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Heartland Democrats to Washington: You’re Killing Us


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2018 Jan 11, 7:59pm   1,965 views  4 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/11/terry-goodin-rural-democrats-indiana-216273
From the Appalachian regions of Ohio to the Iron Range of Minnesota and the northern reaches of Michigan and Wisconsin, across Iowa and Missouri and through the southern swaths of Indiana and Illinois—areas in which Bill Clinton triumphed and Hillary Clinton tanked—the quotes from the 72 rural Democrats Johnson interviewed read like a pent-up primal scream. And Terry Goodin’s comments pop out in particular. In the report, he says the Democratic Party is “lazy,” “out of touch with mainstream America,” relying on “too much identity politics” where “winners and losers are picked by their labels.” The Democrats in his district, he laments, “feel abandoned.”

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1   FNWGMOBDVZXDNW   2018 Jan 12, 4:32am  

The divide between secular and religious people in the country is real. It's not driven by D vs R politics, and the extent that it this is an issue extends from the religious and those on the right. It's fine to have some oddballs in the party, but pro abortion people are not going to have any policy say at the national level in D party. This comment that Ds play identity politics has really hit home with many socially conservative Dems. It still seems like a successful piece of rhetoric to me.
2   anonymous   2018 Jan 12, 7:25am  

The old paradigm of the Religious Right vs. the Secular is over. That was the distraction of the 80s and 90s. There is a much different relationship now.

Neoliberal Professionals have ruthlessly broken the social contract, and Middle America finally sees the problem.

* Expanded the Welfare State to millions and millions of Immigrants, many of whom are illegal, along with their children. As a means of externalizing the cost of wages, especially in the construction and the domestic trades, while insuring minimal vacancies and rent maximization for their Trust-inherited rental properties while posturing that it's all about their Golden Hearted humanitarianism.

* Demonized the native poor, particularly Whites and especially in the Rust Belt, while insisting we have a "Responsibility to Protect" (overthrowing governments and actually creating more disorder and chaos and misery, see Libya) and that we must be forced to allow the children of illegals to be "Dreamers", lavishing attention and resources on them. No mention of the Rust Belter's dreams.

* Taken the Hundreds of Billions (Trillions?) invested in Corporate Tech Subsidies and R&D over the decades on the promise of "High Tech Jobs of the Future" for taxpayer's (not Foreign Born and Raised) Children. Then turning around and busting the formerly decent wages for STEM by importing ENTRY LEVEL foreigners (the vast majority of H1-Bs are in entry level positions) in massive quantities, even though there is no domestic shortage of STEM employees (and if there was, it would only take a couple of years to churn out entry level coders, who would flock if wages went up in a response to a shortage)

* Outsourced huge swaths of productive industrial jobs, and subsidized it with tax breaks. A company gets a write off for moving across the state, or between states, and also leaving the USA, ridiculous! Signed Trade Deals that allowed huge tariffs and barriers on US exports, while allowing imports at minimal to no tariff, so long as Coastal City Banks got to buy up foreign assets.

* Prattled on about "Aspiration" and acting like there are an infinite number of Accounting Jobs, if people only got degrees, even though the market is so saturated with degree holders, companies now want Degrees for positions that previously required only a HS Diploma (ie Bank Tellers, Call Center Workers, and other Entry Level Service Jobs etc.). Even at this late date, clueless Neoliberals are still pushing "Learn to Code" as if the only problem we have is a lack of STEM.

* Part of this is that snooty Georgetown and Harvard MBAs got mad that Programmers and Analysts made more money than they as Managers made in the 80s, and got it in their heads that they must be "Brought to heel".
3   Tenpoundbass   2018 Jan 12, 8:36am  

This years super bowl spots will be measure in the "Thousands" not in Millions for the first time in 40 years.
4   FNWGMOBDVZXDNW   2018 Jan 12, 8:54am  

anon_57cc2 says
The old paradigm of the Religious Right vs. the Secular is over.

The war is on, and is as contentious as ever.

The bathroom issue, abortion, war on Christmas, and funding planned parenthood all played a prominent part in Trump's election. The biggest indicator of whether or not someone would vote for Trump was their religion. White evangelicals voted for Trump at 80%. That's identity politics.

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