The 2022 elections are nearly upon us, and if polling is any indication of the outcome, it looks like the economy is once again at the top of people’s minds, and that’s bad news for Democrats. Anyone following DSOT will be unsurprised with economics’ primacy among concerns, despite the plethora of other important issues on the table, yet you might ask, why is this bad for Democrats? After all, it’s the Republicans who vote down higher wages, worker protections, tax loophole closures, etc. Policy after policy, with devastating effects often on the economy at large, and always against the working class. It’s Republicans who are threatening a global financial catastrophe if Democrats don’t agree to cut social security and Medicare, and yet in spite of all this, Democrats are seen as worse on the economy!
It could be that Democrats are receiving the ire of people experiencing a flagging economy and unusually high inflation, after all, they are in charge of most branches of government. Or perhaps it’s actions by Democratic leadership with incredibly bad optics, like Pelosi scuttling the bill to stop members of Congress from trading individual stocks. A move which has let Republicans, pretend they were not on the same side as Pelosi here, and pummel Democrats on the campaign trail. Not only was it terrible optics, political chicanery like this is emblematic of why Democrats can’t get the upper hand against Republicans on the economy: on the big areas both sides agree with the donors against the people, and where they disagree, Democrats never fight!
Sure, you can see the lone Senate candidate like Fetterman or Ryan raise these populist issues, but where is the concerted Democratic push? Instead of Democrats calling for higher wages and expanded benefits from sea to shining sea, or pointing out how Republicans are trying to steal your hard earned benefits, the mixed messaging is leaving a vacuum, that Republicans and the oligarchy can exploit. As Bernie Sanders has been warning, in order to defeat these oligarchic powers, Democrats will need to fight for Americans on bread-and-butter issues.
Fighting, politically speaking, is the important missing piece here. We know that there are real solutions that can alleviate the pain Americans are feeling, from implementing windfall profits taxes, to direct investment in the economy. If Democrats are interested in winning there is a path for them to walk, but to do so they need to fight. As always, Republicans will try to stop the government from intervening on behalf of the people, they’re doing it even now by suing to prevent student loan forgiveness. Instead of caving like the Biden administration did, they should have fought tooth and nail for every student borrower. Win or lose, Biden and the Democrats would have shown them that they can be counted on to look out for people’s pocket books, even when the going gets tough. Instead, people sense that Democrats, even when ostensibly in charge, won’t really stand up for them.
The truth is, the people are right to be skeptical of Democratic leadership, they aren’t on our side economically. In a two-party system, it’s still important to get out and vote for the lesser of two evils, and prevent a fascist take-over by Republicans, but political power is insufficient to get the material representation we deserve. We need to build economic power, along-side our political activity, in order to confront the oligarchy that has taken over both our political parties, and prevents true representative government. So join us each Tuesday, in growing solidarity, as we build this economic cudgel, to make sure that no matter who sits in the seats of power, the demands of the people are heard!
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