According to Anne Kim, of the Middle Class Project at
Third Way progressives are just to pessimistic. She writes in
"Message of Misery":
Democrats see the American Dream fading, the middle class being squeezed, jobs disappearing, schools crumbling, and wages stagnating. That is not the way middle-class Americans view their own lives.
Anne sees things differently:
As Americans have grown more affluent -- and with a few blips along the way, American households have steadily grown more affluent over the past 60 years -- they have come to care less about economic security and more about economic opportunity.
Sounds like the third way is channeling Larry Kudlow, this economy is the greatest story never told! Americans are doing better then ever! Call me a doom and gloomer, but I beg to differ. If you are speaking about the "bottom" 80% of Americans the claim that American's are more affluent is just plain factually wrong. Rather then go into detail here I refer you to a number of articles that tell the tale:
The Middle Class on the Precipice
Today's Pig is Tomorrow's Bacon
Pinched Pocketbooks
Republican policies have real consequenses, in Iraq, in New Orleans and in the economy. The magnitude of the disasters that are Iraq and the Katrina aftermath are now apparent to a majority of Americans. But the biggest consequences of Republican economic mismanagement are still just over the horizon. The Fed has floated it's last bubble and America's treasury and citizens are mired in debt. We are about to reach an inflection point. The unraveling housing bubble is about to knock over the Bush pyramid scheme and plunge the economy into recession. If you think voters are pissed now, wait -they are about to get really, really angry.
When the crap hit's the economic fan Democrats who still think it's morning in America and are trying to fit themselves into a Republican dominated Washington will get swept away with the Republicans who got us into this mess. The Democrats have been way behind the voters on the war -they should be out there to lead on this(hint: not by supporting the bankruptcy bill and the latest "free trade" bill). The Democratic party has got to once again become the party of working Americans and a champion of labor. Progressives - it's time we did some ass-whuppin' in the class war.