I’m beginning to think Democrats are a bunch of snowflakes. Not only do they lose elections, but after losing they run around in circles like Chihuahuas barking, “It’s Trump! It’s Trump!” Of course it’s Trump. We get it. What else have you got?
The first thing Democrats can do is to quit posturing about raising the minimum wage and pretending it’s an economic message. It’s almost meaningless. A 40-year-old person working today at the same job I held 25 years ago – and in the same place – is getting exactly the same daily rate I got in 1994. College graduates today earn 30% less than college graduates did in 1976, and the same is true for almost all people in the skilled trades, for union workers, and across the manufacturing sector.
The free-fall in wages is not exclusively due to globalization, or technology gains: when corporations pay their fair share of taxes they invest profits in new plants, new technology – and higher wages for their work force. Today’s Reagan and Clinton inspired tax codes encourage corporations to beat workers over the head. If Democrats had the tiniest bit of interest in working people they would demand that wages be directly linked to productivity gains – as they were throughout the 1950s and up to about 1980.
The Democrats’ failure to advocate for a single-payer Medicare for All system from the very beginning of the Obama Administration – a system which includes veterans and members of Congress – has led to almost constant worry and strife for many Americans. Democrats should stand back and let TrumpCare be enacted. This will delay enactment of a single payer system for a few years, but the only conceivable way to change the hearts and minds of Trump supporters is to let them experience first hand the closure of their rural hospitals, medical-costs related bankruptcy, higher and higher premiums, and denial of critical services. Give them what they asked for.
The Democrats problem isn’t Trump. It’s their own lack of honesty, political aimlessness, geriatric leadership, and their childish emulation of Republican inspired government by investigation. If Democrats must investigate something, I suggest they investigate why they’re such losers.
I would like to find a group of people who would work together to create a model in Carroll County, A model that addresses food, housing, transportation, social integration, education, employment and environment. We have 27,000 people in Carroll County with about 6000 with significant needs. Arkansas scored 47th in Economic well-being with a 3.4% unemployment. What will it take to wake up and get going? I am not interested in what is wrong. I am interested in what we each can do to motivate, inspire and create a county worth living in. We failed to address the adult children of alcoholics when Bill Clinton was President. Are we going to fail to address Mental Health issues that we are spending so much time being outraged about or ignoring. The spiritual poverty in America is so sad. Health exists when Body mind and spirit are in Harmony. Civil Society is a benefit for all of us.
“Geriatric leadership” is classic penmanship, Dan, as usual.
All of America’s problem is Trump – whether they realize it at this moment or not. Maybe not the sole/soul problem, but this so called “leader” is leading the American way in selfish, unprofessional and childish behavior that is lambasting the credibility and trust of the U.S. around the world.
Check out this Medicare For All prospectus from the Bernie Sanders Camp. This is where I’m setting up my tent and plan to hang out for a bit. Camp Sanders is looking more and more like a very good Base Camp.
https://berniesanders.com/medicareforall/
We need at least two more parties, so the nutcases on both ends of the political fringe can stop driving the discussion. The two party system makes a blue and red dividing line when the country is made of many different colors. The political hold that corporations maintain with the two party system, profiting from misdirection, leaves us in a hopeless spiral.
Could not agree more with the sound analysis!