America used to do great things. We built the Hoover Dam; provided electricity to rural and dirt poor parts of Tennessee and Kentucky; we put men on the moon; fought two World Wars; and built a social safety net. America stopped doing great things. Not only have we stopped going to the moon, we stopped manned space programs altogether; America does not even have spacecraft of its own.
I don't think I am alone in underestimating how terrible the 2014 election was for Democrats. However, we should have seen it coming. Race after race, Democrats ran from the president. Could anyone honestly tell me one issue that unified the party? What we could expect if the Democrats won both Houses of Congress? I can't. And if a reasonably savvy political junkie can't tell you, then how would the average voter even be expected to discern a difference?
As issues wane, personality waxes. Ted Kennedy famously hurt his presidential aspirations by being unable to articulate why he was running for the office. I often wonder about many Democrats that run from the president or from liberal positions, why are they even bother? The longer the election went on, the more Democrats failed to develop a message.
Democrats do not run on economic issues. Democrats run on demographics, the gay vote, the Latino vote, the female vote, and on and on. Targeting issues like gay marriage, reproductive self determination, and immigration. Republicans make a variation of this argument against Democrats, and frankly it stings because it's not too far from the truth. Before going further, I'll say that I support the general Democratic position on these issues, but I have to ask why are they the Democrats positions? I get this feeling that we stopped examining the why and how.
Why is the Democratic party in favor of immigration? More and more it seems that it's to lock in the Latino vote for generations. I'm sorry but that's pandering. You do what's right because it's right, not because it might get you votes. I can still remember when Democrats were ambivalent or even a little hostile towards immigration. Labor warned of a downward pressure on the labor market and the "taking" of jobs. I am not convinced one way or the other regarding the economic impact (honestly how can you be given the number of variables), but I am completely convinced of the moral and historical obligation of amnesty and even open borders.
Only recently did the Democratic party come out in favor of gay marriage, remember before there were civil unions, or during the Bush administration a concerted effort for ballot initiatives in which Democrats were afraid of their shadows. What changed? I think you can point to two things. 1) An unwillingness on the part of LGBT activists to wait and 2) either the most fortuitous gaffe ever or the greatest display of political courage in the form of Joe Biden declaring support for marriage.
So even with non-economic (in a traditional sense anyway) issues, Democrats still offer threats of a worse situation under Republicans, rather than something better. We are doubling down on the theory of less is more with a possible Hilary Clinton nomination. It's early, but what exactly would I get with a Clinton presidency? I can tell you what I would get if Rand Paul were elected, or most of the GOP field. That's a real problem. What happens if there is another national campaign without actual issues? Yet, there is support for a coronation because: SCOTUS. That may help some, but I can tell you it does not win an election.
We can't afford yet another lost decade. Since Reagan, poor, working, and middle class families have been under constant assault. The pace of the advance my hasten or slow, but its inexorable march does not. Banks failed, and failed hard, due to corruption, fraud, greed, or just incompetence and yet we could still experience the same scenario due to insufficient reforms. Risk was passed onto the public and profit was privatized. How many Democrats actually ran on fixing Wall Street malfeasance (not many)? Wages continue to stagnate, especially compared to the increases in the costs of living and the extraordinary gains in productivity.
And now we rob the next generation. Millennials get married later, start a family later. Saddled with enormous student debt they can't buy houses or make other life decisions once taken for granted. This country has not even come close to recognizing the problem let alone addressing it. We are in a time rife with possibility for liberals, but our leaders do nothing, run on nothing.
Why are we talking about a minimum wage? We need a living wage, a wage that guarantees that if you work full time, you can at least make ends meet. A wage tied to inflation and the poverty level.
We talk about women and families, but now is the time to push for PAID leave for men and women alike, so we can take care of ourselves or loved ones if they are sick, or actually be at home when our children are born.
We need childcare, uniform quality childcare. When you have to debate on whether to work or stay home due to the cost of childcare, then we have problems.
We need student loan reform. First, tuition is too high. Second, people borrowed too much without the ability to repay and without the ability to default. This is a major problem. We need affordable, or even free, public colleges. Student loans need to be forgiven, allowed to be defaulted, or substantially reduced. The longer an entire generation of people are forced to go without disposable income, the longer we go without a robust recovery and the more deleterious the effects of a future market downturn.
Why should we pay hundreds of dollar a month for health insurance that has a several thousand dollar deductible? Health insurance is not health care. You pay each month and then pay more and then eventually you have insurance, maybe. The ACA helped, but we need more. An elegant solution: Medicare for all.
We need bridges to be repaired and new ones built. We need extra lanes, extra ramps, new Interstates, sewer and water lines, better and cheaper internet, and rail. A power system that runes on renewables, or that is carbon neutral.
The list of reforms and needs are a mile long, and yet crickets. We don't do great things. No, we try to increase the age of Social Security, reduce benefits, try to cut food stamps, try to limit unemployment insurance. We lower taxes for people that don't pay enough as is. We've stopped dreaming and stopped advancing and it's time that we ask for more.
How many times have you seen the scenario where the media will air some butthurt story about some person "fleecing" the government for what is essentially a minor benefit? Earning slightly more than what someone thinks they should? Getting 5 vacation days instead of 0? The expected reaction is that we get mad at the person rather than ask for more for ourselves. It's time to ask for more.
Raise taxes, raise taxes on those that managed to run off with the wealth of the middle class, from those that pocketed the productivity gains. Tax capital gains at a higher rate, charge a fee per stock transaction. End free trade agreements that help no one but robber barons.
Since Reagan we stopped asking anything from government and from each other. 30 years of not asking for more, there are so many issues, so much to do that its almost impossible to decide where to begin. Yet here we are about ready to start another election cycle, driven to vote because: SCOTUS.
It's time to ask for more. We won't get everything, and we probably can't afford everything all at once, but that's what happens when you stop dreaming and stop making investments into the future. 30 years of living in a coma comes with a steep bill. I am tired of losing elections, but I am really tired about not talking about issues.
For every "America's Dumbest Congressman" or the latest Fox News/GOP coordinated tantrum we need 1) a policy discussion and 2) demand a sold, nation-wide platform of progress. Yes, the GOP is filled with vacuous idiots that live in their own reality. Let them be dumb. Regardless of if you point out their stupidity or not, they will remain the same. You don't get converts by sitting in the back of class and making fun of others. You get it by leading. You don't win elections with "beacuse: SCOTUS" you win because you have a vision, and I believe my life will get better because of it.
It's time to ask for more. It's time to dream again.