(10-02-2018 01:35 PM)illiniowl Wrote:  Simplifying the tax code such that tens of thousands of employees are no longer needed to enforce all the various nooks and crannies is not a "fringe" idea. I would imagine support for that idea is quite broad. (Certainly there would remain the fundamental left-right disagreement over the level of taxation that should obtain after any such simplification.)

Shutting down all federal taxation would certainly be a fringe idea, but there are no actual officeholders or serious candidates advocating same.

"Creating a world in which there are no more deportations," which is the stated goal of the Abolish ICE movement, is also a fringe idea -- Lad's even acknowledged it as such -- but the Dems do have some actual politicians advancing that idea. That's been my point: Republicans do a better job of keeping fringe ideas confined to the fringe.

And the Dems also have plenty more serious politicians hemming, hawing, obfuscating, and dodging the question about what "Abolish ICE" "Restructure and Reorganize ICE" really means. If it means let's "simplify" immigration law to the point that it's basically impossible to either violate it or get caught violating it or face removal as a sanction for violating it, then that is simply advocating for open borders (a fringe idea) through the back door rather than the front.

At some point, electing a reality TV star to be president was a fringe idea, and yet, here we are.