How do we reframe the fight to show people that we stand for their economic interests and the GOP does not? I know many of you will say it doesn’t matter if we show people that because they vote based on values instead, but I contend the two are inter-related and should not be separated. So how do we show that our economic policies are based on the solid values of middle America? And how do we present our arguments without the right screaming, “Class Warfare!” and calling us commies or socialists?
My solution is to harken back to the Progressive Era. It was a Republican, Teddy Roosevelt, who was the great trust buster. It was under Roosevelt that the inheritance tax was implemented to end the concentration of wealth by robber barons. It was under Roosevelt that the labor movement finally gained enough steam to end child labor and sweatshops. What we seek is not socialism, but a return to the old standards of the Republican party. We can invoke one of their icons in our defense. When they call us socialists or commies we can reply, “Are you calling Teddy Roosevelt a commie?” If they claim class warfare, we can say, “We only want what Teddy Roosevelt wanted — to prevent class warfare by robber barons on the rest of the people.” The GOP wants to go beyond dismantling FDR’s New Deal; they also seek to destroy the Square Deal of the first President Roosevelt.
And here are my slogan ideas: Let The New Progressive Era Begin In 2006; Democrats ’06: A New Progressive Era
Those are the basics. I’ll go into deeper detail across the bump.
Teddy Roosevelt understood 3 things that the current GOP is actively trying to make America forget.
Number one: The concentration of too much wealth in too few hands is anathema to a democracy. Worse yet is when that wealth is passed down from generation to generation, creating an expectation of privilege and wealth without earning it. Bush’s “ownership society” certainly seems like a new way of saying he wants a landed aristocracy. When an overclass or aristocracy emerges, it is able to manipulate the political system against the will and benefit of the people. Even before he became president, Teddy Roosevelt fought the corruption in his own party. That same corruption eventually drove him out of the GOP to form his own Bull Moose party. The wealthy should not be able to buy more democracy than everyone else, but Bush continually serves the interest of the overclass at the expense of the rest of us. There is no better example than his tax cuts, which went overwhelmingly to the top 2%. However, I think it is very important to emphasize the estate tax, since that has a direct historical connection to the progressive era and the robber barons. While the corruption of the current GOP is obvious on many levels, it should also be pointed out that many of our own Democratic congressmen and women voted for the bankruptcy bill because of contributions they have received from the banking industry.
Number two: Unregulated corporations do not act in the public interest. The GOP (and Libertarians) often say that the only thing the Government should do is protect the people. Well, TR saw that the government needs to protect the people from unscrupulous businesses. Wether it is the meat-packing industry of his time that sold contaminated meat to the people or the meat-industry of today that doesn’t meet international standards for preventing BSE (mad cow disease) and wants to cover up any U.S. cases, corporations are only interested in the almighty dollar. If it comes at the expense of some consumer’s lives or the destruction of the environment, so be it. Monopolies use their market position to crush competition. Any GOoPer who says he is for the free market and against regulation is being dishonest. For the market to be free — to guarantee competition in the marketplace — there must be regulation that prevents monopolies, price fixing, unfair business practices, etc. It was deregulation of the energy industry in California that led to the artificial crisis created by energy companies conspiring together against consumers a few years ago. Likewise, the GOP effort to push “tort reform” is simply a way of siding with corporations against the public by severely limiting consumers’ right to sue.
Number three: Unregulated corporations abuse their workers. This is as true today as it ever was. just look at the way our companies treat workers in the manufacturing plants they have outsourced: pennies/hour wages, 10-14 hour days, 6 or 7 day work weeks, child labor, unhealthy working conditions, no benefits. Even in the U.S. protectorate of Saipan the laborers toil in sweatshops (and sex shops) for almost no money, and manufacturers can put “Made in the U.S.A.” labels on their products. Tom DeLay has repeatedly blocked legislation that would extend U.S. labor laws to Saipan. And Walmart’s pay and benefit packages are another great example of a corporation abusing its workers. All over the country, CEO/management pay is up, up, up, while employee real wages/earning power are stagnant or declining. Roosevelt was careful to frame his support for labor as a desire for a “Square Deal” for all, and not an attack on corporations. We should do the same, hi-lighting how the Bush administration has sided with corporations against labor again and again, while we are seeking what is fair for both sides.
I’m sure you can think of many other examples we can use for each of these points.
Of course, Teddy had one advantage we lack: a media bent on exposing society’s evils. We are not without our own muckrakers today, but they are much fewer and farther between. Print media of T.R.’s day (books, magazines, and newspapers) did not have the entertainment competition from radio, T.V., or the movies our media has today, so the muck gained much wider exposure. But, hope lies in this new media we are using right now: the internet.
So what do you think? Are the slogans catchy enough? Will invoking the Progressive Era resonate with Americans? Should I just crawl back in my hole and stay there?
CP @ DKos where it will slip into oblivion within the hour.
