We begin today’s roundup with Paul Krugman’s analysis of what he calls “America’s lost decade” where policies were skewed toward the wealthy:
Why do a small number of rich people exert so much influence in what is supposed to be a democracy? Campaign contributions are only part of the story. Equally if not more important is the network of billionaire-financed think tanks, lobbying groups and so on that shapes public discourse. And then there’s the revolving door: It’s depressingly normal for former officials from both parties to take jobs with big banks, corporations and consulting firms, and the prospect of such employment can’t help but influence policy while they’re still in office.
[...] the news media [has] echoed [their] priorities, treating them not as the preferences of one small group of voters but as the only responsible position. As Vox’s Ezra Klein noted at the time, when it came to budget deficits it seemed that “the usual rules of reportorial neutrality” didn’t apply; reporters openly advocated policy views that were at best controversial, not widely shared by the general public and, we now know, substantively wrong.
But they were the policy views of the wealthy. And when it comes to treatment of differing policy views, the media often treats some Americans as more equal than others.
But there were still bright spots. The Nation runs down a list of 2019 progressive champions who made a difference in their communities this year, including:
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION
Teacher strikes are a big deal now, as educators and allied public school employees struggle for resources and respect in an age of austerity budgets and privatization schemes. For years, the Chicago Teachers Union has provided a model for militant trade unionism by making big demands, organizing with parents and students, and building winning coalitions. The CTU struck in the fall of 2019 and won big, securing mandatory class size caps, sanctuary school protections for immigrant and refugee students, and staffing commitments that include a guarantee that there will be a nurse and a social worker in every school, every day. “Our contract fight was about the larger movement to shift values and priorities in Chicago,” says CTU vice president Stacy Davis Gates. “In a city with immense wealth, corporations have the ability to pay to support the common good.”
Brian Rosenwald looks at how Jim Jordan became a leader in the Republican Party:
Jordan's journey from gadfly loathed by party leadership to ranking committee member, presidential confidant, and party leader exemplifies how the GOP has changed in the Trump Era — and how Trumpism won't be easily undone after the 45th president leaves office. [...]
The story of the party's move towards total war politics and Trumpism is the story of how Jordan's breed of politics eclipsed Bush's brand of conservatism.
Meanwhile, Ronald Brownstein argues that 2020 will put the value division in America into even sharper relief:
The 2020 election looms as a Battle of the Bulge between a Republican coalition that represents what America has been, and a Democratic coalition that embodies what it is becoming. By all indications, turnout in next year’s electionis poised to be the highest in decades, in part because so many Americans consider the stakes to be so high. Across the red and blue divide, it is now common to hear voters say that they fear the America they believe in will disappear if the other side prevails in 2020. That anxiety and antagonism has been building for years, but it has dramatically intensified since 2016.
Molly Jong-Fast at The Atlantic takes on America’s permanent campaign system:
Americans may feel as though Christmas lasts forever, but at worst the holiday spreads out over two months, from Halloween until January 2. We do, however, have one truly endless season: campaign season. According to CNN, the 2016 presidential campaign took 597 days, which seems accurate if you believe the campaign ended on Election Day 2016, which everyone knows it did not. It’s still going strong and will continue going strong until at least Election Day 2020. In Japan campaigns last 12 days, in Australia they last 33 to 68 days, and in America they last forever.