Exposing the education “reformers’” big lie: Here’s how progressives — and our kids — beat the corpo

[DonViejo]

Exposing the education “reformers’” big lie: Here’s how progressives — and our kids — beat the corporate establishment

A populist uprising is coming in defense of public schools. Are Democrats on the side of Wall Street or the people?

Earlier this month, progressives in the Democratic Party objected vehemently, and rightfully so, to an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal from a Beltway belief tank called Third Way that declared populism as “disastrous for Democrats.”

The piece specifically attacked Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren who has advocated popular positions on economics, such as expanding Social Security.

For sure, the authors of the piece, Jon Cowan and Jim Kessler, got the factual argument wrong, as Michael Hiltzik so capably explained at the Los Angeles Times.

But getting the facts wrong is not what riled progressives the most.

While the substance of Cowan and Kessler’s argument revolved around Social Security and its supposed insolvency, what likely galled progressives the most was having their ideas called a “left-wing … fantasy” by a faction of the Democratic Party more closely aligned with the financial industry.

complete article
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/20/exposing_the_education_reformers_big_lie_heres_how_progressives_and_our_kids_beat_the_corporate_establishment/