Selling the Democratic populist message...

Brand new and just what the Democratic Party needs to fine tune their message; The Progress Points Message Blog.

An offshoot of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, PPM tries to simplify and counter logically the upside down right wing thinking that renders meaningless the words “freedom” and “liberty.”

Their first topic tries to reframe the way people think about the private sector. For me, “private” means we rarely hear about the massive failures and mismanagement that comes with a market system that sees lots of winners and losers.

Government can’t hide the failures and mismanagement, and that’s a good thing. Unlike the private sector, we can change government, and make it work better for us. And no, we're not "always looking for a government solution to everything," the false premise posed by conservatives. Liberals have never made that ridiculous claim. 

Here’s their take:

(We) will take a quick look at how to build public opposition to privatization. Although it is obvious to progressive activists that these schemes will lead to higher cost, lower quality services, and less public accountability, messaging this issue is very tricky in the current public environment.

Topos Partners have done valuable opinion research:

First, there is not a clear distinction for most Americans between public and private … Second, because of the success of conservative propaganda most Americans assume government is wasteful and inefficient … Third, business is seen as effective, efficient, and innovative … you need to shift the frame.

The best approach … is to shift the frame from efficiency to control … the risk of handing over control of vital public services to private business … if the private company starts running the operation into the ground, or charging exorbitant fees, we have very little say. When the public is in control, it can demand that operations be open to public review, accountable to the people, and run in the public interest.

Businesses looking to take over public services are outside entities which “we” can’t control … This “control” frame has to be adapted to each instance of privatization.  

I've added The Progress Points Message Blog to my Wisconsin Blog roll, so you can keep an eye on it.

RNC's Priebus says Obama ignoring Voters? Maybe Hard Core Tea Party Republican voters.

It's an upside down, Bizarro World of politics, isn't it? RNC president Reince Priebus's recent tweet opened the door for a quick "this is what the people want" myth bust:

He's not even close. Who's ignoring voters?

Democrats create "SiX," the State Innovation Exchange, to create model policy nationwide.

Slowly but surely, the timid Democratic Party is learning how to fight for their populist agenda. I know, it's kinda scary standing firm for poll tested, majority approved principles, but the battered and bruised Democrats have no choice but to stop their inevitable extinction.

Democrats aren't really copying ALEC. But what they are doing is clearly defining what they will fight for and what the other side is trying to take away. Bloomberg News:

"We've ceded the states, in terms of policy and politics, to Republicans for a full generation now," said Democratic strategist Nick Rathod, a former White House liaison to the states for Obama. On Thursday, state-level Democrats will meet their party's answer to ALEC. The State Innovation Exchange, or SiX, is convening for the first time at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington. It's part legislative mixer, part progressive pep rally. Rathod, the group's founder and director, wants to build for Democrats a library of "model policy" like Republicans have through ALEC.

Another goal is to give Democrats the confidence to be more progressive, said Adam Green, an adviser to SiX and co-founder of Progressive Change Campaign Committee. "Polling shows there's no tension between great progressive ideas and what voters want," he said. 

Will the Democratic Party stand for something? Please?

I think Thom Hartmann's take on why the Democrats lost the midterm election in such a dramatic way is right on the money. His statement is included at the bottom. And yes, it's what I've been saying here for years. But first...

...what is most heartening? How so many other Democrats have come to the same conclusion; Stand firmly behind the party's populist agenda, and pound that message into the American psyche, just like the Republicans have done for decades. We've got to stop being the abused partner in this political relationship and fight back. 

This Voxdotcom graph offers up the obvious: 

How can you lose with that kind of support? The Democrats found a way. Wake the hell up guys.

As Zachary Goldfarb writes, voters have "fallen out with Obama, but on the biggest issues facing Congress, they still agree with Democrats on ... almost everything. That includes issues like raising the minimum wage, making the rich pay more in taxes, letting illegal immigrants stay in the United States, taking action to stem global warming, legalizing same sex marriage and fixing the Affordable Care Act rather than repealing it." 

After reading Thom Hartmann's commentary, you'll wonder why the Democrats ever let things get so bad, while having so much ammunition against the Republican anti-Obama scheme:

Dear Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Schultz: You've been played for a sucker by the Republicans, and it worked. Tuesday night’s blow to Democrats could have been prevented; in fact, you could have won big, nationally. But you lost, and here's why.

Back on the night of January 20th, 2009, when most Americans were out celebrating the end of the Bush years and Barack and Michelle were dancing at the inaugural balls, a group of powerful Republicans was planting the seeds of your loss this week. The Caucus Room Conspiracy had three major objectives.

The first was to use obstruction - knowing the corporate media would call it "gridlock" as if the Democrats were responsible, too - to prevent President Obama from having any legislative success.

The second was to sabotage any legislative victories that the president did manage to win - like Obamacare - and convince the American people that they were actually failures.

And the third was to blame all the economic damage caused by Republicans on BOTH parties and then come out in a critical election like 2014 and say that Republicans are the party that will make things right in Washington as if the state of the economy was the Democrats' fault.

Based on Tuesday night’s shellacking, it looks like the Caucus Room Conspiracy was a success. But here’s the thing. Democrats could have pointed out the relentless obstruction by Republicans … they could have made the Caucus Room Conspiracy a household phrase.

Instead, Democrats played right into Republicans’ hands, so the Caucus Room Conspiracy was wildly successful … as the New York Times points out, Americans had absolutely no idea what either party stood for in this election. Democrats failed to run on their platform, and to publicize the issues that Americans really care about. In 2012, the Democratic Party published their platform. Among other things, it outlined the party’s plans to put Americans back to work, grow the middle-class, reform Wall Street, reel in campaign spending, and enact sensible tax reform. 

Why wasn't this platform out there for the American people to see? Democrats also need to step up and embrace their progressive base, instead of marginalizing them. Republicans are great at embracing their base, and Democrats need to start doing the same thing with the progressive movement.

Democratic Candidates must use these Powerful Political Frames Over and Over....

Democrats are horrible at framing issues. That's why the following two great frames should be a part of every interview, and every campaign.

Get the Koch Brothers nose out of out state: North Carolina's Kay Hagan nails it, framing the Koch brothers as out-of-state and out-of-touch meddlers, who oppose policies that negatively effect her constituents. An essential frame for Mary Burke:



Joe Biden framed what should have been a strong Democratic agenda for the last decade. It should be now and forever, repeated often and slipped into conversations and interviews leaving the listener with no doubt about where you stand:

Where's the Democratic Agenda?

I started this blog hoping to shed light on possible ways the Democratic Party could "frame" their most important issues. Market them basically. That hasn't happened, with or without my help. But you also can't frame...nothing. Where's the platform? Here are a few ideas I've been kicking around:

1. Long Term Plans: Lacking a strong definable vision has forced Democrats waffle, compromise and just give up on highly popular polling issues. It's true that voters are drawn to vocal advocates who are unafraid to fight for their cause. Right now I can't think of one.

2. Before Tax Reform, GOP needs to Pay off their Credit Card: This is a painful truth; Republicans must bear the consequences and raise taxes to pay off their massive unfunded spending during the Bush years. When Bush came in, the debt was just under $6 trillion. Our projected surpluses at the time were earmarked to pay that down. But the insane GOP policy of returning surpluses to taxpayers eliminated that. Raising taxes for 5 to 10 years might not be popular, but blame the party that got us here. We're talking debt reduction, and not debt elimination.

3. Admit it, we're a Service Economy Now: The debate over the minimum wage is ridiculous now that we're a global economy. It's time Democrats restructure working wages to reflect the new economy. Much of our manufacturing has shifted overseas, and turned us into a "service economy." But wages in the service industry were always too low. That now has to painfully change, along with the way we think about entry level jobs. The whole idea stumps Republicans.

4. The Focus on Free Markets ignores the Labor Markets: Like any marketplace, trends and demand changes over time, and that includes the price of labor. With all the strikes and debate about the minimum wage, the "labor market" is telling us change is needed. Even China is increasing wages and benefits under the pressure of the "labor market."

5. A Generational Shift away from the Military Industrial Complex: Military spending is outrageously wasteful. If people only knew. Lean and mean should the goal. Tech changes so fast multi-year contracts are outdated in just a few years. So cities and communities around the U.S. built around military manufacturing should be phased out over 20 or 30 years, basically a generation, to soften the blow and allow newer industries to move in. It's a goal to shoot for.

6. Low cost Single Payer Health Care: Let's save money and save lives with an idea that's so good, every other industrialized country is doing it. The argument "government is too big" or "government has no business getting between a patient and their doctor" has always been a purely ideological one, that is utterly untrue and irrelevant. Shopping for actual treatment is impossible because there are so many different kinds of doctors and treatments. Who shops for an anesthesiologist, and are they in your plan? Is the clinic covered? A few problems I paid dearly for myself.

7. Subsidize emerging Green Energies: If big oil got subsidies, and still does, then solar and wind deserve that same opportunity to grow, with a review process every 5 year or so. Is there anyone who truly doesn't see this shift coming?

8. Create Regional Business Hubs around the Country: High speed rail was just one element of tying Chicago to Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee. My brother and his older son both commute from Illinois to Kenosha everyday. What a huge missed opportunity to create a regional Industrial Goliath.

Shocker!!! Democrats tell Voters what they stand for....Reveal Education and Tax Relief Platform.

Democrats have been fighting what they know is a losing battle against super majorities in the legislature. There's nothing they can do at this point? Just the opposite. Now's the time to lay out what they believe and beat it into the ground until everyone in the state can recite it by heart.

Democrats have all the time in the world to do that, while demonstrating their opposition to Scott Walker's disastrous economic jobs plan (if you want to call it that).

Announcing the first sign of life. I couldn't be happier. Rep. Peters Barca press release:

Joined by supporters of public education from across Wisconsin, Democratic legislators and State Superintendent Tony Evers briefed the public today on budget alternatives that would start reversing the devastating damage done to Wisconsin’s public schools in the last Republican budget. Democratic legislators are hosting similar events with public education supporters around the state today, including in Green Bay, Wausau and Onalaska. The changes being offered by Democratic legislators this week will include:

• Increasing public school funding by $275 per pupil to restore roughly half of the funding cut from public schools last budget;

• Eliminating all of Gov. Walker’s proposed statewide expansion of taxpayer-funding to private voucher schools;

• Implementing Superintendent Evers’ “Fair Funding for our Future” school finance reform plan; and

• Mandating accountability measures for private voucher schools equal to those required of public schools.

“A budget is a reflection of priorities. Our proposal focuses on one of the top priorities of Wisconsin’s middle-class families – a strong public education system,” Rep. Sondy Pope (D-Cross Plains) said. “And our proposal proves it is possible to both make significant investments in our public schools and provide real property tax relief.”

Keep it up.

Democrats boot God from Platform? Fox News and Paul Ryan must have a different Constitution.

I’ve put together 3 clips that demonstrate just how deceptive Fox News really is, and how Paul Ryan so easily falls in line with agenda.

First we see the great response from Dick Durbin, taking it to Bret Baier, for harping on the Democratic Party’s removal of “God” in their platform. Then surprise, we find out that faith was mentioned 11 times, and faith 9 times in the platform statement. 

And finally, Paul Ryan rolls with the deceptive flow on Fox and Friends when he lies again; claiming the word God is in “our founding document, our founding vision.” No, God is not in either. Except for the minor reference “by our creator,” that we’re all born equal, “God” is not named anywhere. It can’t be found and certainly wasn’t included in the “vision” of the country.