U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, and her colleagues in the "squad" of four far-left freshman House members have captured attention of late by emphasizing the fact they are "women of color."
But the real issue for the Trump administration and the nation is that the powerful lawmakers are espousing a radical transformation of the nation's economy and system of government.
In Omar's case, she's spelled out on her campaign website her "vision" for America, which is to abandon the "capitalist system" in favor of a "fair and just economy" in which the federal government guarantees everyone jobs, housing, health care and free abortions, points out CNS News Editor Terrence P. Jeffrey.
In a section called "Ilhan's Vision," she presents an agenda that conflicts with the rights to life and property spelled out in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
"The capitalist system has led to a concentration of wealth in a small handful of elites while working people suffer," says Omar's vision statement. "We must stop the exploitation of working people to create a fair and just economy."
At a press conference Tuesday of House Republican leaders addressing the recent war on words between Trump and the "squad," Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming explained that Republican opposition to the four "socialist" lawmakers' "beliefs has nothing to do with race or gender or religion."
Joined by Reps. Steve Scalise and Kevin McCarthy, she said, "We oppose them and their policies because their policies are dangerous and wrong and would destroy America."
Omar -- along with a guarantee of a wage of at least $15 an hour, healthcare coverage and benefits -- proposes a program called "Homes for All." It would move the nation from a "free market" in residential real estate toward "publicly- and cooperatively-owned models of housing."
"Housing is a human right," Omar states. "However, the free-market does not meet the needs of working families, while big banks and for-profit developers continue to profit off of working communities."
Health insurance is also a human right, she says, proposing "Medicare for All, a single-payer healthcare system that guarantees quality care for every American."
Under Omarcare, Jeffrey notes, no one will pay anything for any health care service, including the killing of unborn children.
"It is horrifying that we continue to fight for the right to seek an abortion and access reproductive freedom," says "Ilhan's Vision."
Her vision is to be funded by creating "a more progressive tax system by increasing income tax for the wealthiest Americans."
The plan also would "[s]trengthen the estate tax to limit the amount of inter-generational wealth that can be accumulated in the wealthiest families."
Jeffrey points out that it's family-owned businesses, not massive public stock corporations, that pay estate taxes.
"The net effect is forcing families to sell their businesses to public corporations to raise money to pay a tax imposed on the death of a family member," he writes.
Omar's vision, he says, "would turn the America Dream upside down" and "take money from parents who have worked hard and saved to build a business they want to pass on to their children and give that money to individuals who want to abort their children."
Who, he asks, "is more likely to lead America to a better tomorrow: Those who work to build a family legacy? Or those who take a government handout to terminate theirs in the womb?"
No greater freedom
Cheney said at the news conference Tuesday the issue is "the content" of the four lawmakers' policies, "and we will continue to stand up and fight against what we know is wrong for this nation," BizPacReview reported.
"This is the greatest nation that has ever existed, the exceptional nation. And they are wrong when they fail to recognize that no people have ever lived in greater freedom," she said.
Cheney said "our socialist colleagues on the other side of the aisle are wrong when they advocate abortion up until the moment of birth, including partial-birth abortion, late-term abortion, and when they refuse to mandate care for babies who are born alive."
"Our colleagues are wrong where they say that we should open America’s borders, abolish ICE and abolish DHS. They’re wrong when they advocate policies that would eliminate all private health insurance in this country, destroy Medicare, and force the American people to pay for free healthcare for illegal immigrants,” Cheney continued, slamming Democrats’ call for a $15 minimum wage as a “callousness that’s born of ignorance."
She said the socialist programs would lead to massive government dependency.
And she condemned support for abolishing the Electoral College and packing the Supreme Court.
"And our colleagues are wrong when they tell Americans, when Congresswoman Pressley did just last weekend, that any individual seat at the table is only valuable, only legitimate if that person espouses some pre-approved set of beliefs deemed appropriate based on their religion or their gender or their race. When they say that, that is racist," Cheney said.
At a conference over the weekend, Pressley said, "We don’t need any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice," suggesting that lawmakers should represent issues and policies based on their race.