Oligarchs Are Feeling Right at Home in the Democratic Party

I continue to post important articles such as this which pierce through the illusion of good/bad and other polarities regarding Republicans/Democrats. Instead, I see a great need for we the people to move outside of the prescribed box of nationalism and allegiance to a political party. Yes, the narcissist Trump must be stopped. Absolutely the first priority that I personally hold. And that priority does not negate my deep awareness that the decades long neoliberal policies that have been crushing us all under Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, and continuing on to the present must also be stopped. It is up to us. The truth shall set us all free, and especially as it motivates and inspires each of us to transform the dark realities which plague us and instead work together to birth an increasingly caring nation and world. We are all in this together. Our children and grandchildren and the children of our children's children are all counting on us here now today to act in their best interests and a higher good for all beings. 

Peace ~ Molly

Hillary Clinton turned earth at the groundbreaking of the $2.4 billion Goldman Sachs headquarters in 2005. (Photo: Richard Drew/Associated Press/file)

As long as the legislative process is dominated by parties that care first and foremost about "catering to their wealthiest supporters," systemic change is impossible

by

Jake Johnson

 

Published on

Thursday, August 04, 2016

by

Common Dreams

 

In April of 1999, the new leaders of the Democratic Party — or, as the Wall Street Journal called them, the "chief theorists of the Third Way" — came together for a major conference in Virginia.

The goal of the conference, attended by such prominent figures as President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was to set forth a new agenda for

Democratic politics, one that would eschew traditional notions of "tax and spend" liberalism and articulate a way forward, one that held appeal beyond the constituencies fostered by the New Deal coalition and its successors.

In an introductory speech, Al From, founder of the then-surging Democratic Leadership Council, succinctly worded the fundamental values of the so-called New Democrats.

"Its first principle and enduring purpose is equal opportunity for all, special privilege for none," From proclaimed. "Its public ethic is mutual responsibility. Its core value is community. Its outlook is global, and its modern means are fostering private-sector economic growth — today's prerequisite for opportunity for all — and promoting and empowering government that equips citizens with the tools they need to get ahead."

"Beneath the soaring rhetoric of hope and change that accompanied the Obama administration, over a decade later, the DLC's playbook remains a powerful force."

Far from radical, the stated goal of the Third Way was to chart a path that led away from the labor-left alliance of the early-to-mid twentieth century and to foster new, more lucrative, relationships. Shrouding their appeals, as From did above, in the garb of necessary change in the face of technological advancements and globalization, the Third Way theorists set forth, as Robert Dreyfuss observed, a "message of pro-market moderation," which tends to be "just what organized business wants to hear."

Particularly since the 1990's, the Democratic Party's vision has been underpinned by the tenets of the Third Way, and its coffers have been filled by those who share this vision: Professionals, technocrats, financiers.

While the party still professes its dedication to the working class, as Hillary Clinton did in her speech at the Democratic convention, a closer look at its donor base — along with its voter demographics — reveals a different story: Increasingly, the Democratic Party is, as Lee Drutman has put it, "replacing Republicans as the preferred party of the very wealthy."

"In 2012, something unusual happened. The wealthiest 4 percent of voting-age Americans, by a narrow plurality, supported a Democrat for president," Drutman writes. He goes on to note that far from "a blip," 2012 marked the culmination of a "phase shift."

Like Democrats' abandonment of the New Deal tradition, this shifting foundation of support took decades and was dependent upon a variety of forces. Most crucially, though, was the rapid rise of wealth and income inequality.

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