@gjohnsit

Everything about this is odd, and speaks to the tone-deafness of a rudderless political party and the antiquated ways reporters continue to frame our politics.

There is nothing odd about this when you look at the amounts of money and salaries at stake. The Democratic Party Leadership are there because they are paid handsomely to be there, and they are there to make sure that we don't take over. All else is fluff.

The New Blue pabulum and this Better Deal Bullshit is just the new and improved iteration of Bait and Switch Claptrap such as Hope and Change. It will be more of Nope and Same if they by some major miracle get enough folks to actually fall for this trick again.

But they will keep trying because that is what pays their collective rent...in the Hamptons.

the donors will decide

Maybe Harris has what it takes and will surge ahead of the pack in a few years to win the right to dethrone Donald Trump. It’s too early to tell. But her Hamptons gallivant with Clinton plutocrats is a dispiriting reminder that the Democratic party thinks all can be as it once was, and the status quo isn’t worth being ruffled. Donors can still vet candidates and propel them forward in the press. Anyone beyond the upper crust isn’t a serious agenda setter.
...
Other potential candidates, as the New York Times recently reported, are determined to ignore the Sanders movement as much as possible. Steve Bullock, the moderate Democratic governor of Montana, is forming a political action committee to explore a presidential bid.

Bullock is “pragmatic”, in the Times’ formulation, because he rebukes Sanders. “While appealing to the Democratic heart, Mr. Bullock also has a message for the Democratic head,” the Times wrote. “He talks of the party’s need to broaden its appeal beyond the coasts – Mr Bullock won re-election as Donald J Trump captured Montana by over 20 points – while implying they cannot turn to a septuagenarian as their nominee.”

Everything about this is odd, and speaks to the tone-deafness of a rudderless political party and the antiquated ways reporters continue to frame our politics. In a time of yawning income inequality and instability, with a bulk of young Americans rightfully pessimistic about their futures, there is nothing Pollyannaish about running a campaign that can somehow speak to this despair.

WE. DON’T. HAVE. TIME. FOR. THIS. SHIT.#KamalaHarris @SenKamalaHarrishttps://t.co/bRFPT34muK

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) July 22, 2017

@Akze @Akze

The USA has the lowest voter participation rate of the developed world, there's a reason for that.

And it has nothing to do with the Democrats "embracing" anti-trust. Hate to break it to you, but this is just more empty "messaging."

Day late and a dollar short on that one, among many others. But that's by design.

(Edited for grammar and clarity).

Monopolies, the revolving door, K Street, and the wealthy feeding at the public trough are huge concerns for the average voter, but especially the average nonvoter!. The USA has the lowest voter participation rate of the developed world, there's a reason for that. The Dems re embracing anti-trust is a big fucking deal. We can only hope Republicans can go back their old school ways and do the same. There was a time when this was a bipartisan issue (well it still is, only now pols on both sides of the isle favor consolidation, see Booker's comments on the Amazon buying Whole Foods).

Food, I'll give you, but does anybody think that Democrats are going to go after Monsanto or factory farming? Sha... as if...

Airline monopolies? Don't get me started. They cause so much social disruption to our country...

Telecom? OK, but keep your deep state hands off my internet. Again, hearty guffaws abound.

I'll have to do some checking around, but if these are the bogeymen they're going to put up as the essay says, I'm extremely unimpressed. I think it will be fairly offensive if it doesn't fall flat for being tin-eared.
@Akze

Monopolies, the revolving door, K Street, and the wealthy feeding at the public trough are huge concerns for the average voter, but especially the average nonvoter!. The USA has the lowest voter participation rate of the developed world, there's a reason for that. The Dems re embracing anti-trust is a big fucking deal. We can only hope Republicans can go back their old school ways and do the same. There was a time when this was a bipartisan issue (well it still is, only now pols on both sides of the isle favor consolidation, see Booker's comments on the Amazon buying Whole Foods).

@SancheLlewellyn and guess which one we're hearing?

How did the neoliberal donor class let that slip through? An important issue to run against, as it kills jobs, stifles new ideas in favor of corporate pablum, and leads to poorer quality products at higher prices. Martin Shkreli makes a great evil poster-douche.

I wonder how long the neoliberal party elders will let that train run before they revert to form. Won't it hurt their stock returns? After all, a rising tide swamps all boats ...

@Lookout

It all seems a little hypocritical coming from wall street Chuck.

Anything for a vote.

Ho ho ho!! (And I'm not talking Santa Claus here, either!)

and the dems are complicit. It all seems a little hypocritical coming from wall street Chuck.

Anything for a vote.

@gjohnsit

Should just rename themselves the 'Job Training Party' and have done with it. Decades old bullshit, regurgitated once again as 'new' policy. They could do with some job training themselves.

Healthcare for all (free of insurance) would be a job well done.

link

Tax credits to employers to train unskilled workers.

Do you know how old and ancient and bullshit this idea is? Here’s how old and ancient and bullshit this idea is. When, more than a decade ago, the University of Oregon political scientist Gordon Lafer came out with his landmark study The Job Training Charade, demonstrating how poorly these job training programs had performed over the years, he reached back, on the cover of the book, to a 1982 bill that essentially promised to do what Schumer is now proposing to do.

for today's job market would be to have university and college tuition affordable for all.

Socialized healthcare, education and basic infrastructure are prerequisites for a strong and vibrant society because it ensures equal opportunity for all sectors of the public. The US, unfortunately, is moving in the opposite direction and will pay the price in the years to come as its world standing in those social needs continues to fall.

Frankly I don't see much happening from either political party to stop or even slow down this degradation of America. The country would have to downsize the exorbitant investment it makes in the defense sector. But, just like the Roman Empire, its addiction to global power and hegemony is just too strong to break. Since WWII, this has become America's core value - it is the one thing that now makes the country "exceptional".

@gjohnsit

link

Tax credits to employers to train unskilled workers.

Do you know how old and ancient and bullshit this idea is? Here’s how old and ancient and bullshit this idea is. When, more than a decade ago, the University of Oregon political scientist Gordon Lafer came out with his landmark study The Job Training Charade, demonstrating how poorly these job training programs had performed over the years, he reached back, on the cover of the book, to a 1982 bill that essentially promised to do what Schumer is now proposing to do.

Mexico which have considerably less control over quality. It could also cause problems for Canada who have negotiated prices with the drug companies to go with their socialized health care. Obama should have been taken to task when he gave this away to the pharma lobbyists.

@Steve15

Allow people to import prescription drugs for personal use. Keep repeating it over and over again. A simple slogan.