Hey Democrats! What the Left Really Wants

And what we want isn’t out in the weeds

I read Vox. I don’t know if that’s information or a confession, but I like their detailed explanations of things. Recently, they went into some depth on the revitalization of the Democratic party.

It was very disheartening. Roughly, it is this:

1. 10 million jobs through a mixture of tax credits … and a national infrastructure program, and oh yeah, minimum wage

2. create a new regulatory agency to curb skyrocketing cost of drugs

3. A list of antitrust proposals

aaaannnddd even my eyes are glazing over.

Don’t get me wrong, that’s all good stuff. Pharmaceutical companies are price gouging. People need better-quality jobs. And, yeah, antitrust and stuff.

The problem is “We have a list of antitrust proposals!” doesn’t make for a stirring bumper sticker. This is all stuff that’s out in the weeds and it misses the bull’s eye by more than a mile.

“Healthcare for all!”

That hits the bull’s eye. Obamacare was supposed to get almost everybody covered. And it would have if every state had expanded Medicaid. But 19 states didn’t and so a lot of people are in a world of hurt and they don’t blame their Republican overlords. They blame Obamacare. We need to allow people to buy (as in purchase, exchange money for) Medicaid as an alternative to crappy private plans that don’t cover anything.

“End the drug war now!”

That’s a bull’s eye. It would relieve our prisons, free up government resources and allow devastated populations rebuild. It’s been a cancer devouring our society for nearly 40 years. Let’s cut it out.

“End the war on the poor!”

While we are signing a peace accord with drugs, how about defending people who can’t defend themselves? The poor are not lazy moochers who pretend to be sick to get disability and spend their food stamps on beer. They work like dogs for pennies. They work sick and in pain because they can’t see a doctor. They are over-policed and underprotected because of the drug war. The Republicans couldn’t care less about them. It’s going to have to be the Democrats.

“True Universal Education!”

We’ve got to stop eating our young. The Republicans hate education. If you doubt me, Google “global warming” and “evolution.” Every state republican legislature tries to starve education any way they can. Betsy DeVos is just the visible scab on the wound.

Yes, we sort of offer free education up to the 12th grade, but after that you are on your own. And if your high school was a bombed out trash heap you didn’t even get that. States need to single-source education funding. All property taxes should paid to the state and then the money distributed equally to all schools. That method of financing would get rid of the horrific “separate and unequal” school system we have now.

And college loans have to stop working like ordinary no-collateral loans. They need to have no or very low interest rates and no fees and fines for slow payment. Forgiving all student debt or forgiving all interest and fees and allowing people to just pay back the original borrowed amount would lift millions of GenX-ers and Millennials out of poverty.

Also colleges need to be funded at pre-1980 percentages. Higher education used to be heavily subsidized by the government. The price of college has gone out of sight because most state governments have withdrawn that subsidy, making college unaffordable for almost everyone but the wealthy. Society has a desperate need for an educated public. Our scientists and engineers are aging and not being replaced. Those scientists and engineers went to college back when it was easy to get Federal grants and states kept tuition low.

“Let’s Get it Done!”

So the Democratic party needs to get its collective head out of its behind and get out into the real world. Bernie Sanders knows how to hit a bull’s eye. He can do it with his eyes closed. Ask him for input. Stop telling us and each other that we can’t get that stuff done.

“Yes, we can.”

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