TONIGHT: THOMAS FRANK 'Listen Liberal' | HBO Real Time with BILL MAHER, Fri April 29 10PM
Last edited Fri Apr 29, 2016, 03:03 PM - Edit history (3)
GUESTS for Bill Maher Show Fri. April 29: Wayne Pacelle, Thomas Frank, Rob Reiner, Mark Leibovich, Kellyanne Conway.
>More Show Info.:http://www.real-time-with-bill-maher-blog.com/
In his sharp appraisal of the current political scene, Thomas Frank, founding editor of The Baffler and former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Harper’s, notes that though Democrats have held the White House for the majority of the last twenty-four years, there’s been little commensurate achievement on many social justice issues. With the same common sense and mastery of argument and evidence he wielded in books including Pity the Billionaire, The Wrecking Crew, and What’s the Matter with Kansas?, Frank takes Democrats to task and warns the party to shake its complacency or prepare to be voted out.
In 'Listen Liberal, Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?' (2016) Frank's newest book, the political writer outlines the transformation of the Democratic Party of the New Deal and the Big Tent, to a party of the professional class. Recently Frank has appeared on TV and radio shows of Thom Hartmann and Sam Seder to discuss 'Listen Liberal' and held book talks in Kansas City, Seattle and other places.
-Kansas City, MO Library Book Talk, http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017358989
-Elliott Bay Bookstore, Seattle Talk, http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017360353
-The Big Picture, Thom Hartmann Show, http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=340617
-Majority Report with Sam Seder, http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017361838
In These Times, April 26, 2016, "Thomas Frank on How Democrats Went From Being 'The Party of the People' to the Party of Rich Elites", Democrats have gone from the party of the New Deal to a party that is defending mass inequality.
The Democratic Party was once the party of the New Deal and the ally of organized labor. But by the time of Bill Clinton's presidency, it had become the enemy of New Deal programs like welfare and Social Security and the champion of free trade deals. What explains this apparent reversal? Thomas Frank—best known for his analysis of the Republican Party base in What's the Matter with Kansas?—attempts to answer this question in his latest book, Listen Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? According to Frank, popular explanations which blame corporate lobby groups and the growing power of money in politics are insufficient. Frank instead points to a decision by Democratic Party elites in the 1970s to marginalize labor unions and transform from the party of the working class to the party of the professional class. In so doing, the Democratic Party radically changed the way it understood social problems and how to solve them, trading in the principle of solidarity for the principle of competitive individualism and meritocracy. The end result is that the party which created the New Deal and helped create the middle class has now become “the party of mass inequality.” In These Times spoke with Frank recently about the book via telephone.
The book is about how the Democratic Party turned its back on working people and now pursues policies that actually increase inequality. What are the policies or ideological commitments in the Democratic Party that make you think this? The first piece of evidence is what’s happened since the financial crisis. This is the great story of our time. Inequality has actually gotten worse since then, which is a remarkable thing. This is under a Democratic president who we were assured (or warned) was the most liberal or radical president we would ever see. Yet inequality has gotten worse, and the gains since the financial crisis, since the recovery began, have gone entirely to the top 10 percent of the income distribution.
...A lot of progressives that I talk to are pretty familiar with the idea that the Democratic Party is no longer protecting the interests of workers, but it’s pretty common for us to blame it on mainly the power of money in politics. But you start the book in chapter one by arguing there’s actually something much deeper going on. Can you say something about that? Money in politics is a big part of the story, but social class goes deeper than that. The Democrats have basically made their commitment [to white-collar professionals] already before money and politics became such a big deal. It worked out well for them because of money in politics. So when they chose essentially the top 10 percent of the income distribution as their most important constituents, that is the story of money.
It wasn’t apparent at the time in the ‘70s and ‘80s when they made that choice. But over the years, it has become clear that that was a smart choice in terms of their ability to raise money. Organized labor, of course, is no slouch in terms of money. They have a lot of clout in dollar terms. However, they contribute and contribute to the Democrats and they almost never get their way—they don’t get, say, the Employee Free Choice Act, or Bill Clinton passes NAFTA. They do have a lot of money, but their money doesn’t count. All of this happened because of the civil war within the Democratic Party. They fought with each other all the time in the ‘70s and the ‘80s. One side hadn’t completely captured the party until Bill Clinton came along in the ‘90s. That was a moment of victory for them. *Read More, http://inthesetimes.com/article/19084/listen-liberal-thomas-frank-democratic-party-elites-inequality
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Easiest best reading you'll ever find. You might even find yourself. 
Last edited Fri Apr 29, 2016, 03:07 PM - Edit history (1)
Thomas Frank won't have a lot of time tonight, but the Mid-Show Interview will provide viewers with an introduction to his newest book, 'Listen, Liberal: Or, Whatever Happened to the 'Party of the People?' (2016).
In one book discussion Tommy mentioned an astounding stroke of fate: that in Jan. 1998 Bill Clinton referenced the privatization of SOCIAL SECURITY, but soon after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke out.
Clinton had worked with NEWT GINGRICH in White House meetings in 1997 to privatize Social Security.
The popular, successful SOCIAL SECURITY program for elderly and those unable to work was created in the 1930s Depression by FDR's NEW DEAL, the landmark, historic legislation of the DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
program funds has been on the agenda for quite some time. BILL CLINTON almost managed to Privatize SOCIAL SECURITY, like the WELFARE program begun by FDR that ended as we know it in 1994 with the law enacted to reduce the program to 'Workfare' which threw millions of women and children into poverty. The effort by centrist, neoliberal Democrats since Clinton to cut and privatize social programs, the landmark legislation of the DEMOCRATIC PARTY from FDR's NEW DEAL of the 1930s Depression Era is appalling.
- Bill Clinton at a 'Clinton Global Initiative University' event with guest presenter and billionaire financier PETE PETERSON. Peterson has been lobbying for years to get at the $2.3 Trillion Trust Fund in the SOCIAL SECURITY Program to transfer it to Wall Street to gamble with.
Privatization of Social Security could have taken place by Clinton as THOMAS FRANK discussed in a book talk. But the plan, worked on in 1997 by Clinton and NEWT GINGRICH (R) at White House meetings was interrupted by the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998.
and Big Tent Party to the New Democrats and Third Way-- THIS? In 2009 DWS was made head of the DNC when Democrats had the majority and the White House. So what the heck is happening?
nearby earlier this month that I'd love to have attended! Appa~
