2 replies »

1. 2 supposed competing viewpoints are presented.

   Democratic Congressmen Keith Ellison: The People’ Budget: Cut military spending, increase taxes on the rich, increase spending for public school, medicare and medicaid.

   Republican Congressmen Todd Akin: Curb government spending, stimulate the economy by reducing tax and regulatory burdens on small businesses.

   If both parties would stop just paying lip services to those ideas, they’d realize they could pursue both strategies simultaneously. Tax the rich, help make small businesses more competitive (mostly by not knee capping them at every opportunity) decrease defense spending at twice the rate you increase spending on schools. Voila! Two “polarized” agendas achieved simultaneously that benefit the lower, working and middle classes by taking away the advantages the upper middle and upper classes enjoy. You think that will ever actually happen? Not on your life!

   Reply

2. A lot of the rhetorical differences between the two parties are just that-rhetoric. In practice, their policies are typically much closer to one another. To the degree there are real differences, the greatest divide is between old money and new money, between the upper class and the upper middle class, and between rising demographic forces and declining demographic forces. Neither of them would ever pursue any kind of “peoples’ budget,” whether left or right. I agree we could combine both of these agendas effectively, like Vince suggests. But, yes, of course the parties will never do it. That’s where we come in.

   Reply