See if you can guess who wrote the following in an opinion piece for the Washington Post:
…for all the talk of change in Washington and in states where one party is taking over from another, one thing has not changed: The stock market and gross domestic product keep going up, while families are getting squeezed hard by an economy that isn’t working for them.
The solution to this isn’t a basket of quickly passed laws designed to prove Congress can do something — anything. The solution isn’t for the president to cut deals — any deals — just to show he can do business. The solution requires an honest recognition of the kind of changes needed if families are going to get a shot at building a secure future.
It’s not about big government or small government. It’s not the size of government that worries people; rather it’s deep-down concern over who government works for. People are ready to work, ready to do their part, ready to fight for their futures and their kids’ futures, but they see a government that bows and scrapes for big corporations, big banks, big oil companies and big political donors — and they know this government does not work for them.
If that sounds like it might have been part of our current issue that is because it is hitting on the same themes. In the aftermath of the midterm debacle you can expect more and more Democrats to pick up on our themes.
The answer to the question, though, is that that opinion piece was written by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts who has been making these arguments for quite some time now. Does she get credit for being ahead of the curve in the same way that Barack Obama got credit for being ahead of the curve on Iraq?
It’s certainly possible.
Or maybe we should get credit for being ahead of the curve and putting out a magazine with the cures the left (and the country) needs before the pain of the midterms made a self-examination trendy.
Here’s more Warren, still echoing our themes:
The American people want a fighting chance to build better lives for their families. They want a government that will stand up to the big banks when they break the law. A government that helps out students who are getting crushed by debt. A government that will protect and expand Social Security for our seniors and raise the minimum wage.
Americans understand that building a prosperous future isn’t free. They want us to invest carefully and prudently, sharply aware that Congress spends the people’s money. They want us to make investments that will pay off in their lives, investments in the roads and power grids that make it easier for businesses to create good jobs here in America, investments in medical and scientific research that spur new discoveries and economic growth, and investments in educating our children so they can build a future for themselves and their children.
Rhetoric is one thing and solutions are another. Winning back enough political power to implement solutions won’t be easy but we need a new rhetoric to go with new solutions or we’ll have no chance.
