Good Ideas Will Save the Country
Audio Recording by Written by Jessica Tarlov. As read by George Hahn. https://www.profgalloway.com/good-ideas-will-save-the-country/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jessica Tarlov, my Raging Moderates co-host, has talked with a string of Democratic leaders since we launched the podcast about a year ago. Most agree that the party must do a better job of demonstrating what it stands for, not just what it’s against. However, politicians (and the media) devote most of their energy to opposing Trump, responding with outrage to the falsehoods, attacks on the rule of law, and damaging policy initiatives flowing from the White House.
Resistance is vital. But the party must also make a bolder and more specific case for how it plans to tackle concerns over the cost of living, immigration, jobs, AI, healthcare, and a host of other issues. This week, I’ve asked Jessica, a Democratic strategist and panelist on Fox’s The Five, to reflect on what she’s learned over the past 12 months and explore how the party can rebuild trust among disenchanted voters.
Good Ideas Will Save the Country — and the Democrats
by Jessica Tarlov
When almost two-thirds of voters say they don’t like you, the highest level of disapproval in more than three decades, your party is in serious trouble.
This is the position Democrats are in a year after convincing themselves that Kamala Harris was the answer. It’s also been almost a year since Scott and I started Raging Moderates, our twice-weekly podcast and ode to centrism. We’ve spent hours talking to politicians and journalists about the state of the country and the Democratic Party, which most admit is a long way from being campaign-ready.
For now, that might be a good thing. When they’re not campaigning, these Democrats are advocating for smart policy. Their ideas aren’t just reversals of President Trump’s agenda; they are innovative ways to help people buy a home, improve classrooms, and even fix the border. Speaking to politicians on both sides of the aisle about the struggles of boys and men, I was surprised by how often they were not only aware of the problem but had answers about how to solve it.
I was also impressed by how effective podcasting can be in stimulating rich conversations. I heard politicians articulate their plans more deeply and honestly than they do anywhere else. I’m not the first person from television to realize this, but when you want to learn something new, host a podcast. It’s also refreshing for some listeners to hear me speak in longer than a 45-second sound bite. Who knew I could talk for three minutes straight when given the chance?
Last week, I was joined by Hillary Clinton, who told me she would nominate Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize — if he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine without giving away Ukrainian territory. A funny moment, and a great social media clip. As the conversation continued, Trump faded into the background. She told me we have to “double down” on helping young men and women succeed in the AI era, saying young men in particular need support, not just in making a good living but in getting the “respect they deserve.”
She is optimistic about the future of the country and her party. Clinton said the Democrats need to present an alternative vision. Nobody knows what that will be, but right now, who cares? Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, just give me some compelling, concrete ideas. Here are five I’ve heard.
Offer No-Interest Loans
Trump won last year’s election on the issue of affordability, which the media defined as the price of eggs and milk. But before you put food on the table, there has to be a table.
America is in a housing crisis. Nearly a third of American households are “cost-burdened,” spending more than 30% of their income on housing. Half of all renters are in that position. And while more Americans own than rent, there are signs that dynamic could change as Gen Z enters adulthood.
The solution is to build more affordable housing, as all three leading candidates in New York City’s mayoral race will tell you. But many developers aren’t interested, because there is a huge gap between the cost of construction and the rents people can pay. Government intervention can fill it, but only if towns and cities have the resources.
Rep. Greg Landsman, a Democrat from Ohio, spoke with me about our broken economy in May. One of his top pledges: Fund a bank that provides zero-interest loans and forgivable grants to local communities. The loans would pay for housing and infrastructure and, coupled with permitting and zoning reform, allow towns to build “more quickly and in more places.”
It’s an ambitious plan. In Landsman’s own words, it would be the “largest federal investment in housing and community development in U.S. history.” But big problems require big solutions.
Tackle Learning Loss
Teens who attended high school throughout the pandemic voted for the first time in a presidential election last year. Many lurched to the right. Harris’s vote share among voters aged 18 to 29 dropped 10 points nationwide compared to Biden four years before, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis. The decline was five points steeper in California, which had the lowest in-person schooling of any state.
Democrats can’t be surprised.
Remote learning during the pandemic drove academic and mental health declines. Research shows that kids in school districts that went mostly remote or hybrid in 2020-21 fell behind by more than half a year. Students who mostly attended school in person suffered from learning losses as well, but by only four months.
Many of those students are still in school, so there is time for them to catch up, and research consistently shows that one-on-one support is a great way to do it. Although providing more tutoring is a popular idea — teachers, parents, and unions love it — the problem is scale. Not only is there not enough money to hire tutors for millions of kids, but there also aren’t enough tutors in the first place.
Massachusetts Rep. Jake Auchincloss told me that live online tutoring is one of the keys to confronting the challenge, with artificial intelligence potentially complementing the role humans play. Implementing that plan might cause some tension with unions, but it would address the problem of scale. The technology, which is being piloted in programs across the U.S., is only going to advance. Democrats can help accelerate the progress.
Base Immigration Decisions on Merit
Immigration, another area where Democrats missed the mark during the Biden presidency, ranked as the second most important issue in the last election, behind only the economy. Three in 10 voters called it the single biggest factor in their decision. Of those voters, 81% voted for Trump, compared with just 18% for Harris.
On Election Day, however, voters had mixed feelings about Trump’s agenda. While two-thirds favored reducing the number of immigrants allowed to seek asylum when they arrive at the border, only 44% supported deporting undocumented immigrants already living in the country.
Trump has, to his credit, overseen a decline in illegal crossings. But he’s also unleashed chaos and cruelty, from reviving family separation to hunting down immigrants at Home Depot. He pledged to deport “the worst of the worst.” Instead, his administration has detained thousands of people who have no criminal convictions.
James Carville has been blunt about the border for a while, repeatedly blaming the far left’s influence for Biden’s early failures. But when I interviewed him a few weeks ago, he also came with a blueprint for a smarter immigration policy. His solution is a points-based system that would not only expedite entry for high-performing talent, but also reestablish an orderly process for people who are already here.
As he told me: “Somebody who has been in this country for 35 years, held the same job, raised three kids, they’ve all gone to college, that person gets 10 points. Somebody is here for three months and they’ve committed three crimes, they get no points.”
Most voters like immigrants. What they don’t like is disorder. A merit-based immigration system both before and after entry would go a long way toward addressing that.
Help People Find Meaningful Work
You’ve heard Scott talk about college a lot. Last year he lamented to the Wall Street Journal that “we still jam everyone through this four-year liberal arts construct.” For a lot of people, the “we” in that sentence means “Democrats.”
That’s why I was surprised and excited to hear from so many guests who wanted to help people find meaningful work, whether they have a degree or not. And in particular, boys and men who are at risk of falling further behind.
New York Rep. Ritchie Torres said work is “not only about economics, it’s about creating meaning in one’s life. It’s about giving someone the dignity of building a foundation on which to raise a family, on which to live a life of meaning and utility.” Torres — a college dropout himself — bemoaned the college-for-all culture, calling it a “profoundly corrosive” contributor to mental illness, substance abuse, and deaths of despair.
Our guests brought a handful of ideas to the table to help people find a fulfilling path. One that stood out for its simplicity and bipartisan appeal was from another New York congressman, Pat Ryan, who told me he wants to double the slots for existing national service programs, where there are currently more applicants than places.
Ryan, who served two combat tours in Iraq, said: “My life was changed by military service, and exposing me to a bunch of people I wouldn’t have otherwise met, forcing me to work together with them towards a common mission. … The greatest reward and joy in life is accomplishing something for a cause greater than yourself.”
There is a difference between bipartisan appeal and bipartisan support. Ryan said some Republicans like the idea but don’t want to put up the money. Still, he’s working with a bipartisan caucus of veterans to get it done.
Rehire Every Veteran
Many Americans have positive views about joining the military. What happens when they return from service is often a different story. This country has a checkered history when it comes to looking after veterans. It got uglier this year: Thousands of them lost their jobs after Elon Musk slashed the federal workforce.
Veterans were particularly vulnerable to DOGE: They make up nearly 30% of the civilian federal workforce and often struggle to find work elsewhere because of culture gaps and problems translating military skills into regular jobs. They are also younger than some people assume: Nearly 3 in 10 are under the age of 50.
This is DOGE’s problem. Voters want a more efficient government. What they clearly don’t want are indiscriminate cuts that weaken important programs and harm people.
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego wants to rehire every veteran at the VA and across the federal government. His proposal would include protections to ensure that a worker can still be fired for negligence, or if there is proof that their job is no longer needed. Enacting his bill would give dignity and stability back to veterans who deserve it and prevent the decline in mental health that goes along with long-term unemployment. The cost is negligible, especially when you compare it to Trump’s multitrillion-dollar tax cuts.
Gallego, a Marine veteran, is already seen as a potential presidential contender in 2028. More ideas like these would elevate him even higher on Democratic candidate wish lists.
A New American Dream
I thought I knew almost everything about the Democrats. Over the past year, I’ve gained an even deeper understanding, hearing an array of practical solutions that could make a profound difference in the lives of millions of Americans. Blue governance has failed in some of our crown-jewel cities. But we can learn from leaders like Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, who’s working with Republicans on commonsense policies. Her message is simple: “Let’s get it done.”
Trump may be burning down institutions. But the Democrats — fueled by a younger generation of politicians keen to seize the moment and shake up the status quo — can help rebuild a better America. Among them is Mallory McMorrow, a state senator from Michigan who’s running for a U.S. Senate seat and turning 39 tomorrow. As she told me earlier this month, “the new American dream is ours to write.”
Jessica Tarlov
P.S. Hear more conversations about how the Democratic Party is seeking to rebuild and navigate the challenges ahead by following the Raging Moderates podcast. Listen here on Apple or Spotify, or watch us on YouTube.
54 Comments
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While these are worthy issues nothing matters until we get big money out of politics. Publicly funded national election campaigns would be the best solution but if that is a bridge to far we must at least limit campaign contributions per cycle to $10,000 to any candidate or PAC by any person. company or other entity. Wouldn’t this be a unique point in history where GOP congressmen and Senators run and hide in fear of a billionaire funded primary challenge to eliminate the threat? Until this happens we are all just whistling in the graveyard of democracy. Stopping gerrymandering is job 2. The current system of legislators picking their voters instead of visa versa is likewise a terminal illness for democracy.
The Democrat Party is like Meghan Markle.
NOBODY likes Meghan Markle.
NOBODY wants Meghan Markle.
But Meghan Markle.has this machine behind her that keeps on trying to find some way to sell Meghan Markle.
Meghan Markle.has a book, Meghan Markle.has a podcast, Meghan Markle.has a lifestyle brand, Meghan Markle.has a Netflix show, Meghan Markle has another Netflix show.
They all fail
Nobody cares
NOBODY
Not a single soul on this planet wants any of this nonsense.
But the machine behind her doesn’t care, they keep on trying to sell a product that no one wants.
I imagine the team behind Meghan Markle is having a lot of the same conversations that the Democrats are having right now.
“Ideas! We need good Ideas people! What do people like these days? Podcasts? Nope tried that. Netflix show? Nope, that’s not working. C’mon people, we need to sell this Meghan Markle brand. We need good ideas, bring in Hillary Clinton, she is our go-to person for good ideas!”
Jessica Tarlov has a great start on a Democratic platform. Where I live in MN we are grappling with an affordable housing shortage, and meaningful jobs for young men. I hope to bring this all to the attention of the @MayorJacobFrey.bsky.social and @GovernorWalz.MN.gov @democrats.org
Your US federal Employee chart is quite dishonest. The y axis has a non-zero axis that dramatically enhances the optical impact of a small reduction. Furthermore, you only looked at the past 12 months. If you would have included Joe Autopen’s entire term and used a proper scale, you would see that government still employed more people than it did 4+ years ago and the reduction has been less than 3%.
The real bipartisan idea would be for both parties to attack waste and fraud in government programs. Democrats are so locked into opposition and resistance of ALL Trump supported ideas that they are easily led to oppose common sense initiatives that the American public support.
Former Counsel to House Democrats Says Party Has Become a ‘Cult That Worships Weird Progressive Idols’
“I think what I was watching yesterday looked more like a Star Trek convention. This is a party that has almost no self-awareness. The approval numbers, two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the party. Their fundraising numbers, the voter registration numbers are all dropping through the floor as the party associates itself with things like gender sterilization for minors, open borders, high crime.
The party is almost becoming like a cult that worships these weird progressive idols. As and then sort of the only thing they have to offer is these insults, like Tim Walsh body shaming the president, you know, Tim Walz going around body shaming to me is like the Taliban criticizing someone for religious intolerance.”
“This is a party that just stands for negativity and for aligning itself on issues that are far to the left of the median voter and not, as Carolyn, I think, points out, putting forward any ideas that any of the voters, certainly in the middle, can relate to in any way.
Dear progressive friends, This center-facing conservative was looking across the aisle at Congressman Dean Phillips with great hope. I abandon the Libertarian party and re-registered as a Republican to support Nikki Haley and make the Republican party sane again. I would have crossed the aisle for Congressman Phillips because I saw integrity and competency. He and I wouldn’t see eye to eye philosophically, but I am more interested in integrity and competency than the progressive party trying to effectively market the nanny-state.
I enjoy learning, ideas, debate, thinking, problem solving, and realms from psychology to economics to science. I enjoy it even if it is a bubble. Understanding is of utmost importance. The reality may well be that those of us engaging with Scott and other thinkers are a minority in the extreme, living in a bubble of awareness but missing the reality that many many many even most Americans are lost in other bubbles and really do not give a damn about policy or any mission with a focus on problem solving. WE are ALL narcissists to some degree. The culture has been given by the leadership a license even and encouragement to serve….themselves and themselves only. It takes energy, strength, courage, work of the brain to engage in the issues of the nature of this column as much as I like it. It is hard to believe but most Americans again do not give a damn about problems even if their lives are impacted by their ignorance. The street demonstrations, political involvement, advocacy seem to be exercises in futility in the eyes of most. Should we admit it that Americans are just pigs at the trough ?
Have a laugh. I am responding to myself. Scott who I admire, is living…not in the US ? I wish I could move to London or Paris or Rome. Engage with aware people, knowledgeable people, caring and smart people. But Americans…I dunno…are we just LOST, poorly educated, deadheaded and passive….just not strong enough to demand justice in all the basic public goods of health care, fair compensation, civilized benefits, robust social net, wealth sharing, investment in teachers and enrichment through life long learning, and a decided respect for science and people seeking truth about reality … We seem to prefer a good story, entertainment, escape.
Some good ideas and some bad ideas. I read the piece on using a merit base system from immigrants. I wonder if the writer really thought this through. my immigrant families on both my mother’s and father side would never have been admitted because none of them had an education. I
think there’s millions like my family. And today there’s immigrants working on the roofs of houses all around me immigrants working on the street next to my home and immigrants working in the memory care unit where one of my friends is we probably would not have admitted any of those people in the country. Plus all the people who work in the fields are at me packing plants in Iowa.
I used to be a lawyer for veterans groups not every veteran is the same. There are some veterans that are members of ICE and are showing irresponsible behavior. And then he states there are already civil rights provisions that prevent discrimination against people who are veterans. I think we’re losing just as much talent from discrimination against people of color or marginalized communities then veterans —but that said I have no problems transitioning and using the skills of veterans.
Miserable People on The Left That Worship Jealousy and Crucifying Someone New Each Week: Lets spend billions of dollars on the homeless & only make the problem worse, put illegal aliens in free hotels & on free healthcare, soft on crime & then watch crime explode, mock business that have had to file for bankruptcy, fight fire with empty fire hydrants, embezzle $100M in LA fire donation funds, sexually mutilate your kids for life, worship criminals like George Flyod, burn down the country over George Flyod, hate normal well adjusted working people 24/7
Normal Well Adjusted Working People: You people are mentally ill and we don’t want to have anything to do with you.
Miserable People on The Left That Worship Jealousy and Crucifying Someone New Each Week: We need new ideas!
Normal Well Adjusted Working People: You all need to be in jail.
Seriously, how come you people are not in jail?
It is rich coming from Hilary Clinton. She is the war monger. How can you expect Russia to make peace if NATO keeps expanding right on Russia’s border. Probably she should look her face in the mirror more oftent. Democratic party is as much reponsible as the Republican Party. Maybe you should get more creative thinkers on your podcast.
Speaking of Hillary Clinton, isn’t it odd that she has just been subpoenaed to testify to Congress over Epstein on October 9th?
Bill Clinton has been subpoenaed for October 14th.
You think that would have made more news.
Did Epstein help create the Clinton Foundation?
What did Epstein sell?
What product does the Clinton Foundation sell?
400K+ kids go missing in USA each year
Who is selling those kids?
Who is buying those kids?
Giselle Maxwell has a license to pilot submarines
Giselle Maxwell giving TedTalks and talking at The UN about The TerraMar Project involving submarine projects around the globe.
Epstein had an office at Harvard.
Who was funding this massive, massive operation that Epstein worked for that had the resources of a James Bond villain?
How much is The Clinton Foundation worth?
What product does the Clinton Foundation sell?
My comment, polemical with the thesis of this essay, has not been approved. No comment on that.
Want to win the 2028 election in a landslide? Have the candidate champion a nationwide housing initiative modeled after New York City’s City of Yes reforms: office-to-residential conversions, zoning modernization, and affordability indexed to renters’ and buyers’ means.
The key is ensuring it’s implemented privately or through public-private partnerships, not as a bloated $100+ billion boondoggle like California’s high-speed rail. Tax incentives, zoning streamlining, and targeted abatements could let private capital do the heavy lifting while guaranteeing affordability.
This addresses housing affordability, urban renewal, and climate goals, while delivering a politically powerful message: making America affordable again.
Allowing for the thought of AI to replace the shortage of tutors/teachers is short sighted and dangerous. I’m sorry to read this portion of the post. My observation, as a high school teacher, is that the students who are able to stay pace with modulated online learing (AI or not) are the kids who don’t need to catch up in the first place. More quality teachers, peer to peer turoring, and community involvement is a more viable option, among others, for the student learning gaps. Learning takes 10lbs of fuel for one inch of gain. Not the other way around.
“The answer is easy, build more housing.” It’s simply not the case at all Scott. Take the poster child for a city that needs housing – San Francisco. The chief of housing was busted by the FBI (and mayor’s former boyfriend), has a notoriously bureaucratic, inefficient, and openly corrupt building department. This is a city that the world now knows can’t build a single public toilet for under $1.3 million. And for any tourist who has visited San Francisco who has been shocked strolling though our infamous Tenderloin near thier hotel, well that’s the city’s last great “affordable housing” effort. Tens of thousands of drug addicts with affordable housing right smack in the middle of the city. Go ahead, call San Franciscans NIMBY’s, but there’s comepletely rational reasons we’re against the city managing it.
This is the same tired excuse that democrats always use when they lose.
Most agree that the party must do a better job of demonstrating what it stands for, not just what it’s against.
We are doing the right things and the ideology is spot on but we aren’t communicating well enough (or the voters are too stupid to understand.
Maybe start with
– stop pretending and stop attacking children eg men in girls bathrooms and child mutilation surgery and abortion
– stop allowing millions of illegals into the country. It stopped in 2 months
– try running a fair election eg 60 days to count votes in CA
– admit there are 2 genders only
– treat men like men and women like women
– don’t be evil
– stop bring victims and reward hard work and values
– find have candidate who can’t speak before or after an election
– crime is no ok
This is mostly BS. Biden didnt fail on immigration- the Republicans at the direction of trump – voted down badly needed bipartisan immigration reform.
Trump closed the border with no legislation in 2 month. We just needed a president not a mummy
These aren’t good ideas; they’re “meh” ideas. Dems can go bold or stay home. How about universal healthcare, and universal childcare while we’re at it? How about ensuring that yes, every kid gets free lunch at school. Want to fix infrastructure and eliminate college debt at the same time? Offer tuition in exchange for domestic service. That would raise a generation of capable and educated young folks without debt. It’s like none of these politicians and oligarch-owned news outlets are able to do more than scratch the surface, I (don’t really) wonder why.
I agree with the above, and why are we still listening to aging Democratic leaders who’ve proved toxic to voters and for the Democratic brand?
Let’s build a simple, memorable party message and identity detached from special interests. Tax the rich, benefits for all.
’16: Woman lost.
’20: Man won.
’24: Woman lost. Black to boot.
Let’s not overthink this. Racism and sexism are mighty powerful decision making ingredients, especially in rural areas throughout swing states.
The policy talk in this newsletter is good and needed, but a whole bunch of Americans will not or cannot see beneath the surface.
Considering who won in ’08 and ’12, the racism excuse is out. As for the sexism excuse, maybe let’s begin with being able to define what a woman is in the first place – not a trivial task for many in your party.
Yep. Identity politics, it’s all that matters, you Democrats have learned zilch.
The only Dem I ever see talking about things that people actually care about is Fetterman. The full throated endorsement of the Social Justice Warriors is just an anchor around the party and keeps normal people from taking Dems seriously about the serious issues. I can’t really trust you to tackle the issue of wage stagflation, or a war in Europe if you can’t define what a woman is, or you are OK with Men That Pretend to Be Women participating in women’s sports. If you can’t deal with the easy stuff, there is absolutely ZERO chance I trust you to handle the hard stuff.
As a Vietnam War Erea veteran, I am always put off by the misguided pandering of those who never served. We don’t need any help. Just keep your promises and give us the same deal as if we were illegals.
Perfect example is the bloody Veterans Administration. Y’all think we need help with the VA? Need more VA? It sucks. We would all rather have Medicare.
Since 2003, the VA staffing has increased by 115%. They built all these clinics in every Congressional district in the country. This is in an environment wherein tech is reducing staffing and record keeping. Medicine is getting more efficient.
Since 2003, the universe of veterans eligible for VA care is down by 38%. The WWII guys are gone. The Korean War guys are almost gone. The Vietnam War Era guys are slowly disappearing.
So, demand is down and staffing is up. Doesn’t that suggest something is wrong. Lots of needless services provided as Congressional moonpie graft.
We don’t need any of that patronizing nonsense. Just keep your promises, pay us well, and leave us alone.
Trot out us veterans on Veterans Day and leave us TF alone. Thanks.
JLM
Raging Moderates — Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov? Really?
I think we’ve identified the problem.
JLM
Love hearing new ideas–we can’t better our country just by retrenching old systems. There are creative ideas for housing–first we have to incentivize builders to produce entry level housing–too many builders want to build million-dollar homes and that is not where the need is! Think of new stimulation ideas.
And still nothing about pushing away the extreme left, people like the squad, or anyone rewarding Hamas with a Palestinian State. And nothing about the overt antisemitism on campuses. Yes, Trump isn’t doing it for his love of Jews, but that doesn’t mean Democrats should be guided by the shocking ignorance of members of the squad (not to mention their mouthing of Al Jazeera talking points financed by Qatar.) If you think only Jews care about this, Democrats are still lost. No one wants to see Muslim Brotherhood sponsored hooliganism on campus no matter what’s happening in the world or whose side you are on. And what about Scott’s idea of forcing Ivy League level schools with billion dollar endowments to open their enrollment numbers. Not equal outcomes, equal opportunities. Taxpayer money to multi billion dollar endowed institutions that are organized to limit opportunity?
When will the Dems finally get it? No one believes any more that they really care for the marginalized and disenfranchised, as it has become abundantly clear that they used them only as voting cattle, just as the Republicans used isolated and uneducated rural populations as their providers of ballot box successes. Get real, Dems, look around. I’m in San Francisco at the moment and the havoc you wreaked on the city center is the shame of this decade. 47% empty stores, and still the homeless are rampant in the area. All because you were so eager to finally be able to command what a whole nation was allowed and not allowed to do, shutting down entire cities for nothing. You won’t be back for a long, long time, and as much as I suffer from the constant stream of hate from the White House that damages my soul, I would say that’s a good thing.
I like your comment. I live in San Francisco and think that the Democrat supermajority in California and their notion of “progressive” (versus liberal, I suppose) has wreaked havoc. CA is a union state and that is the problem as it is the core of their base. Also government employment at all levels has dramatically increased creating un un-virtuous cycle of more Democratic voters. The result is a zero-sum outcome with the public losing ever more ground. The party is removed from reality and governing has devolved into a pseudo socialistic doctrine using public money for pet projects. In California at least they are so far removed from basic good governance that I don’t think they can be saved. Certainly not with Newsom who is abysmal in my view. There is compassion and then there is stupid. It has not cost them enough while they lean heavily on the latter.
Thanks, Ed, I appreciate your frankness and the nuanced analytical approach. I couldn’t have said that better. If I only could bring myself to believe that it made sense I’d join the Democratic Party and work for a different political system. But as soon as you only slightly veer off the Democratic speech bubble you get stone faced stares, they smear you as a redneck radical and ghost you for the rest of your life.
The American Dunce Cap Act: any official who served in the Bush administration or any member of congress who voted to support the invasion should have to wear a dunce cap in public under threat of tar and feathering
King Bankruptcypolluza is checking every part of a list to make this a banana republic.
The Dems can’t get their act together because they won’t address the Titanic in the room. To address it they have to bite the hand that feed them.
Who privatize Sallie Mae (Student Loans), who took away Wall Street’s handcuff, who let an illegal merger The Travellers/Citibank exist for one year until it became legal because of campaign donations. Why is Bill Clinton.
Who made sure Students Loan were not dischargeable in bankruptcy?. Senator Biden was the biggest supporter of 2005 Bankruptcy bill, along with Schumer and Hillary.
Who bailed out failing banks and treated them with kids gloves and put a chocolate under their pillow?. Well is Hopium Obama.
Start with a big Mea Culpa. Massive renunciation of over 50 yrs old machine hack gerontocrats.
The only thing that the Dems have left behind is ashes in your mouth. The King’s both elections are the fault of the democrats. American ruination’s grandparents are all democrats.
Wow, Hillary huh. Her campaign was behind the dirtiest and most seditious campaign stunt in history, along with accomplices Bumbling Joe and Barry O. Watergate pales in comparison.
Looking for more good ideas like a completely open border, and not just the illegal aliens and fake asylum seekers, we got criminals, gang members and those or the terror watchlist. How about their energy policy enriching Iran and Russia allowing unfettered aggression , submission to Putin in Georgia, Crimea and now Ukraine, the travesty of the Chinese in the Pacific, their handling, bungling and subterfuge regarding COVID. Or maybe defund the police so we can have another Summer of Love, The Inflation Acceleration Act and Green New Deal were certainly winners. Yes they certainly need new ideas but Lizzie and Bernie are running the show and they’re doubling down on socialists in NYC and Minn.
Behold.
The festering carcass of American rot shoved into an ill-fitting suit: the sleaze of a conman, the cowardice of a draft dodger, the gluttony of a parasite, the racism of a Klansman, the sexism of a back-alley creep, the ignorance of a bar-stool drunk, and the greed of a hedge-fund ghoul—all spray-painted orange and paraded like a prize hog at a county fair.
Not a president. Not even a man. Just the diseased distillation of everything this country swears it isn’t but has always been—arrogance dressed up as exceptionalism, stupidity passed off as common sense, cruelty sold as toughness, greed exalted as ambition, and corruption worshiped like gospel.
It is America’s shadow made flesh, a rotting pumpkin idol proving that when a nation kneels before money, power, and spite, it doesn’t just lose its soul—it sh1ts out this bloated obscenity and calls it a leader. (courtesy of Oliver Kornetzke on X)
Yes, stand for something-bold ideas and plans; instead of what you are against. Embrace younger candidates, like Zorhan. Talk with voters and no more identity politics.
The only thing i dont understand, is how remote learning will help solve the problem remote learning partly created?
The Democrats were too much like the Republicans.
People could not differentiate, and no one could blame them.
I used to fall asleep watching both parties’ conventions and videos. Insipid.
Trump changed the Republicans but the Democrats remained stuck where they were.
Now they have lost their balance and their morale and can’t figure out what to become to win.
In a way it is simple: forget your vested interests and deal with what the people are concerned about. Be simple, be honest, have integrity. Work for the common person, not the billionaires.
And the people will come…unless you now lost the chance, because Trump and his family stay put in the White House for years to come.
If so, then it becomes a completely different challenge, unless most reps and senators turn Republican 🙂
Always good and getting better.
Hire every Veteran!
No Interest Loans!
Democratic platform, easy: universal health care, child care, schools, basic income, & $25 minimum wage.
Don’t forget pay your fair share and tax the rich
Democratic platform, easy: universal health care, child care, schools, basic income, & $25 minimum wage.
Thank you, Jessica. I thought your interview with Secretary Clinton was one of your best!
“Base Immigration Decisions on Merit” – TERRIBLE idea.
1. Defining “merit” is political quicksand — Who decides what counts as “points”? An engineer? A farm worker? Being white? being christian?
2. It ignores humanitarian obligations. — Asylum seekers, refugees, and families fleeing violence don’t fit neatly into “points.”
3. Administrative burden — Imagine running the DMV, but now it decides people’s lives? Common…
4. It reinforces existing inequality — A points system rewards the already-privileged (higher education, money, stability) and penalizes the poor.
5. Nobody will back the idea — Progressives will see it as elitist and cruel. Business sectors reliant on low-wage immigrant labor will oppose it. Conservatives hate anything that’s brown, so they wont like how points are assigned.
0-interest housing mortgages…A Marshall Plan for US!
Hoo boy, another “here’s what the Dems are doing wrong” narrative….
Donald Trump and his fascist acolytes are literally — literally — trying to end democracy in the USA. They are trying to rig the midterm elections by convincing Texas and other red states to create more GOP seats out of the magic of redistricting. They are arresting people right off the street without due process and sending them to foreign gulags — even people with a legal right to be in the United States. They are rewriting history and bullying museums into taking down “woke” exhibits that dare tell the truth about America’s past and present. They are expanding the police state and threatening freedom of speech. Meanwhile, they’ve done nothing to fix inflation, and will probably make it higher through Trump’s clueless and random tariff policies.
But let’s focus on what the Dems are doing wrong. By all means, let’s focus on that.
If Red America chooses to live in a fascist state, fine, whatever. That’s their choice. But don’t blame Blue America for it.
Dear Vance,
‘Blaming Blue America for it’ is the only right thing to do. This party has allowed extreme left-wing idiots to run it (squad), opened borders to all, let poor sick grandpa Biden sit White House while someone else unelected was running the country, inflated wages for all with stupid helicopter money at the same time inflating house prices and making them unaffordable.
People where simply running from the devil and anybody else was good enough to vote for.
Sorry, only Dems are to blame for anything you don’t like happening now.
I don’t disagree with any of these things. The problem is that a huge chunk of our country does not care about policy at all. They are literally being lied to in real time and they don’t care. The entire right wing media sphere is like a snake eating its tail, and then regurgitating the same bullshit over and over again.
The same people that Ms Tarlov works with are the ones selling this chaos. I appreciate her efforts on the Five and other places to attempt to set the record straight, but the people that watch those shows are not listening to her.
I don’t know what the solution is here to solve the crisis in the country of people that are intentionally being politically, socially, and morally illiterate. This is the very definition of “entertaining ourselves to death”.
Thank you for those comments. I agree 100%. I am an independent voter that has not voted for a major party candidate since 2012. I have begun following Senator Elissa Slotkin because she is speaking to the issues not some left wing or right wing philosophy. Both parties need more candidates like her. She seems intelligent, articulate and more important she seems to be an independent thinker.
Tarlov embarrassed herself by defending an illegal alien rapist. Democrats have awful ideas. Everything they stand for harms America from open borders to trans kids.
Dems are not for open borders. The fact that you even wrote that demonstrate how biased and dishonest you are. The same people that say Dems are for open borders also like to point out Clinton and Obama deported more illegal migrants than Trump. Does not make sense.
Really, seems we had the laws and resources, no matter what Bumbling Joe and Mayorkas lied to us about. We just need a new President. Pretty simple. Same with Iran nuclear issue. High energy prices, etc. Are you getting tired of Trumps wins?
Oh please. San Francisco, the Democrat mecca, is a “sanctuary city.” What do you think that means?