To recap, the Republican Party has opposed:
-Paid sick leave
-Paid family & medical leave
-Universal childcare
-Universal pre-K
-Tax increases on corporations & the rich
-The expanded Child Tax Credit
-Student debt relief
Doesn't sound like the party of the working class to me.
@rbreich Oh, for sure: the Fascist Party of America (err...I mean...."Republicans") are pandering --and, it is 100% pandering -- to the "blue collar American" because they know good and well that without their vote, Trump will absolutely not be Dear Leader again.
That being said, the Dems do *precisely* the same thing.
The difference? *Occasionally* the Dems actually deliver on behalf of those to whom they pander. It's never enough -- not by a damned shot -- and any incremental benefit to the Democrats' target voters are either rolled-back almost immediately by the Fascists (DACA), or become a long-term pet project for overturn (Roe v. Wade, ACA).
Any opportunity in my lifetime for the Dems to make permanent changes that would actually benefit their voters have been largely squandered.
What's worse is that the Democrat leadership flat-out *refuses* to retire and let the next generation lead. It was bad enough with Grandma Clinton; and the Dems *could* have made a clean break with the Boomer-as-shoe-in-candidate model in 2020...but, no. It's like the worst form of helicopter parenting -- and *generations* of Americans are now being governed by their grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great grandparents. Their refusal to retire cost us Roe v. Wade. It *might* just cost us democracy itself.
Chew on that.
@rbreich 2/2 - And why, one might ask, do these Boomers persist in high office at the Federal level? Because they're taking money from *exactly* the same rich donors as the Fascists. There's no incentive for them to retire when they can continue to rake-in big money by simply spending Corporate money to campaign every few years to keep that cash coming in.
Term limits. End dark money. Prosecute the rampant insider trading, in which these corrupt politicians engage.
And perhaps it wouldn't be too much to ask that Congress and the Executive Branch actually exercise the balance of power and force the members of the Supreme Court to act in a manner that upholds a high ethical standard? I know...I know....too much to ask, right?
Robert Reich
N0LSD