Robert Reich: It's time for Dems to commit to getting big money out of American politics

[Dennis Donovan]

Robert Reich - It’s time for Dems to commit to getting big money out of American politics

Robert Reich
December 24, 2024

/snip/

I’ve been around long enough to remember how Democrats reacted to Adlai Stevenson’s two defeats to Republican Dwight Eisenhower: They said it was time for Democrats to move to the center.

When Humbert Humphrey lost to Richard Nixon, Democrats said it was time for Democrats to move to the center. When Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan? Move to the center! When Walter Mondale lost to Reagan? The center! When Mike Dukakis lost to George H. W. Bush? When Al Gore … When John Kerry … When Hillary Clinton … And on it goes: center, center, center.

What has this refrain bought Democrats apart from campaign contributions from big corporations and the wealthy? A loss of purpose.

/snip/

Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. wrote in The New York Times that “me-too Reaganism” would be disastrous for Democrats because “if American voters are in a conservative mood, they will surely choose the real thing and not a Democratic imitation.”

But Democrats didn’t listen. In the late 1980s they became “New Democrats,” almost indistinguishable from “Reagan Democrats.” In 1996, Bill Clinton said “the era of big government is over” — ending welfare, enacting a vicious crime bill, and deregulating Wall Street.

/snip

Good article!

[flamingdem]

1. And allow it for Republicans?

Getting tired of dems taking the high road and not making winning the point.

We're dealing with the billionaire party.

Let's mount a vicious effort against an evil opponent.

That costs $

[Fla Dem]

2. Agree, A strong message. We cannot remain compliant.

Reich's closing comments.

Now more than ever, Democrats should call out the multimillionaires and multibillionaires who are taking over our system by making gigantic campaign contributions and then seeking tax cuts, regulatory rollbacks, and exemptions to tariffs for their own businesses. Yes, I’m talking about you, Elon Musk. It’s time for Democrats to commit to getting big money out of American politics.

Now is the time for Democrats to do what they used to do before the Democratic Party tried to move to the so-called “center.” Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Strengthen safety nets. Increase public investments. Pay for all this by raising taxes on the super-wealthy.

This is no time for retreat. No time for compromise.

There can be no center between decency and indecency, no center between democracy and authoritarianism, no center between a government of billionaires and a government of the people.

https://www.alternet.org/money-in-politics/

[Firestorm49]

3. I'm all for it, but good fricking luck. It won't happen. It's too late. As usual, we're watching from the outside.