Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Sep 26, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson abruptly left the Democratic Party to join the GOP. The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed entitled “America’s Cities Need Republicans, and I’m Becoming One,” where Johnson explains why his values no longer align with the Democratic Party. Dallas saw a notable decline in crime since Johnson became mayor in 2019. He has found a way to manage the budget while decreasing taxes and prioritizing a safe city. Johnson told the WSJ he can no longer remain quiet about the failing cities under blue rule.

“The future of America’s great urban centers depends on the willingness of the nation’s mayors to champion law and order and practice fiscal conservatism,” Johnson stated, adding that these are traits of the Republican Party. Johnson calls Teddy Roosevelt his hero and mentions that urban areas doubled in size from 20% to 40% when he was in office. In 2023, 80% of Americans live in cities, but these areas are rapidly declining due to left policies that are driving away business and creating absolute chaos on the streets.

Johnson continued:“Unfortunately, many of our cities are in disarray. Mayors and other local elected officials have failed to make public safety a priority or to exercise fiscal restraint. Most of these local leaders are proud Democrats who view cities as laboratories for liberalism rather than as havens for opportunity and free enterprise. Too often, local tax dollars are spent on policies that exacerbate homelessness, coddle criminals and make it harder for ordinary people to make a living. And too many local Democrats insist on virtue signaling—proposing half-baked government programs that aim to solve every single societal ill—and on finding new ways to thumb their noses at Republicans at the state or federal level. Enough. This makes for good headlines, but not for safer, stronger, more vibrant cities.”

Johnson is absolutely correct, as blue cities have seen a drastic uptick in crime in recent years but nothing has been done to combat crime. Politicians have been defunding the police since the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter riots as a political move. Law and order is seen as Republican tyranny and criminals get a light slap on the wrist for breaking the law. Businesses are fleeing Democrat-run cities as legal theft has made it impossible to turn a profit. These once great cities truly have become “laboratories for liberalism” as hyperpartisan policies demand that funding be misdirected to various agencies to promote the liberal agenda. Democrats have unleashed controlled and deliberate civil unrest.

Johnson has vowed to make Dallas the safest city in America. He wants to lower taxes and manage a tighter budget with the means available. It is about time that our nation’s leaders woke up to the realities of the extreme left as American cities are now havens for crime and disorder.