Recently, I wrote a blog post about The Progressive Advantage as it pertains to Colorado politics. Subsequent to this post I attended a lecture wherein a speaker from the American Legislative Exchange Council gave an overview of the progressive infrastructure on a national basis. I wrote about that in an essay for the Kim Monson Show. To complete the picture of what the Left wants to do with the political power they are so avid to accumulate, I recommend the book Power Grab: The Liberal Scheme to Undermine Trump, the GOP, and Our Republic by former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz.

Consisting of an Introduction and 11 chapters, Chaffetz leads the reader through a description of how progressives hijacked his last town hall in his district and how they have monetized public anger and weaponized public charities. He describes who the “real authoritarians” are and how they create false narratives and engage in egregious double standards. He describes how they Left’s top priority is protecting “the Swamp” and how they are trying to change the fundamental rules by which this country has operated for over 200 years to expand and preserve their power. He then talks about how the Democratic majority in the United States House of Representatives has weaponized the power of Congress against the Trump administration and their political enemies and how committee investigations waste time and taxpayer resources on political vendettas. 

He concludes the book with a look at the Democrats’ impeachment dilemma and a “positive path forward”.

In the Introduction, Representative Chaffetz describes how he held a town hall meeting in his deep red Utah district. Widely publicized by an “Indivisible” group in Utah, people from all over the west started inquiring about the event. He alluded to the death threats he and his family had received over the years and how the local police department, utilizing the “Indivisible Guide”, were able to develop a sound security plan that helped keep the event from spiraling out of control. He describes what happened after the event began:

“Inside, as the meeting began, things were less settled. We kicked things off in the usual manner but to a much different response. As instructed by organizers, the audience attempted to shout me down on every question. Thanks to the [Indivisible Guide] manual, we knew ahead of time how the organizers had instructed attendees to take control of the meeting and prevent me from answering questions, to disrupt the dialogue and incite an incident. Everything about the opposition was calculated. They were specifically instructed to spread out among the seats to create the illusion of consensus. The Indivisible Guide reads, “Do not all sit together. Sit by yourself or in groups of 2, and spread out throughout the room. This will help reinforce the impression of broad consensus.” They even orchestrated the applause. The guide reads, “After one member of your group asks a question, everyone should applaud to show that the feeling is shared throughout the audience. Whenever someone from your group gets the mic, they should note that they’re building on the previous questions—amplifying the fact that you’re part of a broad group.” Who were they trying to deceive with this performance? These strategies are designed to create an illusion of unanimity. Who were they trying to persuade? The audience was filled with like-minded people. The crowd would have been content to drown me out all night. I was not their target audience. So, who was? The Indivisible Guide offers this advice: record everything. “. . . unfavorable exchanges caught on video can be devastating for MoCs [Members of Congress]. These clips can be shared through social media and picked up by local and national media.” There is the answer. The whole thing was intended to be political theater for a national news audience. It was a show—a highly choreographed, carefully orchestrated, nationally directed pageant for coastal elites to feast upon, comfort for the broken souls of the progressive left. Both in and outside the venue, people were supporting extreme left-wing positions that actual Utah 3rd Congressional District voters resoundingly rejected by large majorities.” [Emphasis mine]

Chaffetz, Jason. Power Grab (pp. 8-9). Broadside e-books. Kindle Edition

This, of course, should be shockingly familiar to anyone who has attended a town hall given by former Representative Mike Coffman or Senator Cory Gardner, who have been routinely shouted down by progressive activists from across the western United States.

The first two chapters, “Monetizing Anger” and “The Weaponization of Public Charities” describe how the nonprofit sector in America overwhelmingly favors the progressive side. Tax-exempt charities like Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACORN, the Southern Poverty Law Center and others funnel money from donors (and taxpayer funds) to Democratic candidates and progressive initiatives.  In the weeks following the 2016 election, nonprofits raked in massive amounts of cash, fueled by “rage donations” in response to the election of Donald Trump.

According to Chaffetz: “With no limits on donations, no disclosure of who is donating, no means of discerning whether foreign governments are participating, and with minimal oversight, a growing list of political nonprofit advocacy groups operate freely and openly in the partisan political space.”  Ibid, page 20

Of course, we have seen this first hand here in Colorado, with progressive nonprofits funding various organizations in the Progressive Infrastructure including ProgressNow Colorado, New Era Colorado, the Bell Policy Center, and others. Chaffetz reviews some of the investigative work he has done into the nonprofit sector and illustrates just how powerful a weapon it is for the progressives.

In the chapter on Weaponizing Public Charities, Chaffetz sheds light on for-profit enterprise known as Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. According to their website, “Grassroots Campaigns is a progressive organization that specializes in running face-to-face campaigns for political parties, candidates, and advocacy groups. We build membership bases and mobilize citizens for groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, the Democratic National Committee, and Doctors Without Borders”. 

Other clients of Grassroots Campaigns include:

• America Votes
• Amnesty International USA
• Center for American Progress
• Colorado Democratic Party
• Common Cause
• Everytown for Gun Safety
• Media Matters
• MoveOn.org Political Action
• Nevada State Democratic Party
• People for the American Way
• Southern Poverty Law Center

The list of services they provide includes:

• Fundraising
• Paid Voter Contact and get-out-the-vote (GOTV)
• Volunteer Voter Contact and GOTV
• Voter Registration
• Volunteer Recruitment and Organizing
• Advocacy 
• Phone Services 
• Training
• Consulting

Finally and not surprisingly, they have an active presence in the state of Colorado:

It turns out Grassroots Campaign is owned by Colorado’s own Douglas Phelps, who is a founding member of the Colorado Democracy Alliance (see The Blueprint: How the Democrats Won Colorado (And Why Republicans Everywhere Should Care). In an example of the double standards Chaffetz mentions later in the book, Phelps and his organizations have been criticized for unfair labor practices including paying canvassers and activists very low wages. 

In the chapter titled “The Real Authoritarians”, Chaffetz discusses many of the fears people communicated to him after the election of Donald J. Trump in 2016. Among those fears: that Trump would target LGBTQ+ people and people of color to somehow “take away their rights”. Chaffetz also describes how people on the Left try to paint Trump as a “fascist” when it is their side who are the true fascists through their attempts to silence free speech and expand the force of the state. On the contrary, though you will not hear this from the mainstream media, the Trump presidency has been remarkably successful. We have the strongest economy in decades, record low unemployment (especially among minorities) and strong wage growth. Trump has not made any efforts to restrict the rights of any American citizens, and indeed is governing as a conservative.

As Chaffetz puts it: “To the extent that elements of fascist philosophy have emerged, they have come from the left. Freedom and fascism are not compatible. When you implement policies that expand freedom, force contracts. When you expand force, freedom is suppressed. And the left is all about suppressing freedom.” [Emphasis mine]

Chaffetz, Jason. Power Grab (p. 74). Broadside e-books. Kindle Edition.

In the chapter on false narratives, Chaffetz describes how a good narrative is a powerful tool in the political arsenal. He reviews how the Democrats elevated failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to create a false narrative about voter suppression in Georgia. He describes at length the nature and tactics of the Left during the confirmation hearings for Judge (now Justice) Brett Kavanaugh. Chaffetz describes the Left’s playbook as this:

“The Kavanaugh hearings showcase that hysteria at its apex. Just as it had at my town hall meeting, the opposition followed a prepared playbook. It goes like this. 

• The Media Machine: Democrat allies deliver a highly choreographed and coordinated rollout.  
• Upping the Stakes: Senate Democrats open with attempts to tie the nomination to their ongoing collusion investigation.  
• Stalling and Distraction: Democrats seek to obscure their specious narrative with pointless procedural posturing, followed by a race to amp up the drama.  
• Moving the Goalposts: Once the narrative is finally exposed, there’s the age-old tactic of moving the goalposts at the finish line. It’s a high-stakes game of Calvinball.  

We saw many of these same elements as the Mueller investigation into Russian collusion drew to a conclusion. As long as the pattern provides short-term political gains, it doesn’t have to be true to be useful. The public provides those short-term gains when we uncritically accept the narratives being fed to us.”

Chaffetz, Jason. Power Grab (pp. 87-88). Broadside e-books. Kindle Edition.

The chapter on Double Standards gives the reader an overview how the Democrats, once they took power in the 2018 election promptly started changing the rules of how they do business in the House of Representatives. Highlights of this long chapter include how Democrats have a) stifled government reform, b) changed the rules of how taxes are accounted for (to favor the government, of course), c) reinstated a means of hiding debt ceiling increases, d) removed barriers to new taxes and spending, e) changed how the House forecasts the real costs of legislation. He wraps up the chapter discussing how Speaker Pelosi plans to protect her power. Now, none of this has been reported in the mainstream media, but these things should be gravely concerning to the American people. After all, we delegate power to our government, not the other way around.

In Chapter Six, Chaffetz describes how the Democrats’ first priority is “protecting the Swamp”. Make no mistake, everything they do is calculated to gain, increase, preserve and exercise political power and control. He describes at length a truly terrifying piece of legislation – the so-called “For the People Act” (H.R. 1, 2019). H.R. 1 passed the House on March 8, 2019 by a vote of 234-193, with all Democrats voting for it and all Republicans voting against – a clearly partisan bill similar to the Affordable Care Act.

The United States may be one country, but it is composed of fifty states, and each state manages its own election systems. The People of the United States did not grant the federal government power over elections in the U.S. Constitution. H.R 1 seeks to overturn this centuries old system by giving the federal government unprecedented control over state authorities to regulate voter registration and the voting process. H.R. 1 makes it easier to commit fraud, degrades the accuracy of registration lists via automatic registrations of ineligible voters, enables voter registration fraud, cripples the effectiveness of state voter ID laws, among other adverse changes. The Heritage Foundation has written an excellent summary of this law, linked here.

As Chaffetz says: H.R 1 is “…designed for For the Democrats, For the Incumbents, For the Consultants, and For the Deep State”. (p. 141), and I think it is indicative of how Democrats are willing to change the fundamental principles upon which our constitutional republic is founded in order to enhance and increase their political power. This chapter alone makes this book worth reading.

In the next three chapters, Chaffetz reviews how Democrats have corrupted the oversight process in the House of Representatives, refocusing the mission of “oversight” committees and weaponizing them against President Trump and the Republicans. The logical outcome of this repurposing is outcome-driven investigations, investigations that are “fishing expeditions” looking for dirt on President Trump and his associates, and the true mission of the oversight function is lost.

Because of this, government abuse and corruption can increase, because it is unrevealed and unreported, and real reforms are lost to political theater.

Chaffetz wraps up the book by reviewing the motivations of the Democrats to launch an impeachment process, which they have done; and concludes with an upbeat note in “A Positive Path Forward”.

This book is an important read. It is important to understand how the Left utilizes their progressive infrastructure advantage to obtain political power (the “power grab”), and what they plan to do with it once they get it.

Nobody in Colorado can pretend to be surprised by the results of the last legislative session, or to be surprised by what’s coming in the next one. One thing Democrats are clear and honest about – and you can read this in their platform – is what their goals are.

I call upon every freedom loving person in Colorado and the United States to read this book, and ponder the consequences of allowing the Left and their Democratic Party to remain in power. As Ronald Reagan once said: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” 

This is our moment. Resist the Power Grab. Fight for Liberty.

By Richard D. Turnquist

November 21, 2019