Building the New Populism

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http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/bob-burnett/55200/building-the-new-populism

Building the New Populism
Economic Policy
by Bob Burnett | April 5, 2014 - 10:26am

It's a treasured American maxim that every problem is an opportunity in disguise. Seven months before the mid-term election Democrats face a serious problem: most Americans feel the country is headed in the wrong direction and many blame the president. Meanwhile, Republican billionaires are spending millions of dollars on attack ads with the intent of sweeping Dems out of Congress. Nonetheless, 2014 is an opportunity for progressives to remake the Democratic Party with a clear populist ethic.

The latest Gallup Poll indicated that 73 percent of respondents are, "dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States." That same poll found that only 45 percent approved of the way President Obama is doing his job. (Although Obama's numbers are bound to get better, given the number of enrollees for Affordable Health Care and the corresponding surge in support.)

Fortunately, underneath this political turmoil is a hopeful reality: most Americans don't want less government; instead, they want government to work for all the people not just the rich and powerful. In a February speech, political columnist Jim Hightower identified the core problem: &quot In) today's America... too few people control too much of the money and power, and they're using that control to grab more money and power from the rest of us." Average Americans realize our democracy is slipping away and want politicians who will fight for the 99 percent.

2014 is an important battle in an ongoing struggle for the soul of America; a class war that's flared up several times in the Republic's 238-year history: plutocrats versus democrats. On one side we have rich capitalists, the 1 percent, who believe what is good for them is good for the country; who believe whoever has the most wealth should have the most power. On the other side are egalitarian democrats -- populists -- who believe what benefits the 99 percent strengthens the country; who believe power should be shared by all the people.

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