税人资助的对风能和太阳能等可再生能源的补贴。民主党人还承诺保护消费者免受数据中心驱动的价格上涨的影响，这个问题应在地方层面上解决，而不是由华盛顿的官僚来解决。
That’s code for eliminating what the Left considers unnecessary tax breaks for oil and gas companies and ramping up taxpayer-funded subsidies for renewables like wind and solar. Democrats also promise to protect consumers from price hikes driven by data centers, an issue which should be solved at the local level and not by Washington bureaucrats.
该联盟未能优先开采美国庞大的化石燃料储量，而这随着时间推移将保证负担得起的能源。乔·拜登通过取消或推迟租赁拍卖、钻探许可以及“美加输油管道”（XL Pipeline），提高生产费用并将有前景的土地排除在外，竭尽全力压制不断攀升的石油和天然气产量。受制于绿色游说团体的拜登白宫发动的反石油战争，对美国国家安全和我们的经济造成了沉重打击。阻碍新开采（例如在阿拉斯加），不可避免地会导致油价上涨。我们决不能让这种事发生。
The Coalition fails to prioritize exploiting America’s enormous reserves of fossil fuels which over time will guarantee affordable energy. Joe Biden did his best to squash climbing oil and gas production, by canceling or delaying lease sales, drilling permits and the XL Pipeline, raising fees on production and taking promising acreage off the table. The anti-oil war waged by the Biden White House, beholden to the green lobby, was a costly hit to U.S. national security and our economy. Blocking new production, like in Alaska, will inevitably lead to higher oil prices. We cannot let that happen.
是的，我们需要更快地审批电网建设，并且，是的，我们应该拥抱“包罗万象”的能源计划。但这并非左翼所允许的。
Yes, we need faster permitting of the build-out of the electric grid, and, yes, we should embrace an "all of the above" energy program. That is not what the Left will allow.
进步派人士，如纽约市市长佐赫兰·马姆达尼，旨在通过让政府提供“免费”住房、托儿及其他服务，使生活更加负担得起。他和他的年轻追随者不明白，更多的政府介入几乎必然导致效率低下和成本上升。看看高等教育吧。数千亿美元的纳税人资金资助孩子们上大学；学费涨幅远超通胀率，而文凭的价值却暴跌。
Progressives like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani aim to make life more affordable by having the government provide "free" housing, childcare and other services. He and his young followers do not understand that greater government involvement all but guarantees inefficiency and higher costs. Look at higher education. Billions of taxpayer dollars have funded kids wanting to go to college; tuition costs have soared way above the rate of inflation, and the value of the diploma has cratered.
当然，世上没有免费的午餐。左派想对富人和企业增税，但企业会通过涨价将更高的税负转嫁出去，而高收入美国人会搬往税收更低的地区，这在纽约正在发生。
Also, of course, nothing is free. The Left wants to tax the rich and businesses, but corporations will pass the higher levies along via price increases, and higher-income Americans will decamp to lower-tax locales, as is happening in New York.
同时，政府在福利和救济上的支出已将国家债务推高至40万亿美元，推高了利率和抵押贷款成本。在乔·拜登总统任内，开支激增至相当于二战时期的水平；目前仍处于不可持续的水平。特朗普白宫对医疗补助等昂贵项目设定了一些限制——民主党必定会竭力取消这些限制——并试图根除数千亿美元的欺诈性支付。还需要做更多工作，但民主党完全没有削减开支的意愿。
Meanwhile, government spending on entitlements and benefits has driven our national debt to $40 trillion, pushing interest rates and mortgage costs higher. Under President Joe Biden, spending exploded to levels commensurate with World War II; it remains at unsustainable levels. The Trump White House has put some limits on Medicaid and other expensive programs — limits Democrats will surely race to eliminate — and is trying to root out hundreds of billions in fraudulent payments. Much more needs to be done, but Democrats have zero appetite for cutting spending.
相反，民主党将推出只会让国家债务进一步膨胀的项目。以全民医保为例，据估计未来十年将耗资高达25万亿至35万亿美元。而这仅仅是他们待办清单上的一个项目。选民不应受骗：民主党不会降低物价。他们做不到。
Instead, Democrats will offer up programs that will inflate our national debt even more. Consider the price tag for Medicare-for-all, estimated to cost a staggering $25 to $35 trillion over the next ten years. And that’s just one item on their to-do list. Voters should not be fooled: Democrats will not lower prices. They cannot.