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Roosevelt Institute: Chuck Schumer and the Democrats' Identity Crisis: Economic Policy vs. Rhetoric
Last edited Wed Dec 24, 2014, 08:55 AM - Edit history (1)
Chuck Schumer and the Democrats' Identity Crisis: Economic Policy vs. Rhetoric
12/22/14
A populist message won't be enough to save the Democratic Party if its leaders continue to serve Wall Street.
Two weeks before New York Senator Charles Schumer once again delivered for Wall Street with the omnibus budget deal, he gave a major speech in which he sounded like a progressive champion. Schumer offered a stirring defense of government as the only force that can stand up to the private sector’s attack on the middle class, and argued that for Democrats to “roll to victory in 2016... First, we must convince Americans that government can be on their side and is not just a tool of special interests.”
Schumer is not just any Democrat. He led the successful election efforts for Democratic senators in 2006 and 2008, is number three in the Democratic Senate leadership, where he is responsible for policy and communications, and he sits on several of the most powerful Senate committees. His speech at the National Press Club on November 25 was billed as a major analysis of why Democrats did so badly in the midterms and how they should chart a path to victory in 2016.
Unfortunately, Schumer embodies the contradictions that will tear the Democratic Party apart over the next two years. He understands the need to embrace a populist, progressive narrative and program, but his ties to Wall Street and big money lead him to blunt any real moves by Democrats to take a bold stand for working people against corporate power.
The budget proposal to allow more government bailouts of banks that gamble with their depositors’ money was a huge lost opportunity for Democrats to paint Republicans as being on the side of the big banks that wrecked the economy.
That opportunity was negated by President Obama’s pushing for the budget and Senator Schumer’s stealth maneuvers (widely known in Congress) to keep the Wall Street deal intact. As a result, the leaders of both parties demonstrated, as they’ve done before, that government is in fact on the side of the rich and powerful....
http://www.nextnewdeal.net/chuck-schumer-and-democrats-identity-crisis-economic-policy-vs-rhetoric
12/22/14
A populist message won't be enough to save the Democratic Party if its leaders continue to serve Wall Street.
Two weeks before New York Senator Charles Schumer once again delivered for Wall Street with the omnibus budget deal, he gave a major speech in which he sounded like a progressive champion. Schumer offered a stirring defense of government as the only force that can stand up to the private sector’s attack on the middle class, and argued that for Democrats to “roll to victory in 2016... First, we must convince Americans that government can be on their side and is not just a tool of special interests.”
Schumer is not just any Democrat. He led the successful election efforts for Democratic senators in 2006 and 2008, is number three in the Democratic Senate leadership, where he is responsible for policy and communications, and he sits on several of the most powerful Senate committees. His speech at the National Press Club on November 25 was billed as a major analysis of why Democrats did so badly in the midterms and how they should chart a path to victory in 2016.
Unfortunately, Schumer embodies the contradictions that will tear the Democratic Party apart over the next two years. He understands the need to embrace a populist, progressive narrative and program, but his ties to Wall Street and big money lead him to blunt any real moves by Democrats to take a bold stand for working people against corporate power.
The budget proposal to allow more government bailouts of banks that gamble with their depositors’ money was a huge lost opportunity for Democrats to paint Republicans as being on the side of the big banks that wrecked the economy.
That opportunity was negated by President Obama’s pushing for the budget and Senator Schumer’s stealth maneuvers (widely known in Congress) to keep the Wall Street deal intact. As a result, the leaders of both parties demonstrated, as they’ve done before, that government is in fact on the side of the rich and powerful....
http://www.nextnewdeal.net/chuck-schumer-and-democrats-identity-crisis-economic-policy-vs-rhetoric
14 replies
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I don't know, is it?
I get progressive newsletters from them & they have a campus & an FDR library.
Wiki has this~
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Foundation, founded by the President’s friends in 1939 with the express purpose of building the first presidential library, an effort directed by FDR to bring order and security to the preservation of the nation’s historical records.
The Four Freedoms Foundation, founded in 1951 to promote the ideals of FDR’s Four Freedoms.
The Four Freedoms Foundation, founded in 1951 to promote the ideals of FDR’s Four Freedoms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Institute
Is this considered a think tank?
(& while I'm asking stupid Qs, do you happen to know what BFEE stands for?
I've seen posters use the term. Its been bugging me for a while now, I can't figure it out.)
Thanks for (rather impressively) elucidating.
Merry Christmas, merrily!!
