Tuesday, January 24, 2017

The death of populism by executive order

The Democratic party is trying to rebrand  itself as the real populists. They have a wealth of material they can draw on, but just making a list is not enough. They need to come up with a theme that people understand...and they need to put that into a better to sell it than just ticking off a a series of issues. The list of issues should be subpoints under a broader banner of making it easier for the middle class to cope than the GOP platform of "you are on your own" buddy.   The following is from a 1/24/17 blog posting. This was written even before Donald Trump's endorsement of House and Senate bills to take health care insurance away from 15 to 22 million low income people.

The Democratic party is trying to rebrand itself, but it is still floundering around on how to message that they are the "real populists". I suggest they pose it two ways. Trump conned you; he is making it harder for the middle class to cope, not easier and the Democratic Party is fighting for making your life easier. It is both a negative and positive message and the dems have got to deliver a positive message better than what they are planning to do. They need to put their plan under a forceful banner...of making life easier than harder and tie each issue to that banner.

"Think you just elected a populist who cares about the working middle class? You were conned. This pledge to cut regulations by 75%  alone signals the death of populism. So many of those rules and regulations were crafted to protect consumers and the general population from exploitation by unethical and anti-consumer and health-harmful business practices. How many more Love Canals, unsafe at any speed vehicles, mortgage /foreclosure disasters, loss of job safety protections, and deceptive trade practices will we see in the future?  
President Trump's first executive order was to nix a reduction in FHA mortgage insurance which would have saved homeowners on the average of $500 per year. His second executive order was to ask cabinet heads to do what they can to kill Obamacare by administrative action. That will only harm the lower middle class who for the first time could afford quality health insurance.

His following  executive order to rollback of Dodd-Frank requirements of feduciary responsibility of those in the financial sector to put their clients' best interests ahead of their own financial gain. That means when advising clients where the invest their money, the financial professionals can sell customers products which give the advisors higher rewards, not the clients.  This is an overt attack on consuer interests and populist concerns.
Trmp has a cabinet more than happy to carry out anti-consumer, anti-environment, anti worker safety orders. From an earlier Muftic Forum Blog posting: "The platform he ran on has been described as pragmatic populism. What has happened since the election is that he has introduced an invasive species to the Washington swamp and his cabinet, the billionaires. Where the rub comes is if the solution to everyday health, safety, and pocket book problems of the struggling middle class conflict with the solutions offered by the business oriented billionaires .
These billionaires  are anti-populists if there ever were. They come with preset notions that what is good for their business is therefore good for all , with agendas that are contrary to the mission of the departments they are going to lead ,and histories of supporting ideologically based crusades. Neither is Donald Trump, when he declared his goal to eliminate 75% of laws and rules constraining business from it appears practices harmful to consumers and the environment.. They have no record of caring for the public interest as a whole, but their care has been for the bottom lines of the business or medical sectors they have served. Where the rub comes is if the solution to everyday health, safety, and pocket book problems of the struggling middle class conflict with the solutions offered by the business oriented billionaires ".

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hud-suspends-the-planned-fha-mortgage-insurance-premium-cut-heres-what-it-means/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/democrats-attempt-rebranding-populist-agenda-101125476--election.html


Trump repeated his campaign pledges to roll back rules on companies, arguing…
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