Listen, liberal

[pieter]

[pieter]

People hate Hillary because she is so saintly, to perfect liberal upperclass.

The American working class blue worker is alienated from the liberal, Democratic party, because it is a party of Wall street and Silicon Valley professionals. Not the party of the workers of Middle-America, rural America and the large cities. The party of Adobe Systems, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Agilent Technologies, Apple Inc., Brocade Communications Systems, Cisco Systems, eBay, Electronic Arts (EA Games), Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard (HP), Intel, Juniper Networks, Lockheed Martin, Maxim Integrated Products, Netflix, NVIDIA, Oracle Corporation, Salesforce.com, Symantec, Synopsys, Tesla Motors, Western Digital, Xilinx and Yahoo.

The Democratic Party is also the party of an eight-block-long street running roughly northwest to southeast from Broadway to South Street, at the East River, in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City, Wall Street. The political party of the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. What is the difference in the bi-partisan system of the USA between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party?

An internal struggle of wings will take part in the Democratic Party right now, between the leftwing of the party, the Centrist New Democrats and the rightwing Dixiecrats and other conservative Democrats.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democrats

Working class



While the American working class has lost much of its political strength with the decline of labor unions, it remains a stronghold of the Democratic Party and continues as an essential part of the Democratic base. Today, roughly a third of the American public is estimated to be working class with around 52% being either members of the working or lower classes. Yet, as those with lower socioeconomic status are less likely to vote, the working and lower classes are underrepresented in the electorate. The working class is largely distinguished by highly routinized and closely supervised work. It consists mainly of clerical and blue-collar workers. Even though most in the working class are able to afford an adequate standard of living, high economic insecurity and possible personal benefit from an extended social safety net, make the majority of working class person left-of-center on economic issues.



Most working class Democrats differ from most liberals, however, in their more socially conservative views. Working class Democrats tend to be more religious and likely to belong to an ethnic minority. Socially conservative and disadvantaged Democrats are among the least educated and lowest earning ideological demographics. In 2005, only 15% had a college degree, compared to 27% at the national average and 49% of liberals, respectively. Together socially conservative and the financially disadvantaged comprised roughly 54% of the Democratic base. The continued importance of the working class votes manifests itself in recent CNN exit polls, which shows that the majority of those with low incomes and little education vote for the Democratic Party. However, there has been a noticeable decline in support for the Democratic Party among white working class voters. In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama carried 40% of white voters without college degrees to John McCain carrying 58%. In the 2010 midterms, Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives only carried 33% of the white working class vote compared to 63% for the Republican candidates. In the 2012 presidential election, Barack Obama carried 36% of white working class voters to Mitt Romney carrying 61%. In the 2014 midterms, Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives carried 34% of the white working class vote compared to 64% for the Republican candidates. In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton only carried 28% of white working class voters to Donald Trump carrying 67%.



The Democratic party clearly has about 5 ideological wings. I wonder where the internal party struggle between the Centrist-, Conservative-, Liberal-, Libertarian and Progressive wings will lead the Democratic Party until the next elections in probably 2021? Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are gone and Nancy Pelosi is the minority leader in the House of Representatives,



People shouldn't underestimate the power of the Democratic Party machine, which has an excellent grassrootsmovement, youth movement, representation under university students at universities (which are leftwing, progressive, liberal bastions) and powerbases in the West-Coast, East-Coast and Northern cities and states. Next to that the Democrats under a white interests government, which the Trump government is, will gain Latino (Hispanic), Black (Both African American and other Black -Haitian and Yamaican-) votes and probalbly votes of the tradition Democratic party voters, the American jews. Without being anti-semitic I can say that the American jews are over represented in the power bases of the Democratic Party, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the Liberal press and the universities. Polish-Americans will be as divided as other American voters between Democratic and Republican parties.

The Bi-partisan system is a problem in the USA, because both parties serve corporate interests and do not represent the American working class. I wonder how long the Trump administration will last, because in his first 100 days he didn't accomplished a lot. He delegates a lot to his generals and other key figures in his administration and his son in law and daughter have to much influence to my taste. The present situation in the world is extremely dangerous. The North-Korean situation is worrysome. The situation in Syria and Turkey is still very worrysome. A new mayor colfinct could occur in the backyard of the EU, the Balkans, if the refugee situation get's out of hand. The situation in Turkey and the periphery of Turkey is really worrysome, because the Balkan, the Caucasus and the Middle-east come together in that country. A new cold war between the Russian Federation and the USA in combination with Turkish and Kurd Nationalism, Islamism and great Ottoman aspirations make it very tense over there.

I hope that the leftwing, Progressive wing of the Democratic Party could merge with the Green Party and create a realistic alternative to the Democratic Party and the Bi-partisan system. I hope that the Democratic will be united again and that it will leave the Centrist, rightwing course it has followed since Bill Clinton in the early nineties.

Cheers,
Pieter

[pieter]

The Dutch television talked about an American research which concluded that a majority of the Democrats want a more leftwing course for the Democratic Party.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/10/democrats-working-class-americans-us-election

It was the Democrats' embrace of neoliberalism that won it for Trump

Naomi Klein (born May 8, 1970) is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization and of capitalism.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/09/rise-of-the-davos-class-sealed-americas-fate

[pieter]

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party



Not long ago, self-identified liberals were a small minority of all Democratic self-identifiers. At the start of the previous decade, not only were moderate Democrats a clear plurality within the Democratic coalition, there were almost as many self-identified conservative Democrats as there were self-identified liberal Democrats. According to Gallup, liberals in 2000 constituted a mere 29% of rank-and-file Democrats, barely edging out conservatives (25%) while being swamped by moderates, who made up 44% of the party base. The share of liberals began to rise in 2003 and has been increasing ever since. By 2007, liberals had caught up to moderates, and in 2011 surpassed them. In 2014, fully 44% of Democrats were self-described liberals, while only 36% claimed to be moderates. At 19%, conservative Democrats have become an endangered species.

During President Obama’s second term, the netroots and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party began to emerge victorious in several major intra-party fights: Senate filibuster reform, Net Neutrality, diplomacy with Iran and leadership of the Federal Reserve Board, as well as Social Security benefit levels. A pattern has emerged from these victories, with netroots organizations, established progressive advocacy operations and a handful of elected progressive Democratic leaders working together in “inside–outside” coalitions that combine large-scale grassroots activism with inside-the-beltway lobbying expertise.

Many Democratic insiders minimize the party's divide. They note that there's broad ideological agreement on social and cultural issues, from abortion and gay marriage to gun control and immigration. National-security and foreign-policy questions have the power to divide but are no longer litmus tests. Even on economic issues, the party generally speaks with one voice: in favor of universal healthcare, against reducing safety-net programs, for progressive taxation and government-driven economic stimulus. Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, told me in an email that the Democratic Party just doesn't get hung up on internecine battles these days. "I believe that it's a big-tent party that can and should accommodate centrists and liberals," Tanden said. "That ideological purity has not been a winning strategy for the other side."

The divide isn't so much about issues as tone and tactics. The Warrenites (Elizabeth Warren loyalists) harp on the gap between rich and poor and inveigh against big business; the centrists assure their big corporate donors that Democrats can be business-friendly.

The comparison to Republicans is inevitable and instructive. No one seriously doubts anymore that the GOP is badly divided, with a right-wing faction that has virtually declared war on the more moderate establishment. But few of the party's politicians disagree on social or cultural issues (immigration is a notable exception), and the view that taxes should be lower and government smaller is virtually unanimous. What the Ted Cruz faction and the John Boehner faction disagree on is whether the party's rhetoric ought to be conciliatory or scorched-earth, and how far to go—shutting down the government? refusing to raise the debt ceiling?—in pursuit of agreed-upon goals like getting rid of Obamacare. The GOP's divide, like the Democrats', is more about tone than about issues.

Sources:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/no-liberals-dont-control-the-democratic-party/283653/

Progressive wing Democratic Party


Today progressive Democrats are generally regarded as social progressives on social issues. On economic issues, progressive Democrats generally promote Keynesian economics or a mixed economic system. The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a caucus of progressive House Democrats, along with one independent in the Senate, in the U.S. Congress. It is the single largest Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives. Its members have included Congressmen Dennis Kucinich (OH), Alan Grayson (FL), John Conyers (MI), Barbara Lee (CA), Jim McDermott (WA), and John Lewis (GA).


Dennis Kucinich


Alan Grayson




Barbara Lee


Jim McDermott


John Lewis



Many progressive Democrats are ideological descendants of the New Left of Democratic Presidential candidate/Senator George McGovern of South Dakota; others were involved in the presidential candidacies of Vermont Governor Howard Dean and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, and still others are disaffected former members of the Green Party. This group consists disproportionately of college-educated professionals.[29] A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that a plurality, 41%, resided in mass affluent households and 49% were college graduates.




Howard Dean



Progressive Democratic candidates for public office have had popular support as candidates in metropolitan areas outside the South, and among African-Americans nationwide. Senators Paul Wellstone (MN), Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Sherrod Brown (OH) have been described as progressive. Other famous progressives include Henry A. Wallace, Eugene McCarthy and Ted Kennedy.




Sherrod Brown




Eugene McCarthy


Ted Kennedy



The 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders was largely a fight along ideological lines between the two. Hillary Clinton who referred to herself as a "progressive who gets things done", received substantial support from African Americans, older Americans, women, LGBT Americans, Muslim Americans, Latino Americans, and Jewish Americans; while Sanders, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, received an overwhelming majority of support from millennials across the board. During the general election, Clinton campaigned to appeal to moderate Republicans, due to their rejection of the Republican candidate Donald Trump, backed by the ultra-conservative Alt-Right movement. During the primaries, Sanders ran further to the left of Clinton, causing her to move slightly left during the presidential primaries and caucuses, coming out against the Keystone Pipeline and Trans-Pacific Partnership along with coming out in favor of a $15 federal minimum wage. One key area that Clinton ran to the left of Sanders on was gun control, with Clinton having a staunchly pro-gun control voting record in Congress while Sanders has been in favor of gun control but has not always voted for pro-gun control positions. During the drafting of the 2016 Democratic Party platform, Clinton's and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz's committee appointees to the platform drafting committee all voted against language opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership while Sanders' committee appointees voted in favor of it, casting doubt on Clinton's opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Still, Sanders stated repeatedly that the campaigns worked together to put forward the most progressive platform in party history.

[pieter]

The Justice Democrats are a political action committee founded on January 23, 2017, by Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks, Kyle Kulinski of Secular Talk, and former leadership from the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign that got co-opted by the Democratic Party establishment. The organization, formed as a result of the 2016 United States presidential election, has a stated goal of reforming the Democratic Party by running "a unified campaign to replace every corporate-backed member of Congress and rebuild the [Democratic] party from scratch" starting in the 2018 Congressional midterm elections. The Justice Democrats have been described as attempting to create a left-wing populist movement analogous to the right-wing Tea Party movement



History

After the end of Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, and the later election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, many supporters of Sanders' campaign blamed Hillary Clinton's loss to Trump on the perceived corruption in the Democratic Party during the years leading up to the election. On January 23, 2017, Cenk Uygur and Kyle Kulinski founded the Justice Democrats with ten others, including former staffers from the Sanders campaign such as its Director of Organizing Technology, Saikat Chakrabarti, and MoveOn.org fundraiser Zack Exley. They seek to create a left-wing populist movement similar to the right-wing Tea Party movement, and to support alternative Democratic candidates beginning with the 2018 mid-term elections, in order to either defeat the incumbent Democrats or cause them to become accountable to their constituents. They require their candidates to take a pledge to refuse financial contributions from billionaires and corporations. They also hope to rebuild the Democratic Party nationally, and to defeat President Trump if he runs for re-election in 2020.

“The Democrats used to represent something wonderful - voters. We want you to represent just us not your donors."
— Cenk Uygur deliberately re-pronouncing the name of the group

The Justice Democrats have teamed with Brand New Congress to achieve their goals.

As of March 20, 2017, Justice Democrats have reported they have received 8,300 nominations and raised $1 million.



Platform

The Justice Democrats' highest priority is to effectively eliminate the role of money and conflicting interests in politics. They wish to pass a constitutional amendment to "put an end to Washington corruption and bring about election reform". They support the idea of publicly funded elections, banning Super PACs as well as banning private donations to politicians and campaigns. In addition, they advocate the reinstatement of provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and a ban on gerrymandering for partisan gain. As a core policy, any candidate running with the Justice Democrats must pledge to refuse any donations from billionaires or corporations. They plan to call a constitutional convention.

In addition their stated platform contains many progressive and socially liberal priorities.

[pieter]

Left-wing populism



The political action committee Justice Democrats of Cenk Uygur, Kyle Kulinski, Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley is political platform or movement with a leftwing Populist aim, tactics and strategy. In general I am not in favor of Populist movements, populists and populist ideologies, maybe, maybe this movement in necessary in the USA, because the corporate Democratic Party, the corporate Republican Party, the Corporate Congress which is controlled by Corporate lobby groups is too strong to be transformed and will not allow third party or third movement to enter the system. The ghost of Bernie Sanders leftwing populist 2016 presidential campaign still wonders around. Maybe the energy of this movement had to go some direction, because it didn't faded out. And so the Justice Democrats were born out of that Sanders energy.


Cenk Uygur


Kyle Kulinski


Saikat Chakrabarti


Zack Exley

Maybe it is good when the Trumpist rightgwing Populist movement, the traditional Republican rightwing party (the non-Trumpist Republicans) and the New Democrat Centrist (Center Right from a European perspective) Democratic Party receive some competition from the Left by the Justice Democrats, the Green Party of Jill Stein and Brand New Congress, the American political action committee formed by former staffers and supporters of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign to elect hundreds of new Congressional representatives in line with the campaign's political platform.



Left-wing populism is a political ideology which combines left-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. The rhetoric often consists of anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the system and speaking for the "common people". Usually the important themes for left-wing populists include anti-capitalism, social justice, pacifism and anti-globalization, whereas class society ideology or socialist theory is not as important as it is to traditional left-wing parties. The criticism of capitalism and globalization is linked to anti-Americanism which has increased in the left populist movements as a result of unpopular US military operations, especially those in the Middle East.

It is considered that the populist left does not exclude others horizontally and relies on egalitarian ideals. Some scholars point out nationalist left-wing populist movements as well, a feature exhibited by Kemalism in Turkey for instance. For left-wing populist parties supportive of immigrant and LGBT rights among others, the term "inclusionary populism" has been used.

With the rise of Greek Syriza and Spanish Podemos during the European debt crisis, there has been increased debate on new left-wing populism in Europe.

Cheers,
Pieter

[pieter]

I wonder what Noam Chomsky would say about the Justice Democrats, the Green Party and Brand New Congress?



Kyle Kulinski



Kyle Kulinski (born January 31 1988) is an American talk show host and political commentator. He is the host of Secular Talk, also known as The Kyle Kulinski Show.

On Secular Talk, Kulinski discusses politics, religion, and culture. A slogan for his show is "Loyal to the Facts. Principles over Politicians."

Secular Talk is produced out-of-house by the TYT Network (The Young Turks). It is editorially independent from The Young Turks.

Kulinski has described himself as "a social democrat, an agnostic-atheist, and a secular humanist," although he has said he is an "international centrist," arguing he is only on the left in the United States because "the spectrum has shifted to the far-right."

In January 2017, Kyle Kulinski joined The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur and former leaders of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in founding Justice Democrats. Justice Democrats is a progressive political action committee that says its goal is to "put an end to Washington corruption and bring about election reform."

Kulinski is from Westchester County, New York. He graduated from Iona College in 2010 with a Bachelor's degree in political science and a background in psychology. He is of Italian and Polish descent.

[pieter]

Brand New Congress is an American political action committee formed by former staffers and supporters of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign to elect hundreds of new Congressional representatives in line with the campaign's political platform.



Background

Brand New Congress is a volunteer-led American political organization that intends to completely replace the current delegation of over 400 United States Congresspeople with non-politicians of the organization's choosing by the 2018 midterm elections, regardless of party affiliation. The organization plans to make staffing and fundraising decisions for all of its candidates at once. About 20 volunteers from Senator Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign formed the group in April 2016 as Sanders conceded the primary to Hillary Clinton. They planned the organization to support Sanders's platform and carry its supporters' momentum into policymaking. Brand New Congress plans to announce 50 candidates by March 2017 and over 400 by July 2017. Of the 535 total seats in the United States Congress (House and Senate), 468 will be up for reelection in 2018. The group intends to run both Democratic and Tea Party Republican candidates, depending on regional demographics, as well as independents when an incumbent wins the primary. Brand New Congress requires candidates to align on Bernie Sander’s presidential platform, regardless of party affiliation. While there are large differences in Republican and Democratic policy beliefs, the Brand New Congress hopes that people will unify under the goal of reforming Congress.

"The grassroots are better qualified to run electoral campaigns than Democratic party operatives ... They just need to be given the tools, the data, the offices and the structure to succeed.“


Zack Exley, former Sanders advisor and a founding member of Brand New Congress

The group attended the July 2016 Democratic National Convention to canvass for support in protestor sites and throughout the city. As of that time, the group had raised $85,000, about 90 percent of which were small donations. Its email list contained 20,000 addresses. Brand New Congress was beginning a tour of 100 cities in mid-2016. Founding members of the group were encouraged by the successful role of grassroots fundraising in the Sanders campaign, which surpassed the Clinton campaign several times in monthly income. As of October 2016, the group is accepting nominations for future candidates and is openly developing its economic platform.

[pieter]