The Progressive 'Left' vs. Bill Keller's Disastrous 'Center-Left' by Dean Baker

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/12/23-4


The New York Times' Bill Keller. (Tony Cenicola/The New York Times)

Bill Keller gives us some holiday fun by getting almost everything completely wrong in contrasting the left-left (Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio) with his friends, the center-left. There are so many profoundly ill-informed assertions that it might be hard to know where to begin if Keller didn't make it so easy. Keller tells readers:

"The center-left (I’m somewhat oversimplifying these categories) agrees on the menace of inequality, but places equal or greater emphasis on the fact that the economy is not growing the way it did for most of the last century. The sluggish growth means that not only are the poorest stuck at the bottom, but the broad middle is in economic decline."

The amazing part of the story is that Keller's center-left heroes are precisely the reason why the economy is not growing the way it did for most of the last century. Keller perhaps missed it, but it was the center-left that set the economy on a bubble driven growth path in the 1990s. The demand generated by the stock bubble was used to fill the hole created both by lower consumption spending due to the upward redistribution of income and the exploding trade deficit which resulted from Clinton's high dollar policy.

Keller's center-left friends also pushed financial deregulation so that their Wall Street friends could get ever richer at the expense of the rest of us. This deregulation facilitated the build-up of the housing bubble, the collapse of which gave us the current downturn from which we have still not recovered.

[valerief]

1. Center-left is actually totally right wing without the Jesus stuff. nt

[Enthusiast]

5. That is a very good description.

What they call "center left" is nothing of the kind. No one that advocates supply side economics is "left" anything, center or otherwise.

[TBF]

9. No kidding. nt

[PowerToThePeople]

20. DUrec

nice

[Douglas Carpenter]

35. pretty much - basically the more socially liberal wing of right-wing Republicans with a few more

platitudes about the environment and caring - with some multi-ethnic photo ops

[pa28]

36. Yep.

[Scuba]

41. Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

[Kurovski]

44. I'll join in.

Nice shorthand.

[iamthebandfanman]

64. im pretty sure they are called

neocons :p


people should really look into the history of neo conservatism...

the 'godfather' of the neo cons was a fan of Trotsky (a communist) for a long time...

they don't believe people should die of starvation, but they aren't for further expansion of assistance programs (they weren't for the great society that Johnson brought forth) ... they also think we should control the world and start conflicts whenever and where they feel it 'necessary' for the expansion of 'freedom' and democracy ...
they are some kind of hybrid centrist monster ... lol...

after reagan I think a lot of democrats swung over ever so gently to the right to be neo conservatives.. accepting the 'new reality' that reagan had left with all his deregulation and popularity regardless of it...
Bill Clinton is proof of that...
Bill, and the DLC, would like you to think new deal and great society democrats died off when carter lost.. and being an actual honest to goodness liberal will only end in defeat...
but its just not the case.. and our party is going to find out during the next presidential election

[woo me with science]

2. They are not centrists. They are corporate fascists

who have infiltrated and taken control of both political parties. They have trampled the Constitution, turned the United States of America into a surveillance state, militarized our police forces, and created a nascent police state. They persecute whistleblowers and criminalize dissent. They strangle investigative journalism and create a propaganda machine to take its place. They are subverting our democratic, representative government and our Constitution to serve the interests of the wealthy elite, and they are working to turn the rest of us into wage slaves. They are profiting from bloody, undeclared wars; surveillance systems; private prisons; exploitative control of our health care and education; and privatization of every resource we have.

They are a menace to our representative government, our Constitution, and our freedom. Pretending that they are part of the normal representative governmental process, merely "centrists," is to vastly euphemize the cancer they really are.

[PADemD]

3. +1000

[Enthusiast]

6. You deserve a massive plus one!

Your post should be recognized for its accuracy.

And this is a wonderful quote. "They are a menace to our representative government, our Constitution, and our freedom. Pretending that they are part of the normal representative governmental process, merely "centrists," is to vastly euphemize the cancer they really are."

They are destroying our nation right before our eyes. This is no time to play nice. This is a crisis.

[harun]

7. Damn right

[Smarmie Doofus]

11. The aforementioned MASSIVE +1. n/t

[adirondacker]

12. +1000. They both secretely Love the Tea Party as a distraction. nt

[raouldukelives]

13. Aided & abetted by every investor in Wall St.

They pay for and profit from it. Everything else gets to live with it. Or in the case of wildlife, die a slow, traumatizing death. Heck, in our case as well.
At this point, anyone who places their own comforts and the ends of corporations above our democracy, our futures and above the lives of our weakest and the voiceless would do us a huge favor by registering for the party that historically represents their desires for profits over the Rights of Man and the health of our environment.
They have turned my party into weak tea. I am not enjoying the taste.

[bobduca]

15. And I hope one of them is offended by your apt label

...and I hope they post here, so i can add them to my growing list of ignored corporate fascists and NSA-loving authoritarians.

[antigop]

19. +10000 nt

[hedda_foil]

25. +1,000,000,000,000,000

[yodermon]

29. woo, you put the "Underground" back in DU.

Thanks.

[polichick]

34. Thanks - this deserves its own thread.

[wilsonbooks]

39. Excellent summation.

Time for the pitchforks comrades.

[Egalitarian Thug]

42. + as much as you want. You are exactly right and there is no place for the ideas and agendas

they bring in any party that claims to represent the people.
& R

[rhett o rick]

43. I so agree with you. But I would like to start naming names. We are at war and

we need to specifically identify those that we consider are our corporate fascist enemies.

Let's make a list of who we agree are corporate fascists:

Penny Pritzker

Larry Summers

Ben Bernanke

On second thought, a list of those in politics that arent corporate fascists would be easier:

Sen Sanders

Sen Warren

Sen Wyden

Rep Grayson

[Maedhros]

51. Don't forget Jeff Merkley (D-OR) [n/t]

[Dustlawyer]

55. K&R!!! This is it, you hit the nail on the head!

[FrodosPet]

56. Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems my very existence troubles you greatly!

I admit it. I believe in private ownership of most economically productive assets, because I believe that installs a sense of responsibility and accountability that is just not there in socialism.

I believe most of those businesses need reasonable and effective regulation in order to protect public safety and the integrity of contracts and agreements. But I believe those regulations should be ONLY what is necessary to protect the public interest from unsafe conditions, exploitation, and fraud.

I don't want innocent people rotting in prison, or killed in wars. I don't want people kept from expressing their love for another. I don't want people kept from expressing their opinion, regardless of whether I agree with it. I want everybody to live in peace, with respect freely given and received. I want them to have clean, healthy, comfortable homes and the ability to earn a livable wage or profit from their business or trade.

But apparently, since I am not as far left as most people here, that makes me some kind of monster? Sorry, but I refuse to accept that.

Note: I am not saying that there is no legitimacy to some of your points. However, the extremity of your position, insulting the majority of people, is not one that is likely to gain support with many people outside the cozy confines of DU.

[JDPriestly]

60. You assume incorrectly that the actual American left does not believe in the private ownership

of most businesses. We do.

But we don't want our country dominated by huge conglomerates that eat up all their smaller, privately owned competitors. We are sick of the Walmarts, McDonalds and other chain purveyors of junk food with bright lights.

We do not want all these trade agreements that result in low wages and miserable lifestyles for us and huge profit to the lucky few. We want a free economy that doesn't shore up the gamblers running the megabanks, leaving ordinary depositors paying just to keep their money in the bank but instead invests in the future of our country, manufacturing and production that create good jobs.

We are sick of the fraud and deception in our economy and in our government.

We want lobbyists out of government. We want our politicians to rely solely on public money when they run for office. Get big money out of our elections. Get volunteers and citizens' debates in.

The changes we want will lead to a more honest society and less crime. If we continue on the path that the Clintons and Bushes and all the self-styled "center" left wheelers and dealers, our country will be in ruins within 20 years.

Elizabeth Warren is not extreme. She has solid common sense and is pretty traditional in her views. She is not going to pull the rug out from under Wall Street or the banks or anyone else. She is just telling Americans how we can prevent the collapse of the middle class and the complete impoverishment of working people.

If we continue on the Clinton route toward ever bigger investment banks and ever lower incomes and opportunities for ordinary people, we will be a third world country in no time.

The "center" left is not in the center of anything. It is far to the right. What the center left considers to be to the left of it is actually a moderate movement of realistic thinkers.

[JDPriestly]

61. 88% of American Catholics support Pope Francis. That's the center of America.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024226840#post21

[Number23]

62. That is the entire point of that post and the slew of high fives that came after it

However, the extremity of your position, insulting the majority of people, is not one that is likely to gain support with many people outside the cozy confines of DU.

The howls of hatred towards centrists and moderates on DU are only rivaled by the howls of outrage every time someone calls this place "fringe." Just think on that for a moment and everything else just kind of falls into place.

[rhett o rick]

65. I am a bit disturbed by your post. It looks like a strawman argument to me.

What would make you think that those that support the OP disagree with anything you said? Where in the OP article does it say or insinuate that the left-left wants anything other than what you state above? You insinuate that the left-left is unreasonable. If you think so, please be specific. What does the left-left advocate that you disagree with?
Help me out, did I miss something in your argument?

[JDPriestly]

58. Well said. Thank you.

[TheKentuckian]

63. Holy Shit and Glory Be!

Does that come on tap?

[rhett o rick]

66. Yes, corporate fascist is a good label. One problem we must overcome is the misuse of labeling.

Republican vs. Democrat must be forgotten. The same goes for left and center. This labels are being misused to the point that they have become distractions.

We are at war and it isnt Democrats vs. Republicans as many try to make it. It's more complicated than that, much to the chagrin of those that want it simple.

The sides are: the ruling class and their minions vs. the lower classes. It's the corporate fascists and their authoritarian followers vs. the lower classes.

[idwiyo]

4. K&R Excelent article.

[The Wizard]

8. The center has moved so far right

that the traditional center is now considered left wing by the corporate media. Those who are now thought of a center right are in league with Attila the Hun. It's all a matter of perspective.

[RC]

14. I often get an argument when I post what you just said.

With sometimes Obama being a Liberal, as proof I am wrong.

[JHB]

21. I've occasionally used the term "Eisenhower 'socialist'" to illustrate that point

When there were all the arguments about "is an income of $250,000 'rich'?" and "should ewe raise taxes on millionaires?", I did what seemed to be reasonable thing to do: looks at how it was done in the past. Not just the top rates, but where the brackets were distributed.

In 1955 there were 24 tax brackets (compared to 7 now). Adjusting for inflation...
16 of them (two thirds!) kicked in at incomes over $250K;
11 of those kicked in at incomes over $500K;
the top rate kicked in at ~$3.5 million.

The comparable numbers today are 2 and 0, and prior to last year was 1 and 0.

Good old 1955, before the Great Society programs, in the depths of the Cold War. Were we 'socialists' back then?


But you certainly didn't hear this point from the so-called "center-left".

[mountain grammy]

23. Yes, intelligent, progressive tax policy does work!

It's about the only peaceful solution to so many problems, here and worldwide.

[Jackpine Radical]

26. Well, Eisenhower WAS a socialist.

Just ask the John Birch Society or the ghost of Joe McCarthy!

[JHB]

28. Which is my point. Language that used to be the stuff of paranoid ranting cranks...

...is now the conventional wisdom of the Republican Party, and the Very Serious People in Washington and media either agree with them or consider it too "partisan" to tell the emperor his ass is hanging out.

[Doctor_J]

38. Wait, was Ike on the list in McCarthy's pocket?

that would explain a lot

[MannyGoldstein]

27. I love it!

Eisenhower socialist.

Mind if I use it?

[JHB]

30. Depends. $50 fee for 3rdW Manny, waived for 1stW Manny

I'm sure Third-Way Manny understands the need for consulting fees, since he's not an Eisenhower socialist.

[MannyGoldstein]

50. No cash for you!

TWM doesn't have the brain cells to put "Eisenhower" and "socialist" together.

Probably.

We'll see!

[marmar]

10. k/r

[Tippy]

16. K&R

[daleanime]

17. K&R....

[KoKo]

18. Recommend...an interesting read...

[mountain grammy]

22. I think Bill Keller and others like him are still clinging desperately to the debunked

austerity crap courtesy of Reinhart and Rogoff. Frick and frack made such an impact on the rich because it was exactly what they wanted to hear; the rich are fine, the non rich have to tighten their belts.. you know, the belts they sell for food. The tragedy is that so many in the working class have bought into this nonsense. Our power is in the sheer number of us, but we are too divided to effectively change the world economy (much less our own,) which is so heavily stacked against the poor.

Until the working class, poor and middle, have a spokesperson who can command world attention and start a sustainable movement, we stay where we are. It was almost 2000 years between Jesus and Martin Luther King, we won't last if we have to wait that long for the next one. The new pope has our ears and may win our hearts. I don't think he's the leader we're waiting for, but he just may be the inspiration needed to unite the 99%.

[Doctor_J]

37. Nah. They don't really believe that shit. They're not stupid.

They say it for the same reason the rest of the lying corporatists say it - because they're lying corporatists. They get paid to lie for the corporations. The only people who actually believe it are the drooling, toothless Fox/Hate Radio addicts

[liberal_at_heart]

24. K&R

[winter is coming]

31. "Center-left" is neither center nor left.

But it's a trendy term that makes old shit sound like something new and desirable. Skip the labels. Look at what people are willing to stand up for and what they're willing to make excuses for.

[blkmusclmachine]

47. ^^ THIS. ^^

[grahamhgreen]

57. Nutshell!

[KG]

32. because after 30 + years of third way politics have turned out such outstanding results

for working class people.

[pa28]

33. Keller drew pretty deeply from the big book of inside conventional wisdom here.

As usual it's mostly wrong.

Centrist technocrats seem to love the idea that you can serve your megadonors with public-private partnerships or rent extracting trade laws without betraying the public at large. You simply fix the damage you intentionally caused with labor standards on your trade bill or by raising the minimum the wage and . . . Viola! All fixed!

The problem is it isn't fixed.

In reality we want centrists to stop making law that hurts working Americans.

When you don't make any new job crushing trade deals you don't have to worry about inserting labor standards. When you don't cut social security you don't have to worry about protections for the poor.

Contrary to what Keller thinks, what we want to do is reverse the damaging policies that have killed the labor market in this country. It's not simply "a distribution problem" it's more like a "keller problem".

[xchrom]

40. +1

[Doctor_J]

45. The so-called centrists had to decide whether to help the left or the right

and, like Willie Sutton deciding to rob banks "because that's where the money is", they merged with the far right. When Obama decided that the best idea for health care was a plan from the Heritage Foundation, he abandoned the left AND the center and went hard right. His plans for education, social security, TPP, and KeystoneXL are also far right. In return for this he will get filthy rich after he retires, and be reviled by left and right alike. However, he and the party are going to have to live with those decisions come election time. They will of course blame liberals for not voting. We're a "tiny fringe" until they get trounced in an election, at which time we're to blame.

Glad I won't be around to see the culmination of the Turd Way's effect on this formerly great nation. I am glad I got to spend most of my life in the nation created by FDR, Ike, JFK, RFK, Humphrey, and LBJ.

[blkmusclmachine]

46. DeBlasio has gone right-of-center since the Election, in typical DEM style. They always lie about it

too, and call it "centrism" (or "bi-partisanship&quot , or some other phony-balony cover to mask their real beliefs ...

[Hissyspit]

48. BILL KELLER???

Who gives a shit what he has to say?

Keller was a leading supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, explaining his backing for military action in his article 'The I-Can't-Believe-I'm-A-Hawk Club'.[7] Two days after the invasion, Keller wrote the column 'Why Colin Powell Should Go'[8] arguing for US Secretary of State's resignation because his strategy of diplomacy at the UN had failed. In contrast, Keller was much more sympathetic to Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, describing him as the 'Sunshine Warrior'.[9]

Can you say 'Judith Miller?'

[MannyGoldstein]

49. I read Keller's piece and was so apalled, I

wondered whether to give up the Times for good.

Sick, stupid stuff.

The Third Way is pulling out all the stops.

[MisterP]

52. his predecessor Abe Rosenthal (like Penn and Teller or Stone and Parker) said back in the 80s

he's "anti-authoritarian. I’m anti-Communist, I’m anti-fascist. I’m anti-Korean dictator, I’m anti-Chilean dictator" ... "who was involved with the Pentagon Papers, who was involved in exposés of the CIA ... suddenly turn into a real son of a bitch and bow to State Department pressure and pull in a guy like Bonner" ... "I’m not an anti-Communist, I’m an anti-everything."

of course he didn't slip from the party line on Central America or the Cold War *once*

[UTUSN]

53. KELLER: from year 2000, when he joined in sabotaging GORE::

He said that GORE was all summed up by KELLER's 3 yr old:: Who turned from the t.v. screen with GORE on it and chanted: "GORE is a bore!1 GORE is a bore!1"

Now, all of us with some life experience know that 3 yr olds are the biggest sychophants in the world and do not have an original thought and parrot what their adored-objects say, such that KELLER's 3 yr old was just parroting what she heard from the KELLERs.

[JEFF9K]

54. The "left-left" is also known as the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party!

[nikto]

59. DReam Ticket for 2016...

PRESIDENT


VICE PRESIDENT