Let's see, the great liberal States of California has one of the lowest test scores for public school (9th worse). The Great liberal City of New York has the most segregated public school system in the country and the greatest wealth disparity. My very liberal home town of San Francisco has one of the highest homeless rates and the sanctuary State of California pays migrant farm workers below minimum wage and provides them with no social benefits. I think liberals need to prove they can solve these problems in their own backyard before they condescend to offer their great wisdom and compassion to the rest of the country.
13
Did this writer go to any of the many tremendous Bernie Sanders rallies during the primary? He would have seen enthusiastic young people who support national health care, free college, and a real transformation to a clean energy economy. Bernie continues to be far and away the most popular politician in the country, and probably the most honest. Many of us are eager to get to work for a progressive agenda- change is necessary if the democrats don't want to go the way of the Whigs.
17
We've gotten away from vocational studies at the high school level and community college level.
We will always need mechanics, but some knowledge of computers is necessary with computerized automobiles, and some employees need to have this knowledge. There are also jobs, such as oil changing and tire rotation, that do not require those skills -- but those skills are necessary too. Landscapers need employees who know how to maintain the equipment, but they also need employees who sole job is to dig holes, plant trees and shrubs, etc. Both are necessary and should be valued by society.
Don't make it between the college educated and the non-college educated. People make choices. Sometime it is laziness, sometimes it is an inability to master certain skills. Let's help those who are not college material find a way to maximize their abilities in our 21st century economy.
BTW, I too, am tired of the "elitist" title. I worked to get my BS and JD in my 40's. I also grew up in the "Rust Belt" and I can tell you that a lot of the misery was self inflicted because people refused to retrain to meet the changes in our country and our economy.
We will always need mechanics, but some knowledge of computers is necessary with computerized automobiles, and some employees need to have this knowledge. There are also jobs, such as oil changing and tire rotation, that do not require those skills -- but those skills are necessary too. Landscapers need employees who know how to maintain the equipment, but they also need employees who sole job is to dig holes, plant trees and shrubs, etc. Both are necessary and should be valued by society.
Don't make it between the college educated and the non-college educated. People make choices. Sometime it is laziness, sometimes it is an inability to master certain skills. Let's help those who are not college material find a way to maximize their abilities in our 21st century economy.
BTW, I too, am tired of the "elitist" title. I worked to get my BS and JD in my 40's. I also grew up in the "Rust Belt" and I can tell you that a lot of the misery was self inflicted because people refused to retrain to meet the changes in our country and our economy.
13
Time for the Democrats to get back to their labor roots. No more fixating on bathroom gender issues. rebuild our infrastructure. No more politically correct education directives. Build up our schools. No more locking up resources behind a wall of lawsuits. Go back to being the party of Harry truman and LBJ.
What if they had a [political] party and no one stayed?
3
Is "Mojo" a Gresham's Law word for plain old ethical integrity? Congress in Article I, Section 1, of the Constitution is described as being vested with "all legislative powers". That means passing laws not simply hyperventilating to stop anything from being accomplished. The Democrats have chosen to do nothing and say no to everything the other side proposes and endlessly haranguing the majority and prevent any legislation from being passed, and devoting all their time and energy, at taxpayer expense, to strategizing for the next election. Moxy would be kyptomite to their partisan mindset.
1
Bernie Sanders has already done the work on what needs to be done. But not a single NYT columnist (Then or even now) showed support for his ideas. Instead of dispensing bromides, Mr. Leonhardt should study Bernie's platform.
15
The Democrats have become the party of cheap immigrant (legal or not) labor. The criminals who are dealing death to America's children are in an especially enviable position. The democrats have their backs.
Not much of a future for the party or our children.
Not much of a future for the party or our children.
4
Huh, the policy prescriptions in this piece seem familiar. Aren't they already part of the Democratic Party platform? Everyone keeps talking as if Dems abandoned workers... When? Dems are pro-union, pro-healthcare, pro-family leave, pro-Pell Grants.
"Workers" vote against them anyway.
The underlying assumption seems to be that Dems' existing policies are elitist. Well, which ones?
It's obvious that policies aren't the issue. It's all about tribalism and "narratives." The "workers" consider the blue and red state stereotypes political commentators are constantly writing about and decide which group they'd rather have a drink with.
That's why this whole "Democrats should prostrate themselves before the MAGA hat crowd" thing is nonsense. Trump voters voted for his attitude, not his policies. They voted against Clinton, not against her policies. Policies never enter into it.
"Workers" vote against them anyway.
The underlying assumption seems to be that Dems' existing policies are elitist. Well, which ones?
It's obvious that policies aren't the issue. It's all about tribalism and "narratives." The "workers" consider the blue and red state stereotypes political commentators are constantly writing about and decide which group they'd rather have a drink with.
That's why this whole "Democrats should prostrate themselves before the MAGA hat crowd" thing is nonsense. Trump voters voted for his attitude, not his policies. They voted against Clinton, not against her policies. Policies never enter into it.
9
Only if the Democrats jettison the Clintons. Pelosi, Warren and Schumer and embrace Newsom, Garcetti and Coons.
3
In short Bernie Sanders. Isn't it about time NYT will start supporting this guy? He is the only bridge to normalize this conservative religious anti gays, anti abortion, anti climate anti gun control anti health anti education country
10
In what is inarguably an Information Age, a high school degree alone doesn't cut it for people aspiring to a comfortable, middle class (or above) lifestyle.
Most Americans aren't dumb so much as they are lazy. I have no pity for them.
Most Americans aren't dumb so much as they are lazy. I have no pity for them.
"They" want solutions? They being the working class?
No they do not want solutions. They want a rich spoiled child to go and destroy the lives of people they don't like.
Yes everyone loses with Trump in power - both democrats and republicans. But I am not that interested in making common cause with the Trump rallyistas who shouted racist slogans, jostled and beat up blacks protesting, and the supremacists who think they own this country.
Not by a long shot. Not by a long shot.
No they do not want solutions. They want a rich spoiled child to go and destroy the lives of people they don't like.
Yes everyone loses with Trump in power - both democrats and republicans. But I am not that interested in making common cause with the Trump rallyistas who shouted racist slogans, jostled and beat up blacks protesting, and the supremacists who think they own this country.
Not by a long shot. Not by a long shot.
3
I think there is more to it.
The Democrats are too caught up in identity politics, and continue to be open to cheap-shot Republican ridicule. It should be no surprise that he demographic that goes against them are lesser educated, and therefore probably more open to believing in character assassination politics that we have been seeing for years. Fox and Limbaugh have successfully turned the word "liberal" into a highly negative connotation, or the term elitist, that helps them build and strengthen this entire voting block.
In addition to seeing what they are up against, the Democrats needs to open the tent. The prior election made it clear to me that supporting "women's issues" is noble and right, but it is a self-inflicted wound when they do it in a way that excludes white males, or labels them as privileged. The Women's March, while popular on the coasts just played into the elitist meme. It does not win votes.
And, to run HRC for president was like taking the number one elitist symbol and opening ourselves up to ridicule. Look at France. Find a centrist with little history and you will destroy these radicals on the right.
The same self-inflicted wounds are evident in showing so little empathy that our candidate uses the term deplorables, and it gets swept up to mean anyone with a religious background or no education. In other words, well over half the voting population.
Stop fighting the bad white man fight. Make this all about economics, stupid.
The Democrats are too caught up in identity politics, and continue to be open to cheap-shot Republican ridicule. It should be no surprise that he demographic that goes against them are lesser educated, and therefore probably more open to believing in character assassination politics that we have been seeing for years. Fox and Limbaugh have successfully turned the word "liberal" into a highly negative connotation, or the term elitist, that helps them build and strengthen this entire voting block.
In addition to seeing what they are up against, the Democrats needs to open the tent. The prior election made it clear to me that supporting "women's issues" is noble and right, but it is a self-inflicted wound when they do it in a way that excludes white males, or labels them as privileged. The Women's March, while popular on the coasts just played into the elitist meme. It does not win votes.
And, to run HRC for president was like taking the number one elitist symbol and opening ourselves up to ridicule. Look at France. Find a centrist with little history and you will destroy these radicals on the right.
The same self-inflicted wounds are evident in showing so little empathy that our candidate uses the term deplorables, and it gets swept up to mean anyone with a religious background or no education. In other words, well over half the voting population.
Stop fighting the bad white man fight. Make this all about economics, stupid.
11
Nonsense. Get your legally eligible to vote supporters registered to vote and then get them to legally vote. Democrats are absolutely lousy at getting voter turnout in critical states. 2016 Florida? 2016 Georgia? It is time for the Democratic Party(DP) leadership to get brutal. Tell the DP's minor minions: "If you fail to increase voter turnout by 20% in each of your areas for the 2018 elections, compared to the 2016 elections, you will be cut off from acccess to the perks of being in this party. No BBQ for you. No more taking money for voter registration or souls to the polls, and failing to deliver. Produce or die." Then politically cut off those who fail to deliver. Make an example out of these self proclaimed community leaders who have failed to deliver voter turnout for many years.
3
The Democratic Party used to have the unwavering support of the Working class" many years ago until they decided to throw the working class under the bus by becoming the Republican Lite Party aka Neoliberals. We now have one party, the Uniparty (credit to Sardonicky blog for the name). It comes in two flavors: Extra Strength (repubs) and Lite (Dems).
13
If the definition of mojo is "a magic spell, hex, or charm; broadly: magical power" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mojo), then when did the Democrats have it? Or the Republicans? The trouble with the democracy is that voters (1) act emotionally and irrationally, (2) are near-sighted, and (3) think that a better and brighter tomorrow is easily attainable by the politicians' promises. Oh, sancta simplicitas ...
by bringing in new faces(fresh blood!),and ending monopolies;also realizing that extreme left needs to be moderated.
Well, duh, yea. Like fer decades, man!
I am not as positive that the Democrats can regain their 'mojo' The fact is, they have no new ideas. Just look at the photo headlining this opinion piece - Nancy Pelosi! Without new, charistmatic, articulate, smart, quick on their feet young leaders, this party is relevant in history books only.
4
"Democrats need a comeback strategy, and the American working class needs an ally." Gee, does that remind you of any Democratic candidates who may not have gotten to run in the general election? Instead, we get this tripe: “Progressives have not done enough about job conditions and the dignity of work for people who don’t go to college.” It'd be laughable to hear that from Neera Tanden if it wasn't so infuriating. It's Tanden and her good buddy Hillary Clinton -- who couldn't even commit to a $15 minimum wage! -- who just ran a campaign that working people rightly concluded wouldn't do a thing to improve their lots. Now it's the Clinton dead-enders who are so desperate to keep their positions and power in the party and access to the money trough that they'll even use the last resort of actually doing something for the base they neglected for decades. Working people will get somewhere when, and only when, these parasites are driven from any power in the Democratic Party.
9
You know how you get your mojo back? You act like you have it! Don't look like you're trying, look like you never lost it! Act like a seasoned professional, like a pro athlete, a rock star, or say...Trump. His mojo might be canned and full of artificial ingredients, and bitter on the tongue and gag inducing in the throat...but he Believes its real and always there. Its like...well its like his tanner color...always there, never not.
Dems have to BELIEVE! They have to get up there and Name it and Claim it! BELIEVE Democrats! Go out in the woods, the fields, or the roof of tall building - and scream it out! Reaffirm your beliefs!
Stop trying to figure out and deconstruct 2016. Its over. You goofed, all of you. Especially You Ms. Pelosi! The Where's Waldo of 2016.
Schumer, the nice soft-spoken guy stuff is not working. Commit to 2018, and forget about everything else. Mentor and educate the younger up and comers. Name it and Claim it!
Play hard ball! Its win or go home!
Dems have to BELIEVE! They have to get up there and Name it and Claim it! BELIEVE Democrats! Go out in the woods, the fields, or the roof of tall building - and scream it out! Reaffirm your beliefs!
Stop trying to figure out and deconstruct 2016. Its over. You goofed, all of you. Especially You Ms. Pelosi! The Where's Waldo of 2016.
Schumer, the nice soft-spoken guy stuff is not working. Commit to 2018, and forget about everything else. Mentor and educate the younger up and comers. Name it and Claim it!
Play hard ball! Its win or go home!
2
The democrats don't have to do a thing, but be patient. Trump & Co. will do the work for them.
Mr. Leonhardt is like Columbus exulting to the Indians that he just discovered America. Funny, no mention of Bernie Sanders, still a persona non grata in this paper. Instead, we get a recycled Neera Tanden, of the Center for American Progress, a Clinton front organization. Will the subservient Ms. Tanden be working with Hillary's new PAC to put in place the next generation of corporate stooges? Seems so.
12
The Democrats need to go back to being America's Labor party. Get Sander's boot heel off your neck. There are more important issues than transgender bathrooms and locking up our resources for ideological reasons. Free yourselves!
4
What Democrats need to do is to make the case - and I think it's a true case - that the very people such "working class" voters have been voting for (namely Republicans) are, in fact, the very people taking away all hope for a better future...and have been since Reagan.
Demonstrate by highlighting legislation, and providing case studies of real individuals who agree to go public, that GOP "freedoms" are nothing of the kind.
Healthcare...you won't have it.
Tax policy...only the wealthy win.
Education...again, only the wealthy win.
Environment...oil spills aren't good for you, and neither is dirty water and air.
Science...not to be feared...it's what saves people from cancer.
Social Security...no more.
Medicare...gone.
In my experience, "working class" people can be as intelligent and savvy as the "educated" - but all people need to have a chance to work through details and come to see the truth themselves - not just be talked down to.
Don't provide "data" - provide stories. Show how GOP dogma actually treats people (for example, only people who lead "good" lives have pre-existing conditions?...so that means you, the "working class" person with a pre-existing condition are not leading a "good" life?...that's incredibly arrogant and insulting, so why do these voters vote for these folks?).
Let the GOP hang themselves with their own rope.
Demonstrate by highlighting legislation, and providing case studies of real individuals who agree to go public, that GOP "freedoms" are nothing of the kind.
Healthcare...you won't have it.
Tax policy...only the wealthy win.
Education...again, only the wealthy win.
Environment...oil spills aren't good for you, and neither is dirty water and air.
Science...not to be feared...it's what saves people from cancer.
Social Security...no more.
Medicare...gone.
In my experience, "working class" people can be as intelligent and savvy as the "educated" - but all people need to have a chance to work through details and come to see the truth themselves - not just be talked down to.
Don't provide "data" - provide stories. Show how GOP dogma actually treats people (for example, only people who lead "good" lives have pre-existing conditions?...so that means you, the "working class" person with a pre-existing condition are not leading a "good" life?...that's incredibly arrogant and insulting, so why do these voters vote for these folks?).
Let the GOP hang themselves with their own rope.
4
The first thing the Democrats must do is drop Hillary Clinton and all other legacy candidates. They need grass roots candidates who come from the areas which they wish to represent. No more carpet baggers.
The Democrats also have to get serious about controlling our borders and do something about the outsourcing of US jobs. Ask anyone in IT, there may be a few legitimate H1B visa folks here in the USA, most of them are taking jobs away from US citizens. And illegals aren't taking only the jobs that US citizens don't want. They are competing with citizens for jobs and pushing salaries down.
The Democrats also have to get serious about controlling our borders and do something about the outsourcing of US jobs. Ask anyone in IT, there may be a few legitimate H1B visa folks here in the USA, most of them are taking jobs away from US citizens. And illegals aren't taking only the jobs that US citizens don't want. They are competing with citizens for jobs and pushing salaries down.
6
Yes, "I love the poorly-educated" is hardly a lead-in, for a TV show, about Making America Great! As people live longer, the economy has frown global, and technology has created another Industrial Age! Or should I say Digital Age?
Anyone in high school, or college, who is feigning for the jobs of today, had better be ready to re-invent them selves--for the jobs of tomorrow. Retail store inventories mostly computerized, self-check-outs, robots in industry, algorithms reduce the need for financial brain-power, and driver-less cars, trucks and busses.
There will be new industries, and he jobs skills they will require, but you won't qualify with a high school, or perhaps even the wrong--college degrees. Think and plan ahead, anticipate other options , and be ready to re-invent yourself, at least a couple of more times over a career.
That's the Trump Republican's greatest fear. As Americans become better educated, they will be able to see through the nonsense--and all of the scams--that Trump and Friends are trying to screw us with!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
Anyone in high school, or college, who is feigning for the jobs of today, had better be ready to re-invent them selves--for the jobs of tomorrow. Retail store inventories mostly computerized, self-check-outs, robots in industry, algorithms reduce the need for financial brain-power, and driver-less cars, trucks and busses.
There will be new industries, and he jobs skills they will require, but you won't qualify with a high school, or perhaps even the wrong--college degrees. Think and plan ahead, anticipate other options , and be ready to re-invent yourself, at least a couple of more times over a career.
That's the Trump Republican's greatest fear. As Americans become better educated, they will be able to see through the nonsense--and all of the scams--that Trump and Friends are trying to screw us with!
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
I agree that the Democrats absolutely need to embrace an activist, populist, progressive platform. Many people are understandably angry for being left out of the booming economy that's emerged in the years since the Great Recession. With historically high inequality and with millions of jobs set to be lost in the coming years to automation and globalization, it's imperative that the Democrats have an answer to what happens to the people left behind.
2
For years now, the mantra has been that everyone should be able to go to college. Vocational training has been regarded as disrespectful to a person's intellect or taken as "giving up" on their achieving their true potential. Maybe so in some cases. But the out-of-work in the rust belt states who never had a love of learning were left without options. Modern trades that are emerging with new technologies are begging for qualified workers who have had the necessary, that's right, vocational training. Until we can admit to ourselves that preparing high school students for vocations in some cases is as beneficial to their long-term opportunities as is preparing others for further academic education, we will stuck with a large population of unduly underserved people.
2
I agree with you that “the best policy solution, not to mention the best way to win votes, is on one side of the political spectrum”. And that is the side of Senator Sanders.
Few people will believe in sincerity of progressive opinions expressed by Democratic pundits, politicians or presidents of the PACs unless and before "mea culpa" is
explicitly expressed by Party.
Few people will believe in sincerity of progressive opinions expressed by Democratic pundits, politicians or presidents of the PACs unless and before "mea culpa" is
explicitly expressed by Party.
2
The fact of the matter is that we have reached the end stage of Capitalism as a governing philosophy. Deep Learning AI (think Watson), coupled with the full automation of industry and the beginning encroachment on commercial retail and service sectors, along with zero marginal cost manufacturing, is going to render a vast majority of the physical human workforce obsolete and unemployable, no matter how much education and training you give them. If machines can do a job better, cheaper, and more efficiently than a person, there are only so many positions available for programming, design, management, and maintenance for the humans. And even then, as Deep Learning evolves improve itself and its descendants and whatever they are tasked to do, even human imagination cannot compete with the raw power of evolutionary simulation techniques, allowing a design to be tested, modified and retested millions of times in a matter of days or weeks until the most ideal design is found within the parameters provided. This isn't happening within 50-100 years, it's happening within 10-20, and even if it were a century off, we would need to retool our entire civilization so we don't end up with something akin to the film Elysium or the TV series Firefly, with those who control the means of production trading only amongst themselves because the rest of us no longer have anything of value to them.
1
It's rather sad that this is presented as a new idea.
In days past, the working class was the bedrock of the democratic party and getting the votes of working class people was routine; there was nothing novel about it.
About four year degrees: Germany, which has a rather robust economy, enrolls many young people in apprentice programs in which they learn concrete skills that are needed: They can become electicians, caprenters, etc. We live in a physical world. We need houses to live in and food to eat. There is no shame in physical work and a lot of physical work needs to be dcne.
People who graduate from college very often have do not have any more skills than they had when they had graduated from high school.
Besdies, many electricians and plumbers command much higher incomes than people with BAs in English, philosophy, etc.
In days past, the working class was the bedrock of the democratic party and getting the votes of working class people was routine; there was nothing novel about it.
About four year degrees: Germany, which has a rather robust economy, enrolls many young people in apprentice programs in which they learn concrete skills that are needed: They can become electicians, caprenters, etc. We live in a physical world. We need houses to live in and food to eat. There is no shame in physical work and a lot of physical work needs to be dcne.
People who graduate from college very often have do not have any more skills than they had when they had graduated from high school.
Besdies, many electricians and plumbers command much higher incomes than people with BAs in English, philosophy, etc.
6
The winning strategies of the future are writing themselves on the wall, but the Democratc leadership is too old and tired to read them, much less internalize them. Maybe Senators Sanders and Warren can show them the way.
In response to GOP's announced $800 billion worth of tax breaks for the one percent rich, let the Democrats announce they would first divert this money to help the bottom 50 percent of the population before kicking any leftover upwards.
On health care, let them now come ALL OUT for universal care with single payer system for ALL AMERICANS, regardless of their present, past, or existing health history.
On education, time has come to announce first two year of college education free for all at state and community colleges and after that at 50 percent of the present cost on a graduated scale.
On immigration, let us empanel a group of experts and decide our policies based on country's economic needs and societal values, and make these policies subject to mandatory review after every 10 -12 years.
On economic policies, let's resolve that every working age American has a right to employment and living wage and that all our trade policies would give first consideration to the employment and wages of our workers before considering return on capital and investment.
Thanks to blundering by Trump and Republicans our people are once again intensely focused on these topics. Let's show them a vision that they would find hard to overlook or ignore.
In response to GOP's announced $800 billion worth of tax breaks for the one percent rich, let the Democrats announce they would first divert this money to help the bottom 50 percent of the population before kicking any leftover upwards.
On health care, let them now come ALL OUT for universal care with single payer system for ALL AMERICANS, regardless of their present, past, or existing health history.
On education, time has come to announce first two year of college education free for all at state and community colleges and after that at 50 percent of the present cost on a graduated scale.
On immigration, let us empanel a group of experts and decide our policies based on country's economic needs and societal values, and make these policies subject to mandatory review after every 10 -12 years.
On economic policies, let's resolve that every working age American has a right to employment and living wage and that all our trade policies would give first consideration to the employment and wages of our workers before considering return on capital and investment.
Thanks to blundering by Trump and Republicans our people are once again intensely focused on these topics. Let's show them a vision that they would find hard to overlook or ignore.
2
A European based consultant, advising one of the US' largest global industrial corporations made the observation that the corporation had "Confused keeping score with playing the game..."
I believe this is an apt description of our current political world: Republicans are still fighting FDR and Democrats seem unable to organize and get out of the relative glow of the 1980's... BOTH parties are absorbed with themselves and have abandoned their sworn duty to serve our nation, support our democracy and provide a stable economy with good jobs for all who want to work.
We're seeing the result of "America Left Out" while the politicians cozy up to the wealthy, corporations and well funded special interest groups.
The media is complicit in this as well: I would wager that if a university undertook an analysis of topics covered in the media over the past few decades it would be revealed that the bulk of reporting has been related to the 1%er's, corporations and special interest groups.
I fear for our country as I don't see many in Washington standing up for our democracy.
I believe this is an apt description of our current political world: Republicans are still fighting FDR and Democrats seem unable to organize and get out of the relative glow of the 1980's... BOTH parties are absorbed with themselves and have abandoned their sworn duty to serve our nation, support our democracy and provide a stable economy with good jobs for all who want to work.
We're seeing the result of "America Left Out" while the politicians cozy up to the wealthy, corporations and well funded special interest groups.
The media is complicit in this as well: I would wager that if a university undertook an analysis of topics covered in the media over the past few decades it would be revealed that the bulk of reporting has been related to the 1%er's, corporations and special interest groups.
I fear for our country as I don't see many in Washington standing up for our democracy.
3
I have a 4-year college degree. It has never helped me in a significant way with my earnings. Here's why: I majored in English and Sociology........subjects I LOVED and still do. I loved school, too. I learned to understand and appreciate the lessons of history and a wide swath of lasting literature. The things I learned have helped me experience my life in a deeper way than I would have without those years in books and listening to voices of experience and knowledge from the podium. All that and a buck used to buy me coffee. Now a cup costs two dollars more than my hourly wage was when I graduated from college. I would do it all again AT THE COST OF COLLEGE IN THE 1970's. Now, however, I would recommend that young people consider technical school or a specific trade that can be taught on the job and that is ALWAYS IN DEMAND. Then, if you have tens of thousands of dollars lying around, you could get a broader education that would enrich your stable life. OR, you could get a lot of that knowledge through a DEVOTION TO READING WIDELY.
5
Getting people back to work is what everyone seems to agree on, but precious little seems to be done about it. Occasionally one even hears discussions about providing a guaranteed minimum income to all citizens, which makes sense for keeping the economy running. It strikes me as odd that, with so much work needing to be done, (infrastructure, education, healthcare, day care, maintenance, etc.) why not just pay people to do the work?
The right complains bitterly about funding welfare programs, having to pay for other people's irresponsibility, yet it has been clear for a long while that thousands of good-paying jobs are not going to materialize as long as capital is under taxed, and content to sit on its wealth. The jobs just haven't been there in large enough numbers to satisfy the need.
Why is the idea of government jobs so wrong, (Shrink the Government!) but guaranteed minimum income less problematic? Is it that we are most valued as consumers to keep the engines of commerce running, rather than contributing members of society whose labors helps to re-knit the fabric of our fraying country back together?
The right complains bitterly about funding welfare programs, having to pay for other people's irresponsibility, yet it has been clear for a long while that thousands of good-paying jobs are not going to materialize as long as capital is under taxed, and content to sit on its wealth. The jobs just haven't been there in large enough numbers to satisfy the need.
Why is the idea of government jobs so wrong, (Shrink the Government!) but guaranteed minimum income less problematic? Is it that we are most valued as consumers to keep the engines of commerce running, rather than contributing members of society whose labors helps to re-knit the fabric of our fraying country back together?
2
I'm not so sure it's possible to support a middle-class lifestyle without a college degree. Granted, I'm biased, and I do know a number of people who have eschewed college simply because they had good ideas for making money. But these people are rare.
It seems one of the things that ails the "wanna be" middle class is their lack of ambition to better themselves through higher education. I know some people have no choice, or earlier choices have forced them into the work force too soon.
But we have to accept responsibility for our decisions and our situation.
In what is inarguably an Information Age, a high school degree alone doesn't cut it.
It seems one of the things that ails the "wanna be" middle class is their lack of ambition to better themselves through higher education. I know some people have no choice, or earlier choices have forced them into the work force too soon.
But we have to accept responsibility for our decisions and our situation.
In what is inarguably an Information Age, a high school degree alone doesn't cut it.
Of all of the infrastructures that have been left to decay post secondary education has been the most damaging and most the critical. In todays world and economy those skills and knowledge are the paths to equality for all and prosperous economies. If the Democrats could find their spine and pivot away from the Republican Lite that has dominated their policy for too long and instead formulate bold policies and initiatives they would be shocked at how many people would initiatives would resonate with. Just don't do it that "preachy" manner that alienates voters.
1
Not everyone who gets a college degree gets a fast-track to success. There are still plenty of Millennials out there, as well as Generation Xers and Baby Boomers, who are well-educated and yet have low-paying, dead-end, no benefit, no power jobs. There are even some people with Master's degrees and PhDs who are struggling to make ends meet. My daughter just graduated with a Master's degree and was fortunate enough to get a job in the field that she trained in. She's one of the lucky ones, and yet she's still going to be part of the bottom 25 percentile. This group of people may not have voted for Trump, but they have more in common, economically, with the working class than not.
5
An afterthought: Given the overlay of our entertainment-oriented culture onto politics, I am thinking Americans tend to over-empathize "mojo" or charismatic personality types in politics.
Actually, the conduct of government and politics in a large and powerful modern nation such as ours really requires a rational-legal orientation (a la Max Weber) and informed management and communication skills that foster both the legitimacy and effectiveness of the political and social system.
What we saw in the 2016 election of D.J. Trump was a rejection of this professionalism and rational-legal-management orientation by less educated voters left out of the new economy. They were delighted by the emotional unpredictability and rude behavior of the charismatic, highly emotional, politically inexperienced Trump, who had plenty of mojo but no political experience and lots of bad judgment.
Too much emphasis on mojo in our political culture; not enough concern with thoughtful, caring, ethical, hard work in our politicians.
Actually, the conduct of government and politics in a large and powerful modern nation such as ours really requires a rational-legal orientation (a la Max Weber) and informed management and communication skills that foster both the legitimacy and effectiveness of the political and social system.
What we saw in the 2016 election of D.J. Trump was a rejection of this professionalism and rational-legal-management orientation by less educated voters left out of the new economy. They were delighted by the emotional unpredictability and rude behavior of the charismatic, highly emotional, politically inexperienced Trump, who had plenty of mojo but no political experience and lots of bad judgment.
Too much emphasis on mojo in our political culture; not enough concern with thoughtful, caring, ethical, hard work in our politicians.
2
While I agree with much of what you say, there is more to be done. They need to turn out the old leadership. Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer present as the old Democratic Party. To bring voters to them they need to message better and those two pols, though experienced, are not effective communicators and have simply been around too long. They personify politics as usual simply by having been in Congress so long.
They need to simplify the message to one that presents the party as sticking up for workers and for families of every kind everywhere.
50% of American households make less than about $50,000 per year. 92% or so make less than $100,000 per year. Folks everywhere are struggling to make ends meet. Focus on that, not on the transgendered as your defining issue. Economic concerns cut across all states and regions and people of all different races and social attitudes. Focus on that and less on immigration.
No they should not abandon the transgendered, or same sex couples or immigrants, but the emphasis on social issues instead of economic issues has caused the party to become much less connected to economic issues in the public mind. It is time that the Democrats expose Trump and the GOP as faux populists.
They need to simplify the message to one that presents the party as sticking up for workers and for families of every kind everywhere.
50% of American households make less than about $50,000 per year. 92% or so make less than $100,000 per year. Folks everywhere are struggling to make ends meet. Focus on that, not on the transgendered as your defining issue. Economic concerns cut across all states and regions and people of all different races and social attitudes. Focus on that and less on immigration.
No they should not abandon the transgendered, or same sex couples or immigrants, but the emphasis on social issues instead of economic issues has caused the party to become much less connected to economic issues in the public mind. It is time that the Democrats expose Trump and the GOP as faux populists.
3
There is a far simpler answer and more accurate answer for Republican's electoral success.
When they get elected, they change the law to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of potential voters.
Republicans lost 5 of the last 6 national poplar votes for US President, but won half the elections through the Electoral College.
While they handily lose the popular vote, they barely even win the Electoral College - a couple hundred votes in 2000 and 77,000 votes in 2016.
Democrats out vote Republicans in Congress, but Republicans have more Senators and Representatives in office.
It takes a lot to out vote Republicans since a partisan Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, and affected states immediately made it harder for minorities to vote.
A court ruled North Carolina restricted voting rights against African Americans with laser-like precision.
So people do understand that the GOP only cares about their own vested interests, and they do vote accordingly when they are able.
But after the Kremlin-Trump conspiracy, gerrymandering, voter suppression and disenfranchisement, Citizens United, and the soft underbelly of American democracy - the Electoral College - a con man can work with Putin to subvert
American democracy and there aren't enough Republican patriots to say this isn't the American way.
When they wake up in a version of Putin's dystopian Russia, they might regret their short-sightedness.
When they get elected, they change the law to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of potential voters.
Republicans lost 5 of the last 6 national poplar votes for US President, but won half the elections through the Electoral College.
While they handily lose the popular vote, they barely even win the Electoral College - a couple hundred votes in 2000 and 77,000 votes in 2016.
Democrats out vote Republicans in Congress, but Republicans have more Senators and Representatives in office.
It takes a lot to out vote Republicans since a partisan Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, and affected states immediately made it harder for minorities to vote.
A court ruled North Carolina restricted voting rights against African Americans with laser-like precision.
So people do understand that the GOP only cares about their own vested interests, and they do vote accordingly when they are able.
But after the Kremlin-Trump conspiracy, gerrymandering, voter suppression and disenfranchisement, Citizens United, and the soft underbelly of American democracy - the Electoral College - a con man can work with Putin to subvert
American democracy and there aren't enough Republican patriots to say this isn't the American way.
When they wake up in a version of Putin's dystopian Russia, they might regret their short-sightedness.
1
Democrats should embrace the enormous benefits automation will entail: a basic, guaranteed livable income. Eliminating back breaking, manual labor; lung disease inducing coal mining; exhausting dead end jobs.
Current adversarial anger between angry working class whites, BLM could be put to position fusion fighting together for a mutually beneficial cause.
Current adversarial anger between angry working class whites, BLM could be put to position fusion fighting together for a mutually beneficial cause.
1
As a Hillary voter in primary, I take issue.
She was and is a very decent and smart person, whom I would be happy to have as chief executive.
However, she is the victim of the Republican slander machine from Whitewater onward. This has made her extremely cautious and less spontaneous.
I don't see the justification for breaking up all of the big banks, when they provide good services (and punishing them when they do wrong). I don't see the need to have free college for everyone (even those from wealthy families), when there is a need for skilled tradesmen (and women). The same applies for other issues we care about such as health care and that all people want to live in a safe place where the police have a respected role that they themselves respect by being one with their communities.
I do see a need to respect science and what it teaches us (if we don't stop our ears) and the need for a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. This is not a radical notion, but common sense.
The Bernie or bust crowd feels differently. I canvassed for Hillary in Maryland and Pennsylvania for the general election and found Democrats who couldn't see the need to vote for Trump's only viable opponent. We must do better.
BTW: I would certainly have voted for Bernie in the general election, if he had actually won the nomination .
She was and is a very decent and smart person, whom I would be happy to have as chief executive.
However, she is the victim of the Republican slander machine from Whitewater onward. This has made her extremely cautious and less spontaneous.
I don't see the justification for breaking up all of the big banks, when they provide good services (and punishing them when they do wrong). I don't see the need to have free college for everyone (even those from wealthy families), when there is a need for skilled tradesmen (and women). The same applies for other issues we care about such as health care and that all people want to live in a safe place where the police have a respected role that they themselves respect by being one with their communities.
I do see a need to respect science and what it teaches us (if we don't stop our ears) and the need for a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. This is not a radical notion, but common sense.
The Bernie or bust crowd feels differently. I canvassed for Hillary in Maryland and Pennsylvania for the general election and found Democrats who couldn't see the need to vote for Trump's only viable opponent. We must do better.
BTW: I would certainly have voted for Bernie in the general election, if he had actually won the nomination .
1
"The fact is, the electorate has shown some surprising support lately for an activist, populist government" And in 2018 and beyond that is exactly what we are going to elect.
Elitists. Pickers of winners and losers. Government has no money except what it hijacks from the taxpayer. For the government to provide a job, it must take the money from a business that earned it (giving it to someone who didn't earn it but has been deemed to be smarter about what to do with it than the enterprise that earned it). For government, demand is constituted by a very small group of political thinkers who decide exactly how much of one thing or another is deem to be needed in the market. In the private sector, demand is generated by a large number of humans,voluntarily giving up their limited means to purchase a good or service. The size of the market is dictated by the number of willing participants. Further, in order to continue any job it "creates," the government must continue to take the money from the private sector. Otherwise, the job disappears. (A fallacy, of course; government jobs never "disappear").
it seems like I have read have a dozen or more op-ed pieces about this exact same thing.
But the problem for Democrats is that they always try to tell the truth about how we have to PAY for all of these new government initiatives, and I don't think showing interest in "activist-populism" is the same thing as being willing to sacrifice anything to get it going.
And I was just reading another comment lecturing all of the "liberal elitists", but the truth is that there are large numbers of people in our society who will never be willing to devote the time and effort necessary to earn college degrees no matter how much we try to do to help them do so.
MAYBE infrastructure and alternative energy and other new fields can bring more high-paying jobs to people like this, but sometimes it feels like we're simply in the worst possible times to be low-skilled and poorly educated, and no matter how we try to explain this predicament, or try to change people, we're always going to look like elitists for doing so.
But the problem for Democrats is that they always try to tell the truth about how we have to PAY for all of these new government initiatives, and I don't think showing interest in "activist-populism" is the same thing as being willing to sacrifice anything to get it going.
And I was just reading another comment lecturing all of the "liberal elitists", but the truth is that there are large numbers of people in our society who will never be willing to devote the time and effort necessary to earn college degrees no matter how much we try to do to help them do so.
MAYBE infrastructure and alternative energy and other new fields can bring more high-paying jobs to people like this, but sometimes it feels like we're simply in the worst possible times to be low-skilled and poorly educated, and no matter how we try to explain this predicament, or try to change people, we're always going to look like elitists for doing so.
4
Lots of good comments here about mojo. I especially agree with PB's (NYT Picks) comment about mojo in leaders and candidates. I like Nancy Pelosi, but retaining her as the House minority leader was an initial step backwards.
At the risk of sounding harsh, we need to have our current Democratic leaders step to the side in favor of new, fresh leaders. We need people who can make the appeal to those who found themselves sliding backwards and understandably took a chance on Trump. Now that he's been unmasked, we're ready for mojo-infused leaders who would advocate not for the stale parts of the traditional Democratic agenda but instead for something bold and more in the common interest of all Americans.
At the risk of sounding harsh, we need to have our current Democratic leaders step to the side in favor of new, fresh leaders. We need people who can make the appeal to those who found themselves sliding backwards and understandably took a chance on Trump. Now that he's been unmasked, we're ready for mojo-infused leaders who would advocate not for the stale parts of the traditional Democratic agenda but instead for something bold and more in the common interest of all Americans.
Yes, Bernie's agenda on college education and, in general, toward the working class is clearly the way we need to go. Bernie would be our president right now if independent and unregistered democrats could have voted for him in the primaries. The Democratic party forced a hugely unpopular candidate on the people and this resulted in a president that is only slightly less unpopular. Open primaries would have prevented all this. But as long as Democrats keep vilifying Trump rather than taking responsibility for giving us Hillary Clinton we will not make the needed changes to party rules that favor establishment insiders. It's unfortunate that Perez, the DNC Chairperson, seems to have zero interest in opening the primaries.
7
As usual, it's entertaining reading the comments about how "elite" Democrats owe the right respect after eight years of Republicans thumbing THEIR noses at them and the honorably elected President Obama who managed to win the election and the popular vote by a mile. Most of them can't even type the accusation without a derogatory comment thrown in, but we owe them something they can't manage to do themselves.
It's always entertaining
It's always entertaining
A four year degree is not for everyone. In fact only about 20% of jobs require 4-or-more-year degrees. about the same percentage as 50 years ago. Over 60% of jobs in the USA can be done with 2 year technical degrees or less. Elitists...many secondary school officials and counselors, parents, four year college officials, and those in the media...push the "need" for university graduation. They measure success as how many go on to attempt 4 year colleges. But in fact only about 40% of those who try university training ever succeed, ever graduate. The rest waste extreme amounts of time and money in search of a goal that is not appropriate to their aptitude or even their true vocational interests. What they end up with is low grades and a false start toward career education, plus sadness and embarrassment about their "failure" to succeed in post secondary job training. The nation cannot afford to waste more people and money on false pursuit.
If the Democrats don't figure out how to craft and execute effective "messaging", chances are whatever their comeback strategy is, it will fail.
It's an obvious "tell" that they remain fragmented and look weak when we still see only televised comments of individual congressional Democrats commenting on the latest Trump fiasco, or fighting for legislation. Compare this to Republican messaging and "optics" when pushing their agenda or bashing Hillary, where we see one person speaking surrounded by a crowd of Republicans that fill the full TV screen. They portray unity and backbone.
It's an obvious "tell" that they remain fragmented and look weak when we still see only televised comments of individual congressional Democrats commenting on the latest Trump fiasco, or fighting for legislation. Compare this to Republican messaging and "optics" when pushing their agenda or bashing Hillary, where we see one person speaking surrounded by a crowd of Republicans that fill the full TV screen. They portray unity and backbone.
Just remember the Democrats gained seats in the house and senate. Had not for the theft of the election by Comey and Russia, more would have got in on Hillary's coattails. Our cocktail party conversation would have been the brilliance of the Hillary campaign and the disarray of the Republicans, and how they lost their way.
David-Philly
David-Philly
There are many things wrong with this country and low educational achievement is one of them. But racism is the biggest thing wrong in this country. I grew up in a tough neighborhood. I am not white, not asian, not latino, not black, but a minority and learned early on that I must perform 5 or 10 times harder to judged fairly. It took me 9 years to get a 4 year arts degree from a State University. I got every trade and professional certificate I needed to keep and advance in any job I held. I work now in a scientific organization staffed by Ph.Ds and Master degrees in biology, sociology, urban planning, economics, journalism. My four year degree got me in the door, the rest has been up to me. I still deal with the racism and condescension that has always been there throughout my life. I am not empathetic. I am analytical. My grandfather told me that the only security is growth and that you can only keep what you can keep. It was good advice. Politically, I lean left and am a lifelong Democrat. And, as a lifelong Democrat you are asking me to make accommodations for the racist, uneducated, authoritarian, right wing freeloaders who cannot even vote in their own self-interest to join our party?
Well, okay then, let's do it.
Well, okay then, let's do it.
Personally, I thought Bernie Sanders lost voters like me in 2016, when he insisted on the blue-sky mantra 'Free college for all!' Great, I thought, but how are you gonna get that past a congress that can't stomach subsidized healthcare and fix bridges that are falling down? Not to mention the student debt load already being carried by millions of parents?
I always felt he'd have been much better served engaging those millions of parents with a program that explicitly called for debt relief for those parents and students that were already victims of the WallSt-congressional-educational complex, as well as, lowering tuition costs for those yet-to-be students. It would've given him some much-needed credibility among those voters who liked the message, but were skeptical about its realistic chances in congress.
A 'Marshall Plan for America' is the right idea. Not simply 'Free college for all" it seeks to create a new paradigm to bridge education with future employment. And not simply for the young. It embraces those already in the workforce but needing new or updated skills. The added bonus is it also reduces the fault lines of our immigration debate by getting companies to buy into, and partner with, educational institutions that can keep Americans in the workforce, instead of reaching out for H1B visas for foreigners with the needed skills. It's a win-win that could easily put Democrats back into the drivers seat of government again.
I always felt he'd have been much better served engaging those millions of parents with a program that explicitly called for debt relief for those parents and students that were already victims of the WallSt-congressional-educational complex, as well as, lowering tuition costs for those yet-to-be students. It would've given him some much-needed credibility among those voters who liked the message, but were skeptical about its realistic chances in congress.
A 'Marshall Plan for America' is the right idea. Not simply 'Free college for all" it seeks to create a new paradigm to bridge education with future employment. And not simply for the young. It embraces those already in the workforce but needing new or updated skills. The added bonus is it also reduces the fault lines of our immigration debate by getting companies to buy into, and partner with, educational institutions that can keep Americans in the workforce, instead of reaching out for H1B visas for foreigners with the needed skills. It's a win-win that could easily put Democrats back into the drivers seat of government again.
1
When the democratic party under the tutelage of Bill Clinton started to move itself away from its labor/working mans roots towards accepting corporate dollars and the "strings attached" that come with those dollars, the democrtic party has never been the same since. Add to that, over the last 10 years, the loss of hundreds of seats at the state, local and federal levels to the point now where the party could become totally irrelevant.
How can the democrats get their mojo back? Simple, purge the party of outdated corporate/ establishment political hacks like Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein and others of their ilk who are only concerned about their donors and stand for nothing and replace them with younger, progressives who promote actual policies and have a vision. The current crop of democrats has none.
How can the democrats get their mojo back? Simple, purge the party of outdated corporate/ establishment political hacks like Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein and others of their ilk who are only concerned about their donors and stand for nothing and replace them with younger, progressives who promote actual policies and have a vision. The current crop of democrats has none.
4
The Democrats are suffering from hypocrisy on economics. This is what makes it difficulty to pivot to win elections. This is clear in the equally obscene connections to big corporations and money. There is really no difference between the two parties in this regard. Sure, the Dems put on a good show and talk about the little guy, but the policies are functionally the same. Obama leaves office and takes big speaking gigs with Wall Street. Clinton x2 were corrupt and bought by all the corporations and the very bankers they claimed to want to punish. Just look at the donations from the last election cycle. The Dems are just as cozy to business as everyone one else and their policies do not change. See failing on single payer, infrastructure spending, tax reform, and a host of other progressive policy ideas when they controlled Congress. All we got was a flawed ACA sending our tax money to insurance companies (conflict of interest, anyone?)
Secondly, Democrats have been trying to steal a line from the Republican playbook on taxes. It is shameful that only Bernie speaks the truth on this topic. If you want services, you have to pay more in taxes. The Wealthy are not going to pay for it all. Europe proves this. See VAT as well as significantly more regressive tax rates to pay for all of those services. Instead, the Dems cut taxes (Permanent Bush tax cuts now known as Obama tax cuts for those making less than 250k a year). Until the party is honest, they will fail to inspire.
Secondly, Democrats have been trying to steal a line from the Republican playbook on taxes. It is shameful that only Bernie speaks the truth on this topic. If you want services, you have to pay more in taxes. The Wealthy are not going to pay for it all. Europe proves this. See VAT as well as significantly more regressive tax rates to pay for all of those services. Instead, the Dems cut taxes (Permanent Bush tax cuts now known as Obama tax cuts for those making less than 250k a year). Until the party is honest, they will fail to inspire.
3
The only way the working class that put Trump and the Republicans in charge will take them out of power is for those people to suffer the consequences of their votes. That means lagging in income earning, losing health care and insurance, poorer quality schools and the inability to afford private and charter ones, and an increase in the costs of beer, cigarettes and sports tickets, all while Republicans are in charge and Democrats can't be blamed. Then maybe they will dimly realize they have been had and are being manipulated and exploited. Gee, that sounds Marxist. Will the current regime make it fashionable to be a socialist again?
Wow, look who finally found the Sanders Wing of the Democratic (formerly known merely as the Democratic Party).
Trump's antics are a distraction. We democrats should be focused on this plan and substantial policy issues in general.
1
Why does the media, including you Mr. Leonhardt, ignore the Congressional Progressive Caucus alternative budget, The People's Budget? There are democrats working to better the lives of the working class, but the media is ignoring them.
2
Stop tying yourself up in knots trying to use socially 101 to answer the fact that the Democratic Party suffered an overwhelming defeat and his widely despised. A huge number of MIddle Class Americans haven't had a raise in forty years, while urban Blue State liberals and a Democratic Party awash in corporate money have done just fine from free trade and globalization.
Unfortunately the shell game can continue for just so long. The Middle Class are the people and they vote. This is not a contest between educated elites and gun toting rednecks, this is a contest between Blue state liberals who think they are responsible for the country but responsible not to the country who have failed miserably and the rest of us.
Unfortunately the shell game can continue for just so long. The Middle Class are the people and they vote. This is not a contest between educated elites and gun toting rednecks, this is a contest between Blue state liberals who think they are responsible for the country but responsible not to the country who have failed miserably and the rest of us.
11
US non-college grads have been kicked and spat on for at least the past 20 years. Corporations moved their jobs offshore, allowed in millions of immigrants to underbid them on the only other jobs available to them, and seen remaining jobs automated. Adding insult to injury, they've been called bigots and backwards. Is it any wonder then that they gravitate toward right wing media like Fox and Rush, and demagogues like Trump, who at least treat them (at least to their face) with respect and tell them they matter? Is it also any wonder that they despise the Clintons who pushed through the free trade agreements, championed illegal immigration and through their actions signaled to these people that they were 'deplorable' and didn't matter? Unless the Democrats can convince these people that they will truly help them and treat them with respect, they'll continue to vote for the GOP which is raping them.
16
We see many good comments here from those who see through the neo liberal democratic party and its incompetent ways.
Another promise to be wary of: "rising wages".
A wage rise today is gone tomorrow with an increase in medicare deductible, pharmacy prices, cable bill increase, property tax increase, gas price, etc.
When I look at today's car I have to wonder why it would not be way cheaper to replace a gas combustion engine with an electric motor.
Why are we paying bank fees? Why are poor people paying big fees to remit money or cash checks - it's just a tiny piece of data.
Has it occurred to anybody that the rich always get what they want but for some reason the IRS always manages to survive? I mean of course that same IRS that collects zero taxes from Donald Trump. Yet, many progressive think the IRS exists to collect "progressive" taxes from the rich.
Income taxation in the US is not progressive. It's regressive. The rich pay less of a percentage of their income in taxes because they don't pay social security taxes on their wealth.
For some reason, progressives think a flat tax is regressive. Republicans seem to "reluctantly" agree, lol.
Another promise to be wary of: "rising wages".
A wage rise today is gone tomorrow with an increase in medicare deductible, pharmacy prices, cable bill increase, property tax increase, gas price, etc.
When I look at today's car I have to wonder why it would not be way cheaper to replace a gas combustion engine with an electric motor.
Why are we paying bank fees? Why are poor people paying big fees to remit money or cash checks - it's just a tiny piece of data.
Has it occurred to anybody that the rich always get what they want but for some reason the IRS always manages to survive? I mean of course that same IRS that collects zero taxes from Donald Trump. Yet, many progressive think the IRS exists to collect "progressive" taxes from the rich.
Income taxation in the US is not progressive. It's regressive. The rich pay less of a percentage of their income in taxes because they don't pay social security taxes on their wealth.
For some reason, progressives think a flat tax is regressive. Republicans seem to "reluctantly" agree, lol.
5
Is it possible to stop America's slide backwards ? I'm not optimistic that we can reverse this trend. We only need to look at political maps and election results to confirm that many people that vote are incapable of exercising critical thinking skills. These are the results of the dumbing down of America and ultimately the end of the collective vision of a unified America and the swan song for a "Government of the people, by the people, for the people ...." http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/a-brief-history-of-the-idea-of-cri...
11
Literally half our population is brain dead having been fried on Fake New and the right wing media. Liberals are evil (period). There is no way these people would ever entertain a notion to vote democrat. Stop trying to do the impossible. Split the country up and let the non progressives wallow in their filth.
2
The Dems wouldn't have anyone to pay for their half of the country's obligations as they do now.
1
OK, gang; let's stop wasting time with all the silly speculation about whether the Republican swamp-leaders and their pathetic enablers will or won't do anything to rid us of our demented tyrant. CLEARLY, the Democrats and Independents have made the decision that it's time to stop playing the Republicans game. The only way to get rid of cancer affecting the highest levels of our government is absolutely NOT to uncover evidence of endlessly disputable "high crimes and misdemeanors." Rather, it's to uncover hard evidence of actual, INDISPUTABLE, PROSECUTABLE CRIMES. Crimes like money laundering, extortion, physical coercion (such as documented torture and or death), and outright theft. That is why amidst the disputatios nattering about whether "leaks" should take precedence over possible political collusion, etc., that the Republicans try every day to suck them into, the Democrats AND numerous investigative entities have taken a hard turn toward FINANCIAL DEALINGS between foreign (Russian, Azerbaijan, Kazakstani, Dubaian, and other billionaire, oligarch-kleptocrats and thugs) occurring not only in their countries and the US, but also in other places like the Netherlands or Cypress where the activities described have *already* been documented to exist. There seems a strong likelihood that, not just Trump, but also more than one might even suspect of his close associates and appointees might be found among this cohort.
so...FDR's shade emerges to prowl the land and he reads this...a call for the democrats to pay some attention to the working class citizens.
"say what?!"
and, despite this defection, seeing the party still called "progressive"..."you can't be serious?!"
what's the first thing he does after joining a group of kids in some double dutch? (yep, shades are free from their real-life afflictions.)
the bet here is that he will do a marley, visiting schumer, pelosi, H(R)C, et al, offering one-on- one replays of his four freedoms, speech, a back-in-time look at the WPA, the conservation corps, the federal arts projects, etc., in action.
the upshot message, dickensian in its severity, "get it together or get out of the way."
"say what?!"
and, despite this defection, seeing the party still called "progressive"..."you can't be serious?!"
what's the first thing he does after joining a group of kids in some double dutch? (yep, shades are free from their real-life afflictions.)
the bet here is that he will do a marley, visiting schumer, pelosi, H(R)C, et al, offering one-on- one replays of his four freedoms, speech, a back-in-time look at the WPA, the conservation corps, the federal arts projects, etc., in action.
the upshot message, dickensian in its severity, "get it together or get out of the way."
4
Monday morning quarterbacks are sure having a good time giving "advice" on how Democrats should get their "mojo" back. Here are a few pragmatic suggestions:
1. Try voting for a change instead of sitting out mid-term elections.
2. Support the party candidate who had programs to answer all of these bits of advise now being handed down.
3. Learn how to count. In the land of these quarterbacks, shoulda, coulda, woulda seems to be the main premise. For the party to accomplish all of these "suggestions," the party has to have control of the House and Senate. Which brings me back to # 1.
4. Don't back an outsider who became a Democrat for money and voter rolls only and then pouted when he lost.
5. If you don't like the way the party is being run, and Leader Pelosi and Minority leader Schumer are doing an excellent job, thank you very much, then form your own party, raise your own money, and create you own voter rolls.
Sitting on the side lines and sipping your craftmade beer and hurling insults and insipid advice is why flaccid articles such as this only drives home the point of the Monday morning quarterbacks.
1. Try voting for a change instead of sitting out mid-term elections.
2. Support the party candidate who had programs to answer all of these bits of advise now being handed down.
3. Learn how to count. In the land of these quarterbacks, shoulda, coulda, woulda seems to be the main premise. For the party to accomplish all of these "suggestions," the party has to have control of the House and Senate. Which brings me back to # 1.
4. Don't back an outsider who became a Democrat for money and voter rolls only and then pouted when he lost.
5. If you don't like the way the party is being run, and Leader Pelosi and Minority leader Schumer are doing an excellent job, thank you very much, then form your own party, raise your own money, and create you own voter rolls.
Sitting on the side lines and sipping your craftmade beer and hurling insults and insipid advice is why flaccid articles such as this only drives home the point of the Monday morning quarterbacks.
8
Hm-mm . . . I'm a 65-yo, life-long democrat and your comment fills me with despair. In order of your "points":
- #1: voting for crappy Clintonesque democrats that have triangulated on the positions held by "moderate" republicans (like George H) from 1992 is not helpful to anybody except the career party hacks.
- #2: as for policies, I follow politics closely and--for the life of me--I can't remember a single policy Hillary pushed other than identity politics and "save abortion rights". Wish it were different, but the only democratic party position now is "Trump, bad!" Gets old, quick.
- #3: I can count pretty well, thank you, and I'm pretty sure that there's a solid progressive coalition out there that doesn't vote because of the candidates we offer. New voices are needed to mobilize these voters. Who do we get? Perez? Oh, please!
- #4: see #3.
- #5: Just checked ActBlue and my wife and I have given over $6,000 in the last 10 years --which is a lot for us. And, I've certainly stopped answering those breathless DNC fund-raising emails that have treated me like an ATM for 20 years. We still give, but only to specific candidates in specific races.
As for your closing, barely-veiled insult to millennials, aren't you late for the early-bird special at Denny's?
- #1: voting for crappy Clintonesque democrats that have triangulated on the positions held by "moderate" republicans (like George H) from 1992 is not helpful to anybody except the career party hacks.
- #2: as for policies, I follow politics closely and--for the life of me--I can't remember a single policy Hillary pushed other than identity politics and "save abortion rights". Wish it were different, but the only democratic party position now is "Trump, bad!" Gets old, quick.
- #3: I can count pretty well, thank you, and I'm pretty sure that there's a solid progressive coalition out there that doesn't vote because of the candidates we offer. New voices are needed to mobilize these voters. Who do we get? Perez? Oh, please!
- #4: see #3.
- #5: Just checked ActBlue and my wife and I have given over $6,000 in the last 10 years --which is a lot for us. And, I've certainly stopped answering those breathless DNC fund-raising emails that have treated me like an ATM for 20 years. We still give, but only to specific candidates in specific races.
As for your closing, barely-veiled insult to millennials, aren't you late for the early-bird special at Denny's?
4
Bernie rocks!!!!
3
Just a minute. Realizing white racism harms black people is not elitist liberalism. For you to say that it is, is, well, white racism.
7
"Republicans control the House, the Senate, 33 governor’s offices and the legislature in 32 states."
Mr. Leonhardt doesn't deign to try to explain how this happened. His article is therefore fluff.
Mr. Leonhardt doesn't deign to try to explain how this happened. His article is therefore fluff.
1
It happened because, while the Republican Party argues forcibly for a vision of society where the super rich must be rewarded and placated at every turn by the rest ofus, the Democrats argue for compromise with Republicans. Very few Democrats can make any kind of argument for investing in children, saving the environment, or uniting all of the divided identity groups to flight for justice for all.
With no major party arguing for the left, and a global corporate media that likes it that way, there is no balance, everything is tilted toward the right.
The idea that moving to the corporate center and begging for compromise never worked and is morally bankrupt. Democrats may have won a few presidential elections but have last two thirds of everything else.
Democrats think that politics is the art of the possible, then declare everything the people want impossible.
Politics is the art of making things possible. It is not Democrats raising the minimum wage, but fast food and other minimum wage workers (with help from Occupy) that changed raising the minimum wage from a joke, pre 2011, to a fast spreading reality.
You can't change anyone's mind if you concede the argument, and the definition of terms, ahead of time. You can change people's minds if you believe in making the world a better place for all and put your heart into making it happen.
Another world is coming. Do we let the Trumps define it, or do we define it?
With no major party arguing for the left, and a global corporate media that likes it that way, there is no balance, everything is tilted toward the right.
The idea that moving to the corporate center and begging for compromise never worked and is morally bankrupt. Democrats may have won a few presidential elections but have last two thirds of everything else.
Democrats think that politics is the art of the possible, then declare everything the people want impossible.
Politics is the art of making things possible. It is not Democrats raising the minimum wage, but fast food and other minimum wage workers (with help from Occupy) that changed raising the minimum wage from a joke, pre 2011, to a fast spreading reality.
You can't change anyone's mind if you concede the argument, and the definition of terms, ahead of time. You can change people's minds if you believe in making the world a better place for all and put your heart into making it happen.
Another world is coming. Do we let the Trumps define it, or do we define it?
A NY Times "Pick" says: "Stop with the thumbing down the nose at people who never went to college, people who speak with a twang or a drawl, people who like donuts and NASCAR and hunting and fishing and Country Music. Embrace the camaraderie and egalitarian spirit of Waffle House."
And I say that's a two-way street. Citizens have civic responsibilities, especially so, I would think, for citizens who fancy themselves "patriots." FI'm originally from smack dab in the middle of the kind of country the prior comment describes, and I educated myself and got out. I didn't shutter my own political outlook with the outlook of daddy. I know that the world needs to be seen as a whole system of interrelated parts. Religious pulpit holders and closed-minded neighbors don't have a ring in my nose attached to a fantasy portrayal of God.
As soon as the very people swindled by Trump and the GOP get educated, and start paying attention to the world, not just their county lines, and start to pull themselves up and out by their bootstraps -- as Republicans so fervently exhort them -- you know what? They'll become Democrats.
And I say that's a two-way street. Citizens have civic responsibilities, especially so, I would think, for citizens who fancy themselves "patriots." FI'm originally from smack dab in the middle of the kind of country the prior comment describes, and I educated myself and got out. I didn't shutter my own political outlook with the outlook of daddy. I know that the world needs to be seen as a whole system of interrelated parts. Religious pulpit holders and closed-minded neighbors don't have a ring in my nose attached to a fantasy portrayal of God.
As soon as the very people swindled by Trump and the GOP get educated, and start paying attention to the world, not just their county lines, and start to pull themselves up and out by their bootstraps -- as Republicans so fervently exhort them -- you know what? They'll become Democrats.
10
Unfortunately the Republican party is designed to organize the working poor to fight for the rights of the rich, and the Democratic Party is designed to tell the working poor that fighting is a waste of time.
So I hope that people like you skip overt the Democratic Party and go straight to the movements for social, economic, and environmental justice, where change is actually being made for the good.
So I hope that people like you skip overt the Democratic Party and go straight to the movements for social, economic, and environmental justice, where change is actually being made for the good.
Therefore, there is only one truth -- yours -- and only one political party -- Democrats -- and nobody dares to have another opinion, or they get mocked and denigrated.
Sounds a lot like a totalitarian state.
BTW: because you got "up and out" means nothing. You clearly hated your flyover home state and cohorts, and we don't know what kind of luck or connections you had along the way. It's not that impressive, sir, to mock your family or background, or act like your poop don't stink.
Sounds a lot like a totalitarian state.
BTW: because you got "up and out" means nothing. You clearly hated your flyover home state and cohorts, and we don't know what kind of luck or connections you had along the way. It's not that impressive, sir, to mock your family or background, or act like your poop don't stink.
Democrats would be in the White House right now had their candidate not embraced a quasi-open-borders platform. If you want to win the votes of the American people you need to pitch your sale to THEM, not foreign nationals.
9
I watched in the 80s as a Democratic controlled House of Representatives sent Mr. Reagan legislation to sign which would strip away Pell Grants for Graduate Students. Then they did the same for undergrades. The Democrats stood by as the Republicans did even more sabotage when they took both houses in the 90s and never did anything to regress these poliices which encouraged and thus created the dumbing down which lead to Trump and might yet destroy our democracy. The Democrats are complicit in everything wrong with Washington Government. People both with and without college degress have memories. Many of us know exactly which political party kept us from being able to afford college — BOTH!
17
Yes Trump is a drooling fascist incompetent. Yes the GOP most certainly stink. But what of the Democrats? Sure it looks like the GOP are imploding under the weight of the Teflon president's incompetence but are the Democrats ready, willing and able to pick up the slack when this happens? Its not enough to stand there and say: "at least we aren't as bad as the GOP!" The Dems have to decide what they stand FOR and come with a STRATEGY to win! Here is some cogent advice from David Leonhardt of the NY Times on how the erstwhile party of Obama might forge ahead. *Hint - stay away from the mushy middle and you should try to include some disgruntled Trump supporters!
3
Lets hope that the archaic DNC never gets its mojo back.
Mr. Leonhardt is having a lot of difficulty adjusting to changing times...and he's fighting hard to prevent the future from happening.
If we give an honest look at the history of the Democrat Party, we must face the reality.....the Democrat Party has for almost 200 years, been the stalwart defender of the Old Guard, the Status Quo......RESISTANT to change.
True enough, in todays Orwellian World, the DNC proclaims to be an advocate of "Change You Can Beleive In".....but nothing actually changed!! If Rip Van Winkle had fallen asleep at the 1968 Convention and just woken up....he'd immediately notice that the Democrats changed .... NOTHING! It's still the same, they solved not one single problem despite having almost absolute control over everything!
Democrat Party resisted change during the period 1850-1860....Slavery was Status Quo.
Democrat Party resisted change right up to 1930.....Laissez Faire was Status Quo. The change started during poor ole Herbert Hoover's admin.....and was magnified by FDR, a traitor to his party, in defiance to many a Democrat.
And now, right on schedule, according to the American 70-80 year economic cycle,,,,,the Democrats are resisting the destruction of the Old Guard and refusing to help build the New.
Mr. Leonhardt is having a lot of difficulty adjusting to changing times...and he's fighting hard to prevent the future from happening.
If we give an honest look at the history of the Democrat Party, we must face the reality.....the Democrat Party has for almost 200 years, been the stalwart defender of the Old Guard, the Status Quo......RESISTANT to change.
True enough, in todays Orwellian World, the DNC proclaims to be an advocate of "Change You Can Beleive In".....but nothing actually changed!! If Rip Van Winkle had fallen asleep at the 1968 Convention and just woken up....he'd immediately notice that the Democrats changed .... NOTHING! It's still the same, they solved not one single problem despite having almost absolute control over everything!
Democrat Party resisted change during the period 1850-1860....Slavery was Status Quo.
Democrat Party resisted change right up to 1930.....Laissez Faire was Status Quo. The change started during poor ole Herbert Hoover's admin.....and was magnified by FDR, a traitor to his party, in defiance to many a Democrat.
And now, right on schedule, according to the American 70-80 year economic cycle,,,,,the Democrats are resisting the destruction of the Old Guard and refusing to help build the New.
2
Did you have anything else besides the slur "Democrat Party"? Even the dimmest troll would have known to drop Robert Byrd's name. Bless your heart.
Lol Trump is not trying to build anything'new. He just wants to be emperor.
The democrats first must do a REAL self analysis and correct their problems.
First, don't nominate ( rig the nomination ) a corrupt, unlikeable , greedy nothing like Hillary. And no , she is NOT the most experienced person to run for president. There is so much hate spewed at Trump, yet Hillary and her ilk are the real problem for the democrats.
Second, move as fast as possible more to the center especially on issues such as abortion. I, for one , will NEVER vote Democratic as long as they support killing unborn babies.
Third, get rid of the hate mongers such as Schumer, Perez, and Debbie WS. They do NOT put a good face on the party.
So there's a few ideas to start with. Fat chance the party leaders will do any of them.
First, don't nominate ( rig the nomination ) a corrupt, unlikeable , greedy nothing like Hillary. And no , she is NOT the most experienced person to run for president. There is so much hate spewed at Trump, yet Hillary and her ilk are the real problem for the democrats.
Second, move as fast as possible more to the center especially on issues such as abortion. I, for one , will NEVER vote Democratic as long as they support killing unborn babies.
Third, get rid of the hate mongers such as Schumer, Perez, and Debbie WS. They do NOT put a good face on the party.
So there's a few ideas to start with. Fat chance the party leaders will do any of them.
4
The Democrats have been running to the center for decades. That's why they lose
The most experienced candidate to run for POTUS in my lifetime was....Poppy Bush 41. He was a war hero...Congressman...Ambassador to the UN...Chairman of the RNC....Director of the CIA....Vice President under Reagan for 8 years....then elected President of the United States.
He lasted one term.
Experience sounds good on paper, but some people simply don't have real charisma or leadership no matter their CV.
I also agree that the Dems do not realize how much Schumer, Pelosi, Perez, Wasserman Schultz are harming their party or their message.
He lasted one term.
Experience sounds good on paper, but some people simply don't have real charisma or leadership no matter their CV.
I also agree that the Dems do not realize how much Schumer, Pelosi, Perez, Wasserman Schultz are harming their party or their message.
Trump was elected by wealthy, conservative white voters, male and female...who care about one thing. Money and policies that favor the one percent. Everything else you have heard is a scam.
5
Start by repeating after me, Bruce Jenner is not a hero.
4
The Democrats have always thought that they are the party "of the people", the only party really sticking up for the middle class. The reason that some, particular working class, do not follow them is because they are deluded by Republican rhetoric. If they only understood what the Democrats are saying, they would gladly rejoin the fold.
Meanwhile the Dems make a lot of noise sticking up for Africa-Americans (13% of the population), gays (<7% of the population), and more lately transgender (<0.3% of the population). Now there is nothing wrong with supporting those groups with regard to appropriate rights, but you can't win with going after that 20% of the total population, illegals who can't vote, and whomever else just doesn't like the Republicans (I am in that latter group).
The Republicans win when they get people afraid, angry about something, or otherwise bamboozle them, not because they have good ideas of how to help the working class. Such as believing that cutting taxes on the wealthy and big biz is going to make everything all right. Or that Obamacare is horrible and a Demo plot to kill them
The Dems have got to start talking to the nation as a whole, with moderate views. Find new leadership. (Pelosi has to go.) Keep track of Republican actions and proposals and let voters know what their Republican congressmen have said and how they voted and what that means to their middle class constituents. It's no longer 1968.
Meanwhile the Dems make a lot of noise sticking up for Africa-Americans (13% of the population), gays (<7% of the population), and more lately transgender (<0.3% of the population). Now there is nothing wrong with supporting those groups with regard to appropriate rights, but you can't win with going after that 20% of the total population, illegals who can't vote, and whomever else just doesn't like the Republicans (I am in that latter group).
The Republicans win when they get people afraid, angry about something, or otherwise bamboozle them, not because they have good ideas of how to help the working class. Such as believing that cutting taxes on the wealthy and big biz is going to make everything all right. Or that Obamacare is horrible and a Demo plot to kill them
The Dems have got to start talking to the nation as a whole, with moderate views. Find new leadership. (Pelosi has to go.) Keep track of Republican actions and proposals and let voters know what their Republican congressmen have said and how they voted and what that means to their middle class constituents. It's no longer 1968.
6
Gays are not even remotely 7% of the population. Liberal sex researchers, with every reason to want to find MORE gays & lesbians, have never been able to prove more than 1.5% identify as gay or lesbian. To try to bend over backwards to be fair, many calculate that another 1.5% are in the closet. The commonest number used by GAY organizations & researchers is 3%.
Transgenders though are no more than 0.3% -- a tiny, tiny fraction.
The problem isn't protecting LGBQT people from violence or threats, or preventing them from living, working, voting. Everyone agrees on that.
The problem is suddenly deciding to re-engineer all of society to accommodate them -- such as destroying traditional marriage, by redefining it so that gays can "marry" (something they all held in contempt for generations -- "breeders" they called us).
I've lost count of the liberals who demand that we REBUILD every public restroom in American -- forget infrastructure, forget health care, forget tax reform, forget every other need -- and spend about a trillion dollars to turn every bathroom into a unisex bathroom so we don't "hurt the pwecious little fweelings" of a 0.3% of the population who want to believe they can chance genders by changing clothes or having surgery.
The Dems lost, in part, because Obama arrogantly decided that the summer of 2016's election was THE perfect time to issue executive orders forcing schools to let transgender MTFs shower naked with biological girls.
Transgenders though are no more than 0.3% -- a tiny, tiny fraction.
The problem isn't protecting LGBQT people from violence or threats, or preventing them from living, working, voting. Everyone agrees on that.
The problem is suddenly deciding to re-engineer all of society to accommodate them -- such as destroying traditional marriage, by redefining it so that gays can "marry" (something they all held in contempt for generations -- "breeders" they called us).
I've lost count of the liberals who demand that we REBUILD every public restroom in American -- forget infrastructure, forget health care, forget tax reform, forget every other need -- and spend about a trillion dollars to turn every bathroom into a unisex bathroom so we don't "hurt the pwecious little fweelings" of a 0.3% of the population who want to believe they can chance genders by changing clothes or having surgery.
The Dems lost, in part, because Obama arrogantly decided that the summer of 2016's election was THE perfect time to issue executive orders forcing schools to let transgender MTFs shower naked with biological girls.
The unpleasant truth is that today's white non-college educated working class person is not your grandfather's white non-college educated working class person.
Eighty years ago there were many very intelligent people who did not attend college because of financial circumstances or because of discrimination against their race, religion or gender. Henry George, arguably the most brilliant American economist of the 19th century, left school at age 14. President Harry Truman was not a college graduate.
Today, with many exceptions, someone under the age of forty who was never interested in college probably is not very smart. That makes them vulnerable to the lies that got Trump elected. Even some with college educations are not able to understand that NAFTA and trade agreements increase employment and standards of living, and that immigrants are not responsible for slow economic growth. Democrats can never hope to lie better than Trump.
"..Protectionism is the progressivism of fools. Gandhi was a great statesman but a horrible economist. Just as the ignorant in the USA argue that American workers who earn $15 per hour should not have to compete with Chinese workers who make $2 per hour, Gandhi thought that Indian workers should not have to compete with American workers who have the benefit of modern machines. As a result India adopted protectionism. In 1947 the per capita income of India was similar to countries such a South Korea. .."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4032821
Eighty years ago there were many very intelligent people who did not attend college because of financial circumstances or because of discrimination against their race, religion or gender. Henry George, arguably the most brilliant American economist of the 19th century, left school at age 14. President Harry Truman was not a college graduate.
Today, with many exceptions, someone under the age of forty who was never interested in college probably is not very smart. That makes them vulnerable to the lies that got Trump elected. Even some with college educations are not able to understand that NAFTA and trade agreements increase employment and standards of living, and that immigrants are not responsible for slow economic growth. Democrats can never hope to lie better than Trump.
"..Protectionism is the progressivism of fools. Gandhi was a great statesman but a horrible economist. Just as the ignorant in the USA argue that American workers who earn $15 per hour should not have to compete with Chinese workers who make $2 per hour, Gandhi thought that Indian workers should not have to compete with American workers who have the benefit of modern machines. As a result India adopted protectionism. In 1947 the per capita income of India was similar to countries such a South Korea. .."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4032821
1
Predictably, the comments section is full of people whining about Bernie. We're never going to get anywhere unless you people can get over the last election. Dear Lord. Time to Move on friends!
3
I think it is talk about how everything Bernie stood for is suddenly in vogue in the Democratic party. They chose to run a corrupt politician who claimed the right to be in charge by sheer virtue of her name and former contributions despite being out of touch and hopelessly bad at communication and reaching out the voters. We will have to move on. Perhaps that means embracing the ideas Bernie stated and breaking the big money hold on the Democratic party?
2
Time for you, Augustus, to learn the lessons of the election which Bernie so clearly taught us. Yes, time to move on...in Bernie's direction. Dear Lord.
2
It's time for an honest discussion in America. It's time to stop making promises that cannot be kept. It's time to dump slogans, jingles, and catchy phrases that mean nothing, but sound substantial. And finally its time for the Democratic Party to stop being beholden to the moneyed crowd on the East and West coasts; the same crowd that looks like and acts like the "well to do" in The Hunger Games. The Democrats were a "shot and a beer" party. It's time to win those folks back, one beer at a time.
6
Rare to see something so succinct in these comments.
The elites of neither party are (yet) committed to a pure populist agenda.
It is because their corporate donors will not allow it!
I remember when good paying jobs with benefits that lifted non- college educated folks into the middle class was the purpose of strong unions. This isn't a new idea people!
Before reclaiming their mojo, they might want to reclaim their dignity and their sanity. That includes the Fake News purveyors at the NY Times. The fringe left wing has become unhinged.
5
I agree but must point out the obvious: college grads have paid dearly for their education and that a college education does provide the learning skills to be an informed citizen.
Divide the younger generations plays into the hands of the greedy 1%
Divide the younger generations plays into the hands of the greedy 1%
"Remember when he proclaimed, “I love the poorly educated”."
Trump and the GOP love the "poorly educated", because they have been able to easily fool them.
When this fiasco of a presidency is done, the rich will be richer and more powerful and the poorly educated will be poorer and less educated. But isn't that what the Republicans really want: Voters who cannot read, write or think and look to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh to tell them what to do.
Trump and the GOP love the "poorly educated", because they have been able to easily fool them.
When this fiasco of a presidency is done, the rich will be richer and more powerful and the poorly educated will be poorer and less educated. But isn't that what the Republicans really want: Voters who cannot read, write or think and look to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh to tell them what to do.
"black non-graduates affected the result by staying home in larger numbers."
Unfortunately, this was due to the Black Lives Matter movement, which erred in targeting Hillary for her husbands policies from 20 years ago. It was a gross misjudgment, and turned the black voter against Clinton. However justified the argument against the actions taken by Bill, it was not in their self-interest to attack Hillary, the person who had the best shot to correct the problem. Now, of course, we have Sessions advocating even stricter sentencing laws.
Unfortunately, this was due to the Black Lives Matter movement, which erred in targeting Hillary for her husbands policies from 20 years ago. It was a gross misjudgment, and turned the black voter against Clinton. However justified the argument against the actions taken by Bill, it was not in their self-interest to attack Hillary, the person who had the best shot to correct the problem. Now, of course, we have Sessions advocating even stricter sentencing laws.
4
Maybe they stayed home because they remembered her comment from '08 that "hard-working white folks won't vote for him (obama)" and "he wouldn't be my pastor (Wright)" and Bill's "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina too" and Andrew Cuomo's "shuckin' and jivin'" comment about Obama in '08. Or maybe they just couldn't swallow Hillary's so very obvious dishonesty and bad judgment.
2
"...Finding those solutions is the right thing to do, and it’s the path back to power for Democrats..."
Not to mention that traditionally that is exactly what being Democrat meant.
Bernie Sanders succeeded precisely because that's what he represented and who Bernie is. In the wake of Republican incompetence and obvious Corporatist and Oligarch bias, specifically Trump's obvious failure to deliver on the lies he spun in his campaign, with guidance from individuals such as Bernie, still immensely popular with the very people disenfranchised and angry, the Democrat Party may very well be able to convert back the voters they need to control the House and Senate until they can recapture the White House.
Not to mention that traditionally that is exactly what being Democrat meant.
Bernie Sanders succeeded precisely because that's what he represented and who Bernie is. In the wake of Republican incompetence and obvious Corporatist and Oligarch bias, specifically Trump's obvious failure to deliver on the lies he spun in his campaign, with guidance from individuals such as Bernie, still immensely popular with the very people disenfranchised and angry, the Democrat Party may very well be able to convert back the voters they need to control the House and Senate until they can recapture the White House.
2
Bernie wasn't a Democrat until he saw a benefit in calling himself one. There are many things to admire about Sanders, but bravery isn't one of them.
1
Whatever the strategy, I wish that people would STOP telling those without a promising future or no income to go back to college and just receive a degree in hi-tech. Then miraculously just move to SF Bay area, Austin or Seattle.
As if we could all do this.
Concentrate on the working poor in strengthening their wages and single payer health care. These two things resonate fairly strongly among most Americans.
As if we could all do this.
Concentrate on the working poor in strengthening their wages and single payer health care. These two things resonate fairly strongly among most Americans.
11
IF even 10% of the dispossessed did that -- go to college, get a STEM degree -- flood into fields like software engineer and programmer -- those fields would quickly be flooded and overwhelmed. They pay a lot today BECAUSE they have shortages. If they had 300 applicants for every job....the pay would go way down.
If that 10% then tried to move to SF Bay or Austin or Seattle or Boston....pretty soon that $4000 studio apartment would cost $8000, and be shared by 4 people sleeping in shifts. Good times!
Be careful of what you wish for. Unemployed, highly educated people get angry, and have the smarts to organize and do a lot of harm. You don't want a critical mass of them, chained to non-dischargeable college loans they can never pay off.
If that 10% then tried to move to SF Bay or Austin or Seattle or Boston....pretty soon that $4000 studio apartment would cost $8000, and be shared by 4 people sleeping in shifts. Good times!
Be careful of what you wish for. Unemployed, highly educated people get angry, and have the smarts to organize and do a lot of harm. You don't want a critical mass of them, chained to non-dischargeable college loans they can never pay off.
One thing Dems must do is drop the term "working class" as the name of the
group to whom they are appealing for votes. The working class is not a single entity with a single political interest. Those who have jobs and are hard workers often differentiate themselves from those on welfare and who need assistance. Those who have good manual jobs are likely to want lower taxes and may resent having to pay for those who occupy more marginal positions in society. Any effort to craft an appeal to both these elements of the "working class" must be more careful to understand the varied perspectives that characterize that complex and rather nebulous group.
group to whom they are appealing for votes. The working class is not a single entity with a single political interest. Those who have jobs and are hard workers often differentiate themselves from those on welfare and who need assistance. Those who have good manual jobs are likely to want lower taxes and may resent having to pay for those who occupy more marginal positions in society. Any effort to craft an appeal to both these elements of the "working class" must be more careful to understand the varied perspectives that characterize that complex and rather nebulous group.
3
I'm conflicted about the fact that the Center for American Progress is now trying to co-opt, the Bernie Sanders agenda as a way to revive the Democratic Party's electoral chances.
After all, John Podesta, the former president of this Washington think tank, and Neera Tanden, its current president, spent a lot of time last year trying to stifle Sanders' primary campaign. After forcing him out, Podesta's candidate, Hillary Clinton spent the rest of the campaign either ignoring Bernie's main proposals or calling them impossible. Have they now seen the light? Or is it just Bernie lite?
Having a four-year college degree or not may be a new dividing line among voters in America, but it has not replaced the dividing line between large banks and corporations and middle and working class Americans.
It will be interesting to see what the Center for American Progress considers "left-wing excesses" considering the significant but undisclosed corporate contributions that help support its work. For details, see the following article on its behind-the-scenes funding: https://www.thenation.com/article/secret-donors-behind-center-american-p... .
Let's wait and see what they say about Medicare for All, breaking up and regulating the big banks, ending Big Pharma's fixed price monopoly and ending dependence on fracking and fossil fuels. Then we'll know if they are really on the side of working Americans.
After all, John Podesta, the former president of this Washington think tank, and Neera Tanden, its current president, spent a lot of time last year trying to stifle Sanders' primary campaign. After forcing him out, Podesta's candidate, Hillary Clinton spent the rest of the campaign either ignoring Bernie's main proposals or calling them impossible. Have they now seen the light? Or is it just Bernie lite?
Having a four-year college degree or not may be a new dividing line among voters in America, but it has not replaced the dividing line between large banks and corporations and middle and working class Americans.
It will be interesting to see what the Center for American Progress considers "left-wing excesses" considering the significant but undisclosed corporate contributions that help support its work. For details, see the following article on its behind-the-scenes funding: https://www.thenation.com/article/secret-donors-behind-center-american-p... .
Let's wait and see what they say about Medicare for All, breaking up and regulating the big banks, ending Big Pharma's fixed price monopoly and ending dependence on fracking and fossil fuels. Then we'll know if they are really on the side of working Americans.
11
Uhhhh. actually Bernie Sanders had this basic agenda, but the Dem elite wouldn't listen. Had they done so, it would be Sanders in the WH, not Trump.
But I suppose better late than never...unless you're trying to defuse a ticking time bomb, which is the state we're in now. The Dems had better wake up NOW! They have been asleep for almost 40 years while the Republicans stole their one-time constituency. All of the things suggested by this "Marshall Plan" must be done, but there are some other things, just as critical that also need to happen, which are behind the scenes, and less understood. Tax policy - specifically, taxing long term capital investments at a lower level, and short term profit taking much higher. This will create incentives for companies and their investors to create jobs and increase wages, benefits, and on the job training. Also, increasing the taxes on companies who produce goods and services offshore, and lowering the taxes on domestic production. On this last item, it's critical that this be phased in to allow companies to repatriate themselves without penalty. If we fail to create incentives for the private sector to participate in increasing job and wage creation, the effort will run out of steam. We need to harness capitalism to work for EVERYBODY, as it once did in America, prior to Reagan and "trickle down" economics. If the Dems are smart, and based upon their recent performance that's questionable, they'll adopt these measures and return to power.
But I suppose better late than never...unless you're trying to defuse a ticking time bomb, which is the state we're in now. The Dems had better wake up NOW! They have been asleep for almost 40 years while the Republicans stole their one-time constituency. All of the things suggested by this "Marshall Plan" must be done, but there are some other things, just as critical that also need to happen, which are behind the scenes, and less understood. Tax policy - specifically, taxing long term capital investments at a lower level, and short term profit taking much higher. This will create incentives for companies and their investors to create jobs and increase wages, benefits, and on the job training. Also, increasing the taxes on companies who produce goods and services offshore, and lowering the taxes on domestic production. On this last item, it's critical that this be phased in to allow companies to repatriate themselves without penalty. If we fail to create incentives for the private sector to participate in increasing job and wage creation, the effort will run out of steam. We need to harness capitalism to work for EVERYBODY, as it once did in America, prior to Reagan and "trickle down" economics. If the Dems are smart, and based upon their recent performance that's questionable, they'll adopt these measures and return to power.
9
I would argue that reforming the corporate and personal tax code would do wonders to reduce corruption and prevent others from gaming the system. I propose a flat tax on corporate profits in the 15-25% range with no deductions, credits, or amortization. Profits would be earnings after expenses. This will prevent corporations like GE from paying literally no taxes on billions. There are so many credits and loopholes that an army of lawyers work to game the system. Flattening the tax code would actually increase revenue by eliminating these shell games
The personal income tax should also be reformed. The middle class continues to defend deductions for charity, mortgage interest, and local taxes when the vast majority of these benefits go to the wealthy on second homes and much higher mortgage values. The Times did a good series on this recently. The answer is to have a flat tax with generous exclusion that ensures no person below the poverty line pays additional taxes. This would effectively create brackets (ie, middle class worker earning 50k would pay taxes on only 20k while 250k earner would pay that rate on 220k in earnings). Contrary to belief, the rich don't pay high tax rates anyway. See Romney, Buffet, Gates, etc. Reform would eliminate deductions that encourage tax shelters and gaming the system. This would ensure fair revenue collection. We need to stop the "fair share" rhetoric unless we are willing to state a percentage or some clear amount.
The personal income tax should also be reformed. The middle class continues to defend deductions for charity, mortgage interest, and local taxes when the vast majority of these benefits go to the wealthy on second homes and much higher mortgage values. The Times did a good series on this recently. The answer is to have a flat tax with generous exclusion that ensures no person below the poverty line pays additional taxes. This would effectively create brackets (ie, middle class worker earning 50k would pay taxes on only 20k while 250k earner would pay that rate on 220k in earnings). Contrary to belief, the rich don't pay high tax rates anyway. See Romney, Buffet, Gates, etc. Reform would eliminate deductions that encourage tax shelters and gaming the system. This would ensure fair revenue collection. We need to stop the "fair share" rhetoric unless we are willing to state a percentage or some clear amount.
It's also important not to fall into the trap of dividing the country into the 'non-college educated' and those with a degree. While it's a useful framework for the case made here, the fact is life can be pretty miserable for even college graduates- maybe more so because they've spent the time and money (often incurring great debt) to follow that dream, only to find it becomes ashes. This "Marshall Plan" focus on making it possible for all Americans to obtain decent work; and providing the economic keys to life-long learning and mobility. Single payer would boost American's mobility and encourage entrepreneurship. I am 60+ and never hear a career discussion- from millennials to the near-retirement folks like myself that doesn't revolve around health insurance. Make it easier for people to change careers- half of those over-priced degrees will be in fields not relevant in the future. Improve social security. No one's bringing back pensions and 401Ks were never designed to be one's only source of income. Create enforceable regulations so that companies can't discriminate based on age... or anything else. Create policies designed to reward innovation and fair play; while 'punishing' multi-national corporations whose only goals are to reward their investors at the expense of employee security, consumer safety and America at large.
5
Why not make college more affordable to the working class people than reinforcing this idea that "you'll do great without education"?
The Democrats must make it clear that they will stand up for workers and their families and strive to reduce the income gap. That goes without saying.
But the solution to Republican dominance of the electoral system at the state and local level is not so simple.
The Citizens United decision was a watershed moment in the "deconstruction" of our democracy. John Roberts will go down in history as the Chief Justice that handed down the decision in favor of Karl Rove's Citizen's United suit. That is the decision that more than any decision in modern history has altered the political landscape by permitting dark corporate money to flow into politics at every level without control. Roberts paved the way for massive gerrymandering and voter suppression laws via statehouses and governorships that were bought and paid for by Koch brother funding, among others. The savvy strategy is based on the magnified power of big money in local elections. Mr. Roberts has done more to destroy democracy than any one could have ever imagined. He shall receive the corporate fascist medal of honor and the rest of us will continue to pay the price for his rejection of the fundamentals of government by the people for the people.
Stand up for the workers, yes. But overturning Citizens United is perhaps even more important to the salvation of our nation.
But the solution to Republican dominance of the electoral system at the state and local level is not so simple.
The Citizens United decision was a watershed moment in the "deconstruction" of our democracy. John Roberts will go down in history as the Chief Justice that handed down the decision in favor of Karl Rove's Citizen's United suit. That is the decision that more than any decision in modern history has altered the political landscape by permitting dark corporate money to flow into politics at every level without control. Roberts paved the way for massive gerrymandering and voter suppression laws via statehouses and governorships that were bought and paid for by Koch brother funding, among others. The savvy strategy is based on the magnified power of big money in local elections. Mr. Roberts has done more to destroy democracy than any one could have ever imagined. He shall receive the corporate fascist medal of honor and the rest of us will continue to pay the price for his rejection of the fundamentals of government by the people for the people.
Stand up for the workers, yes. But overturning Citizens United is perhaps even more important to the salvation of our nation.
5
David, thanks for articulating clearly what some of us have been shouting against gale force winds. What pushed me out of the Party was when Hillary said that she could not relate to the working and the middle classes anymore.
The Democrats are destined to be a minority political party unless they farm out the elders who are too set in their ways, purge the Third Way folk, including breaking links with CAP etc. They need to go back to Roosevelt's model and not the Clintons center/center-right model. Without being a champion of the working and the middle classes they will go nowhere. It would also help if they stop the fake "listening tours" and a bit of sacrilege here, for Obama to stop referring to Bernie as a Socialist. He might have been a socialist in his younger days but he's now solidly Progressive.
The Democrats are destined to be a minority political party unless they farm out the elders who are too set in their ways, purge the Third Way folk, including breaking links with CAP etc. They need to go back to Roosevelt's model and not the Clintons center/center-right model. Without being a champion of the working and the middle classes they will go nowhere. It would also help if they stop the fake "listening tours" and a bit of sacrilege here, for Obama to stop referring to Bernie as a Socialist. He might have been a socialist in his younger days but he's now solidly Progressive.
3
I struggle to see how this overcomes the status quo. When it comes to winning uneducated voters, good policy barely seems to matter these days and progressive messages are increasingly distorted and drowned out by social media, Fox News, anti-abortion zealots, the NRA and other corporate interests.
Moreover, the 2016 election showed us that uneducated voters are easily swayed by personalities and candidtates who can connect on an emotional level. What Democrats really need then is a strong stable of young, ambitious, charismatic leaders. Unfortunately, being outnumbered in so many legislatures means our talent pool isn't as deep. Meanwhile, our most eligible candidates, like Biden and Sanders, are in their mid seventies.
Moreover, the 2016 election showed us that uneducated voters are easily swayed by personalities and candidtates who can connect on an emotional level. What Democrats really need then is a strong stable of young, ambitious, charismatic leaders. Unfortunately, being outnumbered in so many legislatures means our talent pool isn't as deep. Meanwhile, our most eligible candidates, like Biden and Sanders, are in their mid seventies.
1
The biggest problem in the US is that millions of people who work full time are living in poverty or very close to it. Too many jobs don't pay enough. The republicans have never cared about American workers and their families but the Democrats did. In fact, that was fundamental to everything the democratic party stood for. Democrats need to get back to that as the central issue, and find people who can actually communicate with the voters, especially white voters who have been duped into voting for republicans. With all due respect to every other "identity", are there any articulate, charismatic white guys with humble origins in the South or Midwest who can speak for the democrats?
3
Today, many Democrats are not in the workforce so the party feels no need to appeal to the working man.
Education makes you elitist because the alternative is almost certain mediocrity. Without an elitist education you will likely suffer from low wages, few opportunities, and poor choices in a world that has fewer places for your choices. The issue is not "respecting" the undereducated working class, it's about demonstrating to them that unless they choose change, they're going to reap the misery they sow. And having given us Trump, they will learn this lesson the hard way. Let their Red State do its job. Suffering is a great educator. Change or die. Republican policies would simply prefer they die. Call me elitist.
1
Obama saved the auto industry. Guess who voted for Trump in Mi. and Wi?
The very people whose jobs were saved. Please - the level of ignorance in our society has fallen to a point where there is no saving. Coal miners don't want to hear about a New Deal or 21st Century economy. They want to hear about walls and banning immigrants and killing government programs for everyone but themselves. Urban vs. Rural. That is the new dynamic. Unless the electoral college is abolished, the U.S. will become a bannanna republic or soviet satellite.
The very people whose jobs were saved. Please - the level of ignorance in our society has fallen to a point where there is no saving. Coal miners don't want to hear about a New Deal or 21st Century economy. They want to hear about walls and banning immigrants and killing government programs for everyone but themselves. Urban vs. Rural. That is the new dynamic. Unless the electoral college is abolished, the U.S. will become a bannanna republic or soviet satellite.
3
Interesting that the NYT picks diverge from the readers' picks.
Readers understand massive inequality is the root of the fracturing of America and endorse Bernie- and Euro-style redistribution while the establishment NYT sniffs at excesses of the left.
The U.S. has the fourth lowest taxes and the meanest social benefits of the 35-nation OECD, the advanced economies.
The U.S. spends 18 per cent of gdp on health care while other rich countries spend an average of 10 per cent and get better health results.
A guaranteed income for all and national universal health insurance.
Right now the major difference between the parties is that the Dem billionaires are cooler than the GOP billionaires.
Readers understand massive inequality is the root of the fracturing of America and endorse Bernie- and Euro-style redistribution while the establishment NYT sniffs at excesses of the left.
The U.S. has the fourth lowest taxes and the meanest social benefits of the 35-nation OECD, the advanced economies.
The U.S. spends 18 per cent of gdp on health care while other rich countries spend an average of 10 per cent and get better health results.
A guaranteed income for all and national universal health insurance.
Right now the major difference between the parties is that the Dem billionaires are cooler than the GOP billionaires.
12
Sounds good and I believe in it. But weren't these "two pillars" of the "Marshall Plan for America" precisely what Hillary Clinton was proposing in the first place? It's easy to say that in the last election the Democrats did a poor job of marketing these ideas . . . perhaps next time? Let's hope so but I think the problem goes much deeper . . .
2
Thomas Frank, who in 2004 warned of the Democrats problem of abandoning the working class ("What's the Matter with Kansas") wrote a book in early 2016, "Listen, Liberal". That book was later recommended by the NYT as one of 6 books to read to understand how Trump won.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/07/donald-trump-why-a...
NYT columnist Thomas Edsall warned of the problem in 2011!
https://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/the-future-of-the-oba...
"For decades, Democrats have suffered continuous and increasingly severe losses among white voters. But preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class."
Edsall warned the Dems in 2011, but they didn't listen shamefully, a Republican cared more for the working class than the Democrats.
Instead of following the wisdom of FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and the warnings of NYT columnist Edsall and author Frank, Hilary decided to call half of Trump's supporters, "A Basketful of Deplorables."
If the Dems had run Joe Biden instead of Clinton who really did think more along the lines of FDR, ... then they would have won.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/07/donald-trump-why-a...
NYT columnist Thomas Edsall warned of the problem in 2011!
https://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/the-future-of-the-oba...
"For decades, Democrats have suffered continuous and increasingly severe losses among white voters. But preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class."
Edsall warned the Dems in 2011, but they didn't listen shamefully, a Republican cared more for the working class than the Democrats.
Instead of following the wisdom of FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and the warnings of NYT columnist Edsall and author Frank, Hilary decided to call half of Trump's supporters, "A Basketful of Deplorables."
If the Dems had run Joe Biden instead of Clinton who really did think more along the lines of FDR, ... then they would have won.
9
A problem is that disaffected and unemployed DJT voters want their old jobs back--mining, steel, etc.--and he promised them they'd get those jobs or new similar ones. Will they be willing to learn new skills? Can they?
1
As long as white working class with a nickel resents any blacks or Latinos with a dime, class-based discussion will be a dead end in American politics. Throughout American history, it is abundantly clear that white working class would rather put on a white robe and carry a torch than reach out across the racial divide and work with racial minorities on equal terms. Indeed, the political realities that David Leonhardt so articulately talks about has it's origins in the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the prescient observation that LBJ made about the loss of Democratic dominance in the South. Any effort to appeal to the broad working class in America will always be undermined by injecting racial divide and division. Since Ronald Reagan launched his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the dog whistle that stokes white working class anxiety has been the winning formula for the GOP. As 2016 election has so clearly proven, white working class do not view the "millionaires and billionaires" as their enemy but the blacks who cry "Black Lives Matter" and browns who need to be on the other side of the "beautiful wall." The only hope the Democrats have is to let the white working class feel the full brunt of politics run by millionaires and billionaires starting with repeal of Obamacare and federal investments in economic development and spending on social safety nets in hopes that they come to their senses and wake up from their bitter racial resentment.
How about the Democrats come up with an actual agenda beyond not being as incompetent or vicious as Republicans? A reminder that so-called moderate Democrats torpedoed the government option in the ACA. As the Republicans grow more ghoulish, the Democrats repeatedly get away with a politics of stasis. After Trump, there is little indication that they will do anything beyond make tweaks to the disaster he created. Name a single progressive Democratic accomplishment since 1970. As this country gets richer, the average person gets poorer, and Democrats are at least as much to blame as the GOP. For 2018, maybe address income inequality and the coming mass job extinction due to automation?
8
Is it me, or does this writer remind others of "Captain Obvious" on those amusing television commercials?
It is beyond obvious that Clinton had no economic message in 2016. I live in a state where both campaigns spent a lot of money. I saw several commercials for Clinton, but none that said anything about improving the economy. All of them were about what a bad guy Trump is. So why would anyone unhappy with the economy have voted for her? Search me.
I didn't support Clinton. That's not because I care about her personality or think she is more dishonest than others of her ilk. It's because she has the same incremental approach to the nation's problems as Obama, the same policies that won't make a dent in most people's lives. Should Democrats focus on policies that will? Thanks, Captain Obvious.
It is beyond obvious that Clinton had no economic message in 2016. I live in a state where both campaigns spent a lot of money. I saw several commercials for Clinton, but none that said anything about improving the economy. All of them were about what a bad guy Trump is. So why would anyone unhappy with the economy have voted for her? Search me.
I didn't support Clinton. That's not because I care about her personality or think she is more dishonest than others of her ilk. It's because she has the same incremental approach to the nation's problems as Obama, the same policies that won't make a dent in most people's lives. Should Democrats focus on policies that will? Thanks, Captain Obvious.
4
The thought of asking the party that betrayed us in the last election to now go to bat for us is extremely disconcerting. As the 2016 election proved the Democratic party has drifted far to the right and away from the interests of the average citizen. Having grown comfortable and rich in their cozy relationship with Wall Street. they’ve grown soft, unable and unwilling to fight for economic fairness including healthcare. As the GOP threatens to pull the rug out from underneath our healthcare we should not forget that the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate renounced the idea universal health insurance for a corporate based solution. The Democratic party has allowed the Republicans to walk all over them for decades. Collectively the party can no longer claim to be progressive. Hope of reforming the Democratic Party is a foolish pipedream. What we need is action from a real, progressive third party.
2
Democrats can still allow identity politics into the party, but it shouldn't rule the day. It's the economy, stupid. They can win on economic and social arguments. Why is it so hard to convince swing voters? Because liberal talking heads and entertainment have shown wanton disregard for any culture that is not theirs. Renounce these types of identity politics and focus on policy that will help the majority of Americans.
Voters in 2016 saw American democracy as failing them, and in their desperation for something... ANYTHING to change, they elected an authoritarian madman. Democrats would be wise to avoid pillorying him. Focus on your message: Economic growth for the vast majority of Americans, healthcare policies that respect families, responsible environmental measures that do not overreach, but position us to hasten the adoption of renewables, and education that leads to better outcomes for the marginalized.
Stop sneering at Americans that aren't exactly your type of progressive. Redefine our shared historical American values of liberal democracy and craft policy that swings the needle back toward it and away from authoritarianism.
Voters in 2016 saw American democracy as failing them, and in their desperation for something... ANYTHING to change, they elected an authoritarian madman. Democrats would be wise to avoid pillorying him. Focus on your message: Economic growth for the vast majority of Americans, healthcare policies that respect families, responsible environmental measures that do not overreach, but position us to hasten the adoption of renewables, and education that leads to better outcomes for the marginalized.
Stop sneering at Americans that aren't exactly your type of progressive. Redefine our shared historical American values of liberal democracy and craft policy that swings the needle back toward it and away from authoritarianism.
5
Those who do not have college degrees are now advised to get them as the path to success. But the more people who get them, the less they are the path to success and instead a path to being overqualified. No one would seriously advocate sending everybody to law school; even now many graduates are not using their education because the jobs that require a legal background are just not there. The same holds for college.
The benefits of education and learning, as opposed to the credential of a diploma, are many -- discipline, initiative, increased understanding of self and world, appreciation for beauty and structure, a real sense of achievement earned by mastering something difficult, and a sense of wonder at what the universe is and the human race has achieved. These were the promises of a liberal education, and a preparation for living well rather than just doing well financially. Our preoccupation with competition and winning have pushed them to the side.
The benefits of education and learning, as opposed to the credential of a diploma, are many -- discipline, initiative, increased understanding of self and world, appreciation for beauty and structure, a real sense of achievement earned by mastering something difficult, and a sense of wonder at what the universe is and the human race has achieved. These were the promises of a liberal education, and a preparation for living well rather than just doing well financially. Our preoccupation with competition and winning have pushed them to the side.
8
Add yo your list:
1) protect the right to vote
2) drastically change taxes incorporating income and payroll taxes into a truly progressive structure. Let people input their current tax info and see the results.
1) protect the right to vote
2) drastically change taxes incorporating income and payroll taxes into a truly progressive structure. Let people input their current tax info and see the results.
1
Back to the future.
The author is suggesting that the Democrats rebuild the working class coalition that elected Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and LBJ.
I agree that this approach should be taken, and I further point out that it should be attractive to the eroding middle class and to others who slipped through the cracks during the economic downturn and have yet to recover.
Standard bearers for this effort: Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Jeff Merkel and Bernie Sanders.
The author is suggesting that the Democrats rebuild the working class coalition that elected Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and LBJ.
I agree that this approach should be taken, and I further point out that it should be attractive to the eroding middle class and to others who slipped through the cracks during the economic downturn and have yet to recover.
Standard bearers for this effort: Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Jeff Merkel and Bernie Sanders.
4
Oh, good heavens. Biden, Warren Brown. Merkel, Sanders?
The last three times that the Democrats went in that direction the defeats were spectacular.
Put someone really out there on the left, and The Voters will likely leave them the there...like they did with McCarthy, McGovern, and Dukakis...
Remember them?
The last three times that the Democrats went in that direction the defeats were spectacular.
Put someone really out there on the left, and The Voters will likely leave them the there...like they did with McCarthy, McGovern, and Dukakis...
Remember them?
2
Have any of those five ever done a good day's work? Really gotten their hands dirty, or in the case of Bernie, ever done ANYTHING except feed at the public trough? The party of the working man? My Aunt Matilda!
1
Don't worry. Trump and the Republicans are on the verge of creating a klepto-fascist state but the Democrats have a plan in "its conceptual stages". Wait until Hillary returns to the scene, that should rally the troops one more time. Why do we smell the odor of defeatism in the air?
Where is that non-elitist Green Party we keep hearing about?
Where is that non-elitist Green Party we keep hearing about?
2
Sorry, the only odor that will attend Hillary's return is one of elitism, self-serving, and corruption.
Not sure the Democrats really want to go down that road.
Not sure the Democrats really want to go down that road.
1
It's a shame that the Green party, much like their counterparts the Libertarians, continually nominate total loons with no policy knowledge or charisma to speak of for the national ticket. Jill 'anti-vaxxer/ paid RT gala attender along with Flynn' Stein and Gary 'What's a Leppo (sic)?' Johnson.
Enough said.
Enough said.
2
Yeah, if they put Hillary behind them and remove Schumer and Pelosi and the idiot running the DNC, they can begin to re-adjust to the real world. If they condemn the violent street protests and support free speech and open discussion and boot the idiot Congresswoman from California and the ninth circuit judges resign and Hawaii sinks or is hit with a tsunami and etc.etc. In other words the Dems will either drag our political system into third world status or they will continue to be marginal morons intent on self-destruction.
5
bongo - Where did you come up with Dems dragging our political system into third-world status. Over the last few decades, it has been Republicans who have been bent on making our nation part a third-world country.
Just look at their attempts to discourage voting for starters. They continue to espouse the tired, old and defunct trickle-down theory and uninformed Republican voters are lapping it up. I don't like many Dem leaders, but the Republican "leaders" only have the wealthy Americans' interest at heart. Just look at their "DeathCare" plan that will boot off healthcare for the elderly and indigent only to send those "savings" into the pockets of the wealthy.
Get a grip!
Just look at their attempts to discourage voting for starters. They continue to espouse the tired, old and defunct trickle-down theory and uninformed Republican voters are lapping it up. I don't like many Dem leaders, but the Republican "leaders" only have the wealthy Americans' interest at heart. Just look at their "DeathCare" plan that will boot off healthcare for the elderly and indigent only to send those "savings" into the pockets of the wealthy.
Get a grip!
Really good post. But don't expect the DNC to listen. They'll just shoot the messenger.
1
bongo - Where did you come up with Dems dragging our political system into third-world status? Over the last few decades, it has been Republicans who have been bent on making our nation part a third-world country.
Just look at their attempts to discourage voting for starters. They continue to espouse the tired, old and defunct trickle-down theory and uninformed Republican voters are lapping it up. I don't like many Dem leaders, but the Republican "leaders" only have the wealthy Americans' interest at heart. Just look at their "DeathCare" plan that will boot off healthcare for the elderly and indigent only to send those "savings" into the pockets of the wealthy.
Just look at their attempts to discourage voting for starters. They continue to espouse the tired, old and defunct trickle-down theory and uninformed Republican voters are lapping it up. I don't like many Dem leaders, but the Republican "leaders" only have the wealthy Americans' interest at heart. Just look at their "DeathCare" plan that will boot off healthcare for the elderly and indigent only to send those "savings" into the pockets of the wealthy.
This is all true but for Liberals it's going to be a hrad row to hoe.
They have spent the last 30 years looking down on the white working class.
Getting them to believe that you have changed isn't going to be easy and may not even be true.
Could be you just want their votes and once you have them you will ignore them just like the Republicans and go back to you first love, Identity Politics
They have spent the last 30 years looking down on the white working class.
Getting them to believe that you have changed isn't going to be easy and may not even be true.
Could be you just want their votes and once you have them you will ignore them just like the Republicans and go back to you first love, Identity Politics
5
Mr. Leonhardt is right, but only as far as he goes. Progressives problems are not merely programmatic: they are attitudinal. Many of them must shed their pretenses of superior wisdom and their polite contempt for those who have less formal education. They should regard the term "flyover country" with much of the horror they reserve for the n-word. They should be more open to and tolerant of different viewpoints (think of the disgraceful eruption occasioned by Bret Stephens' joing the Times' corps of opinion writers.
In many ways, many progressives need attitude adjustments.
This is written by a skeptical liberal who admires the examples set by Daniel Moynihan, Hubert Humphrey, Adlai Stevenson, and even Henry Jackson and Lyndon Johnson (for his domestic policy).
In many ways, many progressives need attitude adjustments.
This is written by a skeptical liberal who admires the examples set by Daniel Moynihan, Hubert Humphrey, Adlai Stevenson, and even Henry Jackson and Lyndon Johnson (for his domestic policy).
3
Democrats need to start by cleaning out the failed leadership which is responsible for the dismal number of Democrat controlled state houses, governorships, the Federal House, Senate and White House. While, I believe Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer (and possibly Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin) are great public servants for their districts their leadership has failed and they should announce immediately that they will not seek leadership posts following the 2018 elections. That would be a good first start to getting the D mojo back.
3
Let a new crop emerge: Kirsten Gillebrand, Sherrod Brown, and Kamala Harris are among those I support.
Hillary and Bernie need to step aside and go away. They created this catastrophe and couldn't beat a totally incompetent fool. Hillary's entitlement and belief it was her turn hurt us in so many ways. I believe Biden was discouraged to run against her, she didn't campaign in Wisconsin, which is unforgivable, she brought all her baggage along with her, and even though a victim of the Russian-Trump hacking plot it exposed her as a cheater. Bernie is an inflexible fool. This is not a socialist country and never will be. He did very little to help Hillary and sway his voters who were enticed by Trump's foolish promises of coal and factory jobs. He is not a team player and doesn't understand compromise and progress. His recent criticism of Jon Ossoff in Georgia is absolutely disgraceful. While Ossoff may not meet all of Bernie's socialist criteria, he is a Dem with a real chance of winning in a red state. Thats progress, how dare Bernie hurt his cause!! The two of you couldn't beat a moron. Go away!!!
Let new leaders emerge.
Hillary and Bernie need to step aside and go away. They created this catastrophe and couldn't beat a totally incompetent fool. Hillary's entitlement and belief it was her turn hurt us in so many ways. I believe Biden was discouraged to run against her, she didn't campaign in Wisconsin, which is unforgivable, she brought all her baggage along with her, and even though a victim of the Russian-Trump hacking plot it exposed her as a cheater. Bernie is an inflexible fool. This is not a socialist country and never will be. He did very little to help Hillary and sway his voters who were enticed by Trump's foolish promises of coal and factory jobs. He is not a team player and doesn't understand compromise and progress. His recent criticism of Jon Ossoff in Georgia is absolutely disgraceful. While Ossoff may not meet all of Bernie's socialist criteria, he is a Dem with a real chance of winning in a red state. Thats progress, how dare Bernie hurt his cause!! The two of you couldn't beat a moron. Go away!!!
Let new leaders emerge.
3
Obama TOLD Biden not to run against her. That's been reported.
2
The Democrats (my party, by the way) are so useless now they couldn't even beat Trump. I don't know which major issues - e.g. the economy, foreign trade, immigration, military adventurism - have any importance to the party leadership but I do know what they think that transgender bathrooms and opposition to homosexual conversion therapy are the very most important of all issues. Seriously, beyond those silly issues, do you really know what the Democrats stand for? They're willing to give up a big chunk of the electorate for way-back-burner issues like those. Think about it - the party of the workingman has lost the workingman to the party of big money. When you think about all that the Republicans have done over the past 15 years to put The Republic in the toilet - and the Dems still can't beat them - what does that say about the Democratic agenda? The path back for the Democratic Party is to dump the leadership - which seems to care about nothing but GLBTQ issues and is unwilling to compromise on abortion. Get back to economic issues and other matters of real significance.
7
You might even want to say, Mr. Weaver. that when one thinks about all of the things that the Democrats have done over the past 15 years has contributed to the Republic's current residency in the toilet.
Remember, Barack Obama was president for a majority of those 15 years, and the Democrats controlled the Congress for near 10 of the 15.
Doesn't an honest assessment, as you are recommending, include accepting that the Democrats HAVE been a part of the problem, and a major part of it at that.
Remember, Barack Obama was president for a majority of those 15 years, and the Democrats controlled the Congress for near 10 of the 15.
Doesn't an honest assessment, as you are recommending, include accepting that the Democrats HAVE been a part of the problem, and a major part of it at that.
2
"There is something about college — the actual learning, as well as the required discipline and initiative — that seems to prepare people for adult success." Are we sure it is the college, or is it the difference between 18-19 year olds and 22-23 year olds? I've long wondered how much "credential inflation" (employers demanding a bachelor's degree for jobs that don't really require it) is a proxy for hiring workers with a few more years of maturity.
I'm glad to see some focus on making things better for those who don't have or get a degree, although I'd like to see an initiative that more directly takes on this problem of credential inflation. Let's have some economic incentives for employers to reclassify jobs and hire and train the unsheepskinned. Let's have a civilian national service program so that young people can build some maturity and demonstrate a work ethic without also building tens of thousands in debt.
I'm glad to see some focus on making things better for those who don't have or get a degree, although I'd like to see an initiative that more directly takes on this problem of credential inflation. Let's have some economic incentives for employers to reclassify jobs and hire and train the unsheepskinned. Let's have a civilian national service program so that young people can build some maturity and demonstrate a work ethic without also building tens of thousands in debt.
3
The credential inflation comes about, FJP, by the dumbing down of the degrees...
Given the issues that we have in general education and training at the middle-and high-school levels, and most of the freshman, and part of the sophomore years in college are remedial efforts to correct the deficiencies of the feeder schools, why is it a surprise that employers are less willing to take "graduate" who don't show that they have learned that which their counterparts twenty-five years at the same points in their careers?
Given the issues that we have in general education and training at the middle-and high-school levels, and most of the freshman, and part of the sophomore years in college are remedial efforts to correct the deficiencies of the feeder schools, why is it a surprise that employers are less willing to take "graduate" who don't show that they have learned that which their counterparts twenty-five years at the same points in their careers?
I think you've put you finger on an important problem, but employers are wary of giving an aptitude test. They're afraid of being hauled into court, so they take the easy way out, and a lot of people with plenty of skills are left out. It's a shame.
Why doesn't "big business" take on the task of training people for
the specific jobs in their companies?.......For free....
the specific jobs in their companies?.......For free....
3
They do. The ALL do.
Why?
Because those coming out of schools don't have the skills that the employers are seeking...
And, that is why employers are being selective...they are looking for people who are interested in learning.
Why?
Because those coming out of schools don't have the skills that the employers are seeking...
And, that is why employers are being selective...they are looking for people who are interested in learning.
Dems please, please, please keep up what you're doing. The Democratic/liberal/progressive/socialist/communist party is doing America a great favor but showing us who you really are. This is why you have lost 1000's of state and federal seats over the last 8-10 years. Please keep your geriatric leadership in place, I'm hoping you will have hildebeast, Biden, pelosi, or maxine waters the face of your party for the next 20 years. Please keep calling anyone who disagrees with you racist, sexist, homophobic, or islamphobic. Please keep pushing women are men, or men are women agenda. Please keep up the "resistance" every chance you get, riot if you have to, just make sure to keep showing the hate. I'm positive this is your best course to make America great again.
6
Oh yeah, the Center for American Progress, Neera Tanden with Hillary Clinton and Podesta are all working together to elect like minded Democrats.
When I noticed this article in another paper, it sent chills thru me.
Same old group can not give up the hold on the Democratic Party. They will not go away.
We are doomed.
When I noticed this article in another paper, it sent chills thru me.
Same old group can not give up the hold on the Democratic Party. They will not go away.
We are doomed.
10
You are doomed?
America will be the better for it...Of that I can assure you...
Whether you recover from your destruction or not.
America will be the better for it...Of that I can assure you...
Whether you recover from your destruction or not.
In choosing future Democratic leaders, they should take care not just to look to who's "turn" it is in the old girls/boys club. Folks who get things done, build consensus and stay the course like Mark Warner deserve consideration.
4
I wish Leonhardt had given Bernie Sanders some credit for starting the ball rolling on all of this.
8
It is much too late to attempt to regain "mojo"...the GOP stole it long ago. Try reading the Constitution one more time. Any available "mojo" is in plain sight, if the readers desire to take back their former power.......a desire apparently in short supply at this time.......
2
This was another soft-headed solution that ignores reality. Trade school can deliver higher paying opportunity as well or better than a mediocre four year bachelor's degree. The schism that launched Reagan, W. Bush and now Trump is the resentment of the pointy-heads on the left by the left-behinds on the right. They don't read the NYT. They get their information from Facebook now and Fox News. The Dems need to get rid of the shrill preachers such as Nancy Pelosi and members of the Black Caucus. These well-intentioned people are not reaching the electorate who are so ignorant that they elected Trump. The reason we have Trump is not the Russians but the failure of the Democratic leaders. Forget the four year degree for now. That would help but it requires a certain type of intelligence that is not all that common.
4
The "working class" needs to be the Educated working class. For America to be a world leader, it must educate all its citizens well. We have let our universities deteriorate into second-rate schools with first rate athletic programs. If we can't find a way to afford to educate our people (with or without athletic programs) we're not going to have a prosperous middle class.
4
In the early 1970s at Texas Tech, I needed about 60 hours at minimum wage to buy a full load tuition (18 hours). Today, students need to work at least 400 hours for tuition at the same school — not to mention higher costs for books, computers that didn't exist in the 1970s, and higher living expenses compared to wages. I have to ask: WHO is getting rich off the difference and WHY do we allow them to cripple the nation's future??
10
The colleges have more hand-holders and bureaucrats than they have people actually teaching students now. That's what happens when liberals are left in charge of anything bigger than a two-car funeral.
The other explosion is in book costs, with some over $200. These companies were making money selling books at 25 bucks not so long ago.
The other explosion is in book costs, with some over $200. These companies were making money selling books at 25 bucks not so long ago.
3
Religious and other conservative-run colleges are cheaper?? I seriously doubt it.
Ask yourself who RUNS Academia and you will have your answer as to why tutions are so high and why actual TEACHING has disappeared.
Hint, it is not Conservatives.
Hint, it is not Conservatives.
1
Healthcare for all, education for all, infrastructure for all.
8
Who pays for it all? You?
Exorbitant taxes for all too, mgaudet.
Those things do't come for free.
Those things do't come for free.
As someone who has created over 19,000 jobs, both in the private and public sector using public money -- this is exactly the agenda Dems need to embrace not only because it is good politics, but the right thing to do.
Good paying jobs:
1. Increase self worth
2. Positively impact the family
3. Can have an impact on public priorities the private sector isn't addressing -- infrastructure, childcare, community engagement, employment of reentry individuals, etc.
4. Address lack of demand in the economy.
It's the jobs, stupid....
Good paying jobs:
1. Increase self worth
2. Positively impact the family
3. Can have an impact on public priorities the private sector isn't addressing -- infrastructure, childcare, community engagement, employment of reentry individuals, etc.
4. Address lack of demand in the economy.
It's the jobs, stupid....
5
Interesting, for all their rhetoric over the decades of my life, I can't recall any jobs that were created by having Democrats in power other than paper-shuffling jobs in government where news examples of paper are invented to be shuffled around...
All at taxpayer expense.
All at taxpayer expense.
Dems can't get their "mojo" back until they stop hating working class whites and cops. And, clearly, that still isn't happening.
4
In our current universe, a conservative agenda has never improved the lives of working class people. Democrats must find a way back, because the gang of traitors in the White House will ensure conditions that keep working class people furious and oppositional, while the country is hobbled by Russian cyberattacks and demolition of our government by Putin-allied American politicians.
1
Industry, Mr. Singer, often with the heavy hand of the unions, Mr. Singer, created the the middle class and provided the pathways for mobility for the working classes to improve their lot.
Over the years, we have spent tens of trillions of dollars in government money, read "at the taxpayers' expense", at the behest of liberals an progressives, to better the lot of the poor, and the poor seem none to better for the investment.
Your conspiracy fantasy and its derivatives are not helping you with the people who have recognized these failures of the liberal experiment and turned a staggering number of Democrats from office at all levels of government.
Time to put away the fantasies, the foam rubber light saber, and the tin-foil hat away and become a functioning member of our body politic.
I, for one, welcome all who base their thinking and the judgments on the realities.
Over the years, we have spent tens of trillions of dollars in government money, read "at the taxpayers' expense", at the behest of liberals an progressives, to better the lot of the poor, and the poor seem none to better for the investment.
Your conspiracy fantasy and its derivatives are not helping you with the people who have recognized these failures of the liberal experiment and turned a staggering number of Democrats from office at all levels of government.
Time to put away the fantasies, the foam rubber light saber, and the tin-foil hat away and become a functioning member of our body politic.
I, for one, welcome all who base their thinking and the judgments on the realities.
Is it just me Mr. Leonhardt or are you describing Bernie's agenda?
7
They can start by getting rid of that mummy Pelosi.......totally ineffective.
4
My wife came up with the perfect messenger to lead the charge and run in 2020-- a non-politician from working class roots who has people's trust-- Bruce Springsteen!!!
The overall sentiment is getting to the crux of our problem, but certain points raised seem to continue being clouded by preconceived notions. It isn't only the gap between those who pursue, and earn, 4-year degrees and those who don't. It is about those who pursue continued learning, in any form appropriate to the person's life situation, and those who don't. There may well be a portion of our population who never attain the typical 4-year degree - it may not fit who they are or what they want from life. But that does not mean they should believe their need to continue learning new skills ends. Today's world of employment is about re-inventing oneself for the needs of an ever changing workplace. Inherently that means needing to adapt to those changes.
Government can, and should, do more to create means of address workplace change (even displacement), while employers reassess hiring practices related to the value of formal education versus life experience, and re-training. But in the end these efforts amount to only opportunities. Individuals need to avail themselves of these opportunities, and this may mean engaging in further education.
Government can, and should, do more to create means of address workplace change (even displacement), while employers reassess hiring practices related to the value of formal education versus life experience, and re-training. But in the end these efforts amount to only opportunities. Individuals need to avail themselves of these opportunities, and this may mean engaging in further education.
2
I think the choices are much more basic and positive: What kind of country do you want your kids to live in? Good public education and affordable, quality colleges? Good affordable healthcare available to everyone? Clean air and water? Better roads, bridges and mass transit or more aircraft carriers? A living minimum wage or more tax cuts for the wealthy? Choosing what ideas and programs will make life better for the most Americans in 2050, not 1950. Facts, not fables.
1
Dean, people want and need JOBS first of all -- to be able to be self-supporting.
The Dems have nothing to offer them to but assurances that "the jobs are never coming back".
The Dems have nothing to offer them to but assurances that "the jobs are never coming back".
Skills skills skills
Everyone needs skills, mad skills as Napoleon Dynamite would say
That 8th grade girl in the Bronx that wasn't ready for a competitive high school needs skills too...we need high school tracks for folks that are not "college ready".
Alternative paths that students can choose with the goals of employment, stability and solvency.
A 2nd chance high school for students that behind in K-8. We know by 8th grade if the student is on the college path..it is at that point that an assessment and a recommendation and a path can be chosen that would coordinate high school and community college into a 6 year path that either gets them ready for a first year as a freshman in college or ready for employment
Kids in failing schools are failing because they are so far behind and cannot catch up the traditional way - they need more time, they need more runway and the sooner we tell them and give them opportunities for a future track the more stable our communities will be.
Everyone needs skills, mad skills as Napoleon Dynamite would say
That 8th grade girl in the Bronx that wasn't ready for a competitive high school needs skills too...we need high school tracks for folks that are not "college ready".
Alternative paths that students can choose with the goals of employment, stability and solvency.
A 2nd chance high school for students that behind in K-8. We know by 8th grade if the student is on the college path..it is at that point that an assessment and a recommendation and a path can be chosen that would coordinate high school and community college into a 6 year path that either gets them ready for a first year as a freshman in college or ready for employment
Kids in failing schools are failing because they are so far behind and cannot catch up the traditional way - they need more time, they need more runway and the sooner we tell them and give them opportunities for a future track the more stable our communities will be.
1
In other words, but Bernie Sanders in charge.
5
Dropping identity politics would help a lot.
6
But white identity politics (among other things) led to Trump's win. Or is it only "identity politics" when we're talking about brown and female voters?
1
Failure to cite Bernie Sanders on this score is simply disingenuous. Is there no hope for the Times to speak with candor?
8
Hear, hear!!!!
How Democrats Can Get Their Mojo Back?
Simple.....Respect
Simple.....Respect
6
I have two easier suggestions:
1. Stop accepting campaign money from corporate lobbyists.
2. Health care for all.
Democrats will continue to FAIL until they actually SUPPORT something that voters want. HINT: It's not Hillary Clinton's or Tom Perez's "values".
1. Stop accepting campaign money from corporate lobbyists.
2. Health care for all.
Democrats will continue to FAIL until they actually SUPPORT something that voters want. HINT: It's not Hillary Clinton's or Tom Perez's "values".
13
This was Bernie Sanders' rallying cry: free college for everyone! It's only considered impossible because the Democrats have bought into the Republican chorus that we can't afford anything. In truth the 1% are stockpiling our nation's wealth in offshore accounts and want even more in the form of tax breaks and doing away with inheritance taxes for the very rich - which will further erode our nation's chance at a free and equal society.
Everyone in America deserves a life with medical and dental care, food and a roof over their heads, and a decent education. Other countries provide these things with far fewer resources than we have.
The Democrats made a big mistake dumping Bernie Sanders. They need to get away from the same ole' and take a look at what's really happening in this country. They need to figure out how to make people's lives better, instead of the same old rhetoric.
Everyone in America deserves a life with medical and dental care, food and a roof over their heads, and a decent education. Other countries provide these things with far fewer resources than we have.
The Democrats made a big mistake dumping Bernie Sanders. They need to get away from the same ole' and take a look at what's really happening in this country. They need to figure out how to make people's lives better, instead of the same old rhetoric.
13
Perhaps Democrats can learn something from the "failings" of the Venezuelan political and government debacle that has been developing the past several years and escalating rapidly towards complete chaos.
First the Democrats need to recall how Chavez promised the populist "free" this and that, but once oil prices dropped more than 50% now people can barely obtain the bare necessities to live.
So as Democrats attempt to retool themselves and spin any type of rebranding they must realize people understand the costs of offering "free" x, y and z.
First the Democrats need to recall how Chavez promised the populist "free" this and that, but once oil prices dropped more than 50% now people can barely obtain the bare necessities to live.
So as Democrats attempt to retool themselves and spin any type of rebranding they must realize people understand the costs of offering "free" x, y and z.
As is often the case with proposals like this, the topic of fighting for protection of labor unions and making it easier for workers to unionize is completely ignored. And to combat outsourcing as a way to escape strong unions, the corporate tax code needs to be reformed and tax disincentives put in place to prevent it. Finally, pushing for unionization protection requirements for all nations we are in trade pacts with will allow all boats to truly be lifted with the tide.
Many economic forces contributed to the rise of income inequality over the last 35+ years to the shocking level we see today. As far as governmental factors however, tax and spending policy decisions, along with the slow erosion of legal protections for unions have played major roles.
Many economic forces contributed to the rise of income inequality over the last 35+ years to the shocking level we see today. As far as governmental factors however, tax and spending policy decisions, along with the slow erosion of legal protections for unions have played major roles.
3
I come from a family of educators, professors to kindergarten teachers, and I am sick of pundits fetishizing college degrees. Yes, we must make it easier for those who want to get them.
But a degree is not a magic bullet---you have to also have jobs available. More and more jobs "require" a degree, even when the actual tasks are perfectly able to be done with better, short term training.
This cheapens the value of a degree, while at the same time forces people to jump unnecessary hurdles (and very expensive hurdles, at that). Start respecting the hard work done in jobs that don't require a degree!
No need to re-invent the wheel:
---a livable wage for all jobs (if you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to afford the basics --- a decent, safe place to live, transportation, and healthy food, as well as quality healthcare and childcare.
---people who care for children, special needs, and the elderly have one of the most difficult jobs, and they are the poorest paid. No, they don't necessarily need a degree--just good training. This grave injustice needs to stop, and we must pay them a living wage and give them the respect they deserve.
This country has a choice: start prioritizing people over profits, or deal with increasing numbers of very angry people, on the left and right.
But a degree is not a magic bullet---you have to also have jobs available. More and more jobs "require" a degree, even when the actual tasks are perfectly able to be done with better, short term training.
This cheapens the value of a degree, while at the same time forces people to jump unnecessary hurdles (and very expensive hurdles, at that). Start respecting the hard work done in jobs that don't require a degree!
No need to re-invent the wheel:
---a livable wage for all jobs (if you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to afford the basics --- a decent, safe place to live, transportation, and healthy food, as well as quality healthcare and childcare.
---people who care for children, special needs, and the elderly have one of the most difficult jobs, and they are the poorest paid. No, they don't necessarily need a degree--just good training. This grave injustice needs to stop, and we must pay them a living wage and give them the respect they deserve.
This country has a choice: start prioritizing people over profits, or deal with increasing numbers of very angry people, on the left and right.
15
Refraining from labeling the policy prescriptions "liberal" would help as well. Just focus on the policies themselves.
7
What democrats need is for Republicans to ruin the economy again, as they are wont to do. When people start to feel the pinch of deficits, recession and low property values, they will discommode themselves and vote for the democrat.
Apart from that, teach civics.
Apart from that, teach civics.
1
We need some new faces. Hillary wants to form some kind of organization. Please don't. And take your husband with you. Obama, who did nothing while President for the down ticket races: please, don't. Pelosi, I love her, wonderful....please let us move on. We need to move beyond this crowd. The French had the sense to swap out some of their least effective generals in WWI; Lincoln did the same during the Civil War. The current Democratic leadership unfortunately has led the party into a nose dive into the dirt. Surely there must be some newer faces and newer thinkers.
11
The Dems also need a good messaging system. Far more policy-wonkish than the ideology-is-everthing GOP, their message is often long-winded and obtuse (see Gore, Al). It may be spot-on as a solution, but to the average citizen it’s just a droning of facts and figures. The GOP has, through such word manipulators as Frank Luntz (whose book title, “Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear” basically explains it all). Luntz suggested GOP politicians replace “health care,” with “government takeover,” and that the long-used “estate tax” be replaced with “death tax,” among many other Luntzian reworks of the language.
The Dems need their own version of Frank Luntz, not to manipulate their words—that’s the province of the GOP--but to streamline them.
The Dems need their own version of Frank Luntz, not to manipulate their words—that’s the province of the GOP--but to streamline them.
4
We have him - George Lakoff - but do we listen? I've never heard a Dem speak his name, yet he has the progressive solution. Democrats, are you listening??
Are you kidding me? Salaries and opportunities for college grads have taken a dive except for those getting degrees in highly sought after majors like engineering. Its time the left stopped pushing the college degree scam and start being honest with kids. There are dozens of trades that pay way better than most college degrees. These include plumbers, electricians, welders, nurse practitioners, and many more. It is a shame that in the last 20 years, because of government interference, the cost of a college degree has increased more than than the cost of healthcare or health insurance premiums. The progressive push towards Euro style socialism is a losing game and if the Democratic party wants to get back to its former place, perhaps they should return to offering up common sense government policies that benefit people rather than government. Obama and the continued doubling down on far left policies has resulted in the largest losses in American political history. Over 2k offices in Federal, State, and local offices. Get back to the middle and reign in the SJW that have crippled your party.
1
"This plan call[s] for the government to create millions of good-paying jobs"
Some liberals want the government to provide expansive and expensive services to help people, but they also care about efficient delivery so taxpayers get value for their money. I can live with that kind of liberal.
Then there are the liberals who see the government jobs themselves as the way to help people. Just put 'em on the payroll and tell them to do... something! These liberals could care less about taxpayer value for money. And these liberals, like Mr. Leonhardt, are why the Democrats are frozen out of power at every level of American government.
Some liberals want the government to provide expansive and expensive services to help people, but they also care about efficient delivery so taxpayers get value for their money. I can live with that kind of liberal.
Then there are the liberals who see the government jobs themselves as the way to help people. Just put 'em on the payroll and tell them to do... something! These liberals could care less about taxpayer value for money. And these liberals, like Mr. Leonhardt, are why the Democrats are frozen out of power at every level of American government.
1
If your plan is to tell people you're going to take more in taxes from the Middle Class (where all taxes end up) in order to help those outside the Middle Class, the Middle Class will get the message - and vote against you.
If your plan is to "soak the rich" - which is what all Democrat plans seem to aim for - it will end up as "soak the Middle Class".
Why is it Liberals think the solution to the current set of problems (most of which was due to previous Liberal solutions) is to impose more of the same?
If your plan is to "soak the rich" - which is what all Democrat plans seem to aim for - it will end up as "soak the Middle Class".
Why is it Liberals think the solution to the current set of problems (most of which was due to previous Liberal solutions) is to impose more of the same?
2
How about by developing a single platform which encompasses democratic values (Single Payer healthcare, free college, infrastructure, etc) while pushing the shiny objects of divisiveness (abortion, 2nd amendment) back to the States. We'd take back the South with a strategy like that.
2
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the real issue is that a substantial portion of the population just isn't very bright. It's not their fault. Back in the day, not-very-bright people could get high paying jobs performing easy-to-learn tasks thanks to unions and the lack of competition from robots and lower-paid foreigners. Today, not so much. And plans to educate these people further through college aid, high-tech vocational training, etc. are nothing but fantasies because these people just aren't capable. The sooner Democrats understand that the key is "good paying jobs for simpletons," of course using a more politic euphemism, the sooner they'll have a shot at bringing back what used to be the solid Democrat blue collar vote, but has since become the evangelical/Fox News vote. Is it any wonder that this group has difficulty figuring out what's true and what's deceptive manipulation? Their critical thinking skills aren't the best. And once again, no blame---they can't help it.
2
Priceless!
The Democratic Party will not stop losing until (1) the 3rd-way Clinton corporate stranglehold on the Party is removed. Bill and Hilliary are incapable of self-reflection (the blame always lies elsewhere); (2) acknowledgment of the millions of Bernie Sanders' supporters instead of blaming them for implosion Hilliary's campaign or calling them names ("basement dwellers"); (3) including but limited to the policies Sanders endorced (4) new leaders in lieu of dinosaurs like Pelosi, Feinstein, Schumer, et al.
The paradigm has changed. The Democratic Party has not.
The paradigm has changed. The Democratic Party has not.
14
The Democrats need to first stop with all their Identity Politics before they can bring the white working/middle class back into their fold. Nobody wants to vote for a party that continually demonizes them, at the same time constantly accuses them of being "privileged". Good grief, it doesn't take a genius to see why they were pushed to the Trump camp - I would not vote for a party that hated me either.
Then they need to stop putting the needs of illegal immigrants before citizen workers. Illegal immigration has pulled down wages substantially in certain industries and has pushed Americans out of work. Try as your propaganda machine may, denying this does not make it go away.
I just worry that the Democrats are incapable of being the unifying party they once were.
Then they need to stop putting the needs of illegal immigrants before citizen workers. Illegal immigration has pulled down wages substantially in certain industries and has pushed Americans out of work. Try as your propaganda machine may, denying this does not make it go away.
I just worry that the Democrats are incapable of being the unifying party they once were.
10
Are you for real? You slam "identity politics" and then start talking about the "white working/middle class" in your very next sentence. So focusing on white identity politics is fine but everyone else should shut up and not push their agenda??!!
Democrats need to get away from identity politics and concentrate on class politics. There is nothing more nauseating than a wealthy liberal Ivy Leaguer condescending to someone making $12/hr.
The U.S. has the most extreme class divisions among wealthy democracies but when Bernie Sanders dare mentions the parasite plutocrats the Dem Establishment has fainting spells.
The future of the 100 million American underclass is entirely bleak until the U.S. has a socialist party.
The U.S. has the most extreme class divisions among wealthy democracies but when Bernie Sanders dare mentions the parasite plutocrats the Dem Establishment has fainting spells.
The future of the 100 million American underclass is entirely bleak until the U.S. has a socialist party.
9
I have no clue as to how Leonhardt could have written this without acknowledging Bernie Sanders as the ACTUAL architect of how the Democrats can -- and must -- move forward. Neera's Center for Whatever is incredibly late to the game, and like Obama and Hillary missed this entirely before the election. Bernie alone got it.
9
Conspiracy theories abound, as to why NYT won't acknowledge Bernie.
Problem is Democrats like the easy money from their handlers and are trying to figure out how to return to the good old days of collecting votes for "...at least being better than the Republicans...". Sorry kids: Game's up. The real story which the Grey Lady declines to explore is how the Dems could be so TERRIBLE as to lose to Trump. Time to face the facts and the future.
1
This is, again, a serious misreading of the data. Obviously college graduates outperform non-graduates economically. That isn't the test and that isn't the pertinent information about trends that demands our attention. The relative increase in income produced by having a bachelor's degree when measured against cost of obtaining that degree has eroded at an accelerating pace over the last two decades. This, in large measure, is because colleges and universities have increased tution dramatically and have encouraged the belief that any college degree in any discipline is a worthwhile investment of time and wealth. It definitively is not.
3
Thanks Mr. Leonhardt for beginning this discussion.
My sense of what the Democratic Party needs to start with:
1) Identify NEW voices who can charismatically and compellingly lay out a positive progressive agenda for brightening the lives of the middle class and poor alike.
2) BEGIN the agenda by articulating the path toward a universal health care safety net - paid for by a progressive income tax system similar to Medicare. Expressing outrage at the latest GOP health care bill abomination is not enough.
3) Establish a vision for a massive investment in childhood/young adult education and adult continuing education. In moderate disagreement with Mr. Leonhardt, vocational training programs need to be every bit as important as do four year college degrees. Our economy needs both in equal measure.
My sense of what the Democratic Party needs to start with:
1) Identify NEW voices who can charismatically and compellingly lay out a positive progressive agenda for brightening the lives of the middle class and poor alike.
2) BEGIN the agenda by articulating the path toward a universal health care safety net - paid for by a progressive income tax system similar to Medicare. Expressing outrage at the latest GOP health care bill abomination is not enough.
3) Establish a vision for a massive investment in childhood/young adult education and adult continuing education. In moderate disagreement with Mr. Leonhardt, vocational training programs need to be every bit as important as do four year college degrees. Our economy needs both in equal measure.
4
(1) When you work in private enterprise, you should receive a residual -- some form of profit-sharing for life. If you work for the government, you would pay less taxes and have a portion of that dedicated to an annuity.
(2) Medicare-for-all should be a thing. Profiting from healthcare is as awful as taxing groceries (something that still takes place in Southern states).
(3) Government pension should be assumed by the US Government. People in the wealth-generating areas of the United States (NY and NJ, etc) should not be taxed to death to pay. As it stands, it's last one out is a rotten egg:
those of us who haven't escaped the burden by moving elsewhere bear the overtaxed burden while receiving less services to cut costs (Eg, my community went from having several libraries to just a main branch; garbage was once picked up twice a week, but now only once. Yet we must pay a user fee on top of our taxes for less service; our streets are dirtier because we cannot afford to hire people without jacking up taxes even more).
Three simple things that can be sold easily: (1) reward for work loyalty that doesn't end when you're let go; (2) universal health care; (3) tax reform that looks at us as a total nation, not 50 individual states.
Democrats must expand what's considered realistically possible!
(2) Medicare-for-all should be a thing. Profiting from healthcare is as awful as taxing groceries (something that still takes place in Southern states).
(3) Government pension should be assumed by the US Government. People in the wealth-generating areas of the United States (NY and NJ, etc) should not be taxed to death to pay. As it stands, it's last one out is a rotten egg:
those of us who haven't escaped the burden by moving elsewhere bear the overtaxed burden while receiving less services to cut costs (Eg, my community went from having several libraries to just a main branch; garbage was once picked up twice a week, but now only once. Yet we must pay a user fee on top of our taxes for less service; our streets are dirtier because we cannot afford to hire people without jacking up taxes even more).
Three simple things that can be sold easily: (1) reward for work loyalty that doesn't end when you're let go; (2) universal health care; (3) tax reform that looks at us as a total nation, not 50 individual states.
Democrats must expand what's considered realistically possible!
1
They tax groceries in Chicago and Boston; last time I looked, those were not Southern cities in Southern states.
Right now, the American worker must run as fast as he can to keep from losing ground, but eventually we're all going to lose the Red Queen's race. The time is rapidly approaching where the average worker won't be able to compete in a field that includes tireless robots and relentless AI. No public policy can change this.
A post-work economy could be a utopia with this freed human effort dedicated to the arts and charity, but it could also be a hellscape if one's income remains tied to one's ability to produce. Ladders are important, but strong safety nets in the form of guaranteed income for the masses will be necessary to keep social order as unAmerican and unseemly as that may seem. If you think the working class is angry now, wait until trucks and heavy equipment start driving themselves...
A post-work economy could be a utopia with this freed human effort dedicated to the arts and charity, but it could also be a hellscape if one's income remains tied to one's ability to produce. Ladders are important, but strong safety nets in the form of guaranteed income for the masses will be necessary to keep social order as unAmerican and unseemly as that may seem. If you think the working class is angry now, wait until trucks and heavy equipment start driving themselves...
4
Please. Trucks and heavy equipment are not going to "drive themselves". There will be a glitch or a hack--it's inevitable, there always is--causing a massive disaster, lots of people will die, and the whole stupid mess will be shut down. You think plumbing will fix itself? That some robot will dig up your yard, empty your septic tank and haul it away? That you can have every renovation job done exactly to specs without humans? That roads, bridges, tunnels, transportation systems, protection against massive blizzards, hurricanes and floods can all be done by your shiny fancy machines? Foolish. when the grid goes down you will find out how important basic physical skills are to survival.
Yes, but you are presenting only a half-baked cake. How and by whom will these good ideas be paid for? 'Mushy moderates' ideas so far have been too moderate and too mushy-including those of the think tank cited. They certainly weren't swallowed by the millions Sander's supporters.
2
You don't find meaningful compromise by refusing to fight for your own side. The move to the center has nearly destroyed the Democratic Party.
The left is supposed to fight hard for the people who are not rich. This includes most people with or without degrees.
Democrats need to abandon the corporate center that claims there is no money to invest in humans, and that no policy can pass that isn't championed by corporate lobbyists.
First you have to call out the global oligarchy and lead the resistance against their global corporate coup. The people understand in their bones that the system is rigged. Democracy must be reclaimed.
Then we need to fight for nearly free renewable energy (avoiding global warming by the way), universal single payer health care, free college, massive investment in infrastructure, and eventually a minimum living wage for all people (because the market has no solution for when robots and AI steal most jobs).
Socialism for the rich, while the rest of us compete for scraps is not working. It is destroying society, democracy, the economy and the world.
And identity politics plays right into the divide and conquer strategy of the super rich, so yes fight against injustice against targeted minorities, but fight for everyone.
The Democratic Party needs to stop following Republicans into the past and follow it's own base into the future.
The left is supposed to fight hard for the people who are not rich. This includes most people with or without degrees.
Democrats need to abandon the corporate center that claims there is no money to invest in humans, and that no policy can pass that isn't championed by corporate lobbyists.
First you have to call out the global oligarchy and lead the resistance against their global corporate coup. The people understand in their bones that the system is rigged. Democracy must be reclaimed.
Then we need to fight for nearly free renewable energy (avoiding global warming by the way), universal single payer health care, free college, massive investment in infrastructure, and eventually a minimum living wage for all people (because the market has no solution for when robots and AI steal most jobs).
Socialism for the rich, while the rest of us compete for scraps is not working. It is destroying society, democracy, the economy and the world.
And identity politics plays right into the divide and conquer strategy of the super rich, so yes fight against injustice against targeted minorities, but fight for everyone.
The Democratic Party needs to stop following Republicans into the past and follow it's own base into the future.
2
Democrats have always had better policies for the working class. The effective campaigns these days don't seem to be about policy. We need to speak to speak to the American people in ways that they understand. They love W an Trump when they speak like they are uneducated. W was most popular with the working class when he mispronounced words and said he was a C student. All the Democrats sound like Ivy League Graduates who are trying to do good things for the helpless. It seems demeaning to these people. We need to find candidates who could speak and message like they didn't get a high school degree. In general, substance does not matter to the uneducated. It doesn't locally and it doesn't matter nationally.
Failing to understand that whatever gun policy exists in this country has failed, only continues the mayhem. How many gun homicides or accidents does it take to raise a modicum of doubt in our NRA beholden representatives. I know the gun crowd says they are hunters, gun collectors, or simply protecting themselves from the barbarians.
Why then do we have so many shootings in parks, restaurants, schools of innocent victims? Of course, with the election of the current president, the sanity or intelligence of many of his supporters is in question. If Trump is the new normal, we are in serious trouble.
Why then do we have so many shootings in parks, restaurants, schools of innocent victims? Of course, with the election of the current president, the sanity or intelligence of many of his supporters is in question. If Trump is the new normal, we are in serious trouble.
1
This issue is not entirely about those left behind in our "globalized, high-technology economy." Or even such an economy, itself. What about acknowledging the value of millions of 'humble' farmers without whom this privileged sector simply wouldn't eat? The enlightened are rejecting the failed, highly toxic, soil-destroying, globalized high-technology of a so-called "Green Revolution" to lead a return to regenerative, more humane and climate-beneficial agriculture. "Localized and low-technology" feeds the planet and draws down carbon from the atmosphere. The article promotes an elite view of progress, and describes a Democratic Party that has made itself irrelevant in countless ways...
1
Mr. Leonhardt is correct about the role of an activist government devising creative ways to transition citizens to function gainfully in a rapidly transitioning economy. Looking backward to the glories of big-factory industrialism simply won't do it. Even though this is hardly news, nobody in federal power seems to have gotten the memo.
As for the Democratic Party, until the leadership face of the party reflects the age, geography and class demographic of the population whose support it needs to succeed going forward, it will continue to thrash around aimlessly in the geriatric pool that now defines it. It's time for the worthy septuagenarians to step aside and to yield the reins of control to upcoming generations.
Thank you, Clintons, Pelosi, Hoyer, Podesta et al., for your good service. Enjoy retirement. Check in with Harry Reid to see how retirement is suiting him. Celebrate the achievements of a new generation that you helped spawn by giving them toe space to do it.
As for the Democratic Party, until the leadership face of the party reflects the age, geography and class demographic of the population whose support it needs to succeed going forward, it will continue to thrash around aimlessly in the geriatric pool that now defines it. It's time for the worthy septuagenarians to step aside and to yield the reins of control to upcoming generations.
Thank you, Clintons, Pelosi, Hoyer, Podesta et al., for your good service. Enjoy retirement. Check in with Harry Reid to see how retirement is suiting him. Celebrate the achievements of a new generation that you helped spawn by giving them toe space to do it.
3
I supported Jim Webb as the Democrat nominee in 2016. Why weren't you ( or anyone else the NYT published) discussing this back then? There is a certain intellectual arrogance that captured the Democrat party. There is no manual for this stuff. First, you actually need to care about the people you describe. Then you can ask for their vote.
14
When you say "The first would be improving the lives of those who will never have those degrees — ensuring they can find meaningful, well-paying work...those working class voters you're trying to persuade know you're lying. Every Democrat who has ever run for national office in the past 40 years says exactly the same thing. And no one has ever delivered on that promise ...ever...they're just empty words. That's why the Republicans control the House, the Senate, 33 governor’s offices & the legislature in 32 states. I dare you to show me one state, one county, one city where this has ever been implemented. Please explain how you plan to provide meaningful, well-paying work for unemployed auto & steel workers. Retraining...for what computer coding? Infrastructure jobs...lie. How many of these did the Democrats create when they controlled both Houses of Congress & Obama was President? You say a stable middle-class life should be possible without a bachelor’s degree. When has that ever been true in the past twenty years?
Helping more people earn degrees and enjoy their benefits???...are you serious? Wake up. Going off to college in 2017 isn't going to improve anyone's productivity or value long term. Technology changes too fast. Degrees doesn't insulate a person from the next wave of layoffs. This idea like so many "liberal solutions" has no basis in reality and is offensive. Do you really think the working class will buy this tripe? Please tell me you can do better than this.
Helping more people earn degrees and enjoy their benefits???...are you serious? Wake up. Going off to college in 2017 isn't going to improve anyone's productivity or value long term. Technology changes too fast. Degrees doesn't insulate a person from the next wave of layoffs. This idea like so many "liberal solutions" has no basis in reality and is offensive. Do you really think the working class will buy this tripe? Please tell me you can do better than this.
7
The problem is that the Democrats keep trying to do these things on the cheap. We need to raise taxes on the super rich to invest in humans. See the article about hedge fund managers, who make an average of halls a billion dollars a year for doing worse than in unmanaged market funds (eating the returns of many pension funds) with a varied interest loophole that cuts their tax rate to 15%, and zero in NY State. These people are treated as super geniuses for lying the system, while people that work two jobs at the poverty level are blamed for their poverty.
The big lie is that there is no money.
Productivity is double what it was when we simultaneously rebuilt Europe and Japan, and paid off the largest debt in U.S. history. There is plenty of money, but it is being used to assuage the egos of psychopathic billionaires instead of being invested in "the general welfare" as the preamble of the constitution demands.
Tax the rich and invest in the all of the people. That is how you build a future where everyone can thrive.
The true lesion of evolution is that corporation wins. Line wives die sad lonely deaths. Predators don't attack the herd, they attack stragglers.
A multitude organism itself, like a society, only exists because single cell organisms didn't do as well alone as together.
The rigged individual meme is propaganda designed by rich people that don't want to pay taxes. They are like parasites.
Corporation works.
The big lie is that there is no money.
Productivity is double what it was when we simultaneously rebuilt Europe and Japan, and paid off the largest debt in U.S. history. There is plenty of money, but it is being used to assuage the egos of psychopathic billionaires instead of being invested in "the general welfare" as the preamble of the constitution demands.
Tax the rich and invest in the all of the people. That is how you build a future where everyone can thrive.
The true lesion of evolution is that corporation wins. Line wives die sad lonely deaths. Predators don't attack the herd, they attack stragglers.
A multitude organism itself, like a society, only exists because single cell organisms didn't do as well alone as together.
The rigged individual meme is propaganda designed by rich people that don't want to pay taxes. They are like parasites.
Corporation works.
My husband is a college-degree engineer, and he has been laid off 3 times in the last 15 years.
His problem has never been his educational credentials -- it's his age (over 60 now) and that companies can very easily import all the H1Bs and newly minted engineering grads who are 25 or 30, and cost very little to insure.
People act here as if a college degree utterly insulates someone from job loss or being "obsoleted" out of a career. That is laughable. Ask the 40,000 Americans with LAW DEGREES but no JOBS -- and $150K in non-dischargeable law school loans -- how they feel about THAT.
His problem has never been his educational credentials -- it's his age (over 60 now) and that companies can very easily import all the H1Bs and newly minted engineering grads who are 25 or 30, and cost very little to insure.
People act here as if a college degree utterly insulates someone from job loss or being "obsoleted" out of a career. That is laughable. Ask the 40,000 Americans with LAW DEGREES but no JOBS -- and $150K in non-dischargeable law school loans -- how they feel about THAT.
The Democrats will never get their mojo back when you open with a photo of Pelosi- totally agree with Sharon5101's comments.
13
Thank you very much. It's an absolute disgrace to see Nancy Pelosi showing up to make canned speeches at commencement addresses and accept honorary degrees. However, she's no where to be found when the going gets tough. Pelosi and Schumer only enjoy the perks that come with their job titles without taking responsibility for their failure to work at making the Democratic party relevant again. Term limits would also be a big help in ensuring that there would be new people with fresh ideas every so often. Thanks again.
3
Yes, after the disaster of 2016, the best thing for Democrats is to listen to a "self-identifying mushy moderate" and The Hillary Cllinton Retainers, who above all hate the "excesses of the left". Better to lose, than win on a left-wing platform!
So as long as we never utter the word "class" or the phrase "single-payer health insurance" it'll be great!
I mean, it's not like Hillary Clinton ever ran for president.
So as long as we never utter the word "class" or the phrase "single-payer health insurance" it'll be great!
I mean, it's not like Hillary Clinton ever ran for president.
9
Of course they need to "reach out" beyond Washington, but that's not part of their centralized mindset and self-assigned mandate (a "Marshall Plan" is just the sort of mistaken rhetorical first reaction you'd expect). What have they actually learned from the Trump disaster about Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pa.? The real secret: Just show up, listen, and above all, don't hoarsely regale them with your various reports and agendas. They may not be educated but they can detect pro forma rhetoric.
3
sounds reasonable...
now, is there any such thing left in America, or are we so polarized ther is no real middle to woo?
now, is there any such thing left in America, or are we so polarized ther is no real middle to woo?
You don't woo the middle by having no opinion. The left has to make the case for the left, in order to move the middle to the left.
The corporate center is a scam. That is where all of the bought off politicians, and all of the bought off pundits claim the solution is to let corporations run everything. The real middle no longer buys it. That's why we had an anti establishment election. Bernie would have won in a landslide. He is the first presidential candidate to nearly win by calling out the mass corruption that has taken over our government. Trump promised to drain the swamp, while Hillary promised to "have drinks with Republicans" and "find common ground" with the "Greater Evil."
The Democrats need to stop trying to be clever, and honestly fight for the People.
The corporate center is a scam. That is where all of the bought off politicians, and all of the bought off pundits claim the solution is to let corporations run everything. The real middle no longer buys it. That's why we had an anti establishment election. Bernie would have won in a landslide. He is the first presidential candidate to nearly win by calling out the mass corruption that has taken over our government. Trump promised to drain the swamp, while Hillary promised to "have drinks with Republicans" and "find common ground" with the "Greater Evil."
The Democrats need to stop trying to be clever, and honestly fight for the People.
Yes. And call the Republicans on their efforts to torpedo the ACA by offering to make medicare available to all. And nominate Kirsten Gillibrand to run for president.
1
The Republicans have NOT made an effort to give Medicare to all. They have offered "access" to health care, and a deal with insurers to raise rates as they see fit in order to cover "risk pools". Access means nothing if premiums are too high for a lot of people, especially the unemployed, or those employed at low wage service jobs with no benefits. We can afford a huge Pentagon/military budget; we cannot afford basic health care for all Americans. We cannot afford to educate all our kids to the limit of their competence. We cannot afford to repair pot holes, leaking dams, damaged bridges. However, we can afford a non-working Congress with all their perks. We can afford to pay taxes to support people like Ryan and McConnell et al. To date, this Congress has done absolutely nothing to help ordinary Americans; they have paid back the big donors who finance their campaigns. They live inside the bubble known as the Beltway; they do not share in ordinary lives. I lived and worked in D.C. years for a political law firm. D.C. is not the U.S. It is its own world, protected and coddled. D.C. is not even allowed to make any laws without approval from Congress.
"Access means nothing if premiums are too high for a lot of people, especially the unemployed, or those employed at low wage service jobs with no benefits."
Chris, you just described Obamacare. Except replace "premiums" with "deductibles".
Chris, you just described Obamacare. Except replace "premiums" with "deductibles".
The person at the top of the ticket.
“Minimum-wage increases keep passing, in blue states and red ones.”
Maybe they do, but it doesn’t follow that a person votes his/her economic interest. In the 2014 elections, minimum wage initiatives passed resoundingly in Arkansas, Nebraska, Alaska and South Dakota. All four states voted in a slew of Republican candidates at the same time.
The writer here, David Leonhardt, ignores the impact of personality on a voter’s choice and that’s a huge omission. “The white working class” were generally anti-Obama as they thought him aloof, anti-the NRA, pandering to minorities, anti-Israel and anti-the Catholic Church. They were anti-Obamacare because his name was on it. Notice how support for the Affordable Health Care act is now increasing. The same voters were clearly not impressed with Hillary Clinton either.
The Dems need a person with Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton’s skill sets who can appeal to “the white working class” in the same way that Mr. Trump did. Enter Seth Moulton and Tim Ryan, maybe.
“Minimum-wage increases keep passing, in blue states and red ones.”
Maybe they do, but it doesn’t follow that a person votes his/her economic interest. In the 2014 elections, minimum wage initiatives passed resoundingly in Arkansas, Nebraska, Alaska and South Dakota. All four states voted in a slew of Republican candidates at the same time.
The writer here, David Leonhardt, ignores the impact of personality on a voter’s choice and that’s a huge omission. “The white working class” were generally anti-Obama as they thought him aloof, anti-the NRA, pandering to minorities, anti-Israel and anti-the Catholic Church. They were anti-Obamacare because his name was on it. Notice how support for the Affordable Health Care act is now increasing. The same voters were clearly not impressed with Hillary Clinton either.
The Dems need a person with Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton’s skill sets who can appeal to “the white working class” in the same way that Mr. Trump did. Enter Seth Moulton and Tim Ryan, maybe.
2
They noticed when they saved the auto industry
3
Or Bernie. As was obvious to everyone except the Superdelegates.
1
The swing voters wanted Bernie. They settled for Trump (who stole Bernie's stump speech).
1
Hm-m-m-m... the Democratic Party establishment is embracing ideas that sound a lot like the ones espoused by the Democratic Socialist candidate from Vermont... he who's name cannot be uttered by those "who previously worked for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama." Maybe the DNC should take a look at the CPC's budget and support it... but that would move them too far away from the "mushy moderate" stance and might alienate some of their corporate donors.
8
IF you think Pelosi, Schumer, Sanders, Warren & Waters are getting mojo back you are sadly mistaken. Throw HRC in the dead blood also.
3
Don't give up on Bernie or Warren yet! The high schooler across the street couldn't vote in the last election because of his age, he and his friends cannot wait to answer Bernie's call. Same with my son and daughter way past college and grad school, they are still excited about Bernie.
1
Hahaha this is one funny article. Let's see if they can get their Mojo back. I kind of doubt it looking at the picture.
It used to be that the Dems were for the "working class." That was dropped by the Clinton's for "middle class." Now with Leonhardt we're back to working class. That's a good sign. Jobs, infrastructure, single payer - all good. Stopping our colonist imperial wars, even better. Slimming the Pentagon so there's money for butter and not for guns. We are no longer the hope for the world, we've become a lead weight.
5
Being crushed by ed debt has made us smarter?
4
I think you put too much faith in the Trump voter to recognize what is in their self interest.
If Democrats want to regain the White House in 2020 they have to take a page out of the French presidential election that took place last Sunday. The winner, Emmanuel Macron, is a CENTRIST---not a right-wing radical or a left-wing dreamer. He's 39, approximately HALF AS OLD as Bernie Sanders. He's white, he's male, and he's a Christian. He won by 33 points. So let's review---Democrats need a candidate who is young, white, male, and believes in Jesus. Hillary and Bernie need to ride off into the sunset.
6
There you have it, the call for government to create millions of good paying jobs. If this is the Left's idea of a new idea, Republicans will win continuously.
1
The Dems obviously need to get their leading lights in the White House, with a Pelosi-Waters ticket in 2016. You don't even have to have primaries, just decide at Party HQ at Mr. Soros' house and be done with it. Oh yeah, oh, yeah.
When all your party stands for is giving away more stuff than the other side, who cares what happens when the debt grows out of control? It isn't like Dems voters should pay for it, right?
Having the best ideas is just so boringly 1960's. The question today is who hates the rich people more, right?
When all your party stands for is giving away more stuff than the other side, who cares what happens when the debt grows out of control? It isn't like Dems voters should pay for it, right?
Having the best ideas is just so boringly 1960's. The question today is who hates the rich people more, right?
5
In a nutshell: be interested, curious, and caring about the earth and its world of people (including those in your neighborhood and community); turn off the television and away from everything that numbs, dumbs, and pulls you down; read (and nothing but) what is worth reading that moves you to be interested, curious, and caring; and refuse to vote for Republicans in the 2018 and 2020 elections.
1
"One of those strains dismisses the white working class as irredeemably racist."
Exactly! It's called finger pointing, and it's a nasty little game many white college graduate Democrats are playing these days trying to shift the blame for racism onto those who have no degree. "It's not us," they're saying, "We're not the racists. It's those deplorable white working people!" It was very evident during the campaign last year. It smacks of arrogance and hypocrisy - and it's one of the reasons Democrats will lose more governorships, state houses, and seats in the Federal government for years to come, as more and more white working people come to see how they are held in contempt by their "betters."
And white Democrats can't shake this, either, because anything they do to address it is likely to offend their base: minorities. But what will happen is that the minorities will soon turn on the college educated white compatriots, too - and it has already started: An incident in the New York assembly, recounted here in the Times, where a Democratic black female representative insulted her white male colleague by contemptuously citing his "white privilege!" because he had graduated from Harvard. So, their little game of finger pointing at the "deplorables" of the "white working class" isn't really fooling anybody.
And there is no way the Democrats can "fix" this. The party is over.
Exactly! It's called finger pointing, and it's a nasty little game many white college graduate Democrats are playing these days trying to shift the blame for racism onto those who have no degree. "It's not us," they're saying, "We're not the racists. It's those deplorable white working people!" It was very evident during the campaign last year. It smacks of arrogance and hypocrisy - and it's one of the reasons Democrats will lose more governorships, state houses, and seats in the Federal government for years to come, as more and more white working people come to see how they are held in contempt by their "betters."
And white Democrats can't shake this, either, because anything they do to address it is likely to offend their base: minorities. But what will happen is that the minorities will soon turn on the college educated white compatriots, too - and it has already started: An incident in the New York assembly, recounted here in the Times, where a Democratic black female representative insulted her white male colleague by contemptuously citing his "white privilege!" because he had graduated from Harvard. So, their little game of finger pointing at the "deplorables" of the "white working class" isn't really fooling anybody.
And there is no way the Democrats can "fix" this. The party is over.
3
I support a future ticket with any combination of the following: Martin O'Malley, Kirsten Gillebrand, Sherrod Brown, and Kamala Harris. Time for new leaders, the old ones lost the current disaster in chief.
4
I would support any of these if they abandoned the Obama/Clinton approach and took up Bernie's platform.
1
You left out Al Franken! Also, what has Kamala done to make her of any interest on a ticket.
JJ, respectfully Bernie is part of the problem. He has no compromise in him. The recent attacks on Jon Ossoff are unforgivable. Ossoff is a Dem with a real chance to take a seat in red state Georgia. That's progress, and Bernie is hurting the guy.
Most Trump voters have a preexisting condition, an allergy to a liberal arts education. They believe it makes you uppity. Republicans can't have that; an educated population is not docile, it posses what Republicans abhor, the ability for critical thinking.
Cure that disease and then we can talk about progress.
Cure that disease and then we can talk about progress.
4
It is no surprise that David's column focused on economics. It is like the Democrats have forgotten all about James Carville's advice to the party: it's the economy stupid!
I am currently having a argument with some family members, they are the ones who think that Hillary Clinton lost because of sexism and misogyny. Most of them are women and they think the Democrats need to double down on "reproductive rights", i.e., abortion.
These Democrats are the ones who think that women's and LBGTQ people's rights need to be the focus of the next election. I keep telling them to listen to Carville and Bernie Sanders and focus on the economy. When I do I get insulted and accused of throwing women under the bus.
It is obvious that identity politics is failing the Democrats bigly. If it was a winning strategy then Hillary Clinton would be President now. It is sad to see Hillary Clinton saying it was her fault, but then mentioning (sexism / the Russians / James Comey) as reasons she lost the election.
Listen Hillary, real leaders accept responsibility. Had you accepted responsibility for your many faults then there is a chance that you could have won the election. But with all your excuses and finger pointing it looked like a toss-up between you and "The Donald" as far as who would make a better President.
The Democrats still have a chance, if they win because of the economy then they will be able to fix all the other problems. Otherwise they risk putting the cart before the horse.
I am currently having a argument with some family members, they are the ones who think that Hillary Clinton lost because of sexism and misogyny. Most of them are women and they think the Democrats need to double down on "reproductive rights", i.e., abortion.
These Democrats are the ones who think that women's and LBGTQ people's rights need to be the focus of the next election. I keep telling them to listen to Carville and Bernie Sanders and focus on the economy. When I do I get insulted and accused of throwing women under the bus.
It is obvious that identity politics is failing the Democrats bigly. If it was a winning strategy then Hillary Clinton would be President now. It is sad to see Hillary Clinton saying it was her fault, but then mentioning (sexism / the Russians / James Comey) as reasons she lost the election.
Listen Hillary, real leaders accept responsibility. Had you accepted responsibility for your many faults then there is a chance that you could have won the election. But with all your excuses and finger pointing it looked like a toss-up between you and "The Donald" as far as who would make a better President.
The Democrats still have a chance, if they win because of the economy then they will be able to fix all the other problems. Otherwise they risk putting the cart before the horse.
56
Bernie and Carville are right.
2
And what should the Dems promise Americans that they will do about the economy?
In 1993 Bill Clinton raised taxes without a single Republican vote and then the Repubs. took back Congress. The same thing happened after the passage of Obamacare.
Any serious effort to deal with the lack of low- and un-skilled jobs will be most likely require a tax increase--probably more than one.
So forget Hillary for a minute, and ask yourself how Dems. will be able to campaign for a truly activist populist agenda, AND ask the voters to pay for it?
In 1993 Bill Clinton raised taxes without a single Republican vote and then the Repubs. took back Congress. The same thing happened after the passage of Obamacare.
Any serious effort to deal with the lack of low- and un-skilled jobs will be most likely require a tax increase--probably more than one.
So forget Hillary for a minute, and ask yourself how Dems. will be able to campaign for a truly activist populist agenda, AND ask the voters to pay for it?
1
Excellent analysis of Clinton's performance. Sad to see that she won't retire, but is now forming "Forward Together" or some such. "Vote for me because I am female" will never win. Can you imagine Elizabeth Warren running that way? I certainly can't.
If only one party had promised to raise the minimum wage, offered re-training programs for those who lost their jobs, supported increasing the safety net, healthcare for low income workers, and on and on. Oh wait, both Clinton and Sanders did. But rather than put in the hard work and energy required to improve their lot in life, these working-class voters instead chose to follow a pied piper who blamed everyone else for the problems promised to bring back coal jobs everyone knows are never coming back. What chance does the party selling hard work have when laziness wins out every time?
4
I don't get it either, one party offered to take care of you from cradle to grave, has played identity politics to divide voters based upon races, sexes, and economics etc....and they lost? Maybe most Americans want to make it on their own and are tired working their butts off, being blamed for everything that is wrong with life and paying for people who have no desire to work.
2
The Carrier factories are not coming back, either. They are being run by engineers and robotics. The Carrier factories supplying jobs have moved to Mexico for low cost labor. The unemployed who jeered Clinton, rejected her offer of re-training and financial support to move where good jobs could be found, are now sitting out there in the heartland with dying small towns, no jobs, and no unlimited unemployment benefits. However, they can still look down on minorities and immigrants. As LBJ said, if you give a man someone to look down on, you can pick his pockets.
If the white working class actually wanted "to make it on their own" why are they demanding coal jobs back? Why no retrain and move on to an industry that actually has a future.
And just where does the "Southern Strategy" the GOP has used to woo WWC voters for the past 30 yrs fit? Funny you don't consider that "identity politics."
And just where does the "Southern Strategy" the GOP has used to woo WWC voters for the past 30 yrs fit? Funny you don't consider that "identity politics."
The DNC and Congress all re-elected party leaders who somehow managed to lose to the indisputably WORST presidential candidate in American history.
In my home state of Minnesota, they re-elected the leadership team that only narrowly managed to keep the state blue, in spite of the fact that they had a candidate for state chair who had a proven track record of organizing and "guerrilla marketing."
I didn't agree with everything Bernie Sanders proposed, but if the DNC had been smart, rather than interested mostly in maintaining the status quo, they would have noticed that here was a candidate who appears to have surprised even himself with his ability to attract crowds and small donors and to win 22 primaries.
The Dems have forgotten that candidates need votes in the right places more than they need money, and if they can get the votes with individual contributions of less than $100, all the better. The Dems had a chance to run a candidate whom large numbers of voters were enthusiastic about and to whom people who had never contributed before sent checks, and still they chose Hillary Clinton because "it was her turn" and "it's time we had a woman president."
Those of us who are fed up with the Democrats' fear of rocking the yachts and determination to maintain the neoliberal status quo but who find the Republicans unspeakably awful are politically homeless.
In my home state of Minnesota, they re-elected the leadership team that only narrowly managed to keep the state blue, in spite of the fact that they had a candidate for state chair who had a proven track record of organizing and "guerrilla marketing."
I didn't agree with everything Bernie Sanders proposed, but if the DNC had been smart, rather than interested mostly in maintaining the status quo, they would have noticed that here was a candidate who appears to have surprised even himself with his ability to attract crowds and small donors and to win 22 primaries.
The Dems have forgotten that candidates need votes in the right places more than they need money, and if they can get the votes with individual contributions of less than $100, all the better. The Dems had a chance to run a candidate whom large numbers of voters were enthusiastic about and to whom people who had never contributed before sent checks, and still they chose Hillary Clinton because "it was her turn" and "it's time we had a woman president."
Those of us who are fed up with the Democrats' fear of rocking the yachts and determination to maintain the neoliberal status quo but who find the Republicans unspeakably awful are politically homeless.
11
David, appreciate your mentioning Neena. But I read your entire column without your even mentioning Bernie once. The reason he had and still has such a massive appeal amongst millennials and younger, is because he spoke directly to them. If democrats do not include Bernie's solutions in their proposals, they will leave out generations who would be willing to give them democrats their mojo back. Sorry David. Just like all other NYT columnists you too are taking democrats on a length hit or miss path.
6
First, in the month before the election, I told my friends, "Well, I guess Hillary has polling that shows that she can anger all the working class men west of Philadelphia." Her gratuitous and excessive attacks on guns rights were simply stupid, and her "look how non-white we are!" was likely to alienate plenty of non-racist working class people who are already feeling abandoned.
In short, we do not need to exaggerate "findings" from an election that Hillary lost, lost, lost, with stupid, stupid, stupid campaigning.
Second, Democrats need to honestly look at the need to enforce behavioral standards: College needs to have actual work and learning standards, and not be a mega-holding tank for all but a few majors. Yes, we need to get police-violence under control (it is crime, as well), but urban lives are made miserable -- outside of the gated communities -- by crime; and we "can see criminals coming" in the bad behavior of junior high and high school age thugs and thugs-to-be who ruin education for their peers, and who ruin the quality of life for all (again, for all who live outside gated communities and private schools).
The New Deal collapsed because the public rebelled against the failure of the system to enforce behavioral standards. The "market-based" approach to dismantling the New Deal State has been to allow elites (Democrats like Hillary and Obama included) to retreat to enclaves while the public suffers.
Democrats must address this reality to recover.
In short, we do not need to exaggerate "findings" from an election that Hillary lost, lost, lost, with stupid, stupid, stupid campaigning.
Second, Democrats need to honestly look at the need to enforce behavioral standards: College needs to have actual work and learning standards, and not be a mega-holding tank for all but a few majors. Yes, we need to get police-violence under control (it is crime, as well), but urban lives are made miserable -- outside of the gated communities -- by crime; and we "can see criminals coming" in the bad behavior of junior high and high school age thugs and thugs-to-be who ruin education for their peers, and who ruin the quality of life for all (again, for all who live outside gated communities and private schools).
The New Deal collapsed because the public rebelled against the failure of the system to enforce behavioral standards. The "market-based" approach to dismantling the New Deal State has been to allow elites (Democrats like Hillary and Obama included) to retreat to enclaves while the public suffers.
Democrats must address this reality to recover.
7
The DNC needs to rid itself of all that bow down to Wall St and all of corporate America.Bernie would have beat Trump.
7
Thank you for using the word "WORKING CLASS." The Dems ran away from it, Obama included, and kept mentioning the MIDDLE CLASS.
Wrong wrong linguistic choice and seriously tone deaf.
Even when Labor and skilled tradesman are economically middle class but culturally and emotionally feel they are working class.
They are proud of their work in ways that the middle class isn't: they see day by day what they produce and this generates the kind of reward that office work denies.
On the workplace they share the kind of comradery that white collars can't even dream about. They hang out together, especially in smaller towns and, most of all in rural areas. Same coffee shop, same diner, same local tavern.
Work to them is a reason of justified pride.
When they hear middle class they may think aspirationally of their children when they will earn a college degree (if they ever), but are indifferent to linguistic sugar coating for themselves. If you are short and fat they don't call you "vertically challenged and overweight" and hate it when you patronize them that way.
Wrong wrong linguistic choice and seriously tone deaf.
Even when Labor and skilled tradesman are economically middle class but culturally and emotionally feel they are working class.
They are proud of their work in ways that the middle class isn't: they see day by day what they produce and this generates the kind of reward that office work denies.
On the workplace they share the kind of comradery that white collars can't even dream about. They hang out together, especially in smaller towns and, most of all in rural areas. Same coffee shop, same diner, same local tavern.
Work to them is a reason of justified pride.
When they hear middle class they may think aspirationally of their children when they will earn a college degree (if they ever), but are indifferent to linguistic sugar coating for themselves. If you are short and fat they don't call you "vertically challenged and overweight" and hate it when you patronize them that way.
3
Democrats never lost their mojo. They outvoted Republicans by 2.8+ million. Remember?
5
They have maxed out the CA, NY, NJ, and Ill margins of victory. This is the source of the numbers. 2.8 means nothing if you cant win the Great Lakes region again.
5
You're asking Democratic "leaders" to cut their ties with the rich, the powerful, the special interests.
Good luck with that.
I'll tell you who the uneducable are: Democratic college graduates who learned nothing from Bernie Sanders' campaign.
Good luck with that.
I'll tell you who the uneducable are: Democratic college graduates who learned nothing from Bernie Sanders' campaign.
3
Mojo: as in being perceived as having magical powers, charisma, good luck, creating excitement.
If you don't have any Mojo in the first place, you can't get it "back." And the establishment Democratic Party and the 3 or 4 leaders it has showcased as its spokespeople--Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, the Clintons--are not articulate and do not excite emotionally.
It has been reported that public opinion in the U.S. agrees with many of the values and issues that the Democratic Party claims to advocate. So it's not the Democratic Platform; it's the people leading and making decisions for the Democratic Party that are out of touch, too beholden to special interests and big money, and smugly overestimated their power and appeal.
For example, deciding that Hillary had "earned" her presidential candidacy and was to be given it when the primaries began was a huge mistake, because the DNC (and the mainstream media such as the NYT) intentionally tried to bury political talent by slamming the door on alternative DP contenders.
Obviously, Bernie Sanders demonstrated mojo, but was treated like a pariah by the DNC & NYT. Former MD Governor Martin O'Malley is actually quite dynamic and did a lot to turn a purple state blue (I am originally from MD) but he was treated like a pipsqueak & dismissed by the DNC Deciders.
And of course, the complacent DNC failed to do much at the local and state levels to identify and bring along talented, up and coming Democratic politicians.
If you don't have any Mojo in the first place, you can't get it "back." And the establishment Democratic Party and the 3 or 4 leaders it has showcased as its spokespeople--Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, the Clintons--are not articulate and do not excite emotionally.
It has been reported that public opinion in the U.S. agrees with many of the values and issues that the Democratic Party claims to advocate. So it's not the Democratic Platform; it's the people leading and making decisions for the Democratic Party that are out of touch, too beholden to special interests and big money, and smugly overestimated their power and appeal.
For example, deciding that Hillary had "earned" her presidential candidacy and was to be given it when the primaries began was a huge mistake, because the DNC (and the mainstream media such as the NYT) intentionally tried to bury political talent by slamming the door on alternative DP contenders.
Obviously, Bernie Sanders demonstrated mojo, but was treated like a pariah by the DNC & NYT. Former MD Governor Martin O'Malley is actually quite dynamic and did a lot to turn a purple state blue (I am originally from MD) but he was treated like a pipsqueak & dismissed by the DNC Deciders.
And of course, the complacent DNC failed to do much at the local and state levels to identify and bring along talented, up and coming Democratic politicians.
55
Getting rid of the Democratic Party super-delegates is a necessary step in letting the people's voices be heard.
Excellent description of the behavior of the Democratic Party and the NYT in the run up to the election last year. Disgraceful performances by both. You made a particularly good point regarding O'Malley; he would not have had to face charges he wasn't even a Democrat, was a Socialist, etc. The NYT ignored him, as they ignored Tom Vilsack and Wesley Clark in '08.
Bernie beat Hillary in Republican & non-primary states. She won the nomination fair & square. In the General election Married Women did NOT vote for Hillary in the Midwest & West + NC to offset the White Working Men. Even with Obama campaigning for Hillary in critical Middle West states + NC & FL. Retirees also swung to Trump in those states too.
Hillary did talk about David's ideas but not strong enough. Also the people who gave Big & not-so-big pushed ideas unwelcome in many areas.
Hillary did talk about David's ideas but not strong enough. Also the people who gave Big & not-so-big pushed ideas unwelcome in many areas.
The democrats cannot grasp the fact that without policies to keep the economy growing, we will never be able to pay for any of the worthy goals you site. No promise of new jobs creation = continued decline for the Democratic party.
2
Several comments I'd like to make:
1. College can mean many types of schooling beyond high school, everything from majoring in a highly complex subject to a practical job subject like hotel management. We need to be more detailed when we talk about higher education.
2. There is a high percentage of high school graduates who are not ready for further schooling. They are also not ready for the job market.
3. Junior colleges serve an important purpose. They offer job-specific training and even apprenticeships the lead to a good job. They should insist that students be up to speed in subjects like English usage, everyday math, civics and computer skills, but otherwise be oriented towards job preparedness. Many junior colleges work with companies on job training. This is good.
It is silly to think that we can turn everyone into a university professor. Most Americans just want a decent paying job. Provide a general education as best we can. If Democrats work for this, they will have great success. Finally, let me say that going to a good college doesn't necessarily lead to a well-informed, logically thinking person. Just look at President Trump.
1. College can mean many types of schooling beyond high school, everything from majoring in a highly complex subject to a practical job subject like hotel management. We need to be more detailed when we talk about higher education.
2. There is a high percentage of high school graduates who are not ready for further schooling. They are also not ready for the job market.
3. Junior colleges serve an important purpose. They offer job-specific training and even apprenticeships the lead to a good job. They should insist that students be up to speed in subjects like English usage, everyday math, civics and computer skills, but otherwise be oriented towards job preparedness. Many junior colleges work with companies on job training. This is good.
It is silly to think that we can turn everyone into a university professor. Most Americans just want a decent paying job. Provide a general education as best we can. If Democrats work for this, they will have great success. Finally, let me say that going to a good college doesn't necessarily lead to a well-informed, logically thinking person. Just look at President Trump.
3
The idea of a Mashall Plan for our own country, is exciting. For years we've celebrated the idea that we helped Europe recover, and the consolation of spending money on others was that we had our own exciting programs here at home, for "us", like the UC system in California and putting a man on the moon. Gradually, though, we've undercut those social ventures, to the extent that the main plan of the Republicans is simply hacking away at spending and government, as if it were the knight in Monte Python and the Holy Grail.
To get people back, though, we need something exciting. Contrary to what David Leonhardt writes, however, this cannot be about "government creating jobs". Other than the research and education jobs, it never did. It provided the money for people to get educated, and funding for big social ventures like space and the interstate highway system. Today, like the Marshall Plan, the idea has to be about giving people opportunity, a partnership in which society ensures people get the basics of health, education and welfare, and people leverage their skills and abilities to create new things for society. We have to quit expressing things in terms of identity politics and instead talk about opportunity for everyone, and the social benefit that comes when someone, regardless of their background, invents something new or simply does their part at work everyday.
To get people back, though, we need something exciting. Contrary to what David Leonhardt writes, however, this cannot be about "government creating jobs". Other than the research and education jobs, it never did. It provided the money for people to get educated, and funding for big social ventures like space and the interstate highway system. Today, like the Marshall Plan, the idea has to be about giving people opportunity, a partnership in which society ensures people get the basics of health, education and welfare, and people leverage their skills and abilities to create new things for society. We have to quit expressing things in terms of identity politics and instead talk about opportunity for everyone, and the social benefit that comes when someone, regardless of their background, invents something new or simply does their part at work everyday.
1
While we can do more to improve access to higher education, the more fundamental problem is unnecessarily coarse use of college credentialing as a filtering tool. Throwing more $$$ at the higher education industry would ultimately *worsen* that problem.
On the other hand, vocational training for personal service and on-site trade jobs that cannot be readily offshored and that can be organized in labor terms would be a more effective solution in the long run. Who is likely to have a better ability to feed his or her family: a plumber or an adjunct English professor?
And we do need to think about jobs that can support families, not just individuals. The atomization of how we (and especially economists and the commentariat) think about these issues is a blinker we put over our own eyes.
On the other hand, vocational training for personal service and on-site trade jobs that cannot be readily offshored and that can be organized in labor terms would be a more effective solution in the long run. Who is likely to have a better ability to feed his or her family: a plumber or an adjunct English professor?
And we do need to think about jobs that can support families, not just individuals. The atomization of how we (and especially economists and the commentariat) think about these issues is a blinker we put over our own eyes.
2
We send too many people to college already. This can be seen in the credential inflation wherein many jobs (e.g. secretary) for which a high school diploma used to be sufficient, now require a college degree. Is this because the jobs are now inherently more complex? No; it's simply because there is a surplus of college graduates.
The only arguable shortages are in the science and tech sectors, where the salaries are sufficiently sky-high that the relevant college majors already attract nearly everyone with aptitude and interest in these jobs.
The only arguable shortages are in the science and tech sectors, where the salaries are sufficiently sky-high that the relevant college majors already attract nearly everyone with aptitude and interest in these jobs.
3
I'm all for David's program here but I can't help but notice a glaring fault in his argument.
"College graduates are living longer than they used to, getting divorced less and eating better." And yes, we all know that they make more money. "There is something about college — the actual learning, as well as the required discipline and initiative — that seems to prepare people for adult success." In all such statements, all we know is that these good outcomes are CORRELATED with more education. What we also all know, but what David doesn't mention, is that some part of this correlation comes from self-selection: the folks that are going to make more money, are disciplined, are maybe even going to eat healthier diets etc etc are more likely to go to college in the first place.
One of my high-school classmates spent his working life driving a beer-delivery truck, and another got a PhD from Stanford. They were both fine people, but everybody could forecast the different outcomes long before any of us went or didn't go to college.
"College graduates are living longer than they used to, getting divorced less and eating better." And yes, we all know that they make more money. "There is something about college — the actual learning, as well as the required discipline and initiative — that seems to prepare people for adult success." In all such statements, all we know is that these good outcomes are CORRELATED with more education. What we also all know, but what David doesn't mention, is that some part of this correlation comes from self-selection: the folks that are going to make more money, are disciplined, are maybe even going to eat healthier diets etc etc are more likely to go to college in the first place.
One of my high-school classmates spent his working life driving a beer-delivery truck, and another got a PhD from Stanford. They were both fine people, but everybody could forecast the different outcomes long before any of us went or didn't go to college.
3
At least until self-driving trucks...SOMEONE has to drive the beer delivery truck....unless you don't want to drink beer ever again.
Society cannot function when everyone has a PhD from Stanford and thinks they are too "refined" to do manual labor.
Society cannot function when everyone has a PhD from Stanford and thinks they are too "refined" to do manual labor.
2
Bingo! I haven't looked into the research but I've always been suspicious of this line of thinking. My favorite example of this is the myth that taking martial arts makes a person disciplined and committed. What's the ratio of people who start a martial art and quit versus those who continue it long-term? I've always suspected that people who earn their black belts do so because they came into the martial art as a disciplined and committed person. The martial art didn't make them that way.
Leonhardt assumes that getting a college degree makes people more likely to succeed. It may be the other way round: people without the right characteristics have trouble staying the course for a four-year degree. If that's right, then making it easier to get a BA won't do any good.
In all likelihood, the arrow of causation runs both directions. But I suspect that the characteristics of a student before college are by far the more important.
In all likelihood, the arrow of causation runs both directions. But I suspect that the characteristics of a student before college are by far the more important.
1
Republicans block program after program proposed by Democrats - programs that would help such folks. Then tell their base to blame those Democrats/"socialists." The Republican Party has been pursuing the goal of 'make Democrats fail' since way before Obama. If this is what's really happening, is there a way for Democrats to get this across to voters? Perhaps directly attacking their latest leaders would be a good start, as McConnell's and Ryan's veneer must be looking pretty thin right now.
As long as the Clintons and their money machine continue to be influential in the party, it is unlikely that the party can present itself as being for the little guy. As long as the hard Left and its "excesses" dominate the agenda, it is unlikely that the party will have a sufficiently broad appeal. Both the Clintonistas and the hard Left are elitists in their own ways, and voting against elitists is an easy sell.
4
You can add Obama to the money grubbing class too.
1
The fallacy in this piece is right there in the first sentence "The great new dividing line in American life etc". And this is because the basic dividing limes in America have long been established, and they are the Red states vs the Blue states.
What divides them in a way that is very difficult to bridge is precisely because the divide is not over a given set of policies. What sets them apart is an extremely strong feeling of us vs them that has its roots in identities. Identities are based on culture, and mindsets, and these remain and don't change even if policies change. And in every election the main divide is between Red states and Blue states.
And since the main divide in elections is that Red states will vote Republican and Blue states Democrat any piece about how to get election results to change that doesn't address the Red state-Blue state divide is a complete waste of time.
When two groups of people have decided that they are inherently different and that they disagree about the most basic and essential matters, they are not saying this because they have any particular policies in mind.
Its the other way around, that since its a given that they disagree they will inevitably find matters of policy that they disagree on and this will always be what the focus is on. So to create policies that the 2 sides will agree on won't make the smallest difference as far as getting 2 sides that hold they are opposites to vote for the same party.
What divides them in a way that is very difficult to bridge is precisely because the divide is not over a given set of policies. What sets them apart is an extremely strong feeling of us vs them that has its roots in identities. Identities are based on culture, and mindsets, and these remain and don't change even if policies change. And in every election the main divide is between Red states and Blue states.
And since the main divide in elections is that Red states will vote Republican and Blue states Democrat any piece about how to get election results to change that doesn't address the Red state-Blue state divide is a complete waste of time.
When two groups of people have decided that they are inherently different and that they disagree about the most basic and essential matters, they are not saying this because they have any particular policies in mind.
Its the other way around, that since its a given that they disagree they will inevitably find matters of policy that they disagree on and this will always be what the focus is on. So to create policies that the 2 sides will agree on won't make the smallest difference as far as getting 2 sides that hold they are opposites to vote for the same party.
One can only stand amazed at the brazenness of the author's article that makes no mention of Bernie Sanders and his populist platform in its approval the adoption of many of his key ideas by the Center of American Progress (CAP) that along with its leader Neera Tanden, one of Hillary closest campaign aides, that regularly denigrated Sanders' his followers, and his ideas as unrealistic and irresponsible. In the cynical corporate world the CAP's actions would be called "re-positioning" or "re-branding"; in the political world it is called co-optation; in the academic world, plagiarism. Given the discredited political electoral strategy they pursued last fall you would think they would discover the virtues of political humility. Have they no decency?
5
Hear, hear. I too was outraged that there was no mention of Bernie here.
Democrats don't need to get their ''mojo'' back. We have plenty.
All we need is a young and dynamic leader ( a la Trudeau ) that will espouse true progressive policies and not be completely tied up to Wall St.
If we cannot find one, then Bernie will more than do.
All we need is a young and dynamic leader ( a la Trudeau ) that will espouse true progressive policies and not be completely tied up to Wall St.
If we cannot find one, then Bernie will more than do.
3
Bernie Sanders will be 78 in 2020.
If HE is your "Great Liberal Hope"....you are doomed.
If HE is your "Great Liberal Hope"....you are doomed.
1
I love how everyone thinks Bernie is the answer...I'll bet most people can't name one accomplishment he's been responsible for since he's been in the senate. But...he is for free college and free health care, some "he's the man"
Democrats need to evaluate progressive and moderate domestic policy proposals on this simple question: WWRD? What Would Roosevelt Do? FDR had a keen sense on what the great swath of the American people were thinking. That was the key to his greatness.
He was not always a leader. Often times. during the depression, the more liberal members of his inner circle would come to him with some idea to get the country moving again or to provide aid to suffering farm families or some other group. His response? "Make me". He wasn't being oppositionally defiant. He was simply telling his friends to get a whole lot of people behind the proposal before he would seriously think about it.
In his second inaugural he famously observed "one third of a nation ill housed, ill clothed and ill fed". That statement set the predicate for continued governmental action from 1937 to 1941. Today's Democrats need to also emulate Republicans in adhering to the same message; but, a message more humane and progressive. And they need to stick to it from city and county halls to state capitols and all the way to Washington.
He was not always a leader. Often times. during the depression, the more liberal members of his inner circle would come to him with some idea to get the country moving again or to provide aid to suffering farm families or some other group. His response? "Make me". He wasn't being oppositionally defiant. He was simply telling his friends to get a whole lot of people behind the proposal before he would seriously think about it.
In his second inaugural he famously observed "one third of a nation ill housed, ill clothed and ill fed". That statement set the predicate for continued governmental action from 1937 to 1941. Today's Democrats need to also emulate Republicans in adhering to the same message; but, a message more humane and progressive. And they need to stick to it from city and county halls to state capitols and all the way to Washington.
1
@Joe Holland: and here we are, 75 years later...after FDR....and 1/3 of this nation is ill housed...ill clothed and ill fed. And without good health care (INSURANCE is not CARE).
The more thing change...yadda yadda yadda.
My other point is that lefty liberal social engineering DID NOT WORK in that 75 years. Maybe it is time to try another path.
The more thing change...yadda yadda yadda.
My other point is that lefty liberal social engineering DID NOT WORK in that 75 years. Maybe it is time to try another path.
Everyone should read Sherrod Brown's economic plan. It will win back the rust belt.
1
Corporate Democrats in leadership will never let that happen.
This Mindful Omnipresent Joy saying we shall Overcome was never gone.
It's flowing from the love radiating and expressing itself freely that informs all life and ultimately sponsors all actions.
To paraphrase N.D. Walsch: "Every human thought, word, or deed is based on fear or love. Fear is the energy which contracts, closes down, draws in, hides, hoards, harms and suppresses (loving, voter) expression. Love is the energy which expands, opens up, sends out, reveals, shares, heals and brings out (loving, voter) expression. You have free choice about which of these to select."
The mojo has always been there at the base. So strong actually that even Team Trump could notice it, decide to try and tap it, and easily succeeded as the Democrats, incredibly, belittled an essential part and parcel of their own mojo.
The mojo expressed itself most notably in Obama's 2008 and Sanders's 2016 campaign, but Hillary and Michelle also brought a lot to the game.
It is being systematically suppressed and obstructed though by the oligarchs and their feet on the media and the party establishment including a big foot on Hillary and on the Obamas.
The road back is arduous, as the oligarchs will not back off from lobbying and infiltrating the Dem party ranks, ever, and they are sly, conniving and infinitely monied.
It looks like we need a self-evident meltdown of Republican gov policy again, either getting nuked or financial karmageddon all over.
Meanwhile global warming is picking up speed.
It's flowing from the love radiating and expressing itself freely that informs all life and ultimately sponsors all actions.
To paraphrase N.D. Walsch: "Every human thought, word, or deed is based on fear or love. Fear is the energy which contracts, closes down, draws in, hides, hoards, harms and suppresses (loving, voter) expression. Love is the energy which expands, opens up, sends out, reveals, shares, heals and brings out (loving, voter) expression. You have free choice about which of these to select."
The mojo has always been there at the base. So strong actually that even Team Trump could notice it, decide to try and tap it, and easily succeeded as the Democrats, incredibly, belittled an essential part and parcel of their own mojo.
The mojo expressed itself most notably in Obama's 2008 and Sanders's 2016 campaign, but Hillary and Michelle also brought a lot to the game.
It is being systematically suppressed and obstructed though by the oligarchs and their feet on the media and the party establishment including a big foot on Hillary and on the Obamas.
The road back is arduous, as the oligarchs will not back off from lobbying and infiltrating the Dem party ranks, ever, and they are sly, conniving and infinitely monied.
It looks like we need a self-evident meltdown of Republican gov policy again, either getting nuked or financial karmageddon all over.
Meanwhile global warming is picking up speed.
1
This is not Lake Wobegon where "All the children are above average.". This is America where 50% of people have an I.Q. below 100 and it's high time that our national policies reflect this immutable fact. Sheer logic would dictate that half of education funding should go to helping those unsuited to college with relevant work skill training. Rather than chasing the dream of getting everyone a college degree, we should be focusing on having honest, meaningful work for people playing at the top of their game whatever that level may be.
4
This is the sensible side of what Democrats need to do, but it is not enough, and it may not work. The income and quality of life gap we see growing between college grads and non-grads is partly a function of the skills one learns in college, but more of the intelligence and where with all, including family support, it takes to get a degree. The job market is changing largely in response to technology so that it is harder and harder to find decent jobs that do not require substantial intelligence, whether you have letters after your name or not. While Mr. Leonhardt makes useful suggestions, I think the Democratic Party must also be screaming about how Republicans and the rich people they represent have run the majority of Americans into the ground and that it is time to get even. Class warfare, torches and pitchforks, eat the rich!
" the path back to power for Democrats" does not run through the elderly elites of Pelosi and Schumer. It does not run through smugly calling Trump's supporters a "basket of deplorables". When the team around last Democratic presidential candidate seriously considered "because it's my turn" as a campaign slogan, you know just how insular the leadership of the Dems has become. For the Democratic party to get their mojo back, they need new leaders.
3
Yet Obama pushed to install Tom Perez, when we needed the fight of Ellison.
1
Want to help the working-class (those without Bachelor's Degrees)? Based on what I've been reading in the New York Times the past week, one easy way to do that would be for all states to _void all non-compete agreements_. If employees are able to move around freely, their employers will then be compelled to be better employers, if they want to stay in business.
After that, if only they could find a way to stop demanding ever higher academic degrees to qualify applicants for jobs that are more and more becoming automated out of existence, it would be really good.
After that, if only they could find a way to stop demanding ever higher academic degrees to qualify applicants for jobs that are more and more becoming automated out of existence, it would be really good.
2
The Federal Government can also continue Obamacare, or something better, which self-employed indivuals to purchase health insurance at a more reasonable cost. Disconnecting health coverage from employers would help to create a more mobile (and perhaps more entrepreneurial, workforce. Predictably, the GOP is moving in exactly the opposite direction.
1
I can agree. If healthcare is decoupled from employment, employees, now free to move, and companies now free to form, can really 'put some pep' back into the economic recovery.
But that's the logical thing. It'll never happen.
But that's the logical thing. It'll never happen.
Once again the same refrain from some: "Bernie should be in charge; all would be well." It's getting old. Bernie Sanders has more power as a "What If?" figment in some minds than he's had as an actual Senator. Let's see: what has a Bernie endorsement for Democrats trying to rebuild meant?
Jon Ossoff: Democrat (white male) runs for a Georgia seat. Sanders says to the Wall Street Journal "I don't know" when asked if Ossoff is progressive. (If you're not a Bernie devotee you're a "corporate centrist Democrat", no matter what territory your election is in.) After backlash Sanders gives a half-hearted Ossoff endorsement online. Ossoff wins and will be in a June runoff. If he's smart he'll stay far away from Bernie Sanders.
Heath Mello: Sanders campaigns in person for this Democrat (white male) candidate for Omaha mayor which brings attention to Mello's past anti-abortion voting record - which Sanders then dismisses as unimportant, causing another national Democratic fissure. Mello lost his election last week; silence from Sanders.
Sanders is campaigning for (white male) Montana Democrat Rob Quist in a few days. Yet if Quist wins it'll be because some Western white male Democrats have found a formula that is starting to work for their populace - without Bernie Sanders' help. Yet who will take the credit if Mr. Quist wins - and who will also go silent if Mr. Quist loses?
You know the answer. So how can Democrats get their mojo back? Ignore the proudly Independent Bernie Sanders.
Jon Ossoff: Democrat (white male) runs for a Georgia seat. Sanders says to the Wall Street Journal "I don't know" when asked if Ossoff is progressive. (If you're not a Bernie devotee you're a "corporate centrist Democrat", no matter what territory your election is in.) After backlash Sanders gives a half-hearted Ossoff endorsement online. Ossoff wins and will be in a June runoff. If he's smart he'll stay far away from Bernie Sanders.
Heath Mello: Sanders campaigns in person for this Democrat (white male) candidate for Omaha mayor which brings attention to Mello's past anti-abortion voting record - which Sanders then dismisses as unimportant, causing another national Democratic fissure. Mello lost his election last week; silence from Sanders.
Sanders is campaigning for (white male) Montana Democrat Rob Quist in a few days. Yet if Quist wins it'll be because some Western white male Democrats have found a formula that is starting to work for their populace - without Bernie Sanders' help. Yet who will take the credit if Mr. Quist wins - and who will also go silent if Mr. Quist loses?
You know the answer. So how can Democrats get their mojo back? Ignore the proudly Independent Bernie Sanders.
5
Can anyone tell what accomplishments ole Bernie has besides being a democratic socialist?
2
Incrementally, irreversibly, implacably, and inexorably, Republicans have been massaging our laws and our voting precincts to gerrymander their will upon our United States. They have been doing this step by calculated step. There is a great imbalance in our nation. And the best the democrats have been wont to do is exhort indignantion and goad followers to contribute dollars to a myriad of causes.
Neither party will fix the issues Trump voters face, because neither the far left nor far right care about the less-than-sexy remedies that might work.
Properly done, tax incentives can prompt companies to pay for community-college job training to give the unemployed hard-to-find job skills.
As problems fester, the GOP is making health insurance harder for the poor to get, while Dems want to create the Left's version of the Tea Party.
Properly done, tax incentives can prompt companies to pay for community-college job training to give the unemployed hard-to-find job skills.
As problems fester, the GOP is making health insurance harder for the poor to get, while Dems want to create the Left's version of the Tea Party.
1
I can't tell you the number of College graduates I have encountered who are either underemployed or not employed at all. That's one thing that this column misses. The other thing is that many, many millions of those who do have work are way, way, underpaid. Underpaid means that they cannot earn enough money working a 40 hour week to support a halfway decent life style for themselves and a family of 3 or 4.
So the real fixes for these inseparable problems is simple.
1, Everyone is guaranteed work, a job no matter what color, education, sex or anything else. If The person will work, they get a job. There are hundreds of millions of jobs that need doing and that would support the Common Good which is to the Nation what super profits are to the greedy so called "job provider" con artists.
2. Forget what the job is. There is no defensible argument that says a persons worth is dependent on how smart he or she is or what skills they have or do not have. Everyone who contributes his or her labor to the Common Good not only deserves a decent life, they have a constitutionally guaranteed right to one.
If you think this is crazy or communistic or an assault on one's personal freedom to dominate and use others or to "get ahead", you need to start looking for anew Planet because this is the unavoidable future for this one.
So the real fixes for these inseparable problems is simple.
1, Everyone is guaranteed work, a job no matter what color, education, sex or anything else. If The person will work, they get a job. There are hundreds of millions of jobs that need doing and that would support the Common Good which is to the Nation what super profits are to the greedy so called "job provider" con artists.
2. Forget what the job is. There is no defensible argument that says a persons worth is dependent on how smart he or she is or what skills they have or do not have. Everyone who contributes his or her labor to the Common Good not only deserves a decent life, they have a constitutionally guaranteed right to one.
If you think this is crazy or communistic or an assault on one's personal freedom to dominate and use others or to "get ahead", you need to start looking for anew Planet because this is the unavoidable future for this one.
4
The one's angry who voted for Trump or didn't vote at are getting exactly what they deserve. I truly feel for those that didn't, but for the others, including Stein voters, how is this working for you?
Democrats can get their mojo back when they realize they should not be a party that supports any group, but supports principles and policies. This is important because, surveys have shown, the white working class see Democrats as favoring every group except them. Naturally, this makes it difficult for Democrats to make inroads with what is, by far, the largest voting block.
For example, Democrats should not favor LGBTQ rights because they are "pro-gay" (or anti-straight) but because they believe in equal protection and opportunity. Democrats should not support black victims of white police violence because they are "pro-Black" (or anti-White) but because they support equal protection under the law (reverse the race of the principle actors in recent videos of police violence and the outrage should be the same). Democrats should not favor support for the poor because they are "pro-poor" (or anti-middle class or rich) but because it is incumbent on society to provide a certain standard of living and opportunity to all citizens.
In other words, Democrats should not favor any group, be they gay, black, Muslim, Hispanic, Asian, female, or anybody else. They should be a party seen as standing up for the principles of equal protection under the law, equal opportunity, equal rights, civil rights, and economic opportunity for all.
Unfortunately, with some justification, the white working class do not see Democrats that way. That must change.
For example, Democrats should not favor LGBTQ rights because they are "pro-gay" (or anti-straight) but because they believe in equal protection and opportunity. Democrats should not support black victims of white police violence because they are "pro-Black" (or anti-White) but because they support equal protection under the law (reverse the race of the principle actors in recent videos of police violence and the outrage should be the same). Democrats should not favor support for the poor because they are "pro-poor" (or anti-middle class or rich) but because it is incumbent on society to provide a certain standard of living and opportunity to all citizens.
In other words, Democrats should not favor any group, be they gay, black, Muslim, Hispanic, Asian, female, or anybody else. They should be a party seen as standing up for the principles of equal protection under the law, equal opportunity, equal rights, civil rights, and economic opportunity for all.
Unfortunately, with some justification, the white working class do not see Democrats that way. That must change.
2
Look at the polls, young people hate Trump, but don't think much of the Democrats either.
Pelosi and Schumer have to go. Pelosi, especially. The town-hall on CNN last night showed an affected, over coached communications style with lots of verbal tics and arm waving, little substance and no inspiration. She's 75.
She's not going to get any better.
Enough already.
Gabbard and Duckworth are military veterans- if they are made to "wait their turn", the Democrats will lose in 2020 to a third party.
Pelosi and Schumer have to go. Pelosi, especially. The town-hall on CNN last night showed an affected, over coached communications style with lots of verbal tics and arm waving, little substance and no inspiration. She's 75.
She's not going to get any better.
Enough already.
Gabbard and Duckworth are military veterans- if they are made to "wait their turn", the Democrats will lose in 2020 to a third party.
The Democrats need to treat the working class white voters respectfully and not look down upon them. Hillary Clinton made a huge error when she referred to them as deplorables and despicables. You certainly do not win favor with the voters by name calling as Mrs. Clinton learned the hard way. Many voters turned their backs on her and voted for Donald Trump who showed them respect. He did not belittle them but instead listened to their concerns in a genuine manner. The Democrats must listen and pay attention to their needs and not just give lip service.
How nice of you and the people you name to FINALLY discover what Sanders has known and acted on all along. Gee, Sleeping Beauty, welcome to reality. So glad you are finally waking up now that the trance of last year's primary filled with deliberate lies has ended.
It isn't about racism. It is about classism - the one thing we must never say aloud or in public.
It isn't about racism. It is about classism - the one thing we must never say aloud or in public.
1
Democrats may WANT more educated voters, more blue-collar support, or even more middle-America popularity. Fine. But I think what democrats NEED is a new vision. A better vision. Hillary was the superior candidate for president and lost, in my opinion, because her vision was stale. Too scripted. Too predictable. And too old.
Trump won because he was NOT predictable, not scripted and uncanned to the max. Now, of course, the problem is to get him some Prozac before he cooks the earth or sends a fleet of ICBM's off on a whim to start WWIII.
Want a better America and a better world? Start with a radically new vision, with global patriotism and extended levels of concern as its foundation. And, while we're at it, could we PLEASE stop:
1. Talking about colonizing Mars to solve our problems here on earth. And,
2. Stop thinking that the institution of war has any predictable value toward producing peace and security anymore.
War is obsolete, and colonizing mars is space genocide.
Now there are two ideas to get the vision-overhaul started. Anybody want to talk?
Trump won because he was NOT predictable, not scripted and uncanned to the max. Now, of course, the problem is to get him some Prozac before he cooks the earth or sends a fleet of ICBM's off on a whim to start WWIII.
Want a better America and a better world? Start with a radically new vision, with global patriotism and extended levels of concern as its foundation. And, while we're at it, could we PLEASE stop:
1. Talking about colonizing Mars to solve our problems here on earth. And,
2. Stop thinking that the institution of war has any predictable value toward producing peace and security anymore.
War is obsolete, and colonizing mars is space genocide.
Now there are two ideas to get the vision-overhaul started. Anybody want to talk?
How about grants to encourage young people to enter the homebuilding trades? Programs such as Mike Rowe WORKS Foundation (http://profoundlydisconnected.com) in partnership with This Old House (https://www.thisoldhouse.com/more/toh-generation-next) are sponsoring young people and celebrating a "hands on" career; the push toward college has alienated so many young people who find college loans suffocating but still find value in working with one's head AND hands. In my school, there is a stigma about going to the trade schools, which is unfair, unfortunate, and WRONG. I tell my students that my plumber probably makes more than I do as a teacher!
1
Good policy won't win back white working class voters. Trump didn't win on policy he won on racism and xenophobia.
Personally, I am not convinced that government has any inherent ability to create good-paying jobs. If they do, why does the employment rate jump up and down like a yo-yo? I think the term "good-paying jobs" is mostly thrown around by politicians looking for a good-paying government job.
"The first would be improving the lives of those who will never have those degrees — ensuring they can find meaningful, well-paying work and afford health care, child care and retirement. A stable middle-class life should be possible without a bachelor’s degree."
We should really focus on this, what Mr. Leonhardt refers to as Part 1, rather than Part 2.
Not everyone should go to college, but somehow it has become a requirement for a decent job. This has caused excessive government subsidized student loan lending, and a subsequent student debt crisis.
We should focus on improving elementary and high school education so that we are not awarding high school diplomas to people who can't read or do basic math. Sending those people on to college (especially for free) is a recipe for failure. Sure, college should be more affordable, but it should also be reserved for those who have the intellectual capacity to handle it.
Students should have access to good vocational programs early on, and be exposed to career counselling so that they may choose the track that works for them. This should not be seen as shameful, and perhaps the stigma would dissipate once it wasn't universally accepted that college is a must.
We should really focus on this, what Mr. Leonhardt refers to as Part 1, rather than Part 2.
Not everyone should go to college, but somehow it has become a requirement for a decent job. This has caused excessive government subsidized student loan lending, and a subsequent student debt crisis.
We should focus on improving elementary and high school education so that we are not awarding high school diplomas to people who can't read or do basic math. Sending those people on to college (especially for free) is a recipe for failure. Sure, college should be more affordable, but it should also be reserved for those who have the intellectual capacity to handle it.
Students should have access to good vocational programs early on, and be exposed to career counselling so that they may choose the track that works for them. This should not be seen as shameful, and perhaps the stigma would dissipate once it wasn't universally accepted that college is a must.
51
Far too much credentialism exists at the corporate HR level (and others), taking the place of individual judgements on applicants. A college degree is being used as a proxy for qualities like preparedness, stick-to-itiveness, social savvy, etc.
We are wasting human potential when we focus on college for all. I'd say, college for anyone who wants it at any age, but we should focus on exposing young people to all manner of work and skills including the arts and trades. Then, if we can overcome credentialism, we will have a better match for employment.
We are wasting human potential when we focus on college for all. I'd say, college for anyone who wants it at any age, but we should focus on exposing young people to all manner of work and skills including the arts and trades. Then, if we can overcome credentialism, we will have a better match for employment.
Wholeheartedly. But only turning millions of voters away from the Republicans AND taking money out of politics will allow us to create this kind of educational infrastructure. Its a tall order.
College is hard. Americans are mediocre. Does not gel.
Year 1 is when you pass draconian laws because trump supporters could never imagine the pain they will cause. Year 2 is when you fake you care by hiring americans to fix roads. It's what americans want. It's what americans deserve.
Year 1 is when you pass draconian laws because trump supporters could never imagine the pain they will cause. Year 2 is when you fake you care by hiring americans to fix roads. It's what americans want. It's what americans deserve.
you are buying the party line about college. most of the time, it is an expensive nonessential that ultimately has nothing to do with the way a big percentage of people conduct their lives, both professional and personal.
first, mass college attendance helps relieve the problem of too many people v too few jobs by putting it off for four or five years for a segment of the population ready to enter the workforce for fulltime jobs.
after entry into the workforce has been delayed, the sheepskin (and, for many, the albatross of college debt) serves two important functions: its a marker to employers about the class of an applicant, a kind of cheap prescreening... and also offers a situation in which workers will be more captive and compliant.
the actual learning, if any, represented by the degree is comparatively meaningless for most jobs; you don't really need a BS to sell gloves at Macy's.
what does it mean to be qualified for a job? how can people be kept out of a workforce that does not want or need them?
first, mass college attendance helps relieve the problem of too many people v too few jobs by putting it off for four or five years for a segment of the population ready to enter the workforce for fulltime jobs.
after entry into the workforce has been delayed, the sheepskin (and, for many, the albatross of college debt) serves two important functions: its a marker to employers about the class of an applicant, a kind of cheap prescreening... and also offers a situation in which workers will be more captive and compliant.
the actual learning, if any, represented by the degree is comparatively meaningless for most jobs; you don't really need a BS to sell gloves at Macy's.
what does it mean to be qualified for a job? how can people be kept out of a workforce that does not want or need them?
1
The message is simple, the system is rigged. Avoiding some excesses on the left is code for we really don't want to admit how the wealthy are screwing over the little guy. Everywhere you look, the wealthy get special treatment. It is time to tax them appropriately, and to have them pay the external costs of their capitalistic enterprises. Mr. Sanders was remarkable, no money and would have won the nomination if he had been treated fairly. Trying to co-opt his message now, is too little too late. Onward together......Ms. Clinton's crafty new slogan is repulsive at best. The old guard is done, they couldn't even keep Donald out of office.
1
Please stop with the "everyone needs a 4-year degree" trope. Many BS and BA degrees are in useless majors that qualify the holder only for a position at Starbucks if he/she is lucky. The reason that people with 4-year degrees end up earning more lifetime money is because something else- unplanned parenthood, jail, addiction, poverty, major illness- did not derail them during ages 18-22 when college called. Thus, the only thing a 4-year degree really means is that you, as a person and a product of your culture, successfully avoided or were lucky to escape from, impediments to your education. When can we stop pretending that enhanced critical thinking skills as a condition for higher level employment are part and parcel with a degree and accept the fact that the degree is just an indicator that you were available and showed up??
If you haven't read/listened to "Listen Liberal" by Thomas Frank, you should. He provides a very compelling story of how the DNC got to the point of abandoning the "middle/working class".
As for the education industry being the ultimate savior, that depends.
It should be noted that 90% of job that can be done at a desk will be done by expert system sooner rather than later, so that MBA or BS/MS will not be enough in the long run. That implies that some form of "service" labor may be the actual stopping point for many people. The real question is should there be an effort to educate more qualified skilled laborers, plumbers, electricians, wood workers, cooks/chiefs, etc as opposed to barely skilled workers?
Regardless of the answer to that question, a political party that attempts to create laws and support systems for those people could be a powerful force in government. D. Trump ran on that promise and so far propaganda keeps his base captive, but sooner rather than later reality will exert its ugly head into opposite world.
The political movement that is focused on the lives and needs of the 90% could be in power for some time, but the exDLC, professional class that controls the DNC will have to be replaced with those closer to Joe six pac and Jane soccer mom.
As for the education industry being the ultimate savior, that depends.
It should be noted that 90% of job that can be done at a desk will be done by expert system sooner rather than later, so that MBA or BS/MS will not be enough in the long run. That implies that some form of "service" labor may be the actual stopping point for many people. The real question is should there be an effort to educate more qualified skilled laborers, plumbers, electricians, wood workers, cooks/chiefs, etc as opposed to barely skilled workers?
Regardless of the answer to that question, a political party that attempts to create laws and support systems for those people could be a powerful force in government. D. Trump ran on that promise and so far propaganda keeps his base captive, but sooner rather than later reality will exert its ugly head into opposite world.
The political movement that is focused on the lives and needs of the 90% could be in power for some time, but the exDLC, professional class that controls the DNC will have to be replaced with those closer to Joe six pac and Jane soccer mom.
1
Are the Democrats going to offer free ice cream too? "Job guarantees" and free college are the latest currency in the never-ending drive to buy more votes, consequences be damned.
As a white middle class liberal I had no idea, NOT IDEA, that we thought all white guys were racists. Certainly a lot of those guys in the south are and the republicans have sure done a good job pandering to their hatreds and fears, but I had not idea we hated them all.
Obama's stimulus spending was intended to create that opportunity to expand jobs and rebuild the Nation at the same time. Of course, republicans were not about to let him, or any other democrat, get the credit for putting the people back to work so they dug in their heels and said, "Hell No".
35 years after the New Deal America was humming right along, 35 years after reaganomics and we won't fill our pot holes. Unless they are in the driveway to the country club.
The bosses have always known if they can get the white working stiff to hate and fear the dark skinned working stiff they can more easily steal from both.
If the nightly news were to begin reporting on the facts, instead of on opinions and highlights, the people who really support t rump might learn that fox isn't really telling them all the truth. If they begin to suspect their reality they might wake up to their own interests and vote those instead of the koch bothers' and ALEC's.
Obama's stimulus spending was intended to create that opportunity to expand jobs and rebuild the Nation at the same time. Of course, republicans were not about to let him, or any other democrat, get the credit for putting the people back to work so they dug in their heels and said, "Hell No".
35 years after the New Deal America was humming right along, 35 years after reaganomics and we won't fill our pot holes. Unless they are in the driveway to the country club.
The bosses have always known if they can get the white working stiff to hate and fear the dark skinned working stiff they can more easily steal from both.
If the nightly news were to begin reporting on the facts, instead of on opinions and highlights, the people who really support t rump might learn that fox isn't really telling them all the truth. If they begin to suspect their reality they might wake up to their own interests and vote those instead of the koch bothers' and ALEC's.
I appreciate this article as I appreciate every effort to understand the politics of the Western world today. I recall a scolding from a member of the Irish Labour Party: "Workers don't care about contraception and divorce [the social issues of our day]. The want good jobs, well-paid, and good working conditions." The Democratic Party should consider which of its roles it prioritizes: that of a governing party or that of an opposition party. In Europe, Social Democrats have managed to be both. I don't think America is there yet--a reason Sanders would not have been POTUS. I believe that, for now, the Democrtic Party must go hell for leather as an opposition party, whip and spur, hard, hard, hard. Maybe college degrees are the way to prosperity, but they are not the way to a vibrant industrial base of competent, well-rounded workers.
1
Soon after Trump was elected, a young, blue collar, Trump-supporting relative of mine told me flat out that he resented being told that everyone needs a 4-year college degree. And I agree with him. This country was once brimming with master mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and tool and die makers, many of them trained by unions or in vo-tech schools. And if you don't think we still need any of these skilled laborers, try finding one when a tree falls on your house, or your drains simultaneously clog, or a rodent chews through the electrical wires running through a wall.
Add to this the absurd demand that high school graduates with absolutely no interest in studying college-level courses should just suck it up and go anyway--likely miring themselves in mortgage-level debt for 20 years--and you have a perfect recipe for cooking up a generation of belligerent, resentful young adults.
If Democrats want to win back these voters, drop the smug, myopic insistence that everyone else live up to an idealized standard of a 4-year degree, and start making the world a better place for those without one.
Add to this the absurd demand that high school graduates with absolutely no interest in studying college-level courses should just suck it up and go anyway--likely miring themselves in mortgage-level debt for 20 years--and you have a perfect recipe for cooking up a generation of belligerent, resentful young adults.
If Democrats want to win back these voters, drop the smug, myopic insistence that everyone else live up to an idealized standard of a 4-year degree, and start making the world a better place for those without one.
2
During the 8 years of the Obama Administration, the Democrats lost the House and the Senate. They lost over 1,000 legislative seats across the country and 14 governorships as well. Despite collusion between the DNC, the Clinton campaign and the media, they lost the WH to a political novice who uttered some offensive things on the campaign trail. It is clearly a party in free fall. Yet, they still insist on defending sanctuary cities, transgender bathrooms, defending the disaster that is the ACA, et al. If they do not start putting forth ideas that will help the economy and keep us safe, they will whither n the vine.
2
Get rid of Pelosi and Schumer for starters. They do nothing. Pelosi pulls in 196 million a year, parades around like she cares, go home to Marin and gets richer. We Democrats need NO MORE of this.
3
"This new plan is unabashedly left-leaning in its call for the government..."
No, "Left" and "Right" are most emphatically NOT about "government good" vs "government bad." Despite the fact that the National Review recently had a group of conservatives try to define "conservative" and couldn't do it, just go back to the origin of the terms and it's quite easy (and NO, it's not simply "Equality" vs "liberty".
Corey Robin got it right (No pun intended).
The shills (politicians, intellectuals) for the"Right," since the French revolution, look up to power (BOTH in government and business) and those sympathetic to the shills (dubbed the "suckers" by Tomm Hartmann) tend toward authoritarian attitudes.
Those who are authentically (vs reflexively; as in the majority of Democrats, and unlike Bernie Sanders) "Left," distrust centralized power of all kinds. They believe in representative Democracy, and whenever possible (as Bernie did again and again as mayor of Burlington) will use any means they can to prevent power from being usurped by the few.
The true Left (nothing to do with the USSR or Venezuela or most of the pseudo leftists people cite - again, look at Bernie's 8 years as mayor - there are thousands of examples around the world) is close to the Catholic doctrine of subsidiarity - whenever possible, govern from the level closest to the people. If they can do it, get the government out of it.
www.remember-to-breathe.org
No, "Left" and "Right" are most emphatically NOT about "government good" vs "government bad." Despite the fact that the National Review recently had a group of conservatives try to define "conservative" and couldn't do it, just go back to the origin of the terms and it's quite easy (and NO, it's not simply "Equality" vs "liberty".
Corey Robin got it right (No pun intended).
The shills (politicians, intellectuals) for the"Right," since the French revolution, look up to power (BOTH in government and business) and those sympathetic to the shills (dubbed the "suckers" by Tomm Hartmann) tend toward authoritarian attitudes.
Those who are authentically (vs reflexively; as in the majority of Democrats, and unlike Bernie Sanders) "Left," distrust centralized power of all kinds. They believe in representative Democracy, and whenever possible (as Bernie did again and again as mayor of Burlington) will use any means they can to prevent power from being usurped by the few.
The true Left (nothing to do with the USSR or Venezuela or most of the pseudo leftists people cite - again, look at Bernie's 8 years as mayor - there are thousands of examples around the world) is close to the Catholic doctrine of subsidiarity - whenever possible, govern from the level closest to the people. If they can do it, get the government out of it.
www.remember-to-breathe.org
I was just looking up John Jost's latest work on conservatives and the authoritarian personality. This was after seeing a few lame attempts by conservatives to refute the almost overwhelming evidence. Even Haidt's work falls apart - if you look at it through Jost's eyes, it's obvious that liberals really do understand conservatives more than conservatives understand liberals.
To get to the point of this article, all Democrats need to do is yell from the rooftops the truth - this is a majority progressive country. Unify this message and say it again and again. Even the most authoritarian Trump supporter likes to feel that people are like him or her.
The problem is, the leaders of the Democratic party are out of tune with the majority of people due to their fealty to their wealthy sponsors.
let people know they are part of the overwhelming majority who support single payer, fast action on climate change and renewables, free higher education (2 or 4 year or vocational or whatever), higher minimum wage, etc etc.
Do this, and make sure everyone can vote, and it will lead to the almost instant demise of the Republican party.
To get to the point of this article, all Democrats need to do is yell from the rooftops the truth - this is a majority progressive country. Unify this message and say it again and again. Even the most authoritarian Trump supporter likes to feel that people are like him or her.
The problem is, the leaders of the Democratic party are out of tune with the majority of people due to their fealty to their wealthy sponsors.
let people know they are part of the overwhelming majority who support single payer, fast action on climate change and renewables, free higher education (2 or 4 year or vocational or whatever), higher minimum wage, etc etc.
Do this, and make sure everyone can vote, and it will lead to the almost instant demise of the Republican party.
Even today, after the neoliberal candidate Clinton lost to an imbecile, you will not mention Bernie Sanders' name in any of your columns. ( Please don't recount how Clinton won the popular vote, as many of us had no choice, although it nearly killed me as a 70 year old to vote for a woman who called the war criminal Henry Kissinger her friend and mentor.)
If I read the NY Times exclusively, I would have no idea how hard this decent man has been working since the election, speaking at town meetings to Trump voters and earning standing ovations, supporting progressive candidates, educating upcoming young voters and many, many other things.This despite the fact that he was ill-treated by the DNC and the media.
This omission is still breathtaking, even though I'm quite used to it.
Why is the New York Times progressive on social issues, but afraid to come out for economic goals that will benefit the very people whom they are so concerned about in other contexts?
Have some guts, NY Times.
If I read the NY Times exclusively, I would have no idea how hard this decent man has been working since the election, speaking at town meetings to Trump voters and earning standing ovations, supporting progressive candidates, educating upcoming young voters and many, many other things.This despite the fact that he was ill-treated by the DNC and the media.
This omission is still breathtaking, even though I'm quite used to it.
Why is the New York Times progressive on social issues, but afraid to come out for economic goals that will benefit the very people whom they are so concerned about in other contexts?
Have some guts, NY Times.
5
David, I don't disagree with you about the alienation of the bottom 70% of Americans. They see no difference between either party because their needs are entirely ignored. It would be neat and easy to believe that voting Democratic would revive the concept of the working class. But Money in politics is too important because the expense of running a campaign is enormous. Both parties pander to it out of necessity. New candidates who run for office will not solve the problem. They too have been bred by local state elections before running for federal offices. They have already bought into the current political system as is. Progressive change does not come from those in power unless a crisis of disastrous proportions threatens revolution which is what happened during the industrial revolution and ended in the great depression. The only way change will come about is if people organize and protest on a massive scale by peacefully disrupting the normal daily rhythms of those in power. And if that doesn't work, violence will inevitably ensue.
But what Leonhardt fails to make clear is that both FDR and Reagan were successful not because of the groups they selected to lead, but because they were inspiring leaders who articulated a specific vision for the future. The Democratic Party cannot rise again in the absence of visionary leadership.
5
Isn't this what Bernie Sanders has been saying????
5
Wasn't there a guy named Bernie Sanders?
5
"(Yes, I’m using “working class” as a rough synonym for the two-thirds of adults without bachelor’s degrees.)"
Why so self-conscious when talking about class? When did it become controversial for writers in publications that claim to represent the left to use phrases like "working class"? Is the author afraid of being labeled a Marxist?
This is the most revealing aspect of this article about the state of the Democratic Party (the same stale article that has been written by various different op-ed writers with varying language and rhetorical splashes over and over again by NY Times since the election).
I think that line tells the whole story: the Democrats are no longer the left. They are scared of the left. They don't want to admit that the greatest issues facing Americans are CLASS issues. Their opulent Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and military- industrial sponsors are steering the party clear of class issues because that class is well aware of what will happen to their fortunes if the Democrats rally Americans against the billionaires who take and refuse to give.
Meanwhile 24 million people lose their health care and the opulent sponsors laugh to the bank with their tax break.
Give Americans something real to fight for. Don't cower away from class struggle. It doesn't take a million dollar campaign to become relevant again. Just sincerely take up the cause of "working people" and abandon the opulent minority. Please.
Why so self-conscious when talking about class? When did it become controversial for writers in publications that claim to represent the left to use phrases like "working class"? Is the author afraid of being labeled a Marxist?
This is the most revealing aspect of this article about the state of the Democratic Party (the same stale article that has been written by various different op-ed writers with varying language and rhetorical splashes over and over again by NY Times since the election).
I think that line tells the whole story: the Democrats are no longer the left. They are scared of the left. They don't want to admit that the greatest issues facing Americans are CLASS issues. Their opulent Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and military- industrial sponsors are steering the party clear of class issues because that class is well aware of what will happen to their fortunes if the Democrats rally Americans against the billionaires who take and refuse to give.
Meanwhile 24 million people lose their health care and the opulent sponsors laugh to the bank with their tax break.
Give Americans something real to fight for. Don't cower away from class struggle. It doesn't take a million dollar campaign to become relevant again. Just sincerely take up the cause of "working people" and abandon the opulent minority. Please.
13
I think that for many people classism is as difficult to discuss as racism is for white folk. Probably because capitalism makes anyone not rising economically feel like a failure. Notice that most wealthy folk don't have a problem sharing their opinions on classism. However, we all need to get over all of that.
And it DOES take a million dollar campaign to reach people. To work though, the words and effort need to be genuine. Therein, lies the problem.
And it DOES take a million dollar campaign to reach people. To work though, the words and effort need to be genuine. Therein, lies the problem.
I'll keep it simple: Bernie would have won.
7
Bernie needs to take some blame for this travesty as well. He is rigid and doesn't understand compromise. His attacks on Jon Ossoff are unforgivable. A Dem has a real chance to win a seat in a red state and he is hurting the guys chances, just like he played sore loser after not getting the nomination.
Both Bernie and Hillary need to go away. Let new leaders emerge. They both contributed to a loss to the catastrophe in the White House today.
Both Bernie and Hillary need to go away. Let new leaders emerge. They both contributed to a loss to the catastrophe in the White House today.
1
The neo liberal corporate centrist Democrat party supporting working people?
Don't hold your breath.
Don't hold your breath.
5
The Democratic Party needs new leadership. Nancy Pelosi has to go!
4
"The Democratic Party needs new leadership."
The discouraging thing is that the Democratic pols best-positioned to take charge are of the Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom ilk. Next-gen Pelosi's.
The discouraging thing is that the Democratic pols best-positioned to take charge are of the Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom ilk. Next-gen Pelosi's.
1
They first need to work on impeaching or charging the President with Treason and also Pence who must know, and winning back the Congress. Otherwise they are not the majority.. So first vote blue..the party is not dead, or divided. A party whose candidate won by millions has not lost the faith of the people. Vote Blue and Resist.
2
My concern is that the neoliberal Democrats in control of the party are counting on the Trump insanity to create such horrors that the neoliberals will be easily returned to power. The fact that Democrats have many progressive planks in their platforms at state and federal levels belies the fact that none of these entities have the desire to put in the serious work required to enact their platform. Trump was elected largely because of widespread dissatisfaction with the ridiculous exploitation of citizens by increasing debt, war, and poverty that passed for "government" under the establishments of both major parties. The fact the people got something worse doesn't mean they want to go back to an unsatisfactory system of government by a ruling class of trust fund brats.
4
We need to be significantly less P.C. and apologetic to both ourselves and our opponents.
Until we can do both, we will continue to struggle to regain representation at the state and national levels. Our far left cohort of supporters within the party are threatening to monopolize our ideology and choke out reality like the freedom caucus has done to the GOP.
We are viewed more and more as living in a fantasy land by not only our opponents but by the shrinking amounts of "persuadeables" that could swing to our side.
Most importantly, we have to get out the vote from people on our own team, especially in off year, non presidential elections.
We saw what happened in the last election as a result of many of our Sanders and Stein supporters essentially throwing a political tantrum which effectively resulted in Trump becoming president.
The blame for his election is more on them than it is on Russian meddling, and until we can look ourselves in the mirror and admit that, we are going nowhere as a party.
Until we can do both, we will continue to struggle to regain representation at the state and national levels. Our far left cohort of supporters within the party are threatening to monopolize our ideology and choke out reality like the freedom caucus has done to the GOP.
We are viewed more and more as living in a fantasy land by not only our opponents but by the shrinking amounts of "persuadeables" that could swing to our side.
Most importantly, we have to get out the vote from people on our own team, especially in off year, non presidential elections.
We saw what happened in the last election as a result of many of our Sanders and Stein supporters essentially throwing a political tantrum which effectively resulted in Trump becoming president.
The blame for his election is more on them than it is on Russian meddling, and until we can look ourselves in the mirror and admit that, we are going nowhere as a party.
6
Single payer health care will help all families.
Subsidized day care will help all families.
Free college tuition for state colleges will help all families.
Action on climate change (no fracking!) will help us all.
$15 minimum wage, effective immediately, not five years from now.
These measures will result in more money circulating throughout the economy -- not just bottled up at the top.
But the role of the DNC (and the neo-liberal media) is to keep progressives in check, to be the "lesser of two evils," so that progressives "have to" vote Democrat. That will continue to be a losing position.
Subsidized day care will help all families.
Free college tuition for state colleges will help all families.
Action on climate change (no fracking!) will help us all.
$15 minimum wage, effective immediately, not five years from now.
These measures will result in more money circulating throughout the economy -- not just bottled up at the top.
But the role of the DNC (and the neo-liberal media) is to keep progressives in check, to be the "lesser of two evils," so that progressives "have to" vote Democrat. That will continue to be a losing position.
10
David, don't apologize for suggesting that "class" exists in America. Perhaps we have de-emphasized class compared to the frank, in your face class consciousness the English still have, but it still exists as a cherished birthright, handed down unconsciously from one generation to the next during the indoctrination of child rearing. It's like a mild form of racism, cued not by color but by speech, manners, and education. We Americans are less class concious than the English just like northern Americans are less racially conscious than southerners. It's not polite to discuss either of those elephants in our collective room in America. Its time we do.
3
I suggest an alternative plan for the Democrats--throw all the bums out, Clintons, Obama, the Center for American Progress, et al, and start over.
3
As long as Nancy Pelosi is the face of the Democratic Party, we will go nowhere.
3
"Democrats need a comeback strategy, and the American working class needs an ally."
Exactly. Where has the Democratic Party been that the Republicans of all people can align with the working class?
Oh, they've been taking the money. Donors rule.
Deal with that. Until then, it is just lies.
Exactly. Where has the Democratic Party been that the Republicans of all people can align with the working class?
Oh, they've been taking the money. Donors rule.
Deal with that. Until then, it is just lies.
7
The latest comeback plan led by Hillary herself is to raise vast amounts of dark money.
That was the original problem.
That was the original problem.
1
Two thoughts: First, the nation does not need for everyone to hold a four year degree. For one thing, not everyone is capable of that, and many folks simply aren't interested. There are plenty of skilled jobs going begging because the nation turned its back on skilled manual labor years ago. In truth, this lack of workers is holding back the resurgence of manufacturing in the Midwest.
Second, the Dems have to get off their high horse and allow folks to live their own lives as they wish. Folks like Hillary and Pelosi seem to have an insatiable urge to tell everyone else how to live. Get over it. Most working class folks I know aren't racist, and they don't hate gay people. They do get sick and tired of the Dems telling them how "privileged" they are because they were born white. I suspect that the people living from paycheck to paycheck while trying to keep their kids away from heroin don't feel too privileged these days. But they do feel angry, and rightly so.
Second, the Dems have to get off their high horse and allow folks to live their own lives as they wish. Folks like Hillary and Pelosi seem to have an insatiable urge to tell everyone else how to live. Get over it. Most working class folks I know aren't racist, and they don't hate gay people. They do get sick and tired of the Dems telling them how "privileged" they are because they were born white. I suspect that the people living from paycheck to paycheck while trying to keep their kids away from heroin don't feel too privileged these days. But they do feel angry, and rightly so.
2
A Marshall Plan for America. Why am I not surprised? Who actually devastated America so that such a rescue from above is necessary?
1
Gosh, I wonder if there was anyone in the Democratic primaries last year with mojo. Oh, yeah, there was......
In the search for mojo, the first step is divesting from the grasp of neoliberalism in general, and anything Clinton in particular. Duh!
In the search for mojo, the first step is divesting from the grasp of neoliberalism in general, and anything Clinton in particular. Duh!
3
All of this is good news. Democrats also need some "phrase" that encapsulates the key principles of the party. I like the theme of "responsible government" as the overarching principle of the Democratic party. In today's world, responsible government means using government programs to help lift all boats and make life better for all, whether college or non-college educated. Many non college educated voters are looking to vote Democratic and have done so in the past (voting for Obama twice!). They can be brought back into the fold by the huge mistakes of the Republican party and a clear program geared to improving their lives through responsible government programs. The Center for American Progress proposals should go a long way towards building a responsible government agenda that supports equal opportunity, fairness, and improved lives for all Americans.
2
Neither political parties serve the best interests of 90% of Americans. We are the world's superpower, with by far the largest reserve currency, and we have the highest GDP per capita. In short, we have plenty of money, and shouldn't want for anything. But we do because the wealthy have hoarded almost all the wealth and income for decades! If that were not bad enough, they want more - they want to privatize everything in America and they want to control everything in the world. Both political parties have been complicit in allowing this to happen.
If there is any country in the world that can afford universal health care, it's America.
If there is any country in the world that can afford free unlimited education, it's America.
If there is any country in the world that can afford a high speed neutral internet, it's America.
If there is any country in the world that can afford a first class infrastructure, it's America.
If there is any country in the world that can provide every citizen all the basic necessities to survive, it's America.
Republican and Democratic voters alike want the influence of big money out of politics, but with the foxes in charge of the hen house it will never happen. It is time to make democracy more fair and functional with rank choice voting! It is time to eliminate the Electoral College and gerrymandering! It is time to impose term limits on all elected offices, and enact automatic voter registration!! Now this would be some serious mojo!!
If there is any country in the world that can afford universal health care, it's America.
If there is any country in the world that can afford free unlimited education, it's America.
If there is any country in the world that can afford a high speed neutral internet, it's America.
If there is any country in the world that can afford a first class infrastructure, it's America.
If there is any country in the world that can provide every citizen all the basic necessities to survive, it's America.
Republican and Democratic voters alike want the influence of big money out of politics, but with the foxes in charge of the hen house it will never happen. It is time to make democracy more fair and functional with rank choice voting! It is time to eliminate the Electoral College and gerrymandering! It is time to impose term limits on all elected offices, and enact automatic voter registration!! Now this would be some serious mojo!!
11
Yes, but... we're also going to have to come to terms with the fact that there will simply be less need for people to work in the future. Already, efforts that once required a small team can now be perfomed by an individual with a computer, and this is a trend that will only continue. At some point we will have to broach the possibility of supplementing everyone's income through redistribution.
1
Democrats must be the party of the family, every family in the U.S. Security of most families depends on a steady job, a living wage, and help in getting a good education and job. Care is essential to every family, health care, day care, care for every family member and every type of family.
Families prosper when they live in communities of caring people. Every community member must be involved and considered in government and social decisions. Community policing must combine with community services for the homeless, addicted, mentally ill, etc.
Every citizen must be involved in this and be aware that they must empathize with all the other human beings that are created equally with equal rights. The larger community at state and national levels will only be built by the citizens realizing their patriotic and moral responsibility to protect the rights and freedom of others. Only then will we be able to expect that our own freedom and rights will be protected. Only then will we be capable of instituting governments that are responsible to all the people.
We each must work on this, no political p[arty can
Families prosper when they live in communities of caring people. Every community member must be involved and considered in government and social decisions. Community policing must combine with community services for the homeless, addicted, mentally ill, etc.
Every citizen must be involved in this and be aware that they must empathize with all the other human beings that are created equally with equal rights. The larger community at state and national levels will only be built by the citizens realizing their patriotic and moral responsibility to protect the rights and freedom of others. Only then will we be able to expect that our own freedom and rights will be protected. Only then will we be capable of instituting governments that are responsible to all the people.
We each must work on this, no political p[arty can
Hilarious. There are many expressions that fit the current situation; the most apt being don't bother closing the barn door as the horse has already left. The Dems are now a loose coalition of pressure groups who bare scant resemblance to their working class roots. Until they get back to addressing the concerns of everyday Americans, they will remain in the wilderness, along with the vast majority of the readers of this newspaper and that's fine with me.
1
Neither Leonhardt's column nor any of the comments I've read on it mention immigration policy. Yet that is a huge albatros around the neck of any Democrat running for office and asking for working class support.
The Democratic party's policy is to flood low wage sectors of the economy with ever more imported workers. That's a recipe for wage stagnation -- and workers know it.
The Democratic party's policy is to flood low wage sectors of the economy with ever more imported workers. That's a recipe for wage stagnation -- and workers know it.
My idea: create a national system for matching workers with employers. This should be pretty straightforward: temp agencies do it already, and their algorithms can be improved upon. Putting this all under one roof would encourage all unemployed workers and employers who might want to hire them to all submit their data. Participation could be mandatory as a condition of receiving unemployment benefits, but with no time limit on unemployment benefits for anyone who can't be matched.
The only losers are temp agencies, who will be effectively destroyed by a nationalized competitor. But I suspect their lobby can be overcome.
The only losers are temp agencies, who will be effectively destroyed by a nationalized competitor. But I suspect their lobby can be overcome.
Democrats would do well to look at what unions promised their workers 20 years ago and adapt this to the present work environment - child care, health care, pensions, pay equity and job security. Reagan started the anti-union movement which was incredibly effective ( now only 30% of worker are unionized) and the working class has borne the brunt of this. Democrats should champion these ideals and photograph themselves with assembly-line mothers and forget fund raisers in the Hamptons with Beyonce.
1
There is nothing new in this column. Basically all that is being said is the Democrats should stand for helping people and using government to do so. How is that a new position to take?
What is needed is a party that stands for something. It needs to explain it's policies and philosophy and stick to it through thick and thin. Progressive policies are the right policies and when surveyed the American people are in agreement to those policies. So stick to them. A great example is when asked Republicans will say they are against the ACA or Obamacare. However, when asked about the specific items under the ACA they are in favor of them. Many people who gained Medicaid coverage under Obamacare, do not even understand that is how they got coverage.
Be the party of progressives and follow through. Get away from labels. "Liberal" is a deal killer now. They allowed the Right to turn it into a swear word. Stop the crowd testing and focus group junk. Stop putting up politicians in the pocket of Wall Street. Actually stand for a philosophy and live it.
What is needed is a party that stands for something. It needs to explain it's policies and philosophy and stick to it through thick and thin. Progressive policies are the right policies and when surveyed the American people are in agreement to those policies. So stick to them. A great example is when asked Republicans will say they are against the ACA or Obamacare. However, when asked about the specific items under the ACA they are in favor of them. Many people who gained Medicaid coverage under Obamacare, do not even understand that is how they got coverage.
Be the party of progressives and follow through. Get away from labels. "Liberal" is a deal killer now. They allowed the Right to turn it into a swear word. Stop the crowd testing and focus group junk. Stop putting up politicians in the pocket of Wall Street. Actually stand for a philosophy and live it.
1
Before the Dems "get their Mojo back, I wish just ONE of them, ANY ONE of them , could explain to me exactly what this "right" Trump has to disclose classified information. I spent 20 years in the military, and doing such a thing then would have resulted in permanent residency in Leavenworth Federal Prison. What has changed????
2
We need a new democrat party or maybe just the elite leaders who corrupted the primaries.
Advocate reducing the age for Medicare eligibility by one year every year. That's a sure winner. Today's it's 65. Next year it's 64, etc. It directly benefits and cuts the heart out of the GOP base - older whites.
9
Leonhardt's well-meaning suggestions would be nice, if only...
Advanced classes taught in 4-year schools (ex: in math, history, engineering, philosophy) did not require some level of mastery of introductory-level content.
If only people applying to 4-year degree programs had the grades to show they were prepared to handle the next level of content, or the next level of training, colleges would not be rejecting their applications, and they would not be failing out of courses. This given about educational attainment makes Leonhardt's suggestion a non-starter. We do not improve the life of a person who doesn't have the grades for more advanced college courses by putting that person in those college courses.
It is vital that all people have the opportunity to spend at least 4 more years after high school advancing their education and their training. That is, resources spent on public education should not be restricted to people who go to (liberal arts) colleges, thus leaving non-college-bound people out to hang. But pushing for everyone to attend and graduate from a 4-year (liberal arts?) college comes across as like trying to train a horse to fetch. If wishes were horses I'd have my frisbee back.
Advanced classes taught in 4-year schools (ex: in math, history, engineering, philosophy) did not require some level of mastery of introductory-level content.
If only people applying to 4-year degree programs had the grades to show they were prepared to handle the next level of content, or the next level of training, colleges would not be rejecting their applications, and they would not be failing out of courses. This given about educational attainment makes Leonhardt's suggestion a non-starter. We do not improve the life of a person who doesn't have the grades for more advanced college courses by putting that person in those college courses.
It is vital that all people have the opportunity to spend at least 4 more years after high school advancing their education and their training. That is, resources spent on public education should not be restricted to people who go to (liberal arts) colleges, thus leaving non-college-bound people out to hang. But pushing for everyone to attend and graduate from a 4-year (liberal arts?) college comes across as like trying to train a horse to fetch. If wishes were horses I'd have my frisbee back.
1
Just five minutes ago I talked to a City College student who told me his high school set "low standards." He explained that he was put in vocational classes, and is licensed to be a plumber (I explained that this was a good job), but he wanted to go to college. He was never advised even about how to apply to college. Tracking students too early is a mistake.
Eisenhower launched the interstate highway system some 70 odd years ago and it allowed the not only travel expediency for the tourist or commuter, but also for the transport of goods in every direction.
Now it is time for the next venture with high speed rail connecting the major cities with a safe, efficient, speedy, and reliable form of transportation already in use in Asia and Europe.
The building of such a system would provide jobs in the millions which would include not only the infrastructure, but also the trains.
Democrats can safely run on the issue of health care by rejecting the Republicans market based non solution and advocate for single payer whose time has come.
Republicans have no answer to create jobs in America. Their sole interest is providing tax cuts to the wealthy. They still preach trickle down even as the author of trickle down, David Stockman,has since said it doesn't work.
Now it is time for the next venture with high speed rail connecting the major cities with a safe, efficient, speedy, and reliable form of transportation already in use in Asia and Europe.
The building of such a system would provide jobs in the millions which would include not only the infrastructure, but also the trains.
Democrats can safely run on the issue of health care by rejecting the Republicans market based non solution and advocate for single payer whose time has come.
Republicans have no answer to create jobs in America. Their sole interest is providing tax cuts to the wealthy. They still preach trickle down even as the author of trickle down, David Stockman,has since said it doesn't work.
5
As long as liberals are calling themselves "progressives", they are running scared, and everyone can see it. Great photo with this article. Pelosi has consistently been the one who knows what to do. If Elizabeth Warren had only run for President, we wouldn't be in the situation we're in now.
Bernie Sanders also could have won the election. His message appeals to a wide swath of the population, as he has demonstrated.
1
Dems need to also borrow from the language of the GOP and supply side economics. Rather than saying that they'll pay for these programs through tax reform or hikes, say these programs will pay for themselves - and they have many facts to back them up (unlike supply side economics, which, if diagrammed on paper, doesn't hold water but no one ever talks about that).
It shouldn't require a Trump presidency to wake up to the wisdom of focusing on the two-thirds of our population without 4-year degrees. Many of these people are just as intelligent and productive as college graduates, and in some cases more so. Any party that seriously addresses the economic, political and social obstacles they deal with will be a party with a bright future.
2
The appropriate federal response with respect to higher education is to create a free, comprehensive online university open to all. End the subsidies for brick-and-mortar colleges and eliminate the stranglehold of accreditation agencies.
Confer degrees based on an exit exam, similar to the cases of physicians, lawyers and accountants (exams for the Boards, the Bar and the CPA respectively).
Students can work at their own pace, on their own schedule, mixing in family and work obligations as they proceed towards a degree. Allow every single person who wants a college education to get one---for free !
What are we waiting for ?
Confer degrees based on an exit exam, similar to the cases of physicians, lawyers and accountants (exams for the Boards, the Bar and the CPA respectively).
Students can work at their own pace, on their own schedule, mixing in family and work obligations as they proceed towards a degree. Allow every single person who wants a college education to get one---for free !
What are we waiting for ?
The solutions must begin before college. Not everyone is prepared to go to college, and many people who are willing to train in occupations that don't require college degrees, ranging from plumbers to computer programmers do well. It is the years from elementary through high school that need to be emphasized. Money continues to be siphoned from public education; many intelligent people who can make a difference are attracted to other fields where they earn more money and respect; and making history and civics secondary to reading and math are some of problems we have to deal with. It is not a question of how Democrats should get their mojo back, but of how to create future generations of conscientious voters who vote with their heads rather than their emotions.
3
This article is filled with stale centrist ideas and stale labels, just as he Center for American Progress is. Reach out to working class voters and make college affordable? How novel! "A Marshall Plan for America?" Who ever thought of that before? I don't know who funds the Center, but they could use their money far better by contributing to progressive candidates for Congress and state legislatures.
1
The best article I've ever read in the NYT opinion section. I hope this can be a seed and fill the whole newspaper with progressive ideas and real solutions.
1
I took a look at the "Marshall Plan" summary on the CAP link provided. Here's a deal killer line: "It will call upon the expertise of urban and rural leaders who represent labor, business, education, health, faith, community and economic development, and racial justice to help understand the problem." In most, if not all cases, this group is precisely the leadership that stood by while jobs left, factories closed, schools deteriorated, families imploded. The "bold leadership" plan is to convene these persons - who are already convened, by the way, snug in their jobs surviving the chaos around them - to solve the problems that it is already their job to solve? Leadership would not be to throw tax money to the wind by giving it to the people who have already proven incapable to the task.
Please do write another column when you have an actual program of Democratic leadership to discuss. Bernie got traction because he had something - anything - to talk about.
Please do write another column when you have an actual program of Democratic leadership to discuss. Bernie got traction because he had something - anything - to talk about.
3
Bernie showed the Democrats what to do but they won't do it because they are beholden to the same monied interests the Republicans are. It's a very simple answer: Stand for something. Stand for people. That's not what Democrats do nor is it what the Center for American Progress does, nor what Hillary Clinton does.
8
Ross, you have to get out of Vermont and travel to mid west and the south to convince people. Clinton is a household name. But not yet so for Bernie.
2
The agenda won't matter nearly as much as it should until we also get down to the bedrock of one citizen, one vote. This will require campaign finance reform, as well as an end to gerrymandering, voter suppression, foreign influence peddling, and a host of related ills.
2
The Democratic party has been dragged to the right for decades and even though people obviously wanted change in the party they refused to back a real voice for change during the election and also resisted making Keith Ellison the head of the party. During an interview with Tom Perez and Bernie Sanders sitting side by side the difference could not have been more stark - Sanders giving direct answers and Perez giving mealy mouthed wishy washy non answers to the same questions. Until the party actually decides to stand for something and unashamedly voices those beliefs the republicans will continue to dominate politics. Before, they were the party of "we're not Bush" and now it's the same with tRump. It isn't getting them anywhere.
3
There is even a bigger divide coming, and that is the divide between those that graduated from top tier institutions, and those that graduated from middle tiered and below colleges/universities. For example, the pay career gap for a degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan versus say Wayne State University is also expanding at an alarming rate. So much so that in 10 to 20 years a four degree from a middle to lower tier school may not be worth that much more than say a vocational degree. After all, do you really need a four year degree in hotel management to be the reception desk clerk a Motel 6? Currently, 15% of all US mail carriers have at least a four year college degree. In the town I live (pop. 50,000) the Parks and Recreation director position now requires four year college degree. The pay: $42,000 annual. Is this our new reality? Firefighters required to have a masters degree in Fire Protection Engineering? School crossing guards with EMT certification required? Garbage collectors with degrees in Environmental Studies?
4
When those without degrees are treated with equal dignity, not condescending paternalism, then, maybe, the democrats will have a chance. When the basic hard jobs that those people do are valued as highly as hedge fund managers, then democracy's might have a chance.
When the democrats realize that the corruption and hypocrisy of Washington and its lack of integrity is a product of people with degrees. That airlines, cable companies, and health care which belittle and demean "working" Americans are the product of our educated elite, then there might be a democratic plan.
When the educated elite depending upon centuries of nepotism and racism realize that legacy programs at universities don't promote equality. Where money determines the ability of access , we just have a largely corrupt collegiate system that benefits mediocre "haves" over more qualified "have nots", then the Democratic Party might have a plan.
When they stop acting like moral superiors, when they are blind to their self serving privilege that has led to great gains for the rich at the expense of everyone else, then they might have a plan.
When the Democratic Party can admit to being not just complicit but leaders in policies that have hollowed out the middle class, and has not held power in check, the. They might have a plan.
Until then. Nope.
When the democrats realize that the corruption and hypocrisy of Washington and its lack of integrity is a product of people with degrees. That airlines, cable companies, and health care which belittle and demean "working" Americans are the product of our educated elite, then there might be a democratic plan.
When the educated elite depending upon centuries of nepotism and racism realize that legacy programs at universities don't promote equality. Where money determines the ability of access , we just have a largely corrupt collegiate system that benefits mediocre "haves" over more qualified "have nots", then the Democratic Party might have a plan.
When they stop acting like moral superiors, when they are blind to their self serving privilege that has led to great gains for the rich at the expense of everyone else, then they might have a plan.
When the Democratic Party can admit to being not just complicit but leaders in policies that have hollowed out the middle class, and has not held power in check, the. They might have a plan.
Until then. Nope.
3
The major Democrat donors fear such a "Socialist" agenda as much s the Republicans do.
It is an agenda that Bernie Sanders ran on and won the voters that are being discussed here.
The DNC always mindful of their donors did everything they could to undermine him.
The urban, educated Democrats who voted for HRC in very large numbers have to understand how the electoral college works and unless they want to have the Republicans in control forever throw their support for a populist, socialist agenda.
It is an agenda that Bernie Sanders ran on and won the voters that are being discussed here.
The DNC always mindful of their donors did everything they could to undermine him.
The urban, educated Democrats who voted for HRC in very large numbers have to understand how the electoral college works and unless they want to have the Republicans in control forever throw their support for a populist, socialist agenda.
5
I fear that the Democratic Party is a broken vessel. It needs to be replaced. And now is the time to do it. The Dems have almost no traction on a local level across the nation. If they were made to disappear no one would really care. With local control a new party could simply replace each office-holder, in every school board, every town council, every state legislature. In fact, in most places there are no Democratic office-holders. With a positive program a new party could begin taking back the nation. The interest groups would stick with the Old Dems and help to drag them down. In the end there wouldn't be any need for a coup de grace. The Old Ones would become the Forgotten People and, ghost-like, just fade away.
5
This is a fool's errand. The white working class is going to view any top-down attempt to help them as patronizing, and will reject this. We need to acknowledge who these people are: they are cops, firefighters, soldiers, plumbers, factory workers, and small business owners. They erroneously organize their lives around the myth that they are self-made, self-reliant citizens. So any move like this is bound to alienate them even more. These people are too far gone, and Hillary was right to call them irredeemable.
Now, our working class is a different matter altogether. Many are just putting roots down, perhaps as new Americans. Others have been kept down, by decades of systemic racism. While our working class will take government assistance without any resentment, they do tend to need a flashier delivery channel than the GOP's working class, because ours lacks a history of civic engagement and belief in the American myth.
In other words, the better play is to ignore the GOP working class macho men, as they are a lost cause. And to double down on our own working class base, by running a compelling and charismatic minority candidate like Kamala Harris.
We need another Obama. A faceless group of bureaucrats pitching a "Marshall Plan 2.0" is going to be the worst of both worlds: our working class doesn't even know what the original Marshall Plan was (most of ours don't even know which congressional district they live in), while the GOP working class is going to reject it.
Now, our working class is a different matter altogether. Many are just putting roots down, perhaps as new Americans. Others have been kept down, by decades of systemic racism. While our working class will take government assistance without any resentment, they do tend to need a flashier delivery channel than the GOP's working class, because ours lacks a history of civic engagement and belief in the American myth.
In other words, the better play is to ignore the GOP working class macho men, as they are a lost cause. And to double down on our own working class base, by running a compelling and charismatic minority candidate like Kamala Harris.
We need another Obama. A faceless group of bureaucrats pitching a "Marshall Plan 2.0" is going to be the worst of both worlds: our working class doesn't even know what the original Marshall Plan was (most of ours don't even know which congressional district they live in), while the GOP working class is going to reject it.
2
DUH! Bernie Sanders said this all along in the campaign, has been saying it for DECADES, and continues to say it. Too bad the electorate didn't listen to him in the primaries. He'd be our President now; we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now, and he would be working tirelessly on this issue by now.
3
Diane as you must have gathered by now, NYT is allergic to mentioning Bernie's name. They are convinced he has no chance at all, given his "religion".
1
Wishing for the Democratic party to adopt more of a socio-economic progressive platform won't make it happen.
Every member of this party has to take a good look in the mirror and decide if they are 'giving' enough to raise the standard of living for the American majority.
If you look at real wages over time, you will discover that the last peak for wages adjusted to cost of living was 1974 and we have not reached that peak again. Forty + years of uncomfortable living for many.
At the same time, almost to the same year, the Dow Jones started to climb and is continuing to break all records for growth in Investor wealth.
We have been trading in Labor wealth for decades and building Investor wealth for a minority of Americans.
The only answer is a progressive Wealth tax to bring us out of this downward spiral. Is the Democratic party ready to get behind this??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax
Every member of this party has to take a good look in the mirror and decide if they are 'giving' enough to raise the standard of living for the American majority.
If you look at real wages over time, you will discover that the last peak for wages adjusted to cost of living was 1974 and we have not reached that peak again. Forty + years of uncomfortable living for many.
At the same time, almost to the same year, the Dow Jones started to climb and is continuing to break all records for growth in Investor wealth.
We have been trading in Labor wealth for decades and building Investor wealth for a minority of Americans.
The only answer is a progressive Wealth tax to bring us out of this downward spiral. Is the Democratic party ready to get behind this??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax
3
The US needs to emulate the European apprenticeship training, the best example being Germany, that early on winnows out those more suited to college & channels the majority into highly skilled blue collar fields. Government & industry are willing to pay the cost to train & yes, educate the people, who create stability, expertise & craftsmanship in the long term view of European companies.
We here in the US with the view, increasingly promoted, that anyone can become a budding entrepreneur or mini-mogul, continue the wasteful remedial programs that attempt to produce college educated people, eventually releasing drop-outs into the population.
It's time to get real.
We here in the US with the view, increasingly promoted, that anyone can become a budding entrepreneur or mini-mogul, continue the wasteful remedial programs that attempt to produce college educated people, eventually releasing drop-outs into the population.
It's time to get real.
5
After being born enslaved to enslaved parents on a Georgia plantation my great grandfather graduated from Atlanta Baptist College which became Morehouse. Both of my paternal grandparents were born to enslaved parents who paid for their college educations at Atlanta and Shaw University.
Despite their mixed 'race' colored white European, black African, brown Native and yellow Asian biological DNA evolutionary fit genetic heritage they were and their heirs are still all and only black African Americas. No one ever mistakes us for Nancy Pelosi, Betsy DeVos, Mike Pence, Donald or Melania Trump.
My family European American roots begin in 1640, my Native American roots go back 13,000 years, my free-person of color American roots go back before the birth of the nation and my enslaved African roots are known back to 1830/35.
Despite their mixed 'race' colored white European, black African, brown Native and yellow Asian biological DNA evolutionary fit genetic heritage they were and their heirs are still all and only black African Americas. No one ever mistakes us for Nancy Pelosi, Betsy DeVos, Mike Pence, Donald or Melania Trump.
My family European American roots begin in 1640, my Native American roots go back 13,000 years, my free-person of color American roots go back before the birth of the nation and my enslaved African roots are known back to 1830/35.
1
Pehaps Democrats could start taking responsibility for putting the old and infirm at the top of their national tickets. See: Pelosi; Clinton; Schumer; Clyburn; Conyers; et al. It is, after all, the 21st century. Why not promote Americans who actually LIVE in it?
Sure, a Marshall plan for the working class would be great and it would be a way back to power for the Democrats.
The problem is, I don't see very many Democratic Party leaders who would support that.
Privatize corporate profits and socialize losses? "Sure!" they say.
But a 15 dollar an hour minimum wage? Single payer health care? Free public college? Breaking up too big to fail banks? That's too hard. Socialist. Radical.
Do you really think when Barak and Hillary are hanging around bankers' offices after giving half million dollar speeches, they are talking about helping the working class?
Ha.
The problem is, I don't see very many Democratic Party leaders who would support that.
Privatize corporate profits and socialize losses? "Sure!" they say.
But a 15 dollar an hour minimum wage? Single payer health care? Free public college? Breaking up too big to fail banks? That's too hard. Socialist. Radical.
Do you really think when Barak and Hillary are hanging around bankers' offices after giving half million dollar speeches, they are talking about helping the working class?
Ha.
5
Democrats have in fact become too mushy. The elites of the party not only backed Clinton but made every effort to obstruct Bernie Sanders. Bernie had an aggressive agenda, he pushed Hillary to try and take that path. She preferred the mushy moderate middle. The party needs the young voters that were vigorous Sanders supporters to step forward to formulate a new agenda and provide new fresh leadership. The old dogs are tired.
72
Oh I don't know abut that. I think Hillary got pushed pretty far to the left by Bernie and lost the "heartland" as a result of it. As this article points out many of those alienated are not seeking free college education because that is not the path they are on but neither were they particularly interested in some of the other left's social agenda items (i.e. gender neutral bathrooms) when what they really wanted to hear about was Jobs, a jobs bill, bringing back jobs and creating new jobs. Bernie's free education promise didn't matter to them and his populism alienated ethnic minorities - which is why he lost the primary long before he acknowledged it. As to obstructing Bernie the DNC let him run on the Democratic platform (though he had always been registered a socialist) and this gave him a national presence when otherwise he would have been regulated to public access cable TV. I am all for the Democratic party finding a new way but lets be honest about what was working and what wasn't as the new plan develops - and what Mr. Leonhardt is suggesting is to think about working class (non college educated) citizens and jobs for them and forging a new deal to propel democrats back into the majority.
2
Those young voters now have a President who Cabinet will do them great harm. They did not vote in their own self interest; they voted or did not vote out of spite, because they grew up in a world where the Depression was a distant memory. They did not recognize the long term Recession they were living in. They believed that a man with the tag of Independent Socialist could storm the Democratic Party, be nominated and win a national election. Now, they have a President who won by 77,000 Electoral College votes. That is something they should pay attention to: the EC, not the popular vote. Win the EC and you have won the Presidency.
1
Besides referring you to my reply to DBCooper from Portland, OR, (an apparent kindred spirit) I offer the following observations:
1) Bernie Sanders is not even a Democrat and he'll hit 80 years old before the 2020 election.
2) "The young voters who were Bernie Sanders supporters" included many who didn't even know they had to register as Democrats to vote in the Democratic primary.
3) Many young left-leaning activists and African-American voters who turned out in force for Obama stayed home the last election, which obviously made all the difference in the world.
4) Like it or not, the majority of the American electorate--at least where the Electoral College calculus is concerned, is "the mushy moderate middle", trending even to center-right.
You can't win without unifying the country. It's a simple fact and no amount of wishful thinking can change that.
1) Bernie Sanders is not even a Democrat and he'll hit 80 years old before the 2020 election.
2) "The young voters who were Bernie Sanders supporters" included many who didn't even know they had to register as Democrats to vote in the Democratic primary.
3) Many young left-leaning activists and African-American voters who turned out in force for Obama stayed home the last election, which obviously made all the difference in the world.
4) Like it or not, the majority of the American electorate--at least where the Electoral College calculus is concerned, is "the mushy moderate middle", trending even to center-right.
You can't win without unifying the country. It's a simple fact and no amount of wishful thinking can change that.
Thank you for your article. The Democrats should stop being the Corporate Country Club party- and go back to their roots. I wish Hillary would just disappear. She cannot help the Democrats to win- She is the Baggage carried by the corporate dems.
2
This is a rear view mirror assessment.Given the proliferation of garbage colleges and majors, coupled with student's inability to spell or construct a sentence,the four year degree will be a diminishing differentiator going forward.Democrats should be telling the truth;skilling up for the new economy is what will make the difference.This requires relevant education ,irrespective of level or how/ where it was acquired.Technological savvy for example,will trump a college degree in fashion marketing or business studies from a newly styled so called university.
David-- you lost me when you put the names FDR and Reagan in the same sentence. Part of Obama's success-lite was his willingness to join with the GOP in their silly adoration of a union-busting, Iran-Contra, deficit spending, uber military build up guy like Reagan. We needed an FDR. Besides wasting admiration on Reagan, Obama was too busy chasing Lincoln's team of rivals and sitting in the Lincoln memorial the night before his inauguration. Too bad he didn't chill out at the FDR memorial and cram through programs like the WPA (a big infrastructure program today) and SS (single payer health care).
1
Why can't we as a country not simply match societal needs with intelligent and researched programming? What is getting in the way in creating initiatives like some of the programs of the New Deal, or the Peace Corps/Vista experiences?
Technical colleges and apprenticeships move young people to higher levels of independence. K-12 public education could draw high school graduates to assist in many ways.
Yes, we live in a digital world, but many are not plugged in. There are ample opportunities in the service sector, daycare, construction, and the trades where we could match up needs with employment.
We need to view the situation as an opportunity for action on a larger scale.
Technical colleges and apprenticeships move young people to higher levels of independence. K-12 public education could draw high school graduates to assist in many ways.
Yes, we live in a digital world, but many are not plugged in. There are ample opportunities in the service sector, daycare, construction, and the trades where we could match up needs with employment.
We need to view the situation as an opportunity for action on a larger scale.
3
A large portion, perhaps even a majority, of the group you refer to as "working class" have left the Democratic party because of their social conservatism. To get them back without abandoning the progressive planks in the party platform will be difficult at best, and in my opinion impossible.
Many people, especially those without the 4-year degree you mention, talk economic issues but vote social ones.
Many people, especially those without the 4-year degree you mention, talk economic issues but vote social ones.
13
You are so right. Democrats ought to be more inclusive more flexible. Their either or attitude turns off many citizens who are politically conscious and wanna be active, especially young voters.
1
The Answer is not coming from the Center for American Progress- a Clintonite Republican Lite Group. If they are the answer, you are asking the wrong question.
5
Replace gender and racial identity politics with socioeconomic identity politics.
Bernie has been saying it for the last 2 years.
Bernie has been saying it for the last 2 years.
20
Bernie has been saying it for the last 2 decades!
1
It needn't be a replacement, just an addition. These concerns overlap and are both worthy of attention.
1
"Democrats need a comeback strategy, and the American working class needs an ally. The solution to both problems can be the same: a muscular agenda to lift up people without four-year college degrees."
This is the goal for the Dems, but it is a heavy lift. It involves a restructuring of the economy, away from the profit-before-all-else private sector that no longer can employ enough people, and toward the public sector based upon service and the public good.
The public sector is hopelessly underfunded, while the profits from automation go to the 1/4%. And the 1/4% is funding government, and telling it what to do.
Changing this mode of operation will engage the electorate, but it will arouse stiff and well-funded opposition.
This is the goal for the Dems, but it is a heavy lift. It involves a restructuring of the economy, away from the profit-before-all-else private sector that no longer can employ enough people, and toward the public sector based upon service and the public good.
The public sector is hopelessly underfunded, while the profits from automation go to the 1/4%. And the 1/4% is funding government, and telling it what to do.
Changing this mode of operation will engage the electorate, but it will arouse stiff and well-funded opposition.
8
The future of the Democratic Party is in dynamic new thinking combined with clear, crisp goals. This won’t come from simplistic lurches in the political spectrum. We need both a vibrant free market and a strong public sector. This isn’t “mushy moderation” its flexible, agile thinking. One of the biggest mistakes is to regard the blending of strategies and viewpoints as inherently weak. Balance in public affairs and human interactions is not just a compromise or a bland melting pot but can be a dynamic force and currently the Democratic Party is the only American institution capable of grasping this shock wave of opportunity. The GOP has become deeply buried in extreme ideology and cannot understand flexible thinking.
The Democratic message must be based on “opportunity” not “equality” – this means building on a healthy, educated, stable society. The incredible pace of science and technology will profoundly change the workplace requiring much more education but not necessarily conventional degrees. But opportunities will outpace automation where the most powerful force is an increasingly creative and productive human community using new tool kits provided by science. Only the Democratic Party is positioned to deal with this dual challenge/opportunity. Let’s hope it can “grasp the ring”.
The Democratic message must be based on “opportunity” not “equality” – this means building on a healthy, educated, stable society. The incredible pace of science and technology will profoundly change the workplace requiring much more education but not necessarily conventional degrees. But opportunities will outpace automation where the most powerful force is an increasingly creative and productive human community using new tool kits provided by science. Only the Democratic Party is positioned to deal with this dual challenge/opportunity. Let’s hope it can “grasp the ring”.
4
Restore the post WWII G.I. Bill and expand it to include as beneficiaries people such as Americorps volunteers; i.e., anyone who serves his or her country in this way.
5
It's worth remembering that among other actions President Obama issued an EO concerning career and technical education (CTE) opportunities as well as a "Blueprint" for CTE. Clinton also addressed this important issue during her campaign. Yes, more needs to be done but there is some good work, some good mojo, that can be folded into a reinvigorated initiative.
4
And how about some mentorship programs for multiple skill sets that don't require 5 academic references and college enrollment to get? Not everyone learns best in an academic bubble. Some people just want to get out there and work and learn by doing - and save themselves and their families the life-long crippling debt. And we're not just talking about carpenters and electricians here, but all areas of the job market spectrum - like artistic jobs, scientific and renewable energy jobs, and technology. There are so many creative ways for people to work and tap into their natural talents if you just give them a more flexible way to do it. And, you'll have a happier, more valued public as a result.
10
Mr. Leonhardt, you're correct in the assessment of 4 year college as being tremendously uplifting, but as with so many things, it applies to only most people. On the other hand; many professions, regulators, and employers use a college degree as a simple filter; barring many intelligent, motivated, and nimble prospects from entry to good paying jobs.
5
If you observe our political leaders you might conclude that the "poorly educated " ARE the affluent.
4
I like these ideas and I think it's equally important that working class white voters feel that the candidate is "one of us." I think they went for Trump because he doesn't sound like an Ivy league educated man and speaks "off the cuff." Even the best plan will get no traction at all if voters do not feel the candidate is of their tribe. In other words, the sense of belonging and affiliation matters more than anything else when it comes to getting votes, even if it matters not at all when it comes to actually helping.
2
Trump is seen as an average guy of average intelligence who got so many breaks and worked hard. He proves that in the USA anyone can be president. He is no more qualified than most folks. People want him to succeed by providing good paying jobs and keeping the US safe. If so most will vote for him again. If not most any Democrat could win.
Trump doesn't sound like an Ivy League educated man, Mr. Green, because he isn't educated. He doesn't just speak off the cuff, he speaks while off his head.
The trouble we have right now is that Trump is, indeed, a member of a tribe. Of nematodes. Unhelpful nematodes, at that.
The trouble we have right now is that Trump is, indeed, a member of a tribe. Of nematodes. Unhelpful nematodes, at that.
1
So candidates have to be white, preferably male? OK then.
I attend a four-year state college. There is an elephant in the room. Every class I have taken starts out with twenty or so students. When you are taking the final exam at the end of the semester, you look around, and there are only ten students left. Why did the other ten drop the class? I think we have to start with high school, and teach the skills (including hard work and time management) that will promote success in college. I also think a full schedule of 15 credits (which is 5 classes) overwhelms today's kids. They can't hack it, and they give up. Better to take 12 credits (four classes) and finish in five years with flying colors! It's better than a huge number of discouraged dropouts.
2
The Democrats need:
1. New blood. Younger people to replace the old guard (Clinton, Pelosi, et al).
2. A populist platform that addresses the hot-button issues of the majority of voters. Soft-pedal identity politics that alienate large swaths of the country. Equal rights, justice, etc. for ALL. people and pro choice, etc. should be PLANKS in the platform but gender, race, identity issues should be secondary to the COMMON welfare.
3. A clear, simple and consistent message that resonates with a MAJORITY of voters, many of whom don't process complex policies/issues. An emotional appeal to their gut is what matters.
4. A strong rejection of corporate and lobbying influence and corruption in both word and actions.
5. A ground game of supporting Dem in local and state elections and WINNING and not just focusing on Congress and the Presidency.
Democrats need to overcome:
1. The formidable right-wing media machine--Fox News, Limbaugh and his clones. It is very difficult to reach the voters who rely on these outlets exclusively. Perhaps targeted advertising on right-wing media is one way to start.
2. Gerrymandering of voting districts that makes Republican seats safe.
3, A wide-spread suspicion, among many voters, that "libruls" are the devil incarnate.
4. Fierce opposition from vested interests and entrenched politicians who are on the take.
Now, who will lead the charge?
1. New blood. Younger people to replace the old guard (Clinton, Pelosi, et al).
2. A populist platform that addresses the hot-button issues of the majority of voters. Soft-pedal identity politics that alienate large swaths of the country. Equal rights, justice, etc. for ALL. people and pro choice, etc. should be PLANKS in the platform but gender, race, identity issues should be secondary to the COMMON welfare.
3. A clear, simple and consistent message that resonates with a MAJORITY of voters, many of whom don't process complex policies/issues. An emotional appeal to their gut is what matters.
4. A strong rejection of corporate and lobbying influence and corruption in both word and actions.
5. A ground game of supporting Dem in local and state elections and WINNING and not just focusing on Congress and the Presidency.
Democrats need to overcome:
1. The formidable right-wing media machine--Fox News, Limbaugh and his clones. It is very difficult to reach the voters who rely on these outlets exclusively. Perhaps targeted advertising on right-wing media is one way to start.
2. Gerrymandering of voting districts that makes Republican seats safe.
3, A wide-spread suspicion, among many voters, that "libruls" are the devil incarnate.
4. Fierce opposition from vested interests and entrenched politicians who are on the take.
Now, who will lead the charge?
5
Do you realize, David, that your comment about "younger" blood boils the old blood of millions of voters and activists in this country.
You want someone to address the hot-button issues of the majority of voters? Well my hot issue is ageism. And you're on my hit list, bud.
You want someone to address the hot-button issues of the majority of voters? Well my hot issue is ageism. And you're on my hit list, bud.
3
gender, race, identity issues should be secondary to the COMMON welfare.
NOPE. We *are* the common welfare. We who are not white,male,.Christian, straight. Hi. have we met?
NOPE. We *are* the common welfare. We who are not white,male,.Christian, straight. Hi. have we met?
8
Julia Holcomb - "NOPE. We *are* the common welfare. We who are not white,male,.Christian, straight. Hi. have we met?"
Please read the article again since you have managed to put Democratic Party racism and bigotry into one concise sentence. Hopefully, we will never meet!
Please read the article again since you have managed to put Democratic Party racism and bigotry into one concise sentence. Hopefully, we will never meet!
I want to nominate David Leonhardt for a Pulitzer Prize for saying all this (which I completely agree with) , without so much as mentioning - much less giving credit to - Bernie Sanders. David Leonhardt is smart enough, but he's not a mensch.
3
It is simply necessary that Democratic partisans confront within and among themselves, and learn to give up, the neurolinguistic habit of using as a snarl word a term that combines race and gender.
A political party responds to its committed base of support. When that base of support repeatedly demonstrates its unfitness to guide its political leadership by using a race and gender term as a snarl word, and by reflexively incorporating the logic of that term into its supposedly rational analyses, voters are going to recognize and respond to that. Even if their response is in-artful and wildly off the mark, they are right to recoil.
Perhaps some experts in communications and political science can conduct some experiments. Identify policy analyses and prescriptions by Democratic partisans, with some that do and some that do not incorporate the logic of the snarl term into the analysis. Identify some messaging techniques that do, and some that do not, feature the snarl term. Identify voters who voted twice for Obama and once for Trump. Start communicating and observe the responses. To what extent are they racist or sexist, and to what extent do they not like being shamed by people with deep faults of their own?
A political party responds to its committed base of support. When that base of support repeatedly demonstrates its unfitness to guide its political leadership by using a race and gender term as a snarl word, and by reflexively incorporating the logic of that term into its supposedly rational analyses, voters are going to recognize and respond to that. Even if their response is in-artful and wildly off the mark, they are right to recoil.
Perhaps some experts in communications and political science can conduct some experiments. Identify policy analyses and prescriptions by Democratic partisans, with some that do and some that do not incorporate the logic of the snarl term into the analysis. Identify some messaging techniques that do, and some that do not, feature the snarl term. Identify voters who voted twice for Obama and once for Trump. Start communicating and observe the responses. To what extent are they racist or sexist, and to what extent do they not like being shamed by people with deep faults of their own?
One way is to stop getting our hopes up about impeachment - I'm pretty sure that won't happen with everything controlled by Republicans, no matter what Trump does. I think he can get away with just about anything and everything right now. There's lots of hand-wringing, righteous pronouncing and wheel-spinning going on among Democrats - all comforting, I suppose, but just preaching to the choir. I think it's time to get very realistic - let's hire the best tech people to create hacking defenses and let's put our brightest minds into thinking about how to combat fake news and putting out truthful messages in a way that people will understand. Because the next elections are going to feature underhanded attacks in spades, since they were very handy for Trump last time.
2
Now that the anger of Trump’s election is starting to take a back seat to serious thoughts, plans and programs it is good to see the NYT provide insightful articles like these. There are simple solutions for that all progressives can get involved with.
As a Democrat or progressive talk to people you know who lean Republican or even voted for Trump. Avoid direct criticism of the Rs and the T, ask them what they expect government to do for them and their community, keep it personal and listen long and hard. You will find that they want many of the same things that you do. Then talk about the policy directions that the Rs and the T are taking and explain what it means, avoid rhetoric and hyperbolic language. You will many people do not know or understand the current administration policies and how it will mostly negatively affect them or someone close to them.
The Rs have been winning at the ballot box for many years, they played a long game and the Ds have a lot of catchup to go. Running as a progressive for any elected seat US Senator to elected dog catcher is a must do for many progressives. Only by taking the reins of power at all levels will you succeed.
As a Democrat or progressive talk to people you know who lean Republican or even voted for Trump. Avoid direct criticism of the Rs and the T, ask them what they expect government to do for them and their community, keep it personal and listen long and hard. You will find that they want many of the same things that you do. Then talk about the policy directions that the Rs and the T are taking and explain what it means, avoid rhetoric and hyperbolic language. You will many people do not know or understand the current administration policies and how it will mostly negatively affect them or someone close to them.
The Rs have been winning at the ballot box for many years, they played a long game and the Ds have a lot of catchup to go. Running as a progressive for any elected seat US Senator to elected dog catcher is a must do for many progressives. Only by taking the reins of power at all levels will you succeed.
Last night I had a conversation with two friends (we are all college professors) about this very issue, and we all agreed that this is a necessary evolution of the party, and that it won't happen as long as the DLC reigns. The entire generation of boomers has to give way, and new blood, in some but not all ways further to the left, has to take over the party. It is moribund and corrupted by its own ties to money. The best evidence I can give for this is the presidential primary, that featured three and only three losers who were so bad that a Jewish socialist from Brooklyn actually seemed like a viable option to the party faithful, as if that was an accurate read on the country as a whole. The party has lost its way, and new blood is needed to get it to see the problems Leonhardt is describing, but that have been evident in rural and blue collar America for more than a generation. When the Democrats remember what made them the preferred party during the middle decades of the twentieth century, then they'll make America great again.
1
Single Payer Healthcare like every other western country. Single Payer! Single Payer! Single Payer or no Mojo, take your pick!
5
The column would have been more meaningful if it had had a picture of Cheri Bustos, not Nancy Pelosi. She has done more about addressing the bread and butter issues than any Democrat in Congress I know.
1
This op-ed ignores the fact the skilled trades welders, plumbers, mechanics, computer technicians, HVAC techs, electricians, etc. all make more money than your average no collage degree required. Non technical degrees from collage do not do as well.
4
I agree, avoid mushy moderation. Also, focusing on the "many problems the private sector isn’t solving" and is often creating: poisoning people and creating more problems for the future (Big Ag, Big Pharma, etc), private businesses ripping off taxpayers (there's always someone ripping off Medicare, etc), and nearly the entire medical industry in this country creates as many problems as it solves.
All the while keeping in mind that there are many tens of millions of white people who ARE irredeemably racist, and who are just not quite smart enough to ever be worth wasting your time trying to convince of any obvious reality.
All the while keeping in mind that there are many tens of millions of white people who ARE irredeemably racist, and who are just not quite smart enough to ever be worth wasting your time trying to convince of any obvious reality.
1
"This new plan is unabashedly left-leaning in its call for the government to help create millions of good-paying jobs."
And this plan is far closer to what Bernie Sanders was proposing, some of whose ideas Hillary Clinton glommed on to out of pure expediency.
So is Leonhardt, and the rest of the columnistas of the Times, ready to admit to having backed the wrong candidate last year?
But this analysis dies in light of the fact that college educated white women voted for Trump, in droves. Those are the people who Leonhardt thinks are on one side of the divide, and voted with the other. Care to convince, say, Rebekah Mercer, Kellyanne Conway and Joni Ernst of the flaw in their thinking?
And this plan is far closer to what Bernie Sanders was proposing, some of whose ideas Hillary Clinton glommed on to out of pure expediency.
So is Leonhardt, and the rest of the columnistas of the Times, ready to admit to having backed the wrong candidate last year?
But this analysis dies in light of the fact that college educated white women voted for Trump, in droves. Those are the people who Leonhardt thinks are on one side of the divide, and voted with the other. Care to convince, say, Rebekah Mercer, Kellyanne Conway and Joni Ernst of the flaw in their thinking?
4
I fully support the idea of the resurrection of Roosevelt's "New Deal." But if this were an essay written for a political science class it would get a C-.
The author makes a mistake that is typical in journalism these days. He uses the terms, Democrat, progressive, and Left interchangeably as if they were all synonymous and they are not.
The Democratic Party has pursued a neoliberal agenda for the last thirty years. They accelerated the free movement of capital that we call "globalization", supported the move toward an international, financialized economy and assumed that trickle down economics would work. And of course it didn't.
The Progressive wing of the Democrats is roughly represented by Sanders and the DNC has rejected almost everyone of his policies. And of course what once were actual leftist political parties and movements (Socialists, Communists, Social Democrats, etc.) in America no longer exist. At best the Democrats are a centrist party in the European sense and the GOP represents the right wing.
To collapse these clearly distinct political entities into the idea of a new revived Democratic Party is not only an error, but it misleads readers at a time when we need clarity.
The author makes a mistake that is typical in journalism these days. He uses the terms, Democrat, progressive, and Left interchangeably as if they were all synonymous and they are not.
The Democratic Party has pursued a neoliberal agenda for the last thirty years. They accelerated the free movement of capital that we call "globalization", supported the move toward an international, financialized economy and assumed that trickle down economics would work. And of course it didn't.
The Progressive wing of the Democrats is roughly represented by Sanders and the DNC has rejected almost everyone of his policies. And of course what once were actual leftist political parties and movements (Socialists, Communists, Social Democrats, etc.) in America no longer exist. At best the Democrats are a centrist party in the European sense and the GOP represents the right wing.
To collapse these clearly distinct political entities into the idea of a new revived Democratic Party is not only an error, but it misleads readers at a time when we need clarity.
8
The great dividing line in American life is money. And the privilege that sticks to it.
That's nothing new. The change over the last three decades or so is that higher education has become unaffordable for middle and lower income people.
The privileged will never lack for privilege, and good schools, colleges, good jobs, good health, good housing will all follow.
The GOP's dismantling of labor and the middle class has simply put more people behind the "great dividing line".
The new part is that there are so many of us behind that line and we seem unable to do anything about it. Is that what this lame column aspires to address? Is getting our backs up and finding the will to take back our government finding our "mojo"?
Leonhardt says that a stable middle-class life should be possible without a bachelor’s degree. Yes, it should, but it's not. Everybody should have health care, an education, and decent housing. But that would take a government that wants to help citizens to acquire those things and to tax fairly to achieve the necessary revenue to do it.
Leonhardt should be careful what he wishes for, or advocates. The more education people have, the easier it is to spot GOP guff and the more likely they will vote democratic. Trump and his fellow republicans just love the uneducated, remember?
That's nothing new. The change over the last three decades or so is that higher education has become unaffordable for middle and lower income people.
The privileged will never lack for privilege, and good schools, colleges, good jobs, good health, good housing will all follow.
The GOP's dismantling of labor and the middle class has simply put more people behind the "great dividing line".
The new part is that there are so many of us behind that line and we seem unable to do anything about it. Is that what this lame column aspires to address? Is getting our backs up and finding the will to take back our government finding our "mojo"?
Leonhardt says that a stable middle-class life should be possible without a bachelor’s degree. Yes, it should, but it's not. Everybody should have health care, an education, and decent housing. But that would take a government that wants to help citizens to acquire those things and to tax fairly to achieve the necessary revenue to do it.
Leonhardt should be careful what he wishes for, or advocates. The more education people have, the easier it is to spot GOP guff and the more likely they will vote democratic. Trump and his fellow republicans just love the uneducated, remember?
2
There will never be the jobs you fantasize about until the mega-corporations are broken up. Walmart decimated small town main streets. There is a mega-bank branch in every town in America. There are no one doctor offices because they have to join together to afford the equipment necessary to practice medicine today. There are increasingly fewer independent pharmacies, CVS, Walmart, & Walgreen's dominate. Infrastructure won't last for the working life of one generation. Where will the jobs come from? For the uneducated is it to be caring for the elderly? Collecting the trash for the affluent? About the only jobs that can't be outsourced are service jobs in the food industry, healthcare, etc. Those jobs no one wants to retire from. Of course if one can sell one will never be without a job.
2
Democrats also need to remind voters that the Republican Party has been fighting minimum wage increases, championing globalization at every turn and working to pull the rug out from working class voters in many ways. The GOP achieved electoral success while campaigning on lies, bigotry, and vicious attacks against Democrats. A little "fire" on the part of Democrats is now in order!
2
It's about time!
If the NY Times had not put its thumbs on the scale against Bernie and Progressives for decades America would not be in such a mess today.
If the NY Times had not put its thumbs on the scale against Bernie and Progressives for decades America would not be in such a mess today.
3
You summarize the bipartisan agenda.....which never gets implemented.
We need the government to stage even more fake mass murders with even more obvious political agendas, anti-gun, racial-discrimination, feminism etc etc to brainwash the populace to give up the constitution, carte blanche, rubber stamped, without any democratic procedures.
1
Everyone trying to figure out why so many working-class black people sat out the election. Nobody mentioning the dozens of state laws written specifically to ensure that working-class black people wouldn't vote.
1
Yet another prescription for what ails the Democratic Party that totally ignores these facts: Hillary won all three debates, raised $1B in campaign funding, had dozens of policy papers in place, and won the popular vote. And you ignore the one-two Comey-Putin election tampering impact!
Oh, and if we have more folks getting degrees, will they also vote for someone like Mafia Don next time as they did this time? No thanks.
Oh, and if we have more folks getting degrees, will they also vote for someone like Mafia Don next time as they did this time? No thanks.
2
The great divide is not a four year degree but race. Has always been in the United States and always will be. The only reassurance needed by white working class voters is that they are not black. Compared to that, tax cuts for billionaires is a mere blip.
40
BC
You are correct, race has become a dividing factor, as the Democratic party has become a party of color,It has alienated white voters.While African Americans & Hispanics enjoyed open enrollment to colleges, White workers were standing on unemployment Lines.These were the mainstay of Labor unions that voted 4 times for Roosevelt, & were turned away by Clinton who called them deplorable.
Comey was not the cause for Hillary's defeat, she was.
You are correct, race has become a dividing factor, as the Democratic party has become a party of color,It has alienated white voters.While African Americans & Hispanics enjoyed open enrollment to colleges, White workers were standing on unemployment Lines.These were the mainstay of Labor unions that voted 4 times for Roosevelt, & were turned away by Clinton who called them deplorable.
Comey was not the cause for Hillary's defeat, she was.
3
As many commenters here are saying, the Democratic Party suffers from its shift from Rosevelt progressivism to Clintonian neoliberalism. Perhaps that worked to Bill Clinton's favor, but the public perception that Democrsts no longer stand up for the working class certainly hurt Hillary Clinton in voting districts long lost to the Fox "news" fake news brainwashing. But policy prescriptions are not primarily at fault for the Democrats' downfall, and policy specifics are not primarily the answer. Instead, the party needs to be far more aggressive on a daily basis in its attack on the lies, fake news, and character assassins of the Republicans and the mass media's complicity in conveying their false narratives. At the same time, the Democrats need to recruit candidates with whom the white (and all races and ethnicities) working class can relate and simplify their economic messaging for mass consumption rather than intellectual complexity and with better targeting for Electoral College effectiveness -- in much the way Trump accomplished his unlikely win.
66
Hillary took "blue" States for granted: WI, PA, MI. She didn't bother to talk to the working people in those States where factories had closed leaving many unemployed. She conducted the worst Democratic campaign in my life time. I don't want to see her return. We have other, younger Democrats who can mount better campaigns: Cory Booker is one of those. Booker could take on Trump on his own home ground.
I absolutely do not understand why the concept of "government as the employer of last resort" is such anathema to Americans. Good God, we pay taxes; why shouldn't we get that money back in the form of paychecks for work done to rebuild our national infrastructure?
And yes, I do understand why it is anathema in the minds of many people. The wealthy realize that money paid by government to average citizens is money that doesn't go into their own pockets, and so they're against it. But too many middle-class Americans have fallen for the pernicious Republican myth that government can't do anything right and so why trust it with programs like this? Neutering that lie is the job of the Democrats and those of us who support them.
And yes, I do understand why it is anathema in the minds of many people. The wealthy realize that money paid by government to average citizens is money that doesn't go into their own pockets, and so they're against it. But too many middle-class Americans have fallen for the pernicious Republican myth that government can't do anything right and so why trust it with programs like this? Neutering that lie is the job of the Democrats and those of us who support them.
140
Of course the money goes back into the pockets of the rich, at least sometimes -- and that's fine. The federal government doesn't, and shouldn't, have a highway department to send guys out to actually repair roads and bridges and tunnels. Likewise the government shouldn't be directly employing people to deal with other infrastructure issues.
The government can, and should, be hiring privately owned companies, contractors, if you will, to do the actual work, while regulating those industries to ensure that the work is done to specifications that serve the public good, and protect the health and safety of -- not to mention providing a decent wage and benefits to -- the people doing the work.
On the other hand, police, fire, ambulance/EMTs, and similar areas relating to public health and safety and the state's policing power -- these are traditionally within the purview of the government and should be areas where the government provides these services directly, rather than through private contractors.
The point is that there is no "one way." Certain things should be done by the government directly; others, in partnership with the private sector, albeit with government regulation and oversight.
The government can, and should, be hiring privately owned companies, contractors, if you will, to do the actual work, while regulating those industries to ensure that the work is done to specifications that serve the public good, and protect the health and safety of -- not to mention providing a decent wage and benefits to -- the people doing the work.
On the other hand, police, fire, ambulance/EMTs, and similar areas relating to public health and safety and the state's policing power -- these are traditionally within the purview of the government and should be areas where the government provides these services directly, rather than through private contractors.
The point is that there is no "one way." Certain things should be done by the government directly; others, in partnership with the private sector, albeit with government regulation and oversight.
Paul Ryan grew up on his father's Federal disability benefits; he went to school on Federal grant money. He lies about most things, including his marathon time. Now, we have a man who inherited great wealth and squandered it. We have a President with no experience in governance or foreign policy. We can only stand by and watch, and hope for the best. No doubt our allies are doing the same.
When Reagan said "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'," Democrats should've been on that like a dog on a bone. Instead they rolled over and played dead. It would have been so simple to refute that with an oft-repeated -- and clearly and emphatically delivered -- list of ways the goverment does help, and can help even more.
Elizabeth Warren 2020.
Elizabeth Warren 2020.
That it is a labor or challenge for the Democrats to present a meaningful message to blue collar Americans vividly shows how inept Democrats are. The working class wanted Trump; the working class can decide the merits of that decision. The Democrats chose to cater to the same elite as the GOP does; they simply are not as good at it. They chose a another right wing Clinton over an openly avowed enemy of socialism for the rich and we saw how wise that decision was. The Democrats understand nothing of note and control nothing of note.
3
They were the party in power throughout the 20th century so to say that they are inept or did little reflects your poor grasp of history. Power swings in one direction or another all the time. Your Karl Rove thought Bush would cement a Republican majority but it did not in the early 2000s, then Obama came along. I think the party that truly helps people without demagoguery will stay in power.
The Democratic Party, under the DLC and Bill Clinton's leadership tried to "bend the curve" in the 1990's to bring more income to the middle class with mixed results. George W instituted polices with the intent of consolidating the gains of the upper income groups and essentially letting the rest of the people fend for themselves. With depressed middle class incomes depressing tax revenues, the government had to turn to the upper income earners for revenue and they said "no" which ballooned deficits and made state and federal budgets tight as New Deal and Great Society programs that required growing middle class incomes to support them withered.
Obama had steady headwinds from the Party of Wealth, the GOP and did not reverse the tide much at all, which created the disillusionment that led to the Trump take over of the Government. Citizens United, like Plessey v. Ferguson is a historic error. Separate is not equal, and money does not equal free speech. With Citizens United, the wealthy in this country have been given a license to plunder public revenues and divert more to their own uses and less to the now deprived population that is suffering almost 4 decades of depressed income. Democrats have joined Republicans as they have been caused to court the moneyed interests for campaign funds. Its no wonder the people feel abandoned and were ripe for a Trump to come along and make the con.
Obama had steady headwinds from the Party of Wealth, the GOP and did not reverse the tide much at all, which created the disillusionment that led to the Trump take over of the Government. Citizens United, like Plessey v. Ferguson is a historic error. Separate is not equal, and money does not equal free speech. With Citizens United, the wealthy in this country have been given a license to plunder public revenues and divert more to their own uses and less to the now deprived population that is suffering almost 4 decades of depressed income. Democrats have joined Republicans as they have been caused to court the moneyed interests for campaign funds. Its no wonder the people feel abandoned and were ripe for a Trump to come along and make the con.
9
I agree that a stable middle class life should be possible without a bachelor's degree, and I take exception to statements to the contrary, that it doesn't seem reasonable to expect that without the skills that come with a university education. I have two children, 6 years apart in age. The oldest went to our public university and graduated with his bachelor's degree. The youngest, unsure what she wants to study, and terrified of racking up student debt she might not be able to pay off, went immediately to full time work. At 21, I find her to be just as mature and responsible, every bit as much of a problem solver and critical thinker as her brother was at this age, at the end of three years of college. Given how many graduates are working in the same jobs my daughter is, what is the incentive for her to go to college? She at least is free of the debt they are struggling under. Yes, her brother and his wife each probably make double what she does, but have mortgage size student debt weighing on them. And then the health insurance piece. The only true solution to the Democrats getting their mojo back is to become the Progressive party and push hard for single payer Universal health care. Once young people in particular are no longer limited by job choices determined by the best offer of health care benefits, they'll be freed to go where they can do their best and most creative work, and that will benefit us all.
12
Anecdotes only go so far Beth. YOUR daughter may be mature and a good problem solver. I would say she is the exception. For most people, that college education stays with them their whole life, making them able to thrive and adapt. Now that crushing burden of college dept is something else altogether.
At the state college where I teach, I think more of my fellow adjuncts who teach out of desire and need, give 100% of ourselves to unappreciative students and despite our higher educations struggle on a daily basis to feed, shelter and cloth ourselves. As a graduate of an elite university presently teaching at a low-end one, the issue is not education. The opportunity to obtain a higher education is a privilege not a right and should be reserved for those have the intellect and desire to obtain it. We need to make a distinction between vocational training and higher education. But most importantly, as a society and culture, we need to value age, experience, intellect and accomplishments, close the outrageous income gap - not just by 'education' but by opportunity for all and a fair tax structure. Quite honestly, I don't think either party 'gets' it.
17
DEMOCRATS Heed these words of advice well. Your path back to political power is going back to your roots in support of labor. Infrastructure updating and repair is a good place to start, because it would generate many of the promised jobs Trump promised, but now ignores, as he does with all of his promises. Howard Dean, a Democratic also ran as VEEP got it right when he reinitiated a 50 state part base for the Democrats which has clearly been abandoned as of late. The states with low populations and many powerful votes in the electoral college must be engaged by the Democrats, lest they condemn the party to irrelevancy for the foreseeable future. They must dig in and get busy reestablishing the 50 state strategy begun by Dean immediately. It is not too early to begin reviving the grass roots and labor movements that are the core programs championed by the Democrats. Hillary made a politically fatal error by focusing more on her own record of achievement, which has been brilliant, while neglecting to emphasize her blue collar roots.
7
Amen!
Yes, It's time to view a four-year college education the same way we view K-12--totally funded by the public. The problem is political with Republicans and many Democratic governors adamantly opposed to the higher taxes required to pay for it. One neglected possibility is to require all students including medical students to pay it back through a mandatory four years of public service. Our public schools need more teachers and the VA needs more doctors, for example. This could be a win-win for ending the student debt crisis and go a long way to really "Make America Great Again."
3
Not sure this as simply proposed here culd ever be sold. BUT there is a nut of an idea. I have often contended that a post high school graduate program of required governmental service would be beneficial both to the individual and to the country (at federal, state , county and/or local levels) This could be iin a military, civil service type position dedicated to restoring infrastructure, educational support jobs, V.A support jobs, etc. I think most of us would agree that few high school graduates have the proper appreciation for immediate post high school education or training and waste time and resources in immediately pursuing such. This program would give the participants a greater appreciation of both what it is like to work a 40 hour week and for what more knowledge or learned skills would do for them. Then at the end of that term of service they are eligable for something similar to the GI bill to cover college and/or vocational training.
Several countries do have such required government service and although I have truthfully not researched it, it seems to work for them.
Several countries do have such required government service and although I have truthfully not researched it, it seems to work for them.
In case y'all have forgotten, those jobs that provided for a middle class existence without requiring a four year degree, didn't exist until the Flint sit down strikes of the '30's and the rise of a unionism that extracted a share of the profits for those that were responsible for creating those profits. Auytoworker and manufacturing jobs back then were just like fast food/service jobs today, the only way to scratch out a meagre, tenuous existence if you were lucky.
The solution is obvious.
The solution is obvious.
14
Don't confuse not having a 4-year degree with a skills gap. Hearding people into a 4-year degree (more like 6 years for most students and piles of debt) is not the answer. We need to get people skilled up. The 4-year degree is kind of an elitist approach. We really don't need that many people with degrees unless it's in STEM areas. We could use more trades people and skilled manufacturing workers. Even programming does not require a degree. We could use more small farmers who understand sustainable agriculture to support the local food movement.
The problem is that a lot of people just don't have the grey matter or motivation to learn the necessary skills. There have always been these unwashed masses throughout human history, but only in the modern era have they been able to vote.
The problem is that a lot of people just don't have the grey matter or motivation to learn the necessary skills. There have always been these unwashed masses throughout human history, but only in the modern era have they been able to vote.
5
I completely disagree. I have known many engineers, but I have not met one who is smarter or better educated than me-- a (in your view) lowly liberal arts grad. It is not elitist to study history, music, literature-- those students become a valuable part of the tapestry of a cultured and civilized nation. Your other points are well-taken, but they are minimized by this denigration of the classic college education. Mine serves me well every day.
1
Several others have asked whether "a stable middle-class life should be possible without a batchelor's degree" ... and I agree that this proposition is not automatic at all in our current world.
It would be much more informative to ask "what will it take to make that possible?" None of "meaningful, well-paying work and afford health care, child care and retirement" come cheap.
Germany and the Scandinavian countries do it much better than we do ... at a price. The German apprenticeship system has been effective, but is apparently in some decline. All of the western European countries have higher unemployment of the young than the US does, France particularly.
"Creating millions of good-paying jobs" won't be easy or automatic, even if one has the will ... and the redistribution ... to do it.
And all of this confronts the "what's the matter with Kansas?" problem. The people Democrats would like to help, sure don't want that help. As things get worse and worse they've turned to Trump, and even though Trump isn't doing any of the things he promised he would do, they still support him.
The only thing that Trump does do for them is mock Democrats. That appears to be sufficient.
It would be much more informative to ask "what will it take to make that possible?" None of "meaningful, well-paying work and afford health care, child care and retirement" come cheap.
Germany and the Scandinavian countries do it much better than we do ... at a price. The German apprenticeship system has been effective, but is apparently in some decline. All of the western European countries have higher unemployment of the young than the US does, France particularly.
"Creating millions of good-paying jobs" won't be easy or automatic, even if one has the will ... and the redistribution ... to do it.
And all of this confronts the "what's the matter with Kansas?" problem. The people Democrats would like to help, sure don't want that help. As things get worse and worse they've turned to Trump, and even though Trump isn't doing any of the things he promised he would do, they still support him.
The only thing that Trump does do for them is mock Democrats. That appears to be sufficient.
4
So long as they use language like "excesses of the left" in describing the policies that pertain to free college for all and medicare for all and truly progressive policies that works in the rest of the developed world, Democrats will lose, and lose again they must (though I shudder to think of the alternative). The very first thing for Democrats to win is to jettison the policies and the people of the Clintonian past. That is history (a very bad one). Lose them. And their policies. And then, you will win.
3
Try hiring a skilled trades person these days. It's tough! Four-year college liberal arts degrees are definitely needed, but where are the two-year community college grads or the apprentice (whatever that is) who's into HVAC and plumbing? I've been forced to resuscitate old soldering skills and obtaining parts off eBay just to get by. The money is there, the skills are scarce. I won't even go on about the lack of young kids willing to shovel my drive for cash in hand. I'm worn out and on the verge of shouting at those kids to put down their cellphones and get off my lawn.
5
This writer neglects the 'mine is bigger/greed is good' problem in college education, which - under the Larry Summers model of overbuilding, expansion, and corporate-management salary packages (& underpaid 'associates' and staff) - shifted the focus of education to a revenue model, increasingly unaffordable (and irrelevant) to actual student needs. For generations in the US, education was the fastest way to 'jump class'. Now, young people have to decide if $200,000 worth of college debt is worth 4 years of sitting in classrooms with teachers of varying quality, effectiveness, relevance. Technology has created a huge learning track; but many students/future employees find 'non-traditional' routes to training & employment.
Another issue is infrastructure: though we've made good progress offering tech/trade training opportunities in high schools, there's disregard, or entrenched classism for, or taking for granted of plumbing, electricity, construction, heavy equipment -- the 'trades' - the foundation upon which everything rests. Hedge-fund oligarchs must flush like everyone else. Are the 'liberal arts' - long cherished as the foundations of civilization - more important than municipal sewage design and function? Maybe if Summers had included a 'Plumbing and Heating' school in his 'mine is bigger' Allston campus scheme, we could have had some actual useful training/employment going on instead of taking 10+ years to figure out what to do with the place. Time for a new model.
Another issue is infrastructure: though we've made good progress offering tech/trade training opportunities in high schools, there's disregard, or entrenched classism for, or taking for granted of plumbing, electricity, construction, heavy equipment -- the 'trades' - the foundation upon which everything rests. Hedge-fund oligarchs must flush like everyone else. Are the 'liberal arts' - long cherished as the foundations of civilization - more important than municipal sewage design and function? Maybe if Summers had included a 'Plumbing and Heating' school in his 'mine is bigger' Allston campus scheme, we could have had some actual useful training/employment going on instead of taking 10+ years to figure out what to do with the place. Time for a new model.
3
And you don't even have to be educationally qualified to get into Harvard. Jerod or jered or whatever Kushner was not academically qualified to attend Harvard. No problem. Daddy gives $2,000,000 to Harvard and presto, little Jared has a seat at Harvard. Of course that meant that a qualified student without a rich daddy just lost that seat. As the song in Cabaret says, "money, money,money makes the world go round."
The most encouraging thing about this opinion piece and even a good share of the comments is that it for the most part abandons the current liberal/Democratic approach of attack attack attack and actually makes several several positive proposals for solviing problems. Whether or not one fully agrees with those proposals is almost beside the point. It is a refreshing change for even those of us with a more conservative viewpint that there are some who recognize that the attack to other guy's agenda approach rather than proposing your own was a major contributor to the election disaster suffered at all levels of government in the last election. And that was also very instrumental in driving the Republican party to selecting Donald Trump out of the many other qualified candiadates tobe their standard bearer.
As much as it may surprise the more extreme liberals, there are many of us more moderate conservatives who recognize rhe importance of America maintaining a viable two party system. Hopefully more folk who lean toward the Democratic party can awaken to the reality that doing so depends on them offering their own agenda rather than wasting so much time demonizing the other guy's.
As much as it may surprise the more extreme liberals, there are many of us more moderate conservatives who recognize rhe importance of America maintaining a viable two party system. Hopefully more folk who lean toward the Democratic party can awaken to the reality that doing so depends on them offering their own agenda rather than wasting so much time demonizing the other guy's.
3
Democrats have always been offering positive agendas to help the working class. What they are mad about is Republican opposition to everything Democrats propose.
4
Here's the problem. 40 years ago, my Dad gave us a good middle class life style. Six kids and Dad without a college degree made about $45,000/year. Mom didn't work. Now 40 years later, with just 3 kids, it takes $120,000/year to maintain the same middle class lifestyle. Costs of everything, particularly college and health care have gone up exponentially, but incomes have stayed flat. The median income in my State is still $42,000.
Public policy since 1980 has been to keep wages low so as to prevent wage inflation that so racked the end of the progressive era in the late 1970s and generated 20% interest and double digit inflation. Low middle class wages means depressed tax revenue to all levels of government and meeting the cost of living have been met by borrowing on the credit card, making people slaves to the banks and creditors.
Public policy since 1980 has been to keep wages low so as to prevent wage inflation that so racked the end of the progressive era in the late 1970s and generated 20% interest and double digit inflation. Low middle class wages means depressed tax revenue to all levels of government and meeting the cost of living have been met by borrowing on the credit card, making people slaves to the banks and creditors.
7
This baffles me! Where have you been during the whole debacle of the democratic nomination when Bernie Sanders was shoved aside? Everything you say in this article agrees with the Sanders agenda and what people like Robert Reich have been shouting from the rooftops all through the last several years. They have already done all the groundwork, we just have to acknowledge them and build on it and then get to work reshaping the democratic party and allow it to become progressive and functioning and inclusive.
8
Well, duh. Not everyone should even attempt to get a " degree". All those folks with MANY thousands of dollars of student loans and a degree in communications, marketing or " American Studies" are working at Starbucks, IF they're lucky. My father was a plumber, and did very well. I personally love to do plumbing jobs, in my house. Technical and trade jobs are the road to the middle class, alone with Unions. Yes, that dreaded word. I personally have much more admiration for a tradesperson, doing an honest and USEFUL job, than any number of folks with a useless, vanity " degree". And guess who usually ends up paying for that degree, in one form or another???? Yes, the taxpayer. Decent, well run vocational programs and Apprenticeships are the road to Success, and a very worthwhile return on the investment. Give me a reliable plumber, electrician or housepainter, any day. That's what I NEED. And that's what the many millions of aging boomers will desperately need, and use.
3
One thing I discovered many years ago was this: Whether you are college educated or not is that people at work want something that they are too rarely given, namely, respect for the work they do and for who they are as a person. It is so simple to recognize and yet day after day we overlook it.
My admiration for those who deliver the goods whether to me as a person or to millions of others deserves that respect far more than a CEO; ever notice over the years
the reliability of newspaper deliveries, the mail, the courtesy and smile of retail personnel, the expertise of your mechanic, the manufacture of your goods. The real irony is showing such respect doesn't cost one dime - just a moment of your time.
Here is another thought: Many of the people who voted for the current president likely would never have done so had they felt the people of this country respected them for the work they did and for the dignity of who they are. And we all would be better off today.
My admiration for those who deliver the goods whether to me as a person or to millions of others deserves that respect far more than a CEO; ever notice over the years
the reliability of newspaper deliveries, the mail, the courtesy and smile of retail personnel, the expertise of your mechanic, the manufacture of your goods. The real irony is showing such respect doesn't cost one dime - just a moment of your time.
Here is another thought: Many of the people who voted for the current president likely would never have done so had they felt the people of this country respected them for the work they did and for the dignity of who they are. And we all would be better off today.
7
I'm not so sure about this. Hillary Clinton had much better proposals for those without college degrees, but 80,000 voters across three states thought the guy who fired people on a reality TV show was a better choice.
2
So true Brondosan! Those 80,000 voters are classic low info voters-- they are taken in by Fox right-wing propaganda, they are fodder for a demagogue, they lack the critical thinking skills to discern the flaws of hillary from the nothingness and perhaps evil of trump. No wonder trump and the GOP like "the uneducated!" It's a winning strategy.
Mr. Leonhardt writes, "The first would be improving the lives of those who will never have those degrees — ensuring they can find meaningful, well-paying work and afford health care, child care and retirement. A stable middle-class life should be possible without a bachelor’s degree."
A good middle-class life IS possible without a bachelor's degree. The trades need skilled craftspeople badly. These are painters, electricians, carpenters, masons, all the folks who we depend on to do quality work. These are very good paying jobs. The green, renewable energy sector could also provide those jobs if Republicans would just get out of the way. Then there is infrastructure. The list goes on and on. I cannot find a reputable chimney sweep to save my soul!
I have an advanced degree but I have great respect for people who fix my plumbing or wire up my kitchen. I have no "elitist" misconceptions in that I view us as equals. So why do so many people not look to the trades? I live in an area where there is a great deal of poverty and I see a lot of people (mostly white) with no drive or ambition. Their kids have no desire to learn and dumb down the classrooms for those who want to excel.
You can only lead a horse to water...
People who support Trump do so because he makes them feel okay about being dumb and lazy. He tells them there is no shame in that. It is that simple.
A good middle-class life IS possible without a bachelor's degree. The trades need skilled craftspeople badly. These are painters, electricians, carpenters, masons, all the folks who we depend on to do quality work. These are very good paying jobs. The green, renewable energy sector could also provide those jobs if Republicans would just get out of the way. Then there is infrastructure. The list goes on and on. I cannot find a reputable chimney sweep to save my soul!
I have an advanced degree but I have great respect for people who fix my plumbing or wire up my kitchen. I have no "elitist" misconceptions in that I view us as equals. So why do so many people not look to the trades? I live in an area where there is a great deal of poverty and I see a lot of people (mostly white) with no drive or ambition. Their kids have no desire to learn and dumb down the classrooms for those who want to excel.
You can only lead a horse to water...
People who support Trump do so because he makes them feel okay about being dumb and lazy. He tells them there is no shame in that. It is that simple.
3
"So why do so many people not look to the trades?"
Undercut by off-the-books labor.
Undercut by off-the-books labor.
2
So many words. So few ideas. As long as the Democratic party continues to focus on "identity" politics it will consign itsel to a permanent also ran status. Fringe issues regarding gender pronouns, public bathrooms, political correctness that transcends common sense are all turnoffs to the vast majority of Americans. Jobs, health, a fair playing field, and real -- not sham -- education reform where teachers are paid as professionals, not as daycare keepers, and the revitalization of workers' unions will galvanize the under represented working people of this country. Bill Clinton's "3rd way" was a gross sell out of traditional grassroots concerns to the concerns of the Democratic leadership who wanted easier access to corporate funding for their continual re-election campaigns. He got the money, lost the soul. i was once a life long Democrat, but then was when they were Democrats, not Republican lite.
7
I loved the 90s and I give Clinton much credit for the success and fun of the 90s. It was the last time america felt like a "great" place to me. No sell-out at all.
If Bernie Sanders and Eizabeth Warren had been on the ticket, or vice versa, we would have adults in the White House instead of an alternative reality nightmare. HRC was not inspirational, nor are Pelosi or Schumer. Free education, yes; it would help greatly in creating a smarter electorate as opposed to one that buys snake oil from a conman. If more people read the Economist, particularly this week's cover story, they would realize that U.S. manufacturing jobs will never come back because robots have replaced people; coal mines will never reopen because natural gas is cheaper than coal; even a bachelor's degree is not enough to keep up with the rapid advance of technology, and Trumponomics will never succeed in turning back the clock to the 1950s because the global economy is here to stay -- whether we're in it or not.
8
The Democrats could get their mojo back by returning to their roots by striving to enhance the welfare of average Americans with such programs as Social Security and Medicare. Something is amiss when the leaders of the party concentrate instead on getting personally rich by giving expensive speeches to plutocrats.
1
Well, if we want "affordable" college we need to start looking at the expense side as well at the financial aid aspect of higher education. We CANNOT survive with higher education costs rising faster than ANY OTHER part of the US economy. Period.
(1) Completely agree;
(2) Under present management and self-regard- fat chance. The present generation of Democratic leaders are fat cats or their wannabe cousins. The utter inability of the Party to kick that habit, even after the shameful and disastrous treatment of Bernie Sanders, makes my point more eloquently than any argument could.
Who shall rid them of their obsequy to pestilent plutocrats? Not they.
What the Democratic party needs is a thorough housecleaning and coat of high quality, fresh paint. But the Relevant Ladies don't do housecleaning. They'd rather be the Misses Havisham of the Democratic party. Precluding any Great Expectations.
Must politics, as physics was once said to do, progress one funeral at a time? If so, one prays earnestly for the Blessed and Speedy Release of Some.
(2) Under present management and self-regard- fat chance. The present generation of Democratic leaders are fat cats or their wannabe cousins. The utter inability of the Party to kick that habit, even after the shameful and disastrous treatment of Bernie Sanders, makes my point more eloquently than any argument could.
Who shall rid them of their obsequy to pestilent plutocrats? Not they.
What the Democratic party needs is a thorough housecleaning and coat of high quality, fresh paint. But the Relevant Ladies don't do housecleaning. They'd rather be the Misses Havisham of the Democratic party. Precluding any Great Expectations.
Must politics, as physics was once said to do, progress one funeral at a time? If so, one prays earnestly for the Blessed and Speedy Release of Some.
1
Democrats' outreach to the working class must include farmers—not just because agriculture happens in red states, but because farmers feed us.
Trump's proposed 21 percent cut to discretionary spending at the US Department of Agriculture was historic, as was the length of time it took him to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture. He does not seem to care much about farmers. We all must.
I would love to see Democrats become the party that knows ag policy cold.
Let's extend farmers real help in fighting the corporatization of the food system—as we support their health care, their children's education, and their job access in other sectors.
Maize and mojo? Just maybe!
Trump's proposed 21 percent cut to discretionary spending at the US Department of Agriculture was historic, as was the length of time it took him to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture. He does not seem to care much about farmers. We all must.
I would love to see Democrats become the party that knows ag policy cold.
Let's extend farmers real help in fighting the corporatization of the food system—as we support their health care, their children's education, and their job access in other sectors.
Maize and mojo? Just maybe!
1
This is the Democratic party I grew up with. Mother worked hard for that party, volunteering at Planned Parenthood, Art associations, PTA, Church. She took census, worked on local, state, and national elections.
My family cried hallelujah when LBJ signed the civil rights act of 1964. As a young bride I learned to make salads without lettuce knowing that the people who gathered that bounty needed help. I watched Watergate on television pregnant with my first child, her dad overseas with the military. My grandchildren stayed up to see the country elect the first black President. My husband taught at the poorest school in town, that always gave the most to the Thanksgiving can drive because people who are hungry understand want.
I don't understand an America riddled by hate. Since last November I have been scared, saddened, confused, and heartbroken. It's time for American patriots to do the right thing for our citizens. Not for gain, but because it is the right thing to do.
My family cried hallelujah when LBJ signed the civil rights act of 1964. As a young bride I learned to make salads without lettuce knowing that the people who gathered that bounty needed help. I watched Watergate on television pregnant with my first child, her dad overseas with the military. My grandchildren stayed up to see the country elect the first black President. My husband taught at the poorest school in town, that always gave the most to the Thanksgiving can drive because people who are hungry understand want.
I don't understand an America riddled by hate. Since last November I have been scared, saddened, confused, and heartbroken. It's time for American patriots to do the right thing for our citizens. Not for gain, but because it is the right thing to do.
3
The state college where I teach is full of 'students' who have no business being in college. While it is a legitimate state school, it is as much of a scam as any other vocational school. Lower income individuals are encouraged to apply and obtain financial aid - many of whom desperately depend on it for survival (not education) and the college receives funding based on graduation and job rates. We are encouraged not to fail any student and disrupt this equation - regardless of their performance. Nowhere does the issue of education, intellect and desire enter the picture. Apparently admission to this school, requires the ability to mark an 'x' on paper and fog a mirror held up to a mouth (or other orifice). The overwhelming majority of the students I teach are lazy, unmotivated, clueless, unkempt and dumb. They have no interest in learning, they lack basic skills and curiosity, they have low intellects, little discipline and respect. The overwhelming majority of professors are adjuncts like myself, highly educated and accomplished and paid poverty level wages while trying to find methods to engage students who do not belong in a college classroom in the first place. The idea that any of these students should receive a 'free' education is a laughably deplorable thought. I genuinely believe that every individual has the right to reach their highest potential, but I think more of my fellow adjuncts whose lives were horribly torn apart during the recession
2
This is definitely part of the answer, but not all of it. According to an article in the Atlantic, cultural axiety, not just economic anxiety, was a large factor in Trump getting the win. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/white-working-class...
What this says to me is that people who feel marginalized would much rather blame immigrants and minorities for their economic woes than take advantage of the equivalent of a GI Bill to get a degree, or at least get re-trained for a different trade or marketable skill. Further, culture is a major factor in men not taking traditionally women-dominated jobs in fields like healthcare or senior care, even if the pay is good. Their masculinity is at stake, and guys like that tend to dig in to their entrenched ways. As true in Applachia as it is in the inner cities.
Economics is not an easy fix, but it's doable. Changing how men feel about themselves and their work is a tougher nut to crack and may take generations.
What this says to me is that people who feel marginalized would much rather blame immigrants and minorities for their economic woes than take advantage of the equivalent of a GI Bill to get a degree, or at least get re-trained for a different trade or marketable skill. Further, culture is a major factor in men not taking traditionally women-dominated jobs in fields like healthcare or senior care, even if the pay is good. Their masculinity is at stake, and guys like that tend to dig in to their entrenched ways. As true in Applachia as it is in the inner cities.
Economics is not an easy fix, but it's doable. Changing how men feel about themselves and their work is a tougher nut to crack and may take generations.
2
I'm a lifelong Democrat, but consider myself more an Independent Progressive these days.
I saw Pelosi on CNN last night. She certainly can complicate the most simple issues with babble. Her thanking the participants is gratuitous and comes across as not being real. I am certain that there are other women out there that can be much better a explaining positions. I had the same thoughts about Harry Reid. Talk about nonsensical babble. It is time for some younger blood. Time to move on Dems...
I saw Pelosi on CNN last night. She certainly can complicate the most simple issues with babble. Her thanking the participants is gratuitous and comes across as not being real. I am certain that there are other women out there that can be much better a explaining positions. I had the same thoughts about Harry Reid. Talk about nonsensical babble. It is time for some younger blood. Time to move on Dems...
3
The entire Democratic platform is geared toward helping people without college degrees, from health care to child care to education funding to you name it, but they continue to vote against their own self-interest. The truth is they get their news from a biased source and follow the tribal call to remain conservative and vote conservative. There is no message for them because they won't listen, that is, until their economic life is so bitter they turn away from their long-held beliefs.
1
"The second would be helping more people earn degrees and enjoy their benefits. There is something about college — the actual learning, as well as the required discipline and initiative — that seems to prepare people for adult success."
This misses the point that adult success in this society has much more to do with the socioeconomic status of one's family than with whether one goes to college. America's elite start socializing their offspring with their values, attitudes and beliefs virtually from the moment they are born. Then there are the connections elite youth make with mommy and daddy's friends and associates, connections that acculturate this privileged cohort and give them exclusive advantages in the difficult task of getting established.
By the time they get to college, the sons and daughters of successful lawyers, doctors, engineers, politicians, policy makers, academics, entrepreneurs, and other winners in our so-called meritocracy are so far ahead of middle class kids that for them college is just a way to expand their network and cement their socialization into the upper middle class as opposed to actually learning any marketable skills.
What the nation needs isn't necessarily more college graduates but a way for young people from modest backgrounds to develop the cultural savvy and the sort of networks that will allow them to hit the ground running on graduation day.
This misses the point that adult success in this society has much more to do with the socioeconomic status of one's family than with whether one goes to college. America's elite start socializing their offspring with their values, attitudes and beliefs virtually from the moment they are born. Then there are the connections elite youth make with mommy and daddy's friends and associates, connections that acculturate this privileged cohort and give them exclusive advantages in the difficult task of getting established.
By the time they get to college, the sons and daughters of successful lawyers, doctors, engineers, politicians, policy makers, academics, entrepreneurs, and other winners in our so-called meritocracy are so far ahead of middle class kids that for them college is just a way to expand their network and cement their socialization into the upper middle class as opposed to actually learning any marketable skills.
What the nation needs isn't necessarily more college graduates but a way for young people from modest backgrounds to develop the cultural savvy and the sort of networks that will allow them to hit the ground running on graduation day.
What the Republicans give the electorate is fringe issues, religion, abortion and guns. The electorate is to dumb to see that the rest of their platform is not in their best interests.
In reality the Democratic platform has always been better for the working class, remember Unions and minimum wage?
What will it take to make the electorate choose more wisely, certainly not Kansas.
In reality the Democratic platform has always been better for the working class, remember Unions and minimum wage?
What will it take to make the electorate choose more wisely, certainly not Kansas.
The governments of all blue states should favor and support any and all actions and ideas which attract workers (both skilled and non skilled) to their states. By creating a worker drain from red states (which will take a while, granted) and making it far easier, healthier, and financially more stable to live and work in blue states, gradually the red states will catch on and those left will change their ways.
The carrot always works better than the stick.
The carrot always works better than the stick.
"He is trying to take health insurance away from millions of Americans, while lavishing tax cuts on the affluent."
This is what happens when you try to create a society totally dependent upon a paternalistic government.
This is what happens when you try to create a society totally dependent upon a paternalistic government.
Democrats have lost the white working class vote, despite the fact that conservative policies hurt those very same people.
No one is in favor of racism, but a campaign based on appealing only to minorities is a losing proposition. Democrats must be more inclusive and more about economics than social injustice.
No one is in favor of racism, but a campaign based on appealing only to minorities is a losing proposition. Democrats must be more inclusive and more about economics than social injustice.
1
A quick review of comments reveals many of the usual anti-government, private sector glorification that is as silly as unrealistic. I think there is victory in jobs, health care for all, and full recreational marijuana.
I often read these OP-Ed pieces claiming that a path to a better life is through higher education. Unfortunately, this is not accurate. I have a distinct perspective having graduated from an elite university and presently teach at a low-end community college - in the midst of converting to a state college. Despite my educational advantages and what I thought was a worthwhile career that I worked exceedingly hard at, like many other middle-aged highly accomplished woman, I lost everything during the past economic crisis including my home, my career, my income, my savings and my dignity. Despite a well-above average intellect and owning a successful business, like many other woman of a certain age, I am subjected to age and gender discrimination on almost a daily basis. A type of bias - that shockingly and sadly, seems to never draw any attention despite its overwhelming presence. My elite education has left me impoverished and is disdained in areas where at one time, it was revered. I see this in other middle-aged woman on a constant basis - where we are now told - our value is only to teach or sell and that we are no longer 'qualified' to remain in our professions, professions where we have honed enormous skills and experience and where we still excel. As for the college where I teach, it is full of 'students' who have no business being in college either due to lack of intellect or interest. (cont. in next comment)
1
Nope. The Media-Democratic Party suicide pact is pretty much settled science at this point. Per RCP model, as Trump stand in mid forties he'll comfortably gain GOP seats, and raising above fifty percent he'll be filibuster proof. For GOP to loose seats Trump must be pushed to two-thirds disapproval (not that you won't keep trying).
Easy. They can stop selling their mojo to the highest bidder.
2
"Finding those solutions is the right thing to do, and it’s the path back to power for Democrats."
Democrats are never going to find the path with Nancy Pelosi out in front. Her performance last night on the CNN town hall was pitiful. She was asked honest questions anyone should have anticipated and prepared for. She was unable to string together intelligible responses at times and didn't really answer some questions. I am referring to sentence fragments, broken speech... (I felt terrible for this one terminally ill woman who got a strange non-answer to her healthcare question, who must now be thinking its over for her... ) Wow, the whole affair was really sad!
Democrats are never going to find the path with Nancy Pelosi out in front. Her performance last night on the CNN town hall was pitiful. She was asked honest questions anyone should have anticipated and prepared for. She was unable to string together intelligible responses at times and didn't really answer some questions. I am referring to sentence fragments, broken speech... (I felt terrible for this one terminally ill woman who got a strange non-answer to her healthcare question, who must now be thinking its over for her... ) Wow, the whole affair was really sad!
1
Hey, now. Let's get every last one of us into a four-year college! For our citizens who are severely low-functioning or have mental illnesses, here are a few majors (offered by a big-gun university) that might be possibilities:
Advertising and Public Relations; African-American Studies; Women's Studies (but no Men's Studies); African Studies (different from African-American Studies, I'd guess); Asian Studies (but no South American Studies, so far); Athletic Training (?); Communication (reminds me of The New School's once-offered "Remedial Creative Writing"); Corporate Communication (different from the regular, one supposes); and (can you believe?) "Golf Management."
I quit looking after I got to the G's, but there surely is some absurd college major for everyone on the list. (Well, maybe not Trump voters.)
Advertising and Public Relations; African-American Studies; Women's Studies (but no Men's Studies); African Studies (different from African-American Studies, I'd guess); Asian Studies (but no South American Studies, so far); Athletic Training (?); Communication (reminds me of The New School's once-offered "Remedial Creative Writing"); Corporate Communication (different from the regular, one supposes); and (can you believe?) "Golf Management."
I quit looking after I got to the G's, but there surely is some absurd college major for everyone on the list. (Well, maybe not Trump voters.)
Sure hope that democrats come roaring back, not only by showing the demagogic nonsense spewed by crooked lying Trump, but by fully embracing, with the high emotional feeling that true passion confers, a progressive agenda 'a la Bernie Sanders', seeking job assurance via free education and health care...and supported by well structured taxes, fair to everybody, so our government can function as intended, social safety net included, and starting with the urgent need to re-build our infra-structure, provide funds for R & D, and expand our values to the world for peace and justice, for a strong diplomatic force that makes using brute force a thing of the past. Unbeknownst to him, incompetent and corrupt Trump is accelerating the process of self-destruction, if only a strong democratic party seizes the opportunities a feckless G.O.P. is handing us over on a silver platter. Our globalized economy, and a revolution in digital technology, will not wait for us...if we choose to remain stagnant; so, while contributing to its progress, we must remain cognizant, and provide for, those left behind. There is no other way. The republicans, thus far, are failing miserably in offering solutions, they only excel in creating more problems, out of an arrogant ignorance of the facts, and a make-believe fantasy of neglect when the needs arise, when proper action is required.
40
No more compromising. No more moving to the center. No more "reaching out". Democrats have done this for the past thirty years, and we now see exactly where this has gotten us. Half of the electorate who expect -- indeed, believe they are entitled -- to roll back civil rights and equal rights laws for minorities and women and the LGBTQ community, to reverse Roe v Wade, to dismantle our once fine public education system, and to insert their Christian fundamentalism into not only our government, but also every aspect to our daily lives. Democrats, fight for your base, for a change. It's worked pretty darned well for your opponents.
116
You're making some mistakes IMO: 1) assuming that your base is large enough to ride you to victory, and 2) assuming that people in the middle are not so disgusted with your base that a direct appeal to said base would not alienate swing voters in swing states. When many Democrats imagine their base, they think only of the good: people who want to help the poor, and make this a more inclusive society. But when many people in swing states see your base, they see increasingly fascistic, narrow-minded people from hyper-privileged backgrounds who have contempt for, and actively demonize, their way of life.
2
" to roll back civil rights and equal rights laws for minorities and women and the LGBTQ community"
Never forget that 53% of white women voted for Trump and 92% of minority women voted against Trump. Women has a collective term doesn't mean much any more.
Never forget that 53% of white women voted for Trump and 92% of minority women voted against Trump. Women has a collective term doesn't mean much any more.
1
Hear! Hear! Fight for the base! And most importantly take the fight LEFT! If you build it they will come!
2
For the Democratic party to get going, it needs to care for those outside the large urban centers, where the base of its voters live.
I see few signs of it. The most powerful Democrats Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco) and Charles Schumer (NY City) have no emotional connection to rural areas and small cities and ordinary Americans working with their hands to earn a living.
Their only connection to working Americans are contacts with public unions, organizations that depend on public money and trade pension benefits for votes. A first step for Democrats would be to connect with real unions, where workers are pitched against the owners of capital - capital that constantly tries to shifts work to low wage countries.
I see few signs of it. The most powerful Democrats Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco) and Charles Schumer (NY City) have no emotional connection to rural areas and small cities and ordinary Americans working with their hands to earn a living.
Their only connection to working Americans are contacts with public unions, organizations that depend on public money and trade pension benefits for votes. A first step for Democrats would be to connect with real unions, where workers are pitched against the owners of capital - capital that constantly tries to shifts work to low wage countries.
3
The Democratic Party needs new leadership and new goals - or actually it needs to abandon the goals of neoliberalism and corporate globalization that the Clintons exemplify and return to the general objectives of the New Deal and Great Society.
Low-cost college is a worthy goal - it exists in most other countries and existed previously in this country. But it is not magic - salaries for new graduates have also been stagnant as most income increase has gone to the 1%.
The answer is not restoring "the dignity of work" it is restoring jobs and income for working people. There need to be major changes in the power given to big banking and finance and international corporations and the way that American workers have been thrown into competition with low-wage workers in other countries.
Low-cost college is a worthy goal - it exists in most other countries and existed previously in this country. But it is not magic - salaries for new graduates have also been stagnant as most income increase has gone to the 1%.
The answer is not restoring "the dignity of work" it is restoring jobs and income for working people. There need to be major changes in the power given to big banking and finance and international corporations and the way that American workers have been thrown into competition with low-wage workers in other countries.
33
skeptominist--Justice Democrats, 21st Century Democrats, Our Revolution--pick one, fellow Democrats. These are Dems who are NOT taking corporate money, who are going back to grassroots politicing, and representing the OTHER half of our population. New leadership, NOT Pelosi, Schumer, Booker, Schultz, Manson, and other Republicans-LITE. We, the people, have had enough. We are DEMOCRATS, not Republicrooks.
1
ChesBay--...that should be Manchin, from WV. Sorry.
1
Finally, an article acknowledging the extent of losses by Democrats and some suggestions on how to turn the tide. Talking the talk is one thing, walking the walk is another, look at the task before the Democrats:
https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/house
Outposts and strips of blue in a sea of red. I agree that some sense of economic security is the key to voter support, jobs, but that also means being able to prioritize the many issues that a larger coalition would demand. It should be clear by now that it doesn't matter how right you believe yourself to be if you have no means to implement changes, it really is about being in office to start with.
Demonstrate that Democrats are not only better educated, but that they can benefit from it. Being data driven, rational, and being able to accept the fact if voters don’t hear what you are saying you won't be able to reach them. Get out of the echo chamber, bashing Trump is like some pressing a button over and over for some sort of reward in a laboratory experiment. There is a lot of country to speak to, start in your own state.
https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/house
Outposts and strips of blue in a sea of red. I agree that some sense of economic security is the key to voter support, jobs, but that also means being able to prioritize the many issues that a larger coalition would demand. It should be clear by now that it doesn't matter how right you believe yourself to be if you have no means to implement changes, it really is about being in office to start with.
Demonstrate that Democrats are not only better educated, but that they can benefit from it. Being data driven, rational, and being able to accept the fact if voters don’t hear what you are saying you won't be able to reach them. Get out of the echo chamber, bashing Trump is like some pressing a button over and over for some sort of reward in a laboratory experiment. There is a lot of country to speak to, start in your own state.
13
"A stable middle-class life should be possible without a bachelor’s degree."
I'm not sure that's realistic. The world is changing faster than ever before. Knowledge is increasing faster than ever before. Technology is influencing and changing life more than ever before. Tomorrow's (and even today's) citizens need the ability to adapt to change and to constantly learn new things. It's not clear that can be done without experience of and practice in learning that is provided by a university education or something very like it.
I'm not sure that's realistic. The world is changing faster than ever before. Knowledge is increasing faster than ever before. Technology is influencing and changing life more than ever before. Tomorrow's (and even today's) citizens need the ability to adapt to change and to constantly learn new things. It's not clear that can be done without experience of and practice in learning that is provided by a university education or something very like it.
9
Actually, stable jobs with good incomes are often best found without degrees in skilled industries like construction, plumbing, being a machinist, an electrician, a carpenter or in HVAC. Real work doing real and necessary things. We need college educated citizens but we also need practical vocational training based on aptitude to be a standard requirement.
2
The skill and adaptability of the work force is not the problem. The problem is a continuation of automation: it began long ago with the redirection of labor from the farm to the city, then office and manufacturing automation, and upcoming, the replacement of drivers of all kinds by autonomous vehicles and Amazon's clerk-free automated shopping, Amazon Go, and expert systems like IBM's Watson. Simply, the private sector is heading toward no longer being the major employer of people. That will be replaced by the public sector with an emphasis on people-centered jobs and the broad public good, not an interest of the bottom-line business model.
But for that to happen, we have to get corporate hands off Congress. There's the rub!
But for that to happen, we have to get corporate hands off Congress. There's the rub!
1
A college degree is often a de facto barrier to employment. There are many ways one can learn white color technical skills and professional demeanor by self teaching, on the job training, military service, mentoring and portfolio development. Such folks are often more motivated, they communicate well to get noticed and open to ideas.
"This new plan is unabashedly left-leaning in its call for the government to help create millions of good-paying jobs."
Increasing the government workforce and absorbing even more of the GDP is a fool's errand. That's been France's policies for decades and their unemployment rate is almost double ours. And blaming the private sector for the lack of "good schools" is fatuous. Last time I looked the bad schools are those already run by governments.
Increasing the government workforce and absorbing even more of the GDP is a fool's errand. That's been France's policies for decades and their unemployment rate is almost double ours. And blaming the private sector for the lack of "good schools" is fatuous. Last time I looked the bad schools are those already run by governments.
3
Infrastructure building, repair and maintenance is largely done through contracts with private business. The government does not increase it's workforce; it increases public investment in needed public utilities and puts that money in circulation in exchange for the things that make this country's GDP rise.
My own experience with private schools has included some pretty wretched situations, due to limited funds, undertrained teachers and an insular nature that allowed for a longterm mediocrity to flourish. Schools are not a lucrative business, especially when their purpose is to serve the entire country. Only the adequately-funded private schools flourish and to put America's schools solely in the hands of private business would cement a class system that goes against everything this country stands for.
Last time I looked, the sheer number of public schools gives the greatest range of success and failure. And the last time I looked, those schools have produced some magnificent citizens.
My own experience with private schools has included some pretty wretched situations, due to limited funds, undertrained teachers and an insular nature that allowed for a longterm mediocrity to flourish. Schools are not a lucrative business, especially when their purpose is to serve the entire country. Only the adequately-funded private schools flourish and to put America's schools solely in the hands of private business would cement a class system that goes against everything this country stands for.
Last time I looked, the sheer number of public schools gives the greatest range of success and failure. And the last time I looked, those schools have produced some magnificent citizens.
If only the Democrats had nominated someone for president who really cared about improving the lives of average Americans, we'd be on our way towards dismantling the racket that healthcare has become. We spend at least 6% of GDP more than our peers and still achieve much worse medical outcomes. Imagine the competitive disadvantage our companies suffer from the excess burden an inefficient healthcare system places upon them. Further imagine what the typical family could do with the extra take home pay once for-profit health insurance is replaced by universal coverage paid for with a value added tax. The DNC and the super delegates should be ashamed of putting their thumb on the scale and for ignoring the reasons Bernie came so close to capturing the nomination despite their opposition.
27
The big "liberal" newspapers should also feel some shame. Here we have yet another column supports Sanders' platform, the same platform that was dismissed by this paper's columnists during the campaign.
1
Message matters, but so do candidates. As a longtime Cardinals fan, I say the way back starts with a strong farm system. Zoning commissions and school boards form the rookie league, town councils Class A. From there it's up to Class AA: mayor or county judge for the executive, state house for the legislative. Then on to Class AAA: governor and state senate, respectively.
One more thing, of course: The organization must be willing to create spots on the big-league roster so that the hottest prospects can move up. If they feel their way is blocked, they may seek a trade or leave the sport altogether.
One more thing, of course: The organization must be willing to create spots on the big-league roster so that the hottest prospects can move up. If they feel their way is blocked, they may seek a trade or leave the sport altogether.
23
"A stable middle-class life should be possible without a bachelor’s degree". This is antiquated thinking. It was possible during the 4-5 decades America was the world's preeminent economic power. This is no longer the case. In today's globalized world, there is no way a western (1st world) standard of living can be guaranteed people with second or third world skills, which accurately describes people with no tertiary education.
The key is ensuring everyone who is reasonably intelligent can obtain a tertiary education, irrespective of their financial situation. A skilled population is the greatest resource a society can have. When financial circumstances prevent people from fully developing their potential skills and capabilities, it's bad for therm and for their country.
America should also adopt European style vocational-technical education at secondary school level, to ensure those who are clearly not going to attend college because they don't have what it takes in terns of academic capabilities can obtain the vocational and technical skills the labor market requires, and thus earn reasonable salaries.
Public healthcare systems should include everyone who does not earn enough to have to pay taxes. Tax credits won't help those who don't pay them because they don't earn enough to be taxpayers.
The key is ensuring everyone who is reasonably intelligent can obtain a tertiary education, irrespective of their financial situation. A skilled population is the greatest resource a society can have. When financial circumstances prevent people from fully developing their potential skills and capabilities, it's bad for therm and for their country.
America should also adopt European style vocational-technical education at secondary school level, to ensure those who are clearly not going to attend college because they don't have what it takes in terns of academic capabilities can obtain the vocational and technical skills the labor market requires, and thus earn reasonable salaries.
Public healthcare systems should include everyone who does not earn enough to have to pay taxes. Tax credits won't help those who don't pay them because they don't earn enough to be taxpayers.
10
I'd suggest as a first step that the two Democratic "leaders", House and Senate, retire and that they be replaced by active, outspoken progressive Democrats who will fight for the working poor and middle class.
Nancy Pelosi has worked her heart out for Democratic values but her time is done. She needs to retire, with all of our best wishes.
Chuck Schumer is a really nice guy but he's past his shelf life and needs to withdraw because he doesn't have the spine to stand up to the Republicans.
Neither one can lead an all-out full court press against the awful people and policies not just of the Trump administration but of the Republican Party.
The outrage felt by most American voters has prompted a new multi-generational band of progressive Democrats, some of them familiar faces and some formerly relatively unknown, to step into the light. Kamala Harris, Ted Lieu, Adam Schiff, Preet Bharara, Keith Ellison, and of course Howard Dean, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and many, many others who are ready to fight to save America.
We need them now more than ever.
Nancy Pelosi has worked her heart out for Democratic values but her time is done. She needs to retire, with all of our best wishes.
Chuck Schumer is a really nice guy but he's past his shelf life and needs to withdraw because he doesn't have the spine to stand up to the Republicans.
Neither one can lead an all-out full court press against the awful people and policies not just of the Trump administration but of the Republican Party.
The outrage felt by most American voters has prompted a new multi-generational band of progressive Democrats, some of them familiar faces and some formerly relatively unknown, to step into the light. Kamala Harris, Ted Lieu, Adam Schiff, Preet Bharara, Keith Ellison, and of course Howard Dean, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and many, many others who are ready to fight to save America.
We need them now more than ever.
19
There are always people who cannot succeed in college. The Democrats would be wise to remember this and to propose real programs to put these people to work. Infrastructure construction and maintenance, the postal service, transportation like Amtrak, and many others come to mind. If we are wise, we will bolster K-12 education and provide meaningful jobs to those who cannot succeed any further. The work is there if we are willing to pay for it - and yes, that means taxes. Wake up people. You can't fix the physical world crumbling around us without money, money that can put people to work.
12
We should not assume that college is what makes people successful - the middle class and upper middle classes produce children who are already prepped for success, for the most part. Early on in life, the lower socio-economic range of students realize they are not smart, not pretty, and don't fit in, and they learn that "mainstream" society and institutions are places they don't fit into, and furthermore, are places that don't want them. Many of them have skills, behaviors, ideologies, and attitudes that do not fit quietly and complacently into the mold they are being squished into. Their families wrote college off a long time ago, not simply because it seemed out of reach academically and financially, but because - from their perspective - it's a foreign place that doesn't accept them and their ilk.
8
The best way for the Dems to get back white working class voters (because that's who we're really talking about here) is to let them suffer the consequences of their vote. Lower wages, higher inflation, no health care, limited job opportunities for themselves and their children because they are opposed to everything that might help them thrive in an increasingly technology-dependent, global economy.
1
Yeah, Old Soul, because that's worked so well so far!
2
Your column does not mention that many of the blue-collar industrial jobs of 40 years ago are now done by robots. Meanwhile, quite a few white-collar, college-educated people in their 50 and 60s who have had good jobs are being laid off, often because of the cost of their health insurance. Democrats need a comprehensive economic plan that will help offset these challenges.
Also, in the Rust Belt, Southern and Mountain West states where Trump won, a lot of people conceive of "liberal" or "socialist" as dirty words. Progressives need to find ways to reduce these preconceptions.
Also, in the Rust Belt, Southern and Mountain West states where Trump won, a lot of people conceive of "liberal" or "socialist" as dirty words. Progressives need to find ways to reduce these preconceptions.
8
All of this sounds like a step in the right direction and that's a good thing. There has been a whole lot of damage done over the years however and considerable distrust built up.
Democrats need to present strong, easily articulated economic programs and a clear, coherent, message which will benefit most Americans. You cannot expect people to support programs which seem to benefit only people who are not them. Recognizing that outsourcing and widespread illegal immigration has hurt working class Americans and proposing easily understood, workable solutions would be a good place to start.
They also have to learn to discuss social issues in a respectful manner with people who do not agree with them. I have seen some glimmers of hope. Bernie Sanders speech at Liberty University was remarkably well received and Tim Kaine's response on abortion in his debate with Mike Pence was in my opinion excellent.
Finally, the Democrats need to go big or go home. Single payer insurance, free post-secondary education, support for lifelong training and education, infrastructure repair and improvement, support for working families in the form of parental leave and childcare and finally fresh exciting ideas to address the fact that with increasing automation fewer and fewer workers will be needed.
Democrats need to present strong, easily articulated economic programs and a clear, coherent, message which will benefit most Americans. You cannot expect people to support programs which seem to benefit only people who are not them. Recognizing that outsourcing and widespread illegal immigration has hurt working class Americans and proposing easily understood, workable solutions would be a good place to start.
They also have to learn to discuss social issues in a respectful manner with people who do not agree with them. I have seen some glimmers of hope. Bernie Sanders speech at Liberty University was remarkably well received and Tim Kaine's response on abortion in his debate with Mike Pence was in my opinion excellent.
Finally, the Democrats need to go big or go home. Single payer insurance, free post-secondary education, support for lifelong training and education, infrastructure repair and improvement, support for working families in the form of parental leave and childcare and finally fresh exciting ideas to address the fact that with increasing automation fewer and fewer workers will be needed.
3
I guess I don't have faith that the people these policies are intended to help would vote for them. Right leaning Americans like to imagine themselves self-sufficient, responsible for themselves, meriting whatever it is they get in life. They look down on anyone "needing a handout" as irresponsible, lazy, or of poor moral character. And if they don't succeed themselves while "doing all the right things," they tend to suspect that someone who is not working is taking what's rightfully theirs.
Now that I live in Canada, I am experiencing a culture where people don't think like this. They actually believe that if they are successful they owe their success not only to their hard work but to others who have helped them. And they know that people struggle even while doing the right things—and so they want to lend a hand to those less fortunate.
Unfortunately, America's culture is harsher, less caring, more selfish—and more juvenile, I'd say.
Programs won't change that, I'm afraid. But then I'm also not sure what will.
Now that I live in Canada, I am experiencing a culture where people don't think like this. They actually believe that if they are successful they owe their success not only to their hard work but to others who have helped them. And they know that people struggle even while doing the right things—and so they want to lend a hand to those less fortunate.
Unfortunately, America's culture is harsher, less caring, more selfish—and more juvenile, I'd say.
Programs won't change that, I'm afraid. But then I'm also not sure what will.
10
We are stuck inside an educational paradigm. We have shown through devices such as MOOCs that learning can happen outside of the current educational structured teacher-student format. An educational paradigm involving a learner independence and control of educational relevance would allow learning support that is more focused and vastly more affordable. Democrats must get out of the current education-school oriented box and focus on what is repressing those that don't make it through college - we must never close the opportunity door on anyone in a truly democratic America.
1
At one time, the working class was overwhelming Democratic, and the party fought for them. In the 80's that changed with GOP Reagan's union busting followed by Democrat Clinton's bank deregulation and NAFTA which benefited the global corp chiefs and the wealthy at their expense. Trump, ever the con salesman, was able to place the blame on big government (and mostly on Dems) just to get elected; not to fix it on behalf of the workers who voted for him.
Now that the Dem's are out of power it will be much harder to get any FDR "happy days" programs going again.
Now that the Dem's are out of power it will be much harder to get any FDR "happy days" programs going again.
2
I think it has been time for the nation to institute a two year program of national service to follow high school. This requirement would provide developing adults the opportunity to test the career waters while providing service to the country. It is a win-win for everyone.
9
And all the rich kids would get bone spurs in their heels.
The Republicans represent the rich; the Democrats represent certain Identity groups. Neither party is capable of leading this country. The battle is economic, and most of us are unrepresented. We need a leader who marginalizes both the outer left and right, and leads from a populist center.
3
Rebuild your party now!
Develop a bench of potential candidates from local business, education, and law enforcement to run for seats like school board, district attorney, sheriff and executive positions.
Cultivate relationships with farmers and local business owners with liberal outlooks to run for coop boards and farm bureau positions. Court local business people who are liberal minded and progressive in their views on health care and education who have businesses with innovative or new technology approaches and have a ten-year pattern of success.
Talk to the moderate church and social service groups to see if you can get their support for monitoring elections and party-building events.
Hold countywide canvass in each county to get best estimate of which towns, villages and cities have the highest proportion of potential democratic voters. Organize them but do not ask for money. Get them involved in social activities.
Retire class warfare rhetoric and emphasize effective and attentive governance, the need to bring jobs to rural and small communities.
Look for young candidates with professional degrees and ten-years tenure on the job. Teachers, school administrators, accountants, physicians, nurses, engineers, architects, successful niche farmers or large-scale farmers with progressive ideas are the best candidates for rural and suburban districts.
Retire Nancy Pelosi as the emeritus spokeswoman for the party.
Develop a bench of potential candidates from local business, education, and law enforcement to run for seats like school board, district attorney, sheriff and executive positions.
Cultivate relationships with farmers and local business owners with liberal outlooks to run for coop boards and farm bureau positions. Court local business people who are liberal minded and progressive in their views on health care and education who have businesses with innovative or new technology approaches and have a ten-year pattern of success.
Talk to the moderate church and social service groups to see if you can get their support for monitoring elections and party-building events.
Hold countywide canvass in each county to get best estimate of which towns, villages and cities have the highest proportion of potential democratic voters. Organize them but do not ask for money. Get them involved in social activities.
Retire class warfare rhetoric and emphasize effective and attentive governance, the need to bring jobs to rural and small communities.
Look for young candidates with professional degrees and ten-years tenure on the job. Teachers, school administrators, accountants, physicians, nurses, engineers, architects, successful niche farmers or large-scale farmers with progressive ideas are the best candidates for rural and suburban districts.
Retire Nancy Pelosi as the emeritus spokeswoman for the party.
3
The "value" of a four year degree has never been empirically tested. Yet, over and over again in major media, people cite the fact that people with degrees typically earn more as "proving" that college is worth it.
What if the lack of a four year degree is used as an excuse to drive the wages of those without the degree downward? Is this yet another tool of employers to get the labor they need at the lowest cost?
How could the value of a college degree ever be put to a realistic test? Take groups 10 or 20 people, match them up as closely as possible in terms of intelligence and apparent drive, then send one group to college and let the other group fend for themselves. This would be an interesting test, but someone in the non-college group might come up with an innovation that would change the world or make him or her a billionaire. You can't predict those things and the results would be skewed.
College is the baseline for getting considered for many jobs, the ticket that allows admission but doesn't, by any means, guarantee success. Of course people with degrees earn more generally, just as dogs with legs can run faster than those with none.
We have a society wide failure of imagination, an inability to consider what is needed for success in the 21st century. It is not getting 10 million more people to code, nor 10 million more lawyers or professors. Many people are being left behind by the changing needs of the workforce and we haven't dealt with the changes.
What if the lack of a four year degree is used as an excuse to drive the wages of those without the degree downward? Is this yet another tool of employers to get the labor they need at the lowest cost?
How could the value of a college degree ever be put to a realistic test? Take groups 10 or 20 people, match them up as closely as possible in terms of intelligence and apparent drive, then send one group to college and let the other group fend for themselves. This would be an interesting test, but someone in the non-college group might come up with an innovation that would change the world or make him or her a billionaire. You can't predict those things and the results would be skewed.
College is the baseline for getting considered for many jobs, the ticket that allows admission but doesn't, by any means, guarantee success. Of course people with degrees earn more generally, just as dogs with legs can run faster than those with none.
We have a society wide failure of imagination, an inability to consider what is needed for success in the 21st century. It is not getting 10 million more people to code, nor 10 million more lawyers or professors. Many people are being left behind by the changing needs of the workforce and we haven't dealt with the changes.
4
In other words take heed of the message of Robert Reich and Bernie Sanders. The loss the Dems suffered was entirely self-inflicted, when they acknowledge that and apologize to the voters they alienated, they will have a chance. They won't be forgiven easily because it was a conscious choice, not an accident. They chose to win without real ECONOMIC progressives and they lost and will lose again and again, until they get it--it's the economy stupid and we're not talking minimum wage jobs. If protectionism is what it takes, then that is what it takes. Deliver!
5
If there can be a way where American citizens are educated free (something like medicare) while overseas students pay their fair amount of fees, american society as a whole can benefit from debt free education. Education and healthcare are two important investments that governments need to make for future generations. There is another point made by Noam Chomsky where public research had been used by commercial corporations for free, which need to be avoided for which corporations need to pay. Its time for bi-partisan approach american masses as a whole leaving agendas behind. Question is whether it can be initiated at the very least.
1
Identifying common-sense solutions as "left-leaning", when all we are talking about are garden-variety policy solutions such as tuition-free college, single payer health-care, and day-care for children of working mothers dooms any chance of what dozens of Western capitalist democracies, such as Germany and Canada have had in place for years of happening here.
White working class people have been trained to fear and mistrust the government as an organizer or purveyor of solutions, and not to their mis-credit don't want help or charity. And many--but not all--of them believe that only the weak-willed and lazy ask for help that taxes those who don't want help.
We need Democrats in charge of both Houses, and the POTUS, period. Let a generation of White working class voters who, having perhaps voted otherwise
, benefit from single-payer and tuition-free college for a generation. We've seen historically how initial resistance to Medicare and Social Security disappears over time to the point of universal acceptance and fierce defense thereof.
We won the popular vote! We just need the already swayed voters--white working class or otherwise--to come out and vote and not sit on the sidelines yearning for Bernie, or Elizabeth Warren or disdaining HRC's personal style.
Let the resentful White working class voters who feel condescended to, nurse their hurt feelings while their kids go to college, their retirements look brighter and their health improves.
White working class people have been trained to fear and mistrust the government as an organizer or purveyor of solutions, and not to their mis-credit don't want help or charity. And many--but not all--of them believe that only the weak-willed and lazy ask for help that taxes those who don't want help.
We need Democrats in charge of both Houses, and the POTUS, period. Let a generation of White working class voters who, having perhaps voted otherwise
, benefit from single-payer and tuition-free college for a generation. We've seen historically how initial resistance to Medicare and Social Security disappears over time to the point of universal acceptance and fierce defense thereof.
We won the popular vote! We just need the already swayed voters--white working class or otherwise--to come out and vote and not sit on the sidelines yearning for Bernie, or Elizabeth Warren or disdaining HRC's personal style.
Let the resentful White working class voters who feel condescended to, nurse their hurt feelings while their kids go to college, their retirements look brighter and their health improves.
The purpose of the four year college is to identify those who can and will go on to higher degrees and perpetuate the circular system of higher education. As such, it fails to collect many people of intelligence and high capacities. In non-technical fields, it is oriented around the ability to think abstractly. Some people lack the ability to think in those terms and many more find it off-putting. Their minds are oriented toward the practical but college teaches them, and our society, that this is a lower form of thinking.
The four year degree was invented for the needs of the well off sons of the well off (and later, daughters). It requires someone to take a four year "time out" from pursuing life supporting income, again something that some people find burdensome or ridiculous.
Only in closed circles of thinking could the solution to a social/economic problem be this: more of the same. If those dumb as tree posts working class people would just become like the rich suburban kids, everything would be fine!
What is needed is an alternative way of certifying people as well qualified for the workforce and, simultaneously, not label them as inferior. Any ideas? Germany has corporate sponsored apprenticeship programs that move thousands into productive lives with training for highly skilled jobs. "Working class" kids in America either are shunted to for profit (often rip-off) technical schools or vastly inferior colleges. It sets them up for failure.
The four year degree was invented for the needs of the well off sons of the well off (and later, daughters). It requires someone to take a four year "time out" from pursuing life supporting income, again something that some people find burdensome or ridiculous.
Only in closed circles of thinking could the solution to a social/economic problem be this: more of the same. If those dumb as tree posts working class people would just become like the rich suburban kids, everything would be fine!
What is needed is an alternative way of certifying people as well qualified for the workforce and, simultaneously, not label them as inferior. Any ideas? Germany has corporate sponsored apprenticeship programs that move thousands into productive lives with training for highly skilled jobs. "Working class" kids in America either are shunted to for profit (often rip-off) technical schools or vastly inferior colleges. It sets them up for failure.
3
A "Marshall Plan for America", what a fantastic idea! My favorite quote from the plan:
"The low wages and low employment rates for those without college degrees only exist because of a failure of imagination. There is no shortage of important work that needs to be done in our country. There are not nearly enough home care workers to aid the aged and disabled. Many working families with children under the age of 5 need access to affordable child care. Schools need teachers’ aides, and cities need EMTs. And there is no shortage of people who could do this work. What has been missing is policy that can mobilize people."
While such a jobs guarantee plan would clearly help the Democratic Party, of much more importance is how much it would help our country. I will gladly donate to any candidate who backs this effort!
"The low wages and low employment rates for those without college degrees only exist because of a failure of imagination. There is no shortage of important work that needs to be done in our country. There are not nearly enough home care workers to aid the aged and disabled. Many working families with children under the age of 5 need access to affordable child care. Schools need teachers’ aides, and cities need EMTs. And there is no shortage of people who could do this work. What has been missing is policy that can mobilize people."
While such a jobs guarantee plan would clearly help the Democratic Party, of much more importance is how much it would help our country. I will gladly donate to any candidate who backs this effort!
3
Republicans lie and exploite wedge issues - religion, guns blaming all problems on the "other". Democrates tend to ridicule and look down rural people and those who have lost in the globalization trend. Democrates should stop the identity politics and focus on the entire working and middle class. They should focus on education and policies that produce jobs. Education must focus on solid general subjects like civics, history and critical thinking. Acknowledge that technical and learning a trade has as much dignity and value as four a four year college degree. People must understand there is no future in unskilled labor and government must support the means to acquire useful skills. Republicans will never do what is needed because they cynically support their 1% masters. Democrates must sell the fact that government is not the enemy, insist on efficiency, equitable treatment of all and supporting policies that support the greater good. Democrats must be willing to vote even when they do not get all they want.
1
How are the more educated going to lift the less educated when our most educated citizens, those with Ph.D.'s find themselves also in poverty and without benefits. 70 percent of college professors are now adjunct, meaning they work for little pay, no security and no benefits. Even those professors with the coveted science degrees find themselves underemployed and unable to share their expertise and experience. The Teaching Assistants at Yale are on a hunger strike because of the abuse of labor seen on all colleges, private and public and throughout the country, even on the so called liberal and elite coasts. And, this money saving but harmful practice is most importantly seen at community colleges. If the professors at community colleges don't have the money to feed themselves and their families, how can they in turn help those working class people find the skills they are told they need for our future economy?
3
David - please add affordable housing to your list of the basic elements necessary for
Americans to move forward with their lives. There is much Data that shows that it is an essential platform
For health , education , employment and well being .
Americans to move forward with their lives. There is much Data that shows that it is an essential platform
For health , education , employment and well being .
1
I'm surprised to see the columnist here overlooking the one factor that was most influential in doing all that he suggests for working people -- unions. Democrats need to move beyond taking unions for grants -- for money and campaigners -- and start promoting union membership in any way, shape or form. And Democrats should start leaning on their large donors to embrace unions at their businesses, too.
3
David,
You make it sound like a four year college degree is easily accessible, if you want it.How about the millions that like to work with their hands like carpenters. plumbers, & electricians, have you received a bill from any of these skilled trades, it’s comparable to Lawyers & Doctors.Then there are the talented,musicians, singers & other entertainers,along with athletes, that lead the pack in earnings.But lets get back to a four year college degree, which I agree is necessary to get a piece of the rock.In order to get more young people to qualify for college, we have to change the way we educate the young. I loved History & Merchandising, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t grasp mathematics, Algebra put me to sleep.Reading Shakespeare was like reading Chinese, however, all of these subjects were essential if you wanted to attend college, to me they were a turn off & I couldn’t wait to graduate High School, & escape subjects that were like eating spinach.
I found my niche in Sales & started my own Sales Agency & joined the upper Middle Class, & have led a productive life.If I had a degree from a Four year college, I’m sure I would have gone much further. By the way, I am now forced to use percentages & mathematics that I still hate, but can’t escape.
You make it sound like a four year college degree is easily accessible, if you want it.How about the millions that like to work with their hands like carpenters. plumbers, & electricians, have you received a bill from any of these skilled trades, it’s comparable to Lawyers & Doctors.Then there are the talented,musicians, singers & other entertainers,along with athletes, that lead the pack in earnings.But lets get back to a four year college degree, which I agree is necessary to get a piece of the rock.In order to get more young people to qualify for college, we have to change the way we educate the young. I loved History & Merchandising, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t grasp mathematics, Algebra put me to sleep.Reading Shakespeare was like reading Chinese, however, all of these subjects were essential if you wanted to attend college, to me they were a turn off & I couldn’t wait to graduate High School, & escape subjects that were like eating spinach.
I found my niche in Sales & started my own Sales Agency & joined the upper Middle Class, & have led a productive life.If I had a degree from a Four year college, I’m sure I would have gone much further. By the way, I am now forced to use percentages & mathematics that I still hate, but can’t escape.
2
Mr. Leonhardt,
As for the Center for American Progress' "Marshall Plan for America", one that "calls for government to help create millions of good-paying jobs", with what? By itself, government can't create good paying jobs. It can create bureaucracy, layer upon stultifying labor, busy-body paper shufflers producing immense amounts of red tape. It can do that.
More to the point, the American fiscal cupboard is bare if not barren. Several waves of Republican tax cuts financed through borrowing passed the bill to future generations. We are now saddled with $22-trillion in federal debt. Vice President Cheney was wrong. Deficits do matter. Add to that $22-trillion another $32-trillion in unfunded future liabilities -- everything from local, state and federal government worker retirement, public schoolteacher pensions, military disability payments to wounded warriors from three wars, more government deficit spending in the $500-billion range that will only increase. The cost of our failed healthcare system will add at least another $700-billion to that $54-trillion in unfunded debt over the next ten years, if not more, as the Baby Boomer generation follows its parents into the ground; itself a huge personal, social and fiscal dislocation.
There's no money, least of all for a "Marshall Plan for America" however structured or styled. Our struggle will be sidestepping a fiscal implosion like that that destroyed Louis XVI's regime in France in 1787. But it will require a miracle.
As for the Center for American Progress' "Marshall Plan for America", one that "calls for government to help create millions of good-paying jobs", with what? By itself, government can't create good paying jobs. It can create bureaucracy, layer upon stultifying labor, busy-body paper shufflers producing immense amounts of red tape. It can do that.
More to the point, the American fiscal cupboard is bare if not barren. Several waves of Republican tax cuts financed through borrowing passed the bill to future generations. We are now saddled with $22-trillion in federal debt. Vice President Cheney was wrong. Deficits do matter. Add to that $22-trillion another $32-trillion in unfunded future liabilities -- everything from local, state and federal government worker retirement, public schoolteacher pensions, military disability payments to wounded warriors from three wars, more government deficit spending in the $500-billion range that will only increase. The cost of our failed healthcare system will add at least another $700-billion to that $54-trillion in unfunded debt over the next ten years, if not more, as the Baby Boomer generation follows its parents into the ground; itself a huge personal, social and fiscal dislocation.
There's no money, least of all for a "Marshall Plan for America" however structured or styled. Our struggle will be sidestepping a fiscal implosion like that that destroyed Louis XVI's regime in France in 1787. But it will require a miracle.
Education is meaningless in a country where the GOP is encouraging the gutting of the public school systems in favor of charter schools, for-profit schools, unaccountable home-schooling and Christian schools where children learn that people walked with dinosaurs 6000 years ago. How can a country thrive in the future when ignorance is worshipped as a virtue and "gut feelings" are valued over knowledge?
There's a lot more involved than education. It's passion.
When I lined up to vote here in the middle of a highly educated, well-off part of very red Tennessee, the tension and anger in the air were palpable. Normally southerners are friendly and chatty in such circumstances but these grim people were preparing for a Christian war against Hillary Clinton. It's a mindset. They considered the entire Obama presidency an insult to their basic beliefs, and they were offering their votes at the Republican altar en masse.
Democrats tend to be less involved with other people's business, less focused on their beliefs, less rigid in their thinking, less blindly trusting, less anxious to use their votes, less everything that got Donald Trump elected. What the Democratic party needs to do is generate excitement without relying on panic over situations like the mess our present government is creating. Find a real leader, an honest, empathetic, decent person who can listen to the opposition and try to find a middle road. And please, let them have charisma.
When I lined up to vote here in the middle of a highly educated, well-off part of very red Tennessee, the tension and anger in the air were palpable. Normally southerners are friendly and chatty in such circumstances but these grim people were preparing for a Christian war against Hillary Clinton. It's a mindset. They considered the entire Obama presidency an insult to their basic beliefs, and they were offering their votes at the Republican altar en masse.
Democrats tend to be less involved with other people's business, less focused on their beliefs, less rigid in their thinking, less blindly trusting, less anxious to use their votes, less everything that got Donald Trump elected. What the Democratic party needs to do is generate excitement without relying on panic over situations like the mess our present government is creating. Find a real leader, an honest, empathetic, decent person who can listen to the opposition and try to find a middle road. And please, let them have charisma.
2
Ok, I agree: Dems need to convince low info white voters that Dems are worth voting for. An upgraded platform would help.
Yet not easy when the radical right wing is able to blast lies into the homes of those very same voters 24/7 via Fox News.
The radical right, with military precision, has waged an Info Ops/PSYOPS campaign against the American people. And Fox News is the key instrument of that war, and the principal source of GOP gains since mid-90's.
In concert with an upgraded platform, I believe Dems need to wage their own Info Ops campaign. That would entail, in part, revealing Fox News for what it is: not a news station but a radical right wing entertainment channel that trades the shortest skirts on TV for the right to lie and deceive non-stop.
So long as Fox News is regarded by millions of Americans as news, the Dems upgraded message will have but a muted impact.
Yet not easy when the radical right wing is able to blast lies into the homes of those very same voters 24/7 via Fox News.
The radical right, with military precision, has waged an Info Ops/PSYOPS campaign against the American people. And Fox News is the key instrument of that war, and the principal source of GOP gains since mid-90's.
In concert with an upgraded platform, I believe Dems need to wage their own Info Ops campaign. That would entail, in part, revealing Fox News for what it is: not a news station but a radical right wing entertainment channel that trades the shortest skirts on TV for the right to lie and deceive non-stop.
So long as Fox News is regarded by millions of Americans as news, the Dems upgraded message will have but a muted impact.
1
I basically agree with your premise. Unfortunately, there is one important issue you did not address. We need a comprehensive training program for the crafts. And I mean comprehensive. I'm talking about good solid middle class jobs. Electricians, plumbers, welders, etc. Most of these crafts are begging for workers. A goodly portion of our population is not interested in college and/or really enjoy working with their hands. We need good programs to help them train for good jobs. If Germany can do this so can we. Or can we?
3
Politico had a great article on May 12 by Scott Mahaskey about Sherry Bustos, D-Illinois, who won her district by 20 points even though Trump won it as well. She should be in charge of the House DCCC. Until Democrats focus on jobs and education, including addressing the K-12 problems, their future is limited.
1
If the basic gist of this argument is that the Democrats will never get anywhere as long as they continue to have no message, no leadership, and alienate vast swathes of the nation, then it would be impossible to rebut. This is all self-evident to everyone on the planet, except for Democrats, of course.
One thought to share. Printing $10 trillion to save the banks did nothing but stave off the inevitable collapse of the system (yes dear its coming!). On the other hand forgiving $1 trillion in student debt would immediately create the biggest consumer boom in recent history for 10% of the cost of the bailout. But of course nobody can accept this because it is an undeserved handout. I suppose the banking bailout was not a handout.
3
"He is trying to take health insurance away from millions of Americans, while lavishing tax cuts on the affluent."
You mean the health insurance that "the affluent" are forced to subsidise but from which they derive no benefit? Where is the justice in forcing some to pay for the services received by others? And, in the US, "the affluent" are insanely over-taxed while "the 47%" are allowed to get a free ride, paying basically nothing. Where's the justice in that?
As to the balance of this piece, it assumes, as the Left usually does, that people are incompetent to see to their own affairs, to plan their own lives. It shows the usual Democratic Party contempt for most Americans--we're either "deplorable" or we're incapable of so much as tying our own shoes without "help" from a Democrat in government.
You mean the health insurance that "the affluent" are forced to subsidise but from which they derive no benefit? Where is the justice in forcing some to pay for the services received by others? And, in the US, "the affluent" are insanely over-taxed while "the 47%" are allowed to get a free ride, paying basically nothing. Where's the justice in that?
As to the balance of this piece, it assumes, as the Left usually does, that people are incompetent to see to their own affairs, to plan their own lives. It shows the usual Democratic Party contempt for most Americans--we're either "deplorable" or we're incapable of so much as tying our own shoes without "help" from a Democrat in government.
1
It is very disappointing to read what is purportedly a prescription for restoring the working class without ever encountering the word "union". The middle class arose in lockstep with the prominence and power of unions and collapsed upon their evisceration. This was by no means coincidental.
2
I think it futile for the Democrats to try to woo the non college educated. It would be better to go after the sizable number of educated people who voted for the Green Party, or didn't vote at all, or those who are far to the left of the Party's positions. The Democratic Party is not nearly far enough to the left. We "socialists" have nowhere to go.
Party politics aside, there are several things that obviously must be done to actually make America great again. Unfortunately, many of them are unpopular because good policy is complex and forward looking, and most people are susceptible to corporate propaganda. Here's my list of musts:
1) wrest control of our healthcare industry from insurance companies and bid pharma. Create a real single-payer system.
2) Overhaul infrastructure, making energy efficiency and green energy a priority.
3) revise tax policy so that corporations and the Uber-wealthy pay their fair share
4) Enact reasonable, comprehensive immigration reform and border control
5) Decriminalize most drugs, and put the saved $ into preventive care and addiction remediation.
6) Reform the districting procedure to abolish gerrymandering
Of course these policies are intertwined and mutually dependent on each other, so it will be tough, to say the least.
1) wrest control of our healthcare industry from insurance companies and bid pharma. Create a real single-payer system.
2) Overhaul infrastructure, making energy efficiency and green energy a priority.
3) revise tax policy so that corporations and the Uber-wealthy pay their fair share
4) Enact reasonable, comprehensive immigration reform and border control
5) Decriminalize most drugs, and put the saved $ into preventive care and addiction remediation.
6) Reform the districting procedure to abolish gerrymandering
Of course these policies are intertwined and mutually dependent on each other, so it will be tough, to say the least.
1
Who on earth would want Democrats to "Get their mojo back"? Our country may never recover from the harm done to our economy by President Obama. His ideological animus toward the free-enterprise system is a lasting stain on the once-great party
Prove animus. But put it in Republican and call it "hate."
FINALLY!
Finally, I read a column in the New York Times advocating the sort of approach taken by FDR during the Great Depression, even if the people behind it want to call it "The Marshall Plan for America". It's about time?
What took so long? It's the obvious approach, and since it's been tried, it has never been unsuccessful. FDR's programs during the Depression put people back to work, gave them the dignity of labor and put money in their pockets. The Marshall Plan was such a success that its beneficiaries enjoyed a post-war boom that eventually led to the European Union.
A number of commenters, including myself, have advocated for this literally for years. It was Barack Obama's failure to do this that was an early clue that he was neither liberal nor progressive.
This is a winning formula for the Democrats. Now watch the leadership of the Party (The DNC.) resist it.
Finally, I read a column in the New York Times advocating the sort of approach taken by FDR during the Great Depression, even if the people behind it want to call it "The Marshall Plan for America". It's about time?
What took so long? It's the obvious approach, and since it's been tried, it has never been unsuccessful. FDR's programs during the Depression put people back to work, gave them the dignity of labor and put money in their pockets. The Marshall Plan was such a success that its beneficiaries enjoyed a post-war boom that eventually led to the European Union.
A number of commenters, including myself, have advocated for this literally for years. It was Barack Obama's failure to do this that was an early clue that he was neither liberal nor progressive.
This is a winning formula for the Democrats. Now watch the leadership of the Party (The DNC.) resist it.
2
The Dems lost because they continue to mouth the platitudes of X-mas past...and provide no credible details (are you listening Bernie?) of how to get from here to there..
So, it is not "good paying jobs"...but rather, "jobs with a future". The distinction speaks to the value of fundamental skill sets (basic math, reading, writing, comprehension, and interpersonal skills) that have unlimited shelf life; and, connect workers to a continuum of opportunity where choice and performance are linked These, tragically, are basic skills that even college grads don't always bring to the marketplace.
This only happens with employers and workers embracing the fact that jobs are not forever, continual learning is the norm, and both workers and employers have a responsibility to engage/cooperate in this approach...because it is good for them and us.
If you throw in world class child care - something that all parents regardless of income and background - desperately want/need (talk about a unifying issuer), then we are getting somewhere.
But, again, no platitudes...details.
So, it is not "good paying jobs"...but rather, "jobs with a future". The distinction speaks to the value of fundamental skill sets (basic math, reading, writing, comprehension, and interpersonal skills) that have unlimited shelf life; and, connect workers to a continuum of opportunity where choice and performance are linked These, tragically, are basic skills that even college grads don't always bring to the marketplace.
This only happens with employers and workers embracing the fact that jobs are not forever, continual learning is the norm, and both workers and employers have a responsibility to engage/cooperate in this approach...because it is good for them and us.
If you throw in world class child care - something that all parents regardless of income and background - desperately want/need (talk about a unifying issuer), then we are getting somewhere.
But, again, no platitudes...details.
I really think government should provide incentives but not directly involved in job creation. BTW, the unemployment rate is so low now. Why is job creation still an issue?
I think a better plan moving forward includes:
(1) basic coverage of health care for every citizen and allow more comprehensive plans for people who can afford;
(2) living wage for lower skill jobs such as farm works, house keeping and yard works.
(3) limit immigration only to H1B (we really need more skilled workers especially for small business).
(4) tax cut only for those people who can have more disposable incomes to spend domestically.
(5) Four year college is not for everyone. Instead, there should be more internships and apprenticeships.
(6) Privitize infrastructures so private sector can take ownerships and responsibilities.
I think a better plan moving forward includes:
(1) basic coverage of health care for every citizen and allow more comprehensive plans for people who can afford;
(2) living wage for lower skill jobs such as farm works, house keeping and yard works.
(3) limit immigration only to H1B (we really need more skilled workers especially for small business).
(4) tax cut only for those people who can have more disposable incomes to spend domestically.
(5) Four year college is not for everyone. Instead, there should be more internships and apprenticeships.
(6) Privitize infrastructures so private sector can take ownerships and responsibilities.
The "wrong" side of the dividing line is the same as it ever was - those without sufficient funds to buy/rent a political ear. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates always seemed to be represented in Washington quite well, eh?
3
Dems are not going to get mojo back with millionaire corporatist Pelosi. She needs to go. Progressives must get into office starting with her district. She just had a "town hall" with hand picked audience and scripted questions. Echoes of the Clinton past.
1
Lies. Bread and circuses. More phones and virtual reality. More Apprentice and Big Brother television. More cars and violence. Mo money too. This is what seems to motivate the working class. How can we turn this around? I think the Democrats must model ethical behavior. I think they must give up their perks and live like government was not their sugar daddy. I think they better start thinking about real life and not that little world they live in that is all about themselves and the game they seem to be playing.
1
David's piece is on target. While pointing out that education is advantageous, he makes the point that it is not the entire solution. The expanding adoption of automation by the private sector is dumping jobs for humans at a rapidly expanding rate. Autonomous vehicles will soon displace taxi drivers, truck drivers, bus drivers. Computer run manufacture is greatly reducing human participation. Expert systems like IBM's Watson will impact medicine, law, brokerage services. On-line shopping is dumping brick-and-mortar stores.
There is no way all these jobs will be replaced by alternative jobs in the private sector, regardless of the skills and adaptability of the work force. And the profits from this automation are not being taxed to finance correcting the chaos, but is all going into off-shore tax havens.
As David suggests, the answer is not in the profit-before-all-else private sector, but in people-centered work presently found in the government sector, but woefully undermanned, underpaid and undervalued. Jobs like child & elder care, rehabilitation, education, and broad undertakings for the common good like infrastructure development, affordable housing, environmental protection, all things the private sector has no use for because they are too dependent upon expensive human involvement and too focused upon service instead of profit.
Yes, the Dems could engage. But so far they are too muddle-minded and too dependent upon the private sector for funding.
There is no way all these jobs will be replaced by alternative jobs in the private sector, regardless of the skills and adaptability of the work force. And the profits from this automation are not being taxed to finance correcting the chaos, but is all going into off-shore tax havens.
As David suggests, the answer is not in the profit-before-all-else private sector, but in people-centered work presently found in the government sector, but woefully undermanned, underpaid and undervalued. Jobs like child & elder care, rehabilitation, education, and broad undertakings for the common good like infrastructure development, affordable housing, environmental protection, all things the private sector has no use for because they are too dependent upon expensive human involvement and too focused upon service instead of profit.
Yes, the Dems could engage. But so far they are too muddle-minded and too dependent upon the private sector for funding.
78
@John:
Quoting President Calvin Coolidge:
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
Unfortunately, Coolidge was and still is basically correct, why Democrats' nostrums are just that. Nostrums.
Where do we go from here I cannot say. But I do believe the road ahead is one that our nation has never traveled before, and what finally emerges at the far end won't remotely resemble the form or substance that took to that road at the beginning.
Quoting President Calvin Coolidge:
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
Unfortunately, Coolidge was and still is basically correct, why Democrats' nostrums are just that. Nostrums.
Where do we go from here I cannot say. But I do believe the road ahead is one that our nation has never traveled before, and what finally emerges at the far end won't remotely resemble the form or substance that took to that road at the beginning.
While we are waiting (and waiting and waiting) for change, there are things we can do. Question automation of everything you come in contact with in the marketplace. Why can't you get out of your car (when it isn't running, it isn't harming the environment) and go into the back to make a deposit or withdrawal? By being willing to spend a couple of minutes interacting with a human being, you will also help save the jobs of tellers. Resist the urge to use self check out. You will be saving the jobs of clerks. Resist the myriad ways corporations get us to do everything for ourselves and not to expect services in return for our patronage. When did that ever reduce the cost of those services? As far as I can tell, "never" is a sure bet. All these "conveniences" do is increase CEO paychecks by eliminating jobs.
Folks, every time we bag our own groceries, use the drive-in feature, bank on-line and order our goods on-line we are participating in the hollowing out of the middle class. Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me.
And no complaining about the time it saves you to use automation. What are you doing that it so important it is worth putting your neighbor - and ultimately yourself - out of work? We have clout if enough of us chose to use it.
Folks, every time we bag our own groceries, use the drive-in feature, bank on-line and order our goods on-line we are participating in the hollowing out of the middle class. Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me.
And no complaining about the time it saves you to use automation. What are you doing that it so important it is worth putting your neighbor - and ultimately yourself - out of work? We have clout if enough of us chose to use it.
This is very well said, but I don't know how you or anyone else will get a large swath of working class white voters to believes that these things can be done, or that government should take the lead in doing them.
That convincing is the problem of our times.
That convincing is the problem of our times.
If the Democrats truly want to get their mojo back then they have to clean house from top to bottom. The Democrats won't get any traction as long as it's being led by dinosaurs like Nancy Pelosi (who's hanging on so she can be House Speaker) and Chuck Schumer (who wants to be Majority Leader Schumer in the next Congress) Pelosi and Schumer are staying put for purely selfish reasons and could care less about the future of the Democratic Party. Five minutes after the election ended Bernie Sanders couldn't change his party affiliation from D to I fast enough. The Democrats have to get their own house order first before they can have a real shot against the firmly entrenched Republican stranglehold in the House, Senate and the White House.
105
Please don't forget the biggest and most shopworn dinosaur - the late unlamented candidate for the presidency that made Trump President.
1
It truly is time for Pelosi and Schumer to actively engage with their possible successors with their experience and insight and help them enact a bold new vision for the country. There are enough tired old hacks in the GOP, the Democrats should not emulated them.
It's not the faces, it's the policies. The Dems need to run on Bernie's platform, plain and simple. If Nancy (a powerhouse still) is on-board, great. If Chuck Schumer can resist the influence of his Wall Street constituents and work for single payor health care, free public education through college, fair progressive income taxation, and a real job creating infrastructure (and how about clean energy) program, welcome aboard. Otherwise, those 2008 Obama voters who voted Trump in 2016 will just give up and not vote at all.
"In an alternative universe, Trump would devote his presidency to a conservative agenda that would improve the lives of the working class people who voted for him." Setting aside the fact that virtually every point in your prescription for Democrats was championed by Sanders and included in the party platform, I'd ask you to do this - write your next column detailing exactly what the GOP and its conservative agenda has done to benefit average Americans since 1950. I would really appreciate a refresher, because I find that I cannot think of a single thing.
98
You go first, what have the Democrats done over the last 50 years to benefit average Americans?
1
The problem that the Democrats have is not their policy prescriptions. The problem they have is that the media has no interest in telling voters about them. The media would much rather report on the "who's up, who's down" than tell Americans about the policies that Democratic Party supports.
It's no wonder that when Americans are asked about the things they'd like to see the government do, they actually support fairly progressive policies. Unfortunately they keep voting for Republicans who don't support any of those things, but do promise to keep them safe and lower their taxes.
It's no wonder that when Americans are asked about the things they'd like to see the government do, they actually support fairly progressive policies. Unfortunately they keep voting for Republicans who don't support any of those things, but do promise to keep them safe and lower their taxes.
53
Thank you, Kate, you are so right. Why all of the coverage about the latest Trump/GOP outrage without the corresponding Democratic response? All we ever see is Trump acting stupid, GOP denial, and no Democrat "fair and balanced" response. I know the Dems aren't sitting on the sidelines, keeping their mouths shut. If they are, then that also needs to be reported on so we Dems (and Inds) can prod those Dem Congress people to get off their butts and start advocating more loudly for us.
A democracy is only as strong as the median educational level of the electorate. That is why those countries that have free higher education are stronger democracies than we are. But if history ever ranks nations on the basis of athletic teams, we're sure to be in the top two or three.
57
The first step is a free college education for everyone which will give a big boost the economy by graduating a debt free generation with immense buying power enough so to return home buying to its former grandeur.
4
I would hope they have a backup plan.
The value of a degree deteriorates every year. Unless it's a specific degree in science, medicine or business or some other targeted effort.
Also the Democrats have a pattern of targeting blue collar and minorities during election cycles and then ignoring them.
The value of a degree deteriorates every year. Unless it's a specific degree in science, medicine or business or some other targeted effort.
Also the Democrats have a pattern of targeting blue collar and minorities during election cycles and then ignoring them.
2
"Progressives have not done enough about job conditions and the dignity of work for people who don't go to colleges." You quote Neera Tanden.
I'm surprised that you don't mention unions.
The Republicans have fought against unions for years with the help of the Koch brothers and others who benefit from workers' low pay and benefits. Unions gave us the five-day work week, safety regulations, a living wage and, crucially, gave workers a sense of dignity and control over their lives.
We now live in a world where public servants -- teachers, firefighters, police officers -- are seen as the enemy because they are unionized.
I'm surprised that you don't mention unions.
The Republicans have fought against unions for years with the help of the Koch brothers and others who benefit from workers' low pay and benefits. Unions gave us the five-day work week, safety regulations, a living wage and, crucially, gave workers a sense of dignity and control over their lives.
We now live in a world where public servants -- teachers, firefighters, police officers -- are seen as the enemy because they are unionized.
73
I don't see too many Democratic leaders standing in picket lines and supporting Unions. Except for Bernie, of course.
2
I agree with this column. However for Democrats to get their mojo back they would also need to address their flawed primary system.
It's easy for HRC supporters to criticize the "Bernie or Bust" crowd for the failure of HRC to win the presidency, but HRC's loss by the narrowest of margins was do in large part to the DNC's flawed primary system.
It started with collusion between the DNC and HRC's campaign that we the public only know about because Russia hacked and released DNC emails.
It also includes the use of superdelegates where a party insider, and in this case someone who was more likely than not in collusion with the HRC campaign, has as much voting strength as 50,000 normal members of the electorate.
The result of all this is that the Democratic electorate ended up with a candidate they didn't want but the DNC did. The Republicans on the other hand ended up with the candidate that the party didn't want but the electorate did.
Those lesser educated voters in the middle- no way they were voting for "her".
So the real question for me on how do the Democrats get their mojo back is whether or not Tom Perez can fix the DNC's flawed primary system.
It's easy for HRC supporters to criticize the "Bernie or Bust" crowd for the failure of HRC to win the presidency, but HRC's loss by the narrowest of margins was do in large part to the DNC's flawed primary system.
It started with collusion between the DNC and HRC's campaign that we the public only know about because Russia hacked and released DNC emails.
It also includes the use of superdelegates where a party insider, and in this case someone who was more likely than not in collusion with the HRC campaign, has as much voting strength as 50,000 normal members of the electorate.
The result of all this is that the Democratic electorate ended up with a candidate they didn't want but the DNC did. The Republicans on the other hand ended up with the candidate that the party didn't want but the electorate did.
Those lesser educated voters in the middle- no way they were voting for "her".
So the real question for me on how do the Democrats get their mojo back is whether or not Tom Perez can fix the DNC's flawed primary system.
35
Agree! But let's not forget the Republican's every-popular gerrymandering system, which is a mainstay in Wisconsin.
You could even have said "It's the best thing for 'Congress.'"No matter which party puts people who need jobs back to work - infrastructure jobs, Congress, require everyone - it needs doing. And contain the Koch brothers' control of public university boards. Colleges and universities are not businesses. They exist for the education of young minds in as much of what lies behind their place in the world as how they can live in and contribute to it.
7
You write that "a stable middle class life should be possible without a bachelors degree." Is this really realistic in today's economy and world? So much of the evidence you cite suggests otherwise.
10
How much do plumbers, electricians or auto mechanics make per hour?
No 4 year degrees needed. Just a couple of years at a community college.
Many good well-paid jobs for health care techs are out there too. again, community college.
My barber and his wife who is a beautician own a riverfront home,nice cars AND put 4 children through college.
So, it is possible to do well without a 4 year degree.
No 4 year degrees needed. Just a couple of years at a community college.
Many good well-paid jobs for health care techs are out there too. again, community college.
My barber and his wife who is a beautician own a riverfront home,nice cars AND put 4 children through college.
So, it is possible to do well without a 4 year degree.
75
Maybe middle class isn't feasible. But if you can't afford to rent the worst, cheapest, apartment in the worst part of your city and you work 40+ hours a week, something has gone really, really, wrong.
5
Yes. Even with a bachelors degree it is difficult for many people to create a stable middle class life.
3
As long as there is an unlimited supply of cheap labor, we will have relentless downward pressure on wages with the result of wage stagnation at the lower income levels and vast numbers of working poor who need expensive supports. That's just the plain economics of labor supply and demand.
If democrats want to get their mojo back and support the working poor, they need to get realistic, specific, and selective about immigration. Unrestrained immigration not only puts pressure on the working poor, but it also affects citizens' willingness to pay for public programs. If the beneficiaries of public programs are not Americans, Americans are generally not interested in paying for them.
Democrats would do well to remember that all of the New Deal programs were created and voted for during a time of near-zero immigration in this country. For those kinds programs to be created today (like healthcare for all, or universal daycare), people need to believe that they're sharing in some benefit when they pay their taxes, not subsidizing large numbers of newcomers who have not been paying for years, do not speak English, and are not excited about being American. We're just not that altruistic.
If democrats want to get their mojo back and support the working poor, they need to get realistic, specific, and selective about immigration. Unrestrained immigration not only puts pressure on the working poor, but it also affects citizens' willingness to pay for public programs. If the beneficiaries of public programs are not Americans, Americans are generally not interested in paying for them.
Democrats would do well to remember that all of the New Deal programs were created and voted for during a time of near-zero immigration in this country. For those kinds programs to be created today (like healthcare for all, or universal daycare), people need to believe that they're sharing in some benefit when they pay their taxes, not subsidizing large numbers of newcomers who have not been paying for years, do not speak English, and are not excited about being American. We're just not that altruistic.
14
these kinds of ideas used to be the bread and butter of any Democratic program. That this somehow seems like a new idea is indicative of how far the party has gotten from its roots and might just offer up a clue as to how the 2016 debacle occurred.
As highly as I think of President Obama, the strategy of running in 2016 on the notion that the Democrats delivered an economic recovery was simply out of touch with the reality experienced by many voters.
As highly as I think of President Obama, the strategy of running in 2016 on the notion that the Democrats delivered an economic recovery was simply out of touch with the reality experienced by many voters.
12
Only the big blue coastal cities "recovered" from the Great Recession, and they were never that badly hurt anyways.
Out in the rest of the nation, the Great Recession is ongoing even as I write this. But we are invisible to the powers that be -- in both parties.
Out in the rest of the nation, the Great Recession is ongoing even as I write this. But we are invisible to the powers that be -- in both parties.
3
And you can thank Mitch McConnell's relentless opposition for ensuring the recovery was as tepid as it was.
1
Although I have trouble with Mr. Leonhardt's phrase that "all of these trends (college graduates living longer,eating better etc.) are darker for non-graduates" I agree with his solutions, not only for a political resurgence for Democrats but, on a moral level, for the good of all people in this country. It is 'way beyond time for a large increase in the minimum wage and increased employee protections as well as training in skilled trades for those who are not interested in a college education. Add to that a major investment in rebuilding our infrastructure with its attendant employment opportunities and there will be an upward trend in living conditions for non-college graduates.
8
Everybody who doesn't go to college is not going to become a plumber or an electrician or a carpenter. Most of us end up in some sort of "regular" job. Stop living in a dream world. Some of us just do work.
There are two obvious roads Democrats can take to bring these voters back into their fold. The first is to do something serious about our crumbling infrastructure. If the recent cyber attack wasn't enough to set off shock waves, I don't know what it's going to take to get us to protect our infrastructure.
I remember reading the DNC/Clinton platform on infrastructure and their idea amounted to a few hundred billion dollars to fix it up (even Trump, as I recall, was talking more like a trillion). Everything I've read tells me this wouldn't be enough to repair just one sector, much less all that need it (transportation, energy, communications, environment, healthcare and, yes, our military, etc.). We're talking multiple trillions that are needed, not hundreds of billions.
The second thing is to couple contracts for infrastructure repair with employee training. There aren't enough people in skilled trades to begin with (ever try hiring a contractor?). The same goes for college educated people which can be done by putting a sensible plan in place on college loans to replace our current despicable system and inducing four year colleges into modernizing their curricula and training methods.
Do this much and you'll gain the support of those people we're leaving behind plus the business owners and managers who'll see their businesses expand exponentially. Whoever else is left behind in this movement deserves to be left behind because we're really talking about national security.
I remember reading the DNC/Clinton platform on infrastructure and their idea amounted to a few hundred billion dollars to fix it up (even Trump, as I recall, was talking more like a trillion). Everything I've read tells me this wouldn't be enough to repair just one sector, much less all that need it (transportation, energy, communications, environment, healthcare and, yes, our military, etc.). We're talking multiple trillions that are needed, not hundreds of billions.
The second thing is to couple contracts for infrastructure repair with employee training. There aren't enough people in skilled trades to begin with (ever try hiring a contractor?). The same goes for college educated people which can be done by putting a sensible plan in place on college loans to replace our current despicable system and inducing four year colleges into modernizing their curricula and training methods.
Do this much and you'll gain the support of those people we're leaving behind plus the business owners and managers who'll see their businesses expand exponentially. Whoever else is left behind in this movement deserves to be left behind because we're really talking about national security.
7
Same old opportunist horse-manure and, with Hillary Clinton's attempt to lead a comeback, we can see how the Democratic party dies. The Democrats jettisoned voters in the last election, nastily insulting and alienating a generation of new voters as well as those of us working class people -- degreed and undegreed -- who were sick and tired of being taken for granted by corporate sycophant Reagan Democrats. Keep in mind that the reason we have Trump, crooked elections aside, is that many could not support Clinton and either stayed home of voted for for Trump. many of those voters would have voted for Sanders. Instead of moving toward the authentic populism they talk, Democrats have learned nothing and are choosing to circle the wagons around a corrupt elite and pander to the center-right. This is a disaster not only for them but for the rest of us given the toxic alternative.
21
Yeah, that Clinton group is a joke. If you wanted to donate to those progessive groups, why wouldn't you just do it directly instead of filtering it through her group (less the skims) first?
Anyone wants to resist against the "Resistance", count me in.
Anyone wants to resist against the "Resistance", count me in.
Here's a short "D" platform and all of them require state intervention so the right will oppose all.
1. Universal childcare
2. Universal healthcare
3. Universal life long learning
4. Government, as last resort, created jobs
Universal means "free for all".
And, yes we can afford anything we choose to afford.
1. Universal childcare
2. Universal healthcare
3. Universal life long learning
4. Government, as last resort, created jobs
Universal means "free for all".
And, yes we can afford anything we choose to afford.
5
"And, yes we can afford anything we choose to afford."
Uh...no we cannot. We are dead broke, $20 TRILLION in debt.
You would not like paying the taxes that would be required to give "free everything to everybody".
Uh...no we cannot. We are dead broke, $20 TRILLION in debt.
You would not like paying the taxes that would be required to give "free everything to everybody".
1
I'm working -- now at nearly 80 -- and still paying taxes. Without complaint. I'm even amused to note that I pay a monthly premium for my Medicare coverage and also have a chunk of my paycheck taken to pay for Medicare for all (plus another chunk for social security, of course.)
I intend to keep working (and also volunteering) until I drop.
So...yes. I would be happy to give free everything to everybody. That's what I believe good people should do.
I intend to keep working (and also volunteering) until I drop.
So...yes. I would be happy to give free everything to everybody. That's what I believe good people should do.
What we need is to cancel the privileges that corporations have as legal persons under the law and make them lower than the rights for real flesh and blood humans under the law. Publicly fund political campaigns and limit political advertising to social media and not these soundbites.
13
If we want to help the working middle class (we're actually the same class whether or not we went to college), we need to connect our tax dollars to our needs. We need universal health care. We need child care and elder care. We need affordable college or ongoing job re/training. We need better public transportation, roads, bridges, and updated, lead-free sewer and public water systems. We need broadband internet everywhere including rural areas. We need subsidized or affordable housing. We need unions and wages that rise based on the cost of living. We need to be better than the wealthy fleecers who have no patriotism for our country, and no shame in asking others to die for their profits. We also need to respect and nurture small businesses and start-ups. All of these areas are possible and open to the Democrats. I'm honestly not sure who the Republicans represent. Some voters may relish their racism and sexism, and feel all puffed up with better-than-thou, but few would choose to wallow in that if there were an honest job or a better life available for their children on the table instead.
11
(Not my idea, but a good one): Universal service for two or three years after high school, during which time young people learn discipline, good work habits, and practical skills, and perhaps fill some of the gaps left by the less-stellar public schools. Use them where they are needed--in all the areas listed above, but especially education, child care, and public infrastructure. When they are finished, they will have earned the right to tuition-free college, and gained the skills necessary to succeed.
1
Well said, ma'am, couldn't have said it better myself.
1
The difference between doing what it takes to win elections -- and, winning elections based on the principle of helping people: The second one is harder -- the first one, only viable if you are not doing it to help people, rather just to hold the power.
With specter of Trump destruction of the nation, progressives are getting energized (hopefully) enough to overcome the greater handicap involved in winning elections through progressive principle over whatever it takes power-grabbing.
It's only as hard as it is -- because Democrats (as a whole), have slipped towards the direction of less progressive principle (not to create a false equivalence, it doesn't imply that the two parties are the same for it to be true that the DNC has been drifting a bit). By getting Leonhardt's "mushy middle" back to a reasonable place (ie, not simply a light version of conservatism that keeps going in that direction) -- that's how we get the mojo back.
In other words, I think that's what is meant by not tacking to the middle as the best strategy for the DNC -- is that the "middle" is not really the middle (as far as actual public opinion goes), it's just the place to which the GOP have managed to maneuver the politics in lawmaking (disconnected from the *actual moderate views of voters). There's two "middles" -- the artificial, political football of Congress, and, the real middle of American opinion. THAT'S the middle TO tap.
With specter of Trump destruction of the nation, progressives are getting energized (hopefully) enough to overcome the greater handicap involved in winning elections through progressive principle over whatever it takes power-grabbing.
It's only as hard as it is -- because Democrats (as a whole), have slipped towards the direction of less progressive principle (not to create a false equivalence, it doesn't imply that the two parties are the same for it to be true that the DNC has been drifting a bit). By getting Leonhardt's "mushy middle" back to a reasonable place (ie, not simply a light version of conservatism that keeps going in that direction) -- that's how we get the mojo back.
In other words, I think that's what is meant by not tacking to the middle as the best strategy for the DNC -- is that the "middle" is not really the middle (as far as actual public opinion goes), it's just the place to which the GOP have managed to maneuver the politics in lawmaking (disconnected from the *actual moderate views of voters). There's two "middles" -- the artificial, political football of Congress, and, the real middle of American opinion. THAT'S the middle TO tap.
2
If you are on the email list of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, you know that their focus is not on message but on money. A good 90% of their emails is about campaign contributions.
If you go to their website, Democrats.org, aside from links to their social media sites, there is one link on the top and it says "Donate."
I realize that it takes money to win elections, but if the bulk of the efforts is on fundraising and not on raising awareness of the issues that affect people, I am not sure how they will win back the Congress.
At least "The Center for American Progress" seems to devote a good deal of their web site to issues. Hopefully they can make a difference.
If you go to their website, Democrats.org, aside from links to their social media sites, there is one link on the top and it says "Donate."
I realize that it takes money to win elections, but if the bulk of the efforts is on fundraising and not on raising awareness of the issues that affect people, I am not sure how they will win back the Congress.
At least "The Center for American Progress" seems to devote a good deal of their web site to issues. Hopefully they can make a difference.
9
They want to make muffins out of all that money. George Clooney said Hillary's campaign raised an obscene amount of money. God knows where it went.
3
They need to distance themselves from the San Francisco bubble out of touch millionaire progressive types such as Feinstein and Pelosi and embrace a new leadership. They need to mend fences with the left wing of the party that became disillusioned after the dirty tricks used in the last campaign. And more than ever they need to get a million miles away from the likes of Clinton; the last thing they need is her spearheading some "resistance " movement against trump.
They need to stop being bitter About the last election, and get on with finding some substance with which to oppose republicans (that shouldn't be hard) because tying all their hopes to Russia and impeachment is gong to make democrats like empty suits when it all comes to nothing .
They need to stop being bitter About the last election, and get on with finding some substance with which to oppose republicans (that shouldn't be hard) because tying all their hopes to Russia and impeachment is gong to make democrats like empty suits when it all comes to nothing .
26
America certainly deserves more than The Republican President, his Republican Congress and his Republican Party. Nobody in America deserves that unholy trinity -- one lie embodied in a president, his Congress and his party.
Democrats win by promising ordinary Americans, those with degrees and and those without, three things. Honesty, an end to government by and for the 1% and a genuine commitment to doing the right thing.
Democrats win by promising ordinary Americans, those with degrees and and those without, three things. Honesty, an end to government by and for the 1% and a genuine commitment to doing the right thing.
5
First Democrats need to nominate candidates that reflect a progressive agenda but that don't absolutely turn off working class people. - which means don't under any circumstances nominate Elizabeth Warren (whose agenda I personally support).
Then Democrats need to primarily concentrate on the economy not on social issues that people in "Anytown USA" do not in relate to.
Then Democrats need to primarily concentrate on the economy not on social issues that people in "Anytown USA" do not in relate to.
9
Maybe one strategy would be to abandon, or tax, or otherwise address the mindless move toward "self-driving" vehicles, which will result in the unemployment of millions over the coming decades.
3
Self driving vehicles would be a godsend to seniors and the disabled, so please think of others before suggesting they be eliminated.
"The fact is, the electorate has shown some surprising support lately for an activist, populist government."
What is concerning about this article is summed up in the use of the word "surprising" here. It is indicative of the way the democrats (and republicans) are so out of touch with the people that they feel "surprise" when the people act. Further, this also foreshadows the failure of the writer's suggested approach to a democratic comeback because it will be based in a cynical embrace of the "non-degree" citizens (just as it is easy to decry the cynical embrace by the republicans of the evangelical community).
Not too long ago people were trained for their jobs while they were working, or were sent back to school with scholarships from their employers to gain specific knowledge so they could come back to work ready to go. Nowadays that can't happen because internal worker training reduces shareholder profits, and so this insane system of basing worth and hire-ability on a general college degree has taken over. Of course we don't produce workers with the skills the high tech companies want, because those companies don't feel obligated to their workers to train them. Then when technology shifts those workers get replaced, not retrained.
Shareholders need to be put into their place as backers, not the dictators of companies and be grateful if they make a dime each year.
Democrats would win if they stop blindly supporting the wealthy people who claim to be progressives
What is concerning about this article is summed up in the use of the word "surprising" here. It is indicative of the way the democrats (and republicans) are so out of touch with the people that they feel "surprise" when the people act. Further, this also foreshadows the failure of the writer's suggested approach to a democratic comeback because it will be based in a cynical embrace of the "non-degree" citizens (just as it is easy to decry the cynical embrace by the republicans of the evangelical community).
Not too long ago people were trained for their jobs while they were working, or were sent back to school with scholarships from their employers to gain specific knowledge so they could come back to work ready to go. Nowadays that can't happen because internal worker training reduces shareholder profits, and so this insane system of basing worth and hire-ability on a general college degree has taken over. Of course we don't produce workers with the skills the high tech companies want, because those companies don't feel obligated to their workers to train them. Then when technology shifts those workers get replaced, not retrained.
Shareholders need to be put into their place as backers, not the dictators of companies and be grateful if they make a dime each year.
Democrats would win if they stop blindly supporting the wealthy people who claim to be progressives
14
This seems like an invigorating and promising start for Democrats, but one that skirts around the larger problem of globalization's devastating impact on communities -- a problem that has radicalized many voters and turned them into trump supporters.
Rather than conceive of a big government plan for creating "good jobs," (a proposal that is nice on paper but ripe for massively backfiring), why not a Democratic vision that uses government to create conditions for companies to create good jobs in the US, to curtail the rise of Big Business in the states so that small business, entrepeneurs and local social fabrics can flourish? Why not take the lead in drafting new economic policies, rather than dreaming up stop gap measures? For as long as the Democratic party protects Big Business, theres going to be a trust problem with voters. Neoliberalism eroded any love between the DNC and white working class; a massive welfare jobs program will not bring them back -- especially when you have a man in office who promises them they are in fact kings of America again. The house of the DNC has to be built, in my opinion, brick by brick from the ground up, not just to win back working class voters, but to help America be a great country.
Rather than conceive of a big government plan for creating "good jobs," (a proposal that is nice on paper but ripe for massively backfiring), why not a Democratic vision that uses government to create conditions for companies to create good jobs in the US, to curtail the rise of Big Business in the states so that small business, entrepeneurs and local social fabrics can flourish? Why not take the lead in drafting new economic policies, rather than dreaming up stop gap measures? For as long as the Democratic party protects Big Business, theres going to be a trust problem with voters. Neoliberalism eroded any love between the DNC and white working class; a massive welfare jobs program will not bring them back -- especially when you have a man in office who promises them they are in fact kings of America again. The house of the DNC has to be built, in my opinion, brick by brick from the ground up, not just to win back working class voters, but to help America be a great country.
5
Democrats will get the mojo back when they start VOTING in mid-term and off year elections. Republicans, for all their faults, understand how the system works.
I am afraid the Dems won't see a need for change. They are banking on Trump being so bad that Dems won't need a platform or persuaion. That did not work out well for them last time.
9
Yeah, the Dems are always "the lesser of two evils." I'm always voting AGAINST the Republican candidate, never FOR the Democrats.
It would be better to focus first one one thing: Medicare for all.
Health care expense is the tapeworm eating through our society consuming way to many resources inefficiently. Fix that and we instantly become more productive. Do this one thing first.
Health care expense is the tapeworm eating through our society consuming way to many resources inefficiently. Fix that and we instantly become more productive. Do this one thing first.
8
Investment in infrastructure whether physical or cerebral is the best investment we can make because we get something useful out of the process. A effective sewage treatment plant is far from something a politician wants to celebrate with a ribbon cutting ceremony but stopping death and illness from water borne disease pays huge return on investment for the life of the plant.
A citizenry as smart and educated as possible increases the number of great things we can achieve. I include not just a baccalaureate degree here but also technical education and re-education for all to maintain and improve skills.
These are the dull, non-sexy things that can keep America great. Time to get to work.
A citizenry as smart and educated as possible increases the number of great things we can achieve. I include not just a baccalaureate degree here but also technical education and re-education for all to maintain and improve skills.
These are the dull, non-sexy things that can keep America great. Time to get to work.
2
You had my interest till you wrote that the head of the new "Marshall Plan for America" previously worked for Clinton and Obama. If you had said Sanders and Warren I would have been excited.
Clinton ($250,000-speaking fees) and Obama ($400,000-speaking fees) represent the Democratic party that oversaw the disastrous income inequality gap that gave us Trump. Their ideas didn't work and their own example shows us why.
Apparently you don't have to be a Republican to be greedy, or to convince yourself that you're worth 10,000 times more per hour than the poor slobs who elected you (who can't even afford good health.)
Clinton ($250,000-speaking fees) and Obama ($400,000-speaking fees) represent the Democratic party that oversaw the disastrous income inequality gap that gave us Trump. Their ideas didn't work and their own example shows us why.
Apparently you don't have to be a Republican to be greedy, or to convince yourself that you're worth 10,000 times more per hour than the poor slobs who elected you (who can't even afford good health.)
12
More opportunities for better jobs? Yes!
More opportunities for quality higher education? Yes!
But what's also needed is a fundamental reexamination of the roles and structures of both jobs and education.
Clearly the needs of our economy and our democracy demand that we make quality higher education available to everyone. It's long past the time when 2 year Community College should be "free" (funded totally with public tax money) for all qualified students. But this will be self defeating if too much of those two years are spent remediating what should have been learned during secondary school.
Publically supported education needs to be life long, but we need to refocus on the primary purpose of education which is to prepare adults to be capable of shouldering the responsibilities of democracy and facing its often grueling, challenging, and heartbreaking challenges.
"Workforce development" should not even be considered as a secondary purpose of education because the idea of a "workforce" must be abandoned as representing a diminishment of human dignity and potential. Perhaps most people will need to be employed in wage or salary jobs for some duration of their lives for purposes of training and development as well as for the execution of needed social functions. But jobs and careers as they are now conceived and structured are unsustainably disoriented to the extractive profit needs of unaccountable idiot elites.
We not only can do better. We absolutely must!
More opportunities for quality higher education? Yes!
But what's also needed is a fundamental reexamination of the roles and structures of both jobs and education.
Clearly the needs of our economy and our democracy demand that we make quality higher education available to everyone. It's long past the time when 2 year Community College should be "free" (funded totally with public tax money) for all qualified students. But this will be self defeating if too much of those two years are spent remediating what should have been learned during secondary school.
Publically supported education needs to be life long, but we need to refocus on the primary purpose of education which is to prepare adults to be capable of shouldering the responsibilities of democracy and facing its often grueling, challenging, and heartbreaking challenges.
"Workforce development" should not even be considered as a secondary purpose of education because the idea of a "workforce" must be abandoned as representing a diminishment of human dignity and potential. Perhaps most people will need to be employed in wage or salary jobs for some duration of their lives for purposes of training and development as well as for the execution of needed social functions. But jobs and careers as they are now conceived and structured are unsustainably disoriented to the extractive profit needs of unaccountable idiot elites.
We not only can do better. We absolutely must!
Cities are the engine of growth. People have to move to them to get employment. What do we do for the people left behind, who vote for Trump, do not support policies that help them, resist change at every turn and are part of the problem. No more, we move on.
We lost because Hillary did not get out the vote, plus, voter suppression in Wisconsin (about 200K of them). That's 3 stolen elections of the last 5.
https://www.thenation.com/article/wisconsins-voter-id-law-suppressed-200...
We lost because Hillary did not get out the vote, plus, voter suppression in Wisconsin (about 200K of them). That's 3 stolen elections of the last 5.
https://www.thenation.com/article/wisconsins-voter-id-law-suppressed-200...
Why did the DNC give us a loser to vote for? Yeah, we held our noses and voted but why do we always have to hold our noses to vote Democrat?
1
The best thing Democrats can do for American workers, American businesses and themselves is to campaign for single-payer national health insurance for all Americans. Medicare-for-All, all ages.
6
The concept of Democrats winning back the working class vote is absolutely spot on, as critical to the revival of sanity in America. The Republicans have been serving up lip service, while pursuing policies that are directly punitive to the working class. They've done so with superior messaging and well crafted campaign of sound bites and controlling the terms of the debate, while Democrats have floundered with complex policies and poorly articulated alignment of working class support with their agenda.
Trump's boldly destructive agenda will help a great deal in reversing the sick trend, but the Democrats have to seize the moment, re-appropriate the terms of the debate and message more clearly and cleverly than they have in the past few decades.
Let's all cheer for sanity. I like it's chances.
Trump's boldly destructive agenda will help a great deal in reversing the sick trend, but the Democrats have to seize the moment, re-appropriate the terms of the debate and message more clearly and cleverly than they have in the past few decades.
Let's all cheer for sanity. I like it's chances.
136
If the Republicans are pursuing policies that are directly punitive to the working class, why did the working class abandon the Democrats in favor of policies that will directly punish them? Democrats get trounced when they tell Americans what Democrats really want to do.
The US needs a new "New Deal" for the 21st Century. Our working class has been decimated by two enormous forces, globalization and technology. These trends will only get stronger, with technology displacing many jobs. Government policy makers can either ignore the plight of the working class, or they can seek to address their needs. Medicare for all, quality education for every child, massive investment in infrastructure, all paid for by equitable tax reform that requires corporations and wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes, these are the cornerstones of public policy which will help restore the American working class. If the Democrats will run on these policies, they will recapture government and hopefully do the thing necessary to save the country.
227
They have to do more than just run on them. Barack Obama did, and that's why i voted for him in '08. What a bust that turned out to be, he was just another garden variety corporate Dem.
That actually are going to have to convince those left behind that they will make every effort possible to actually deliver the policies that they're running on. Given the current party leadership and usual utter tone-deafness and cluelessness, i'm not feeling any optimism here. A good place to start would be to put up good candidates who have actually walked the walk in the interests of the working classes. Somehow i can't see that happening.
That actually are going to have to convince those left behind that they will make every effort possible to actually deliver the policies that they're running on. Given the current party leadership and usual utter tone-deafness and cluelessness, i'm not feeling any optimism here. A good place to start would be to put up good candidates who have actually walked the walk in the interests of the working classes. Somehow i can't see that happening.
2
All democratics should support a real progressive income tax with no loop holes for the rich,
As far as you take on taxation, corporations do not pay income taxes. It is simply a pass thru cost that is paid for by the consumer. Corporate stockholders however do pay taxes. Both on the dividends corporations pay and the capital gains on increased stock valuations. 45% of the country pay zero in federal taxes and the top 1% pay 40% of taxes collected. We have a spending problem in our federal government. No politician is willing to examine an agency or program to see if it is working. They just want more money. Moving further to the left has been a losing proposition for Democrats. Time to restore common sense and realize that government cannot solve all the maladies of its citizens even though it claims that it can.
"All" that elitist Democrats need to do is show respect for personal values that differ from their own. Respect the fact that people with different personal values can share the same public policy goals and encourage them to join in the fight for job, health, environmental and national security while maintaining civil liberties.
Stop with the thumbing down the nose at people who never went to college, people who speak with a twang or a drawl, people who like donuts and NASCAR and hunting and fishing and Country Music. Embrace the camaraderie and egalitarian spirit of Waffle House.
When it comes to gun control, understand that nearly all gun owners agree with sensible regulations but they are deeply fearful of anyone who threatens to take away their rights to self defense.
When it comes to abortion, understand and respect that when someone believes life begins at conception, they really believe it and it will not be possible to persuade them that "choice" is equivalent to "life." Instead, show understanding for their deeply held feelings, accept that on this point there will be disagreement and suggest working together on other issues.
We need to get past the local team mentality that has enabled Republicans to prosper even as team red acts against the interests of its fans and the nation and world in general. Democrats must also recognize their own hypocrisies and move past them. Do that and we can make America great again!
Stop with the thumbing down the nose at people who never went to college, people who speak with a twang or a drawl, people who like donuts and NASCAR and hunting and fishing and Country Music. Embrace the camaraderie and egalitarian spirit of Waffle House.
When it comes to gun control, understand that nearly all gun owners agree with sensible regulations but they are deeply fearful of anyone who threatens to take away their rights to self defense.
When it comes to abortion, understand and respect that when someone believes life begins at conception, they really believe it and it will not be possible to persuade them that "choice" is equivalent to "life." Instead, show understanding for their deeply held feelings, accept that on this point there will be disagreement and suggest working together on other issues.
We need to get past the local team mentality that has enabled Republicans to prosper even as team red acts against the interests of its fans and the nation and world in general. Democrats must also recognize their own hypocrisies and move past them. Do that and we can make America great again!
272
Regarding abortion: Sorry, but the terrorists that swarm the clinics and spout their hate are not to be "understood". How is it that women's reproductive rights must be the "peace offering" to a rabidly religious GOP? I'm ok with another person's opposing viewpoint but I'm not ok with more legislation, more terror, and more giveaways on women's basic health rights in the name of "reaching across the aisle".
6
I agree with this. One thing that would help is if the news media that Democrats follow, such as the Times, would provide much better coverage of what say the conservatives of the old GOP, and the "anti-anti-Trump" present-day GOP (to use the term of a brilliant recent op ed by Charles Sykes put it). How can we relate to these groups unless we know what they think and why? The liberal media is almost as hermetically sealed within its bubble as are Fox News and Rush L.
1
Mike: I agree with you, but doubt if Dems/liberals would agree or truly understand your points. They DON"T like or respect working class whites without a college degree, period. And it's very difficult to convincingly "fake" liking someone you really don't like, whether in one to one or group situations. Even "dumb" "uneducated" rural folks can spot condescension.
1
I rejected Bernie because I thought he was leading people on with empty promises, promises he couldn’t keep even if elected. I feel the same about these proposals by the Center for American Progress.
To regain their their "mojo," and their ability to get things done, the Democrats must take back both houses of Congress and more than a sprinkling of state houses in the 2018 midterm elections.
A tall order? Maybe. But Donald Trump has given the Dems a historic opportunity to do so. My gnawing fear, however, is that once again they will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Why do I say that? Because too many Dems seem unable to get past the blame barrier. They blame Trump supporters, calling them "stupid" and "racist." They blame the party establishment, accusing them of favoring Wall Street.
Meanwhile, many of their fellow Democrats around the country are taking matters in their own hands. Here's a reply to a comment I posted recently in The Times:
"Sheila 3103 May 8, 2017
It's already happening, but from the ground up. there are many grassroots organizations that are working to bring back the Trump Democrats back into fold, knocking on doors, holding their own meetings in small towns to big cities. We are not waiting for the top down approach; we are already taking it to the streets."
Less time blaming, and more time talking to Trump voters could yield surprising results. They don’t all think alike. And we only need a few to change the outcome in swing districts.
To regain their their "mojo," and their ability to get things done, the Democrats must take back both houses of Congress and more than a sprinkling of state houses in the 2018 midterm elections.
A tall order? Maybe. But Donald Trump has given the Dems a historic opportunity to do so. My gnawing fear, however, is that once again they will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Why do I say that? Because too many Dems seem unable to get past the blame barrier. They blame Trump supporters, calling them "stupid" and "racist." They blame the party establishment, accusing them of favoring Wall Street.
Meanwhile, many of their fellow Democrats around the country are taking matters in their own hands. Here's a reply to a comment I posted recently in The Times:
"Sheila 3103 May 8, 2017
It's already happening, but from the ground up. there are many grassroots organizations that are working to bring back the Trump Democrats back into fold, knocking on doors, holding their own meetings in small towns to big cities. We are not waiting for the top down approach; we are already taking it to the streets."
Less time blaming, and more time talking to Trump voters could yield surprising results. They don’t all think alike. And we only need a few to change the outcome in swing districts.
19
Why can't Americans have what citizens of 60 other nations have? Free accessible health care? Why can't Americans have what many other nations have: subsidized day care and subsidized college, and even subsidized medical school? Why not? Aren't we the best?
1
Your rejection of Bernie is "symptomatic" of democrats giving up of dreaming big instead adopting incrementalism as their path. Sorry but Sheesh. My millennials are shocked at folks like you. They say it is because of people like Paul Krugman who became the We Can't Do economists, that we are given the GIFT of Trump, who along with GOP, will single handedly wipe out all of millennials' dreams (avocado and all) and their grandparents' dreams as well. Hold on tight to your medicare...there are no guarantees anymore.
2
I was a Bernie-or-buster. In fact, i wrote him in, because the paid off superdelegates in my state essentially told me that my vote was worthless anyway, and your Senate minority leader said that they''d rather have 2 surburban Repubs that me. Now i'm not an idiot, and i know full well that he was never going to be able to deliver on the lion's share of those promises. But i had full confidence that he'd work his tail off for them, and for the interests of the working classes anyway.
Your Democratic nominee, and the current party leadership? Spare me. I'm not a Trump voter, nor a Republican, nor a Democrat. And your party still has to work in my interests for my vote. Count on it coming for free at your peril.
Just for fun, here are the latest Gallup numbers. You have your work cut out.
2017 May 3-7
R-29% I-40% D-28%
Your Democratic nominee, and the current party leadership? Spare me. I'm not a Trump voter, nor a Republican, nor a Democrat. And your party still has to work in my interests for my vote. Count on it coming for free at your peril.
Just for fun, here are the latest Gallup numbers. You have your work cut out.
2017 May 3-7
R-29% I-40% D-28%
1
Leonhardt does not outright accuse white, working class people of being racists, but he acknowledges that many elite libeals hold the bigoted belief and he doesn't defend white, working class people.
White, working class people did not vote for Trump because they are racists. They voted for him because they saw that the Democrats' agenda is destroying the country.
White, working class people did not vote for Trump because they are racists. They voted for him because they saw that the Democrats' agenda is destroying the country.
9
How? By finding a way to insure people for health care. By pulling the country out of a near depression. By protecting equal protection under the law for gays and lesbians, by working for social justice? Does not sound like destruction. Sounds like construction. Meanwhile we have a President who shares security information with the Russians because they flatter him.
15
"Outside" seems to feel attacked by this column. Let me address his/her comments. The Trump voters thought that Don the Con was going to help them out of the goodness of his heart. They did not look at Don's track record of cheating contractors, suppliers and anyone else he could. So I would characterize Trump voters as desperate fools who hold onto the view that their class is superior to others without any good reason. If that be racist, so be it.
1
This is laughable. Conservative, Republican, Corporatist agenda has driven policy (tax cuts for the rich with sideshow wedge issues-abortion etc...) since the mid-1970's. The GOP is bankrupting the country to make the rich richer. Progressives have won a few battles in protections for some marginalized groups but otherwise is has been a steady roll back of policies that would benefit the working class even when democrats are in power.
Leonhardt's sentence " This new plan is unabashedly left-leaning in its call for the government to help create millions of good-paying jobs " is a measure of how far we have fallen as a society, and how far off course we are.
Why is investing in our nation's citizens less important than freeing corporations from ' onerous taxation ' (sarcasm) when remembering that corporations don't pay taxes - customers pay taxes that corporations merely pass through to government ? (Anyone who thinks otherwise need only listen to the proffered justifications that lower taxes will lower prices charged by corporations so they can better compete, blah blah blah, yada yada yada).
As a basic economic argument, better-educated societies produce more in GDP terms, so it makes perfect sense to invest in educating as many as possible to the highest level possible, in order to have the strongest economy possible, doesn't it ?
However, this obviously requires public investment, and public investment in this country is paid for through taxes, or in the case of corporations, lack thereof and subsidies which make their tax liability zero out:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/business/economy/corporate-tax-report...
and:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/13/pf/taxes/gao-corporate-taxes/
Individual 'muricans should get the same favorable tax treatment regularly handed out to 1%-ers and to corporations, be it under the auspices of equal opportunity, or whatever.
Why is investing in our nation's citizens less important than freeing corporations from ' onerous taxation ' (sarcasm) when remembering that corporations don't pay taxes - customers pay taxes that corporations merely pass through to government ? (Anyone who thinks otherwise need only listen to the proffered justifications that lower taxes will lower prices charged by corporations so they can better compete, blah blah blah, yada yada yada).
As a basic economic argument, better-educated societies produce more in GDP terms, so it makes perfect sense to invest in educating as many as possible to the highest level possible, in order to have the strongest economy possible, doesn't it ?
However, this obviously requires public investment, and public investment in this country is paid for through taxes, or in the case of corporations, lack thereof and subsidies which make their tax liability zero out:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/business/economy/corporate-tax-report...
and:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/13/pf/taxes/gao-corporate-taxes/
Individual 'muricans should get the same favorable tax treatment regularly handed out to 1%-ers and to corporations, be it under the auspices of equal opportunity, or whatever.
92
Campaign strategists on the right like Roger Stone would sneer and then laugh at the fine aspirations outlined in this piece. He knew how to reach the disaffected, what they needed to be told, and what kind of candidate could best deliver phony messages--especially on television. Liberals are offended by the sleazy tactics used by conservative operatives like Stone, but he and his methods have been the key to many election victories. Even more than pursuing ideals, Stone and his associates knew how to turn negative campaigning into political gold.
20
The difference between doing what it takes to win elections -- and, winning elections based on the principle of helping people?
The second one is harder -- the first one, only viable if you are not doing it to help people, rather just to hold the power.
The second one is harder -- the first one, only viable if you are not doing it to help people, rather just to hold the power.
1
William, I suppose you are not advocating the adoption of sleaze because sleaze sells. The reason sleaze sells is because it is based upon listener response. But people will respond to a positive pitch even more enthusiastically, if there is conviction and a clear plan for reaching the goal. So far neither of these is evident, although I guess they are an objective.
1
You are right. I guess what I'm reaching for is this: Democrats are going to have get better at countering the dirty tricks that are embedded in every major Republican campaign.
Good luck convincing narcissistic egoists that their comfort, privilege, gated communities, outsourcing corporate donors and silicon valley oligarchs are antithetical to their inclusive rhetoric, and are hated symbols of their arrogance. Much more likely is a radical uber-left, spouting all the old maxims about workers, capital, labor, debt and social justice, with no inclusive leanings, devoid of intellectual heft - and victorious in every democratic primary. We will have the unintelligent versus the intolerant, a perfect outcome for a people too stupid and distracted to see beyond their noses.
5
Ethics are an impediment to life in this bullied nation in waiting for a better life after death.
Mr. Leonhardt,
Everyone I know who possesses a BA or BS degree who recently graduated from a decent public or private college or university (not a so-called "diploma mill", a for-profit trade school or fifth-rate private college) is in debt up to their eyeballs, and then some. Their first job offers won't pay enough to make a significant dent in their educational indebtedness. And then it gets worse because the job market is flooded annually with more college graduates, depressing pay-scales and the value of having an academic degree that most issuing institutions don't consider significant in any case.
Your blanket prescription needs a rethink. It's little better than a bromide. You need to do better.
Everyone I know who possesses a BA or BS degree who recently graduated from a decent public or private college or university (not a so-called "diploma mill", a for-profit trade school or fifth-rate private college) is in debt up to their eyeballs, and then some. Their first job offers won't pay enough to make a significant dent in their educational indebtedness. And then it gets worse because the job market is flooded annually with more college graduates, depressing pay-scales and the value of having an academic degree that most issuing institutions don't consider significant in any case.
Your blanket prescription needs a rethink. It's little better than a bromide. You need to do better.
181
That could be the future. But the debt problem is the result of decreased funding from state legislatures for education because they refuse to spend money on their residents because it might raise taxes. Look at Kansas. Look at Texas.
9
Never forget that until we accept that we have put too many people on this planet to sustain the lives we dream of, that those who seek to sustain (because they treasure their fellow beings) will put forth the best solutions they know, and which might be implemented.
Until we accept that the Club for Growth is our worst enemy and accept the gradual diminution of energy use (even the cleanest we come up with) and population, we will see what you describe above - the best and the brightest in debt and castaways. It's heartbreaking.
Until we accept that the Club for Growth is our worst enemy and accept the gradual diminution of energy use (even the cleanest we come up with) and population, we will see what you describe above - the best and the brightest in debt and castaways. It's heartbreaking.
On the other hand, look at Georgia, where the state government actually provides scholarships to citizens who did sufficiently well in high school. It's funded by a lottery so nobody complains about it raising taxes. The catch is that it only applies to local colleges, so one can't use it to attend something like an Ivy League school.
The way the Dems can "get their mojo back" is to get rid of leaders with no mojo--Schumer and Pelosi.
To use a sports analogy--They have been the Democratic Party's head coaches for a long time and the team has been losing. As shown by a number of election results around the nation over many years, the fans have stopped coming. Their message is not radiating with the players (voters). Maybe they were the right coaches at one time, but now it is time to make a change. Bring in someone who knows how to communicate with and motivate this new generation of players (voters).
To use a sports analogy--They have been the Democratic Party's head coaches for a long time and the team has been losing. As shown by a number of election results around the nation over many years, the fans have stopped coming. Their message is not radiating with the players (voters). Maybe they were the right coaches at one time, but now it is time to make a change. Bring in someone who knows how to communicate with and motivate this new generation of players (voters).
218
Pelosi can keep visiting and revising the Dalai Lama all she wants, but he is not going to get her the prize that democrats seek. Pelosi and Schumer represent the very wrong prescription that led to democrats losing everything they had - majority - after Obama won elections.
3
Pelosi and Schumer, thank you for your service. A nice green pasture awaits your arrival, and soon.
1
aka Bernie Sanders
This article was written by someone who exemplifies why the Democrats don't get their mojo back. For one, the Democrats aren't going anywhere unless they throw the insurance cartels and Big Pharma off this Titanic and fully embrace real universal health care - meaning, single payer a.k.a improved, expanded Medicare For All. Would the writer describe that as one of his perceived 'excesses of the left?' Newsflash: it's supported by 75 percent of Democrats, most independents, and supported by more Republicans than those opposing it. It's only what's normal in every other developed nation except this country - where the views of those against it - supporting this insurance/blood profiteering system - and people like Neera Tandem - is what is radical and, radically perverse.
If the Democrats had passed single payer when they could've and should've in 2009, they wouldn't have lost the House, the Senate and the Presidency - and - we wouldn't have this Big Orange in the White House right now thinking nuclear war is something to tweet about.
I daresay the insurance and pharmaceutical *cartels* (because that's what they are) are the single most destructive factor to our standard of living, the economy, our entire political system, and even world peace, at this juncture since it has something to do with why Trump is now president.
Health care is a silent Civil War on American soil.
Reboot the DP? Throw out these cartels & their dirty $. Or the DP's finished. Single payer now!
If the Democrats had passed single payer when they could've and should've in 2009, they wouldn't have lost the House, the Senate and the Presidency - and - we wouldn't have this Big Orange in the White House right now thinking nuclear war is something to tweet about.
I daresay the insurance and pharmaceutical *cartels* (because that's what they are) are the single most destructive factor to our standard of living, the economy, our entire political system, and even world peace, at this juncture since it has something to do with why Trump is now president.
Health care is a silent Civil War on American soil.
Reboot the DP? Throw out these cartels & their dirty $. Or the DP's finished. Single payer now!
442
The Democrats have been failing since the Clintons with their Third Way, corporatist strategy took hold. They capitulated to GOP and donor class demands to strangle unions, privatize whatever wasn't locked to the ground, coddle the bankers and corporations, and indulge in identity policies for the optics.
Last year Thomas Frank wrote a very good article for the Atlantic (never alluded to on the pages of the NYT) where he described attending a self-congratulatory convention (or whatever) for women lead by Hillary supporters and the great women, herself. It was worth a read then and still is. Vain and preening, they congratulated themselves on their liberalism in helping a handful of women in third world countries aspire to be like themselves. Hillary beamed!
Unfortunately, the Hill and Bill show are wiggling their way back in the door that slammed behind them when she lost the election. We do not need Her to start another splinter group. If she is serious about making amends for failing to defeat the second most disliked politician in America, she should raise millions to support the moving train of the truly progressive people in Congress: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Al Franken, and Jeff Merkley. They are for the American people and democracy, not just for themselves.
Not only is Schumer toast, so are Hillary and Bill. Pelosi can still wrangle votes like nobody's business. Keep her.
Last year Thomas Frank wrote a very good article for the Atlantic (never alluded to on the pages of the NYT) where he described attending a self-congratulatory convention (or whatever) for women lead by Hillary supporters and the great women, herself. It was worth a read then and still is. Vain and preening, they congratulated themselves on their liberalism in helping a handful of women in third world countries aspire to be like themselves. Hillary beamed!
Unfortunately, the Hill and Bill show are wiggling their way back in the door that slammed behind them when she lost the election. We do not need Her to start another splinter group. If she is serious about making amends for failing to defeat the second most disliked politician in America, she should raise millions to support the moving train of the truly progressive people in Congress: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Al Franken, and Jeff Merkley. They are for the American people and democracy, not just for themselves.
Not only is Schumer toast, so are Hillary and Bill. Pelosi can still wrangle votes like nobody's business. Keep her.
2
Health care, big Pharma . . . There are many items to repair. You make your point well. Those are but one side of the overall needs facing Americans today. Providing work for the many in need of decent paying jobs is right before us . It's called "infrastructure repair." It is so necessary, I cannot imagine why it is still being neglected.
1
It's easy to say, "If the Democrats had passed single payer when they could've and should've in 2009 ... " but the Democrats passed what was possible to pass; remember, it passed by only one vote.
"Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable; the art of the second best."
—Bismarck
"Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable; the art of the second best."
—Bismarck
2
Democrats can get their mojo back when they:
1. Stop their boutique politics and join together to elect Democrats, not some, but all Democrats.
2. Get new, young national Democratic leaders and spokespersons. I'm sorry but Pelosi and Summer are the past. We need new leadership with a vision for the future.
3. Develop a strategic 5-point plan of bold policy initiatives and develop a single strong message, and have all Democrats stick to, support, and speak with a single voice.
Otherwise we Democrats will continue to be standing outside the White House fence looking in and powerless in Congress.
1. Stop their boutique politics and join together to elect Democrats, not some, but all Democrats.
2. Get new, young national Democratic leaders and spokespersons. I'm sorry but Pelosi and Summer are the past. We need new leadership with a vision for the future.
3. Develop a strategic 5-point plan of bold policy initiatives and develop a single strong message, and have all Democrats stick to, support, and speak with a single voice.
Otherwise we Democrats will continue to be standing outside the White House fence looking in and powerless in Congress.
191
Thank you for getting to the heart of the matter! I don't have time to respond properly right now, but I will try to do so this evening.
Also, stop wasting their energies on losing issues like "abortion on demand" ( which is so unpopular that they renamed it "reproductive rights"). I'm convinced that Trump's unexpected Electoral College win was due to anti-abortion votes against a politician who once tried to hide abortion funding in her health-care proposals.
Why are you "sorry?" Shumer and Pelosi are the past. Here in Vermont we voted again for Patrick Leahy. Yes, we all love him but at 80 plus he can't possibly have the stamina and energy required in tough times like these. This may sound like ageism -- and it is: I am a teacher, close to 60, and I know, oh do I know, that I can't squeeze as much juice out of my brain as I did 10 years ago.
2
This is a remake of infrastructure spending and bringing back the trade school in some form. Infrastructure spending is a given, just look at Penn Station here in NYC for a prime example, As for trade school, there has been many articles about the need for skilled trades people, the latest one I saw was about the need for auto technicians. As has been said the two year college is the place to do this. Sounds great, we need to win back at least one part of congress to get started!!
32
I agree 100%. The trades at one time were very respected. What in the world happened? Oh, I remember, we got rid of Unions. The Unions are the place workers used to get their training. No more. Now if you show up with a tool belt, you consider yourself a craftsperson. Not. Time to ramp up trade schools for good, solid, very well paying jobs. And Americans need to start respecting the jobs they do again.
3
It's more than a remake of the trade school. It is a refocus of the economy away from the private sector. Just as farming was taken over by automation driving people to the cities, automation is eliminating most private sector human jobs. But there is so much left undone because the private sector doesn't have any interest in it. In fact, most of the work that makes life worthwhile is not done in cubicles by interchangeable humans or in front of computer monitors.
2
We just saw how little confidence there is in the integrity of both Democratic and Republican parties during the past presidential election. Sanders, a Democratic Socialist, had the most resonating message for less affluent Americans, but was dismissed but the media and the Democratic party with whom he caucused. It is time for either a new third party to take control, or for the Democratic Party to return to the platforms of FDR, Kennedy and Johnson.
As for educating the masses, yes, our nation needs to encourage higher learning, but let's start at the beginning with a committed investment in public education at the elementary, middle and high school levels. One doesn't need an advanced degree to earn a decent living, (my plumber makes more money than I do) or to be able to make rational decisions in the voting booth.
As for educating the masses, yes, our nation needs to encourage higher learning, but let's start at the beginning with a committed investment in public education at the elementary, middle and high school levels. One doesn't need an advanced degree to earn a decent living, (my plumber makes more money than I do) or to be able to make rational decisions in the voting booth.
128
Only FDR and Johnson were ever able to get their policies passed, and all of those were more than half-a-century ago.
Perhaps if you put forward candidates who have the practical political skills and experience, you might find more in the middle of the political spectrum willing to take a chance.
We all know that a Hillary Clinton administration would turn into the most corrupt and dysfunctional administrations since Warren G. Harding's horrible tenure.
Perhaps if you put forward candidates who have the practical political skills and experience, you might find more in the middle of the political spectrum willing to take a chance.
We all know that a Hillary Clinton administration would turn into the most corrupt and dysfunctional administrations since Warren G. Harding's horrible tenure.
It was Bernie then,and its Bernie now.
He understood the electorate, and frankly I believe had he gotten the nominTion would have wiped the floor with The "swamp thing."
He understood the electorate, and frankly I believe had he gotten the nominTion would have wiped the floor with The "swamp thing."
135
Paul in Trantor, I like Bernie but he seems willing to throw women's health care under the bus. Bernie is a harbinger perhaps, but he is not the "man" for our times.
2
Paul: I am from VT, I have been volunteering for Bernie for 2 decades and will not stop now. Yes, he would have won BUT we would have been through another 8 years of turbo-charged Rep destruction.
It pains me to say this, because we will all suffer horrendous consequences, but Trump is the infection we all need -- we will develop antibodies and vaccines that will defeat this bug forever, but first we have to go through the high fever phase with high mortality.
It pains me to say this, because we will all suffer horrendous consequences, but Trump is the infection we all need -- we will develop antibodies and vaccines that will defeat this bug forever, but first we have to go through the high fever phase with high mortality.
4
Well said, sir.
The patient, however, may be terminal. I look at 35-40% of my fellow citizens - blissfully unconscious. Hate and fear ruminating in their lizard brains. They run the show because they live in a world of delusion and have no qualms about kicking the less fortunate to the curb. The Republican ideology is the embodiment of the worst in human nature.
The patient, however, may be terminal. I look at 35-40% of my fellow citizens - blissfully unconscious. Hate and fear ruminating in their lizard brains. They run the show because they live in a world of delusion and have no qualms about kicking the less fortunate to the curb. The Republican ideology is the embodiment of the worst in human nature.
1
Mr. Leonhardt, I am a conservative Republican. Nevertheless, I would support a government spending that would provided better opportunity and security for the "working class," and encouraged more people to get college degrees. I am convinced that it could be done through incentives at reasonable costs. But here's the problem. Neither side, any more, ever produces a solution in the "mushy middle." If the Democrats propose something like this they will insist on imposing the rest of their agenda onto it. They will insist that it provide preferences for "historically disadvantaged groups," that it favors their constituencies--lawyers, public unions, etc., that it encourages green power, etc. This is why Obamacare has never gained widespread support. They could have required states to achieve universal (95%) catastrophic health insurance coverage, outlawed restrictions on pre-existing conditions, provided preventative care to the poor (Medicaid) , and broken down interstate insurance barriers. That would have succeeded, but they wanted to legislate universal birth control and abortion coverage; they wanted to expand the government bureaucracy; and they wanted to control in specific detail how health care is distributed and what insurance should cover.
13
"That is why Obamacare has never gained widespread support."
If half of all Americans is not widespread I don't know what is:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/23/support-for-2010-health-...
Don't forget that Republicans attacked Obamacare from day one and have never let up from attacking it. Instead of fixing it they keep attacking it, which is why it is failing it right now.
No the reason the ACA is failing is not due to President Obama and the Democrats, it is due to the Republicans who want to remove any government intervention in the health care "markets".
So go ahead and moan and groan about "bureaucracy" and "mandates" but pray tell what is the Republican's solution to those problems? After seven years of attacking the ACA the lack of a replacement or fixes to the ACA shows how morally, ethically and intellectually bankrupt the GOP is.
In the future please research the issues before you make assertions that are patently false. That way you can provide solutions instead of useless (and false) criticism of a government program that is actually helping the people of the USA.
If half of all Americans is not widespread I don't know what is:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/23/support-for-2010-health-...
Don't forget that Republicans attacked Obamacare from day one and have never let up from attacking it. Instead of fixing it they keep attacking it, which is why it is failing it right now.
No the reason the ACA is failing is not due to President Obama and the Democrats, it is due to the Republicans who want to remove any government intervention in the health care "markets".
So go ahead and moan and groan about "bureaucracy" and "mandates" but pray tell what is the Republican's solution to those problems? After seven years of attacking the ACA the lack of a replacement or fixes to the ACA shows how morally, ethically and intellectually bankrupt the GOP is.
In the future please research the issues before you make assertions that are patently false. That way you can provide solutions instead of useless (and false) criticism of a government program that is actually helping the people of the USA.
4
It all depends on your perspective. What have you got against renewable energy? That's where future profits are going to be made. What have you got against birth control? That's what is going to bring down the costs of providing schools, medical services and welfare to an ever-expanding population. Why do you think selling insurance across state lines will bring down costs? There is no evidence for the idea. (Where it is possible, insurance companies find the cost doesn't justify any benefit to them.) Ultimately it will only increase the size of the oligopolies that provide insurance and allow them to shop for the state regulator of choice, i.e. a race to the bottom.
What seems insane to you, seems sensible to others. Whereas what seems sensible to you, strikes others as deranged. In this argument it is predominantly one side that has abandoned facts as the basis for discussion.
What seems insane to you, seems sensible to others. Whereas what seems sensible to you, strikes others as deranged. In this argument it is predominantly one side that has abandoned facts as the basis for discussion.
5
In other words, you are for jobs for everyone, but not for letting people live their lives, not for humanity?
4
I agree with what is proposed in this column; however, I think to win the votes needed to implement programs that will result in good jobs for the non-college educated, Democrats need to include in their message the idea that the government is not responsible for creating jobs. The government is responsible for creating the environment where individuals and corporations can create jobs. It is this business friendly environment that requires much better public transportation, good roads, good schools, childcare, universal healthcare, training programs, etc. The government must not be seen as, nor be, in competition with the private sector. It should support the private sector so that jobs are created in two ways: first as part of the government’s effort to improve and sustain a business friendly environment and healthy workforce; and second, by companies and entrepreneurs who will find new and innovative ways to compete globally. At the same time, Democrats need to take a page from Bernie’s book and look at ways to reduce the amount of wealth that our financial institutions siphon off for themselves while adding little value to the overall economy. An enormous amount of our wealth stays in the hands of the money manipulators instead of going where the money is needed – where the less educated live.
6
I agree with you jz...
But let me give you an example as to how the "Democrats" have approached a key element of transportation in my neck of the woods.
It has long been the plan to extend commuter rail to Cape Cod for people-moving and environmental reasons.
The chosen solution has been to construct the line to a point some 35 miles WEST of the access points of the Cape and then somehow, miraculously resurrect the single-track route that used to run along the coast.
The current driving time to Boston from the Cape bridges is about 65 minutes in moderate to semi-heavy traffic.
The riding time to Boston using the commuter rail would be almost 90 minutes between the same points, but put the rider into Boston's South Station, where one would have to take subway, cab, or bus to your final destination...a good 20-40 minutes depending on where one is going.
Oh, and the commuter trains would only operate two runs each day in each direction.
Let me ask you...Just how many are going to trade their private vehicle for the new, "convenient" commuter rail, and are there going to be enough riders to pay the billion or so that it would cost?
Nice dream, jz. But the devil is in the details, and it is the details that always sink such grandiose plans as yours and those of the Democrats.
But let me give you an example as to how the "Democrats" have approached a key element of transportation in my neck of the woods.
It has long been the plan to extend commuter rail to Cape Cod for people-moving and environmental reasons.
The chosen solution has been to construct the line to a point some 35 miles WEST of the access points of the Cape and then somehow, miraculously resurrect the single-track route that used to run along the coast.
The current driving time to Boston from the Cape bridges is about 65 minutes in moderate to semi-heavy traffic.
The riding time to Boston using the commuter rail would be almost 90 minutes between the same points, but put the rider into Boston's South Station, where one would have to take subway, cab, or bus to your final destination...a good 20-40 minutes depending on where one is going.
Oh, and the commuter trains would only operate two runs each day in each direction.
Let me ask you...Just how many are going to trade their private vehicle for the new, "convenient" commuter rail, and are there going to be enough riders to pay the billion or so that it would cost?
Nice dream, jz. But the devil is in the details, and it is the details that always sink such grandiose plans as yours and those of the Democrats.
In our more secure and egalitarian past, about 1/3 of workers were in unions, and this helped raise pay for all workers. When jobs still were here and wages rose, consumers could afford US made goods. And yet business was profitable. Please explain this exotic situation Mr. Leonhardt.
Oct 16, 2014 – “Why Germany Is So Much Better at Training Its Workers ... in Europe, what's often called “dual training” is a highly respected career path. ... toward practical skills and what Germans still unabashedly call “blue-collar” work.”
Apr 7, 2015-- 'Blue-collar aristocrats' thrive in German economy -
https://www.marketplace.org/2015,
- In Germany, Bayer trains thousands of students every year to become future employees. ... these future craftsmen are very well respected.”
2015, NYT, by Nelson Schwartz, --- “We know this works,” ---Tom Perez , labor secy, “Germany, has 40 apprentices per 1,000 workers, vs about three per 1,000 in the U.S.”
David Leonhardt 2011 column: “The German Example”…. “Inflation-adjusted average pay has risen almost 30 % since 1985 in Germany, the kind of gains US workers have not had since the ’50s and ’60s. In the US it’s risen a scant 6 % since 1985.”
In Germany, unions reps sit on corporate boards.
Only 25 or 30 % of Americans ever got college degrees. The US has the world’s highest college tuition and college debt.
What’s left wing policy here is centrist abroad. Keep that quiet lest it upset the US political power structure. Be cautious.
Oct 16, 2014 – “Why Germany Is So Much Better at Training Its Workers ... in Europe, what's often called “dual training” is a highly respected career path. ... toward practical skills and what Germans still unabashedly call “blue-collar” work.”
Apr 7, 2015-- 'Blue-collar aristocrats' thrive in German economy -
https://www.marketplace.org/2015,
- In Germany, Bayer trains thousands of students every year to become future employees. ... these future craftsmen are very well respected.”
2015, NYT, by Nelson Schwartz, --- “We know this works,” ---Tom Perez , labor secy, “Germany, has 40 apprentices per 1,000 workers, vs about three per 1,000 in the U.S.”
David Leonhardt 2011 column: “The German Example”…. “Inflation-adjusted average pay has risen almost 30 % since 1985 in Germany, the kind of gains US workers have not had since the ’50s and ’60s. In the US it’s risen a scant 6 % since 1985.”
In Germany, unions reps sit on corporate boards.
Only 25 or 30 % of Americans ever got college degrees. The US has the world’s highest college tuition and college debt.
What’s left wing policy here is centrist abroad. Keep that quiet lest it upset the US political power structure. Be cautious.
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The GOP anti-union crusade worked. Started with Reagan, who by the way was a Republican.
4
You have also given the lie to the pundit promoted meme that jobs are all lost to automation so there is no need for "blue collar" workers. I trust there is just as much automation in Germany, but there are fewer plutocrats and stronger unions.
3
@Nora_01: Germany did not off shore and outsource nearly ALL their blue collar manufacturing jobs. They have tariffs and a sense of national pride in buying German (or European) goods. They still retain MOST of their manufacturing sector as a result.
They do have unions -- COOPERATIVE and not confrontational ones -- that work hand in hand with business leaders, and don't make selfish demands that drive businesses off shore.
They do have unions -- COOPERATIVE and not confrontational ones -- that work hand in hand with business leaders, and don't make selfish demands that drive businesses off shore.
2
"All of this would cost billions — but also far less than Trump’s reverse Robin Hood agenda."
We seem destined to wait until interest rates finally rise before we decide to invest in our infra or social structure. By then, of course, it will be too late and our childish behavior will be reaping it's just rewards.
Establishing a national minimum income is a destiny arrived at, better sooner than later.
While we can afford it. The same for infrastructure spending and universal health care.
We seem destined to wait until interest rates finally rise before we decide to invest in our infra or social structure. By then, of course, it will be too late and our childish behavior will be reaping it's just rewards.
Establishing a national minimum income is a destiny arrived at, better sooner than later.
While we can afford it. The same for infrastructure spending and universal health care.
13
We must also find an antidote to the relentless misinformation campaigns led by Limbaugh, Hannity, Fox "News", and others. Most of these less educated folks consistently vote against their own interests because of who they are listening to.
25
There is truth here. How we think and even the ability to think is undermined by rabble-rousing media. That should be contained. I believe it could be done without engaging in censorship, but at the moment rabble-rousing media are very well funded and lobbied for by a few unhinged billionaires.
3
Just how, Mr. Brews, are you going to contain the "rabble-rousing media" without running afoul of the First Amendment to the United States' Constitution.
Please be specific. I doubt that there is anyone reading your remarks that what you desire is even remotely possible under our laws.
Please be specific. I doubt that there is anyone reading your remarks that what you desire is even remotely possible under our laws.
During this last election cycle, the Democratic Party leadership was completely tone-deaf to the issues Leonhardt describes, and did everything possible to undermine the candidate who most clearly articulated such policies. To nearly the same degree as the GOP, the current Democratic Party leadership is beholden to corporatists, war profiteers, health insurers, private prison companies, Wall Street, and big donors. Leonhardt is dreaming of a Democratic Party that no longer exists----A new party is necessary if the voices of the working class will honestly be heard and addressed.
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The left always dreamed of a grass roots uprising of the "proletariat".
Ironically, the only real populism in decades has come...from the RIGHT, with the Tea Party and now Trump.
That's because the Dems got derailed entirely by their fixation on identity politics and a handful of issues like gay marriage and transgender bathrooms. Obama choose the summer of the ELECTION to roll out his "plans" to use Title 9 laws to force children to shower naked together. Was that smart?
Ironically, the only real populism in decades has come...from the RIGHT, with the Tea Party and now Trump.
That's because the Dems got derailed entirely by their fixation on identity politics and a handful of issues like gay marriage and transgender bathrooms. Obama choose the summer of the ELECTION to roll out his "plans" to use Title 9 laws to force children to shower naked together. Was that smart?
2
Will we benfit from Dem's mojo? So Hillary supporter Neera Tanden, says progressives have not done enough? I’ll say. Then she should have worked for Sanders, not centrist Clinton. (That’ll be the day)
Obama pushed TPP while talking the talk about US jobs. Clinton carefully didn’t commit herself too much to changing the economic equation in the US. (that’ll be the day)
So where are Dems fighting to lower college tuition, which our lawmakers let soar to a high profit center? Let them recall that many state’s funding their university tuition was once accepted centrist policy, not ‘leftwing’, and was a major creator of the expanded middle class.
The new effort avoids some excesses of the left”? Pray tell what ‘excesses’? What about excesses of the Right calling the shots for decades? The small govt credo that’s been transferring the nation’s wealth up to the top few?
Is Leonhardt, like most Dems, steering clear of what has a whiff of so called leftwingism? No wonder the US has the lowest economic mobility and m. class security of advanced countries. With liberals like these as friends….
When will Leonhardt trace these troubles back to campaign finance, the underlying cause, and thus push the need for reform as the 1st step to restore the middle/working class? Is that too ‘left wing’? We’re more dependent on billionaire megadonors than any other democracy to run for office. When will the Times find 1 columnist to stick his/her neck out a bit? This is an easy column.
Obama pushed TPP while talking the talk about US jobs. Clinton carefully didn’t commit herself too much to changing the economic equation in the US. (that’ll be the day)
So where are Dems fighting to lower college tuition, which our lawmakers let soar to a high profit center? Let them recall that many state’s funding their university tuition was once accepted centrist policy, not ‘leftwing’, and was a major creator of the expanded middle class.
The new effort avoids some excesses of the left”? Pray tell what ‘excesses’? What about excesses of the Right calling the shots for decades? The small govt credo that’s been transferring the nation’s wealth up to the top few?
Is Leonhardt, like most Dems, steering clear of what has a whiff of so called leftwingism? No wonder the US has the lowest economic mobility and m. class security of advanced countries. With liberals like these as friends….
When will Leonhardt trace these troubles back to campaign finance, the underlying cause, and thus push the need for reform as the 1st step to restore the middle/working class? Is that too ‘left wing’? We’re more dependent on billionaire megadonors than any other democracy to run for office. When will the Times find 1 columnist to stick his/her neck out a bit? This is an easy column.
53
I agree with much of what you've said, but perhaps TPP was designed to be just what Obama said it was - a check on China's power in the region. As China works to rearrange the world economy on terms favorable to China, we are walking away and ceding leadership. While that may seem satisfying, that can't ultimately be beneficial to the US economy or its workers.
Folks like Neena work hard for anyone they work for. If Neena had worked for Bernie, she would have thrown her entire energy in supporting him. Ro Khanna, the CA rep, understood Bernie's vision and he was amongst the few Silicon Valley voices who went against the Hillary camp, to embrace Bernie fully. It took guts and a certain gumption.
1
@Meredith: Obama pushed the TPP hard....Hillary lied about opposing it, to win over Bernie voters. We all knew she'd flip on it right after the election (had she won).
The truth is, the Dems have a "public position and a private position". They talk big about European type social benefits, but they have no intention of ever, ever producing this -- they have utterly shirked their responsibility here, even when elected -- look at the abomination of Obamacare.
The Dems are more in the pockets of Big Wall Street than the GOP could ever dream about. That's the big story most media utterly missed this time -- today, BIG WALL STREET is liberal and supporters of the Democratic Party. The Dems have utterly sold out to Big Wall Street.
The truth is, the Dems have a "public position and a private position". They talk big about European type social benefits, but they have no intention of ever, ever producing this -- they have utterly shirked their responsibility here, even when elected -- look at the abomination of Obamacare.
The Dems are more in the pockets of Big Wall Street than the GOP could ever dream about. That's the big story most media utterly missed this time -- today, BIG WALL STREET is liberal and supporters of the Democratic Party. The Dems have utterly sold out to Big Wall Street.
2
The advice puts the cart before the horse. In order to “get their mojo back”, Democrats first need to be elected in numbers that again make them relevant to our governance. In the meantime, they need to re-engage with Republicans who ARE relevant to our governance, to forge intermediate compromises that get them SOMETHING of what they desire, instead of the nothing their mere “resistance” promises. As it is, that “resistance” with nothing more useful attached to it banishes them as influencers in the Oval Office, so forget about a Trump alliance until that changes.
David’s worldview is emblematic of the aphasia that has so set in among the left: that all these grand ideas AREN’T DOA absent the leverage required to make them happen. This column is much like what a HRC presidency would have given us: four years of commendable ideas and statements and absolutely nothing material to show for them.
As to vastly increasing the numbers of holders of four-year college degrees by some massive governmental intervention, those opposed (I’m not completely opposed to this idea, but highly suspicious of current proposals) probably would reason that the initiative if attempted would further transform our colleges and universities from seats of higher learning into replacements for our failed high schools and into occupational training centers for obtaining pedestrian skills. Not everyone would support that outcome.
David’s worldview is emblematic of the aphasia that has so set in among the left: that all these grand ideas AREN’T DOA absent the leverage required to make them happen. This column is much like what a HRC presidency would have given us: four years of commendable ideas and statements and absolutely nothing material to show for them.
As to vastly increasing the numbers of holders of four-year college degrees by some massive governmental intervention, those opposed (I’m not completely opposed to this idea, but highly suspicious of current proposals) probably would reason that the initiative if attempted would further transform our colleges and universities from seats of higher learning into replacements for our failed high schools and into occupational training centers for obtaining pedestrian skills. Not everyone would support that outcome.
10
For the time being, Trump clearly has opted for dramatically goosing an economy that will create demand for labor that most are capable of providing, thereby increasing wages organically and reinforcing middle-class supports. If Democrats prefer a more artificial and centrally-planned statist means of temporarily addressing the ravages of automation and globalization, then they’ll need allies who possess real power – and, so far, not only have they failed to attract them but they actively repulse them.
4
I think Mr. Leonhardt is correct in his assessment of the problems Democrats face and in his solutions to those problem. It is you who has the cart before the horse. Democrats must begin an aggressive program to win at the local and state level. If they don't control state governorships and legislatures, they will never again be a national party. One important thing Mr. Leonhrdt didn't mention is that Democrats must learn to fight fire with fire. The very group that he focuses on in this piece, the non college educated, are often swayed to the Republican side by a Republicans all out assault using a single issue such as abortion or guns. Democrats must figure out a way to deal with this. So far they haven't.
9
What demand and what labor? As for the goosing, sure, Trumps goosing all of us.
What demands is the WH, promoting? What are the initiatives? Do they have names? Or is it, "I Trump will talk about how great I am, how much and how bigly I won, denigrate evetyone else, and that will prime the pump!" Is it the labor needed to clean up the environmental messes his stellar sppointees will create?
Dems need to align with the very people they are scared to admit they are frieNdly with - Wall St. Silicon Valley, etc. And by align I mean legitimize the relationship, and start talking about the reality of how the markets works and how a more socially conscious Biz sector that needs better employees, can work together.
What demands is the WH, promoting? What are the initiatives? Do they have names? Or is it, "I Trump will talk about how great I am, how much and how bigly I won, denigrate evetyone else, and that will prime the pump!" Is it the labor needed to clean up the environmental messes his stellar sppointees will create?
Dems need to align with the very people they are scared to admit they are frieNdly with - Wall St. Silicon Valley, etc. And by align I mean legitimize the relationship, and start talking about the reality of how the markets works and how a more socially conscious Biz sector that needs better employees, can work together.
3
Mushy solutions don't work. Just look at the failure of Dodd-Frank, which pushed all the hard decisions on policy to agencies with a demonstrated history of failure at financial regulation, refusing to enact laws requiring a return to Glass-Steagall, or increased minimum capital standards,or any of the other hard choices.
The Democrats have to be the party of the left. What are the mushy moderates going to do? Vote for Trump and his band of wreckers in Congress?
The Democrats have to be the party of the left. What are the mushy moderates going to do? Vote for Trump and his band of wreckers in Congress?
37
It's really very simple, Ed -- the Democrats sold out, to corporate interests, a LONG time ago. They are the party today of elites, Wall Street and Big Money. Look at Hillary -- she's exactly the definition of the problem -- elite, clueless, wealthy, isolated in a bubble of affluence -- contemptuous of the working class --and centered entirely on the blue blue liberal coasts.
8
Politics is the art of the possible, not the art of the ideal.
I agree with every one of your criticisms of Doodd Frank and could add a host of others.
But this is what was possible in a Democratic Congress full of blue dogs.
I agree with every one of your criticisms of Doodd Frank and could add a host of others.
But this is what was possible in a Democratic Congress full of blue dogs.
1
I agree, but the way their hero, the Donald is going, the comeback may be easier than one would think.
4
How do Democrats get their mojo back? So, so easy.
1) Refuse all corporate donations, dismantle SuperPacs. ie, become Honest.
2) Adopt most of Bernie Sanders other policies, starting with universal healthcare, ban on fracking, $15 minimum wage, free college tuition, re-build infrastructure. There. He's already done their homework for them.
1) Refuse all corporate donations, dismantle SuperPacs. ie, become Honest.
2) Adopt most of Bernie Sanders other policies, starting with universal healthcare, ban on fracking, $15 minimum wage, free college tuition, re-build infrastructure. There. He's already done their homework for them.
404
Thanks Jane. I had forgotten how I miss Bernie.
16
Hear, hear. Bernie also advocates expanding social security to provide a liveable minimum for all seniors to retire in dignity. What did Hillary offer? She was plotting behind closed doors to privatize and destroy the system. And to think that so many of those women who will live out their elderly years in poverty sent women like Hillary and Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi as among the first women into Congress to do something about these issues for women. What a mistake! (But at least we learned, we hope.)
15
Jane, democrats abroad overwhelmingly voted for Bernie in the primaries, mainly because they could see things so clearly from outside. But Hillary's adamant supporters were tone deaf and the DNC was blind.
16