The Economic Dilemma Democrats Face in 2016

[eridani]

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/02/23/economic-dilemma-democrats-face-2016

But the anger of American voters isn’t unfounded. This economy still doesn’t work for most Americans. Most households haven’t recovered from the financial collapse. The median household wealth of black families — now a bleak $11,000, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center report — was cut almost in half by the collapse and hasn’t recovered. Working families know that they have been savaged by ruinous trade policies that Obama supports. Banks got bailed out, and they are bigger and more concentrated than ever, but homeowners were abandoned. Insurance and drug companies and private hospital complexes still force Americans to pay obscene sums for their health care.

And this economy could get worse before most Americans feel the recovery. Gross domestic product growth last quarter was estimated at 0.7 percent. Across the world we see Japan in decline, China slowing, Europe stagnant at best and Russia and Brazil headed into depression. Whether the United States can remain an island of slow growth in a troubled world remains to be seen.

What Democrats better learn — and learn fast — is that more and more people get that the rules have been rigged for the very few. They see the corrupted politics, the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington. They see that entrenched interests clean up while average Americans get cleaned out. And increasingly, Americans are in revolt against the establishments of both parties that have led us down this road.

That is the power of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Donald Trump. Sanders’s populist challenge, of course, is clear. Sanders always praises Obama for bringing the economy out of its free fall, but his focus is on the rigged economy and corrupted politics that remain. And his surge in the polls is startling. Six months ago, Nevada was a walk for Hillary Clinton. Two months ago, she led by nearly 25 percent. Her campaign manager wisely threw operatives into this caucus state six months ago. And on Saturday, Sanders nearly beat her, once more racking up stunning margins among young voters. He even won a majority of Hispanic voters, to whom he was just introducing himself.

On the Republican side, Trump’s message is equally clear. In his victory address, he touted his self-funded campaign, independent of the “special interests and lobbyists and donors” who tell politicians what to do. He assailed our trade policies — with China, “the greatest single theft in the history of the world” — and promises to bring the jobs back. In his stump speech, he frequently scorns the big banks and promises to protect Social Security and Medicare. “It’s a movement,” he proclaims, to “make America great again.”