New Dems: self-described “policy entrepreneurs” heading for bankruptcy – or to newfound riches?
You don’t have to remind the New Democrat Coalition to brag on itself.
Indeed, touting themselves is what New Dems do best.
Check out what the New Dems had to say about themselves last week on Facebook:
We're the pro-growth, fiscally-responsible wing of the Democratic Party. We're tech-savvy and tapped into the new economy. We're policy entrepreneurs who find new ways to bring timeless values to life. And we're standing for the millions of Americans who are tired of the constant campaign and partisan sniping in Washington.
They’ve even adorned those grandiose words with a picture of JFK and this caption: “He was a New Dem.”
Really? The self-described "proud liberal" JFK is the ideological compatriot of Southern conservative Congressmen John Barrow and Mike McIntyre?
What's next? A photo of Jesus and the claim He too was a "New Dem"?
For those who are not acquainted with New Dem Rep John Barrow he voted against Obamacare, for SOPA and has a 25% rating from Human Rights Campaign. His fellow New Dem, Mike McIntyre, was endorsed by Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC), which has been accused of being backed by white supremacist groups.
But if you brag in an empty online forest does anyone hear you? That vainglorious post from July 11 has thus far received 5 likes.
The New Dems’ Facebook page has 62 likes. Sad. Seems like no-one except Big Pharma and Wall Street like the New Dems.
Tech-savvy policy entrepreneurs?
Looking at their social media balance sheet, one might think it’s about time for the New Dems to think about declaring bankruptcy.
But they trudge on. And they even have a clear message, if you translate from D.C. speak. They say without reservation that they’re the anti-liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
For instance, they’re pals with “Third Way”. That’s the “think tank” that’s funded by Wall Street and exists to bash “the left” and convince Democrats to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Oh, and by the way, these guys love nuclear power - in fact they want to "uprate" our existing nuclear plants which means to crank up their power (and thus make them even less safe.)
Cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid has been a consistent theme of the New Dems since immediately after Election Day last fall –
“We’re ready to deal (away Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid)” – says Rep. Ron Kind on the New Dems’ behalf.
“Everything (i.e., Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) stays on the table (i.e., the chopping block)” – says Rep. Gerry Connolly pushing the New Dem’s position.
They’ve also made it clear they’ll go to the wall to pass any and every “free trade” deal.
That the pending deals, covering both the Atlantic and the Pacific, would render meaningless the labor, environmental and consumer protections that most Democratic voters support – and that people actually rely on – is of no consequence.
These “tech-savvy policy entrepreneurs” don’t need to worry about actual voters. Wall Street funders and the Beltway pundits lap up their new-economy-ish-ness like it’s candy. Even in this “new economy,” bad ideas still advance through the old-fashioned combination of corporate money and a compliant press.
So, even though the New Dems’ economic agenda is decidedly unpopular, it’s well funded and well received by the media that matters to them. Thus, they keep talking about it.
What’s missing from the New Dems’ social media feeds lately is their foreign-policy agenda. Their previous bluster on national security is largely absent.
Indeed, their YouTube page (with 16 subscribers) is almost exclusively about free trade.
There’s one video on cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And nothing on defense.
The New Dems have been stalwart supporters of America’s foreign adventures over the last decade and are dedicated to bigger, better and more expensive weapons systems. (Granted, those positions don’t necessarily gibe with “fiscal responsibility.” But then again, neither does cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. So, that’s just nitpicking, isn’t it?) Today, as a group, they just don’t say much about it.
Maybe even well-funded lobbyists and high-perched columnists can’t carry water for them when it comes to unpopular wars and runaway defense costs. And most of the New Dems seem to know it.
So, it’s left to individual New Dems to pick up the slack and make the bipartisan case for the military-industrial complex. Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, co-chair the New Democratic Coalition’s National Security Task Force, is doing it with gusto.
Hanabusa’s passions seem to be drones and spying. She sits on Rep. Buck McKeon’s Drone Caucus.
She puts a pro-drone message on her campaign website.
And she uses her Congressional website to tout the virtues of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Because, after all, how important is the Bill of Rights when it comes to the "War on Terror?"
Hanabusa also recently joined Republican Randy Forbes, one of the House’s biggest defense spenders, in a forum where they praised each other and claimed military spending “is not a partisan issue,” as she reported on her official site.
That she sought the position as National Security co-chair of an anti-liberal organization in itself says a lot about her priorities too.
Incidentally, while most New Dems are content to just seek reelection to their House districts, Hanabusa is trying to step and advance to the U.S. Senate in Hawai`i. Her election to the Senate could bring the New Democrat Coalition – and its conservative agenda – a newfound position of national prominence. Will voters in Hawai'i click "Like"?