Democrats don't need this money-sucking hatchet man New York Post Looks like Democrats are finally waking up and smelling the coffee: Beware of David Brock. That's the word from The Daily Beast's Asawin Suebsaeng, who wrote last week that Democratic pros looking to move ahead after Hillary Clinton's shocking loss are ... |
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Democrats don't need this money-sucking hatchet man - New York Post
Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said that Trumps actions make her want to throw up. | Getty
Red-state Democrats must win over thousands of Trump voters to have any hope of being reelected in 2018. But they wont be doing it by defending the presidents controversial executive order barring some immigrants and refugees from entering the country.
Over the weekend, all but one of the most endangered Senate Democrats rebuked Donald Trumps directive to stop admitting refugees from Syria, pause accepting refugees from other nations and restrict the travel of people from seven Muslim-majority countries to the United States.
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Ten Democrats are up for reelection in Trump states, five of them from states he overwhelmingly won. But no senators from those deeply conservative states endorsing Trump's move, depriving the White House of a bipartisan stamp of approval.
In fact, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, a state that Trump carried by 19 percentage points, said that Trumps actions make her want to throw up.
Others said that Trumps decision is counterproductive to national security. Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, a state that Trump won by nearly 20 points, said we can make our country even safer and do so in a way that is consistent with our values. The executive order that was signed yesterday by President Trump is not one of those ways. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, where Trump also beat Hillary Clinton by 20 points, said Trumps order is having harmful consequences on children and braves allies who are helping us fight terrorism.
And Sen. Heidi Heitkamp issued a detailed takedown of Trump's executive order, deeming it "outrageous." Heitkamp had been in the mix to be Trump's agriculture secretary last year, and Trump won North Dakota by about 36 points.
"The ban hurts us in the war against ISIS. It isolates Muslims living in the U.S. who help root out potential terrorists. It hurts those from countries like Iraq and Syria who have served as translators, bodyguards, and informants," she said. "It also confirms the lie terrorists tell their recruits: that America is waging a war on Islam. This is outrageous."
Sen. Joe Manchin, whose home state of West Virginia Trump won by 42 points, had no immediate comment. Manchin was in the running to be his energy secretary and has been warmer to Trump than any other Senate Democrat.
Other Democrats from states that Trump carried more narrowly also came out against his directive.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, which has a significant Muslim population, tweeted that Trump hurts our families & businesses and doesn't make us safer." Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who spent Saturday night with protesters at the Philadelphia airport, accused Trump of taking politically motivated discriminatory actions. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida called Trump's policies "hastily-issued" and said it is "not the answer" for national security. Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Sherrod Brown of Ohio were also critical.
Republicans up for reelection in competitive states weren't exactly rushing to Trump's defense, either. Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada had no comment, and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) called the order unacceptable.
Enhancing long-term national security requires that we have a clear-eyed view of radical Islamic terrorism without ascribing radical Islamic terrorist views to all Muslims, Flake said.
A number of House Republicans representing swing districts also came out against Trump.
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Democrats from red states still condemn Trump - Politico
Forbes | The Mortgage Insurance Premium Battle Shows Democrats Learned Nothing From Financial Crisis Forbes The more important question is why Democrats want to charge below-market rates to potential homebuyers? If there is a single lesson people should all have learned from the financial crisis it is that pushing people who cannot afford homes into buying ... |
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The Mortgage Insurance Premium Battle Shows Democrats Learned Nothing From Financial Crisis - Forbes
The ongoing contest between the Hillary Clinton wing and Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party continues to divide Democrats. It's urgent Democrats stop squabbling and recognize seven basic truths:
The Party is on life support. Democrats are in the minority in both the House and Senate, with no end in sight. Since the start of the Obama Administration they've lost 1,034 state and federal seats. They hold only governorships, and face 32 state legislatures fully under GOP control. No one speaks for the party as a whole. The Party's top leaders are aging, and the back bench is thin.
The future is bleak unless the Party radically reforms itself. If Republicans do well in the 2018 midterms, they'll control Congress and the Supreme Court for years. If they continue to hold most statehouses, they could entrench themselves for a generation.
We are now in a populist era. The strongest and most powerful force in American politics is a rejection of the status quo, a repudiation of politics as usual, and a deep and profound distrust of elites, including the current power structure of America.
That force propelled Donald Trump into the White House. He represents the authoritarian side of populism. Bernie Sanders's primary campaign represented the progressive side.
The question hovering over America's future is which form of populism will ultimately prevail. At some point, hopefully, Trump voters will discover they've been hoodwinked. Even in its purest form, authoritarian populism doesn't work because it destroys democracy. Democrats must offer the alternative.
The economy is not working for most Americans. The economic data show lower unemployment and higher wages than eight years ago, but the typical family is still poorer today than it was in 2000, adjusted for inflation; median weekly earnings are no higher than in 2000; a large number of working-age people--mostly men--have dropped out of the labor force altogether; and job insecurity is endemic.
Inequality is wider and its consequences more savage in America than in any other advanced nation.
The Party's moneyed establishment--big donors, major lobbyists, retired members of Congress who have become bundlers and lobbyists--are part of the problem. Even though many consider themselves "liberal" and don't recoil from an active government, their preferred remedies spare corporations and the wealthiest from making any sacrifices.
The moneyed interests in the Party allowed the deregulation of Wall Street and then encouraged its bailout. They're barely concerned about the growth of tax havens, inside trading, increasing market power in major industries (pharmaceuticals, telecom, airlines, private health insurers, food processors, finance, even high tech), and widening inequality.
Meanwhile, they've allowed labor unions to shrink to near irrelevance. Unionized workers used to be the ground troops of the Democratic Party. In the 1950s, more than a third of all private-sector workers were unionized; today, fewer than 7 percent are.
It's not enough for Democrats to be "against Trump," and defend the status quo. Democrats have to fight like hell against regressive policies Trump wants to put in place, but Democrats also need to fight for a bold vision of what the nation must achieve--like expanding Social Security, and financing the expansion by raising the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes; Medicare for all; and world-class free public education for all.
And Democrats must diligently seek to establish countervailing power--stronger trade unions, community banks, more incentives for employee ownership and small businesses, and electoral reforms that get big money out of politics and expand the right to vote.
The life of the Party--its enthusiasm, passion, youth, principles, and ideals--was elicited by Bernie Sanders' campaign. This isn't to denigrate what Hillary Clinton accomplished; she did after all win the popular vote in the presidential election by almost 3 million people. It's only to recognize what all of us witnessed: the huge outpouring of excitement that Bernie's campaign inspired, especially from the young. This is the future of the Democratic Party.
The Party must change from being a giant fundraising machine to a movement. It needs to unite the poor, working class, and middle class, black and white--who haven't had a raise in 30 years, and who feel angry, powerless, and disenfranchised.
If the Party doesn't understand these seven truths and fails to do what's needed, a third party will emerge to fill the void.
Third parties usually fail because they tend to draw votes away from the dominant party closest to them, ideologically. But if the Democratic Party creates a large enough void, a third party won't draw away votes. It will pull people into politics.
And drawing more people into politics is the only hope going forward.
Robert B. Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies who served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration.
Editorial on 01/29/2017
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Seven truths for Democrats - Arkansas Online
Jan 29, 2017 at 9:00 am | Print View
DES MOINES If Iowa Democrats are to reverse the lopsided electoral defeats they suffered in the past two elections, candidates should take at least one key page from their vanquishers playbook by covering more of the states ground, the Democrats new state party chairman says.
Democratic candidates for statewide office need to do a better job of reaching out directly to voters in more areas of the state, said Derek Eadon, a 33-year-old West Des Moines political consultant who earlier this month was elected state chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party. He replaces Andy McGuire, whose two-year term ended following the 2016 election.
We just have to be present and listen in these communities. We cant just have candidates going to some of these bigger areas, Eadon said in an interview with the Des Moines Bureau about the partys future in Iowa.
Its not a new thing. Candidates that have done well in Iowa have traveled extensively, he said. So its not necessarily a new model. But that will help.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and Gov. Terry Branstad, a pair of Iowa Republicans with a combined 64 years in statewide office, visit each of the states 99 counties each year.
Eadon said he thinks more of that style of campaigning may be necessary for Iowa Democrats to recoup the voters they lost in the past two elections particularly in 2016, when many rural voters who had supported former Democratic President Barack Obama voted for Republican Donald Trump instead.
Trump won 93 of Iowas 99 counties in November, including 32 that went for Obama in 2012.
I would encourage our candidates to travel the state as much as possible, listen to these folks, their concerns, and talk about ... how we are going to benefit their pocketbooks, Eadon said.
He takes over at a critical time for Iowa Democrats. In the 2014 and 2016 elections, Democrats lost to Republicans a U.S. senate seat, a U.S. House seat and the majority in the Iowa Senate.
The latter resulted in giving Republicans complete lawmaking control at the Iowa Capitol.
And that doesnt mention the state going to Trump over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by 10 percentage points.
Eadon said despite all that, he remains optimistic for Iowa Democrats.
He said attendance has increased at party meetings after the November election. He was heartened by the 26,000-plus who attended a Des Moines rally that was part of the nationwide Womens March movement last weekend.
I think the rally here on (Jan. 21) was a good indication that energy is not going away anytime soon, Eadon said.
Eadon said Democrats must build a strong state party that can withstand mood swings in national elections.
I think we tended to get drowned out in that national message, that national race (in 2016). I think with the (state) party, we want to make sure that were having a positive culture, were extensively traveling and listening to Democrats, making sure that people feel like they have a place at the table.
In order to strengthen the state party, Eadon said he hopes to invest in the grass roots element of the party by tapping into the enthusiasm that was on display at the womens rally and on last Tuesday at the Capitol, where roughly 300 people came to voice opposition to legislation that would strip public funding to womens reproductive health care organizations that perform abortions or Planned Parenthood.
I think our volunteers are ready to take on leadership roles, he said. We want to empower them. We want to train them. We want to invest in local candidates.
Eadon said building from the ground up is necessary because the ranks of Iowa Democrats in elected office are increasingly thin. U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack is the only Democrat among the states six elected officials in Congress; the governor is Republican and the Democrats are in the minority in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature.
The problems also are at the local level, Eadon said, noting just 23 percent of elected officials in Iowas 3rd Congressional District are registered Democrats.
That means we dont have Democrats carrying the message, getting out the vote, Eadon said. Theres lots of opportunities to be involved.
The 2018 election provides Iowa Democrats their first opportunity to bounce back. Winning back the governors office which Iowa Democrats have held for only 12 of the past 48 years would be a monumental victory for the party.
Branstad is poised to become the next U.S. Ambassador to China, and most expect Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who steps into the office once Branstad leaves, to run in 2018. She may face a primary challenge; Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett has been considering a run.
Eadon again said the Democratic candidate for governor should travel all over the state. He said he thinks the candidate should focus on economic issues and call attention to Republicans legislative agenda at the Statehouse.
In 2016 we were playing a lot of personality politics, focusing on what Trump was saying. I think we need to do a better job of getting people to vote for Democrats the next few years, to show that were fighting for those folks, Eadon said.
One crucial job requirement of a state party chairman in Iowa Democrat or Republican is to ensure the state keeps its bird-dog seat in the presidential nominating process.
Trump has said he wants the Iowa caucuses to remain first in the GOPs nominating process, but the issue is more pertinent and more unsettled for Democrats.
The national party soon will elect a new chair, whose feeling on the nomination process will be critical; and Democrats could have the more competitive nomination bout in 2020, since Trump will be an incumbent.
Eadon said he will watch with interest to see who is elected as the Democrats national leader. One of the candidates, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, sent a letter this weekend to Iowa Democrats saying he would keep Iowa first.
One of the things Im very interested in is learning from the candidates where they stand on these issues, Eadon said. Its not something thats really prevalent in discussions currently, but we always have to be vigilant.
Eadon said he received a congratulatory phone call from Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann, and the two pledged to continue to work together to preserve Iowas first-in-the-nation status.
Im optimistic, but its just something that has not been brought up that much with the national party, Eadon said. Were still a few months away from figuring out how the chair will insert (himself or herself) in the process, if at all. So its a little bit of wait and see.