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The Republicans and Democrats failed blue-collar America. The left behind are now having their say | Thomas Frank

The Guardian Original article ›
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Thomas Frank describes how things went wrong in America by drawing the contrast between Martha's Vineyard and Decatur, Illinois. In 1946 he says a typical executive's salary was only 2 times that of a worker at a Caterpillar plant in Decatur, Illinois. By 2016 this had changed to where the top executive at Caterpillar was making over 400 times the wage of a typical worker at a Caterpillar plant. Democratic politicians he said had moved away from their working class base towards places like Martha's Vineyard. For Republicans the embrace of tax cutting, the deficit, and cuts in education and healthcare, entitlements, to the exclusion of everything else in a recession environment led to the rise of Trump and the rejection of stands on these issues- including amazingly the embrace of a $5.3 trillion increase in the deficit under the Trump plan estimated by economists and a recession after a temporary boost.  Inserted into this were the culture wars, immigration, with the change to mass deportation as a solution to immigration problems.


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The Republicans and Democrats failed blue-collar America. The left behind are now having their say | Thomas Frank

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The first term of president Obama was taken up mostly in meeting the 2008 financial crisis. Much remains to be done says president Obama after his second term, as the economic recovery needs to be brought home to all Americans, job opportunities improved, growing inequality addressed, productivity increased. He says many foreign leaders ask him about the the populist trends and sentiment for protectionism growing in the U.S. and he has given a lot of thought to this. He summarizes his ideas in an Essay in The Economist magazine of Oct 8-14th 2016.

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The Republicans and Democrats failed blue-collar America. The left behind are now having their say | Thomas Frank

The Guardian 11/06/2016

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The struggles of Agriculture Secretary, Tom VIlsack, from Iowa, to draw attention to the struggles facing rural America which feels forgotten as it faces poverty, obesity, teenage pregnancy, lower educational levels, and now the opioid epidemic in 2016.

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The Republicans and Democrats failed blue-collar America. The left behind are now having their say | Thomas Frank

The Guardian 11/06/2016

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Rebublican 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump and the core support from the white working class, many 55-64 years without a high school education

11/18/2015

A PRRI and Brookings Institution survey shows 55% of Donald Trump's support comes from the white working class who see immigrants in a negative light and are critical of large corporate interests. This group also sees political correctness as being a problem.

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Trump Rides a Blue-Collar Wave

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Sharp differences between Democratic and Republican parties in the the U.S. presidential election debates of 2015

11/16/2015

Sharp differences emerge between the two parties on the minimum wage, taxes, spending and foreign policy. For domestic policy there are now stark differences between the 2 parties not seen for many years when both parties stayed closer to the centre. One has to go back to the Reagan election to see such differences. This also reflects the issue of a shrinking middle class, and a white working class that is falling behind in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The Republican candidates except for John Kasich oppose increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour set in 2009. The Democratic candidates O'Malley and Sanders support setting it at $15, and Hillary Clinton supports it at $12, as advised by economist Alan Krueger. Krueger sees no significant job losses at $12 an hour. Also to be factored in is the time period this goes into effect which may span some years. On taxes Democratic candidates support taxing the wealthy, especially the top 1%, Clinton favoring taxing wealthy above $250,000 in incomes. This would pay for free tution under the Sanders plan, or an alternative plan by Clinton with similiar outcomes. The Democratic candidates are focussed on a middle class and white working class that they see as falling behind. The Republicans focus on cutting taxes to create jobs. On foreign policy Sanders is against foreign intervention, Clinton supports limited engagement differing from Obama's very cautious policy. Republican candidates such as Jeb Bush call for intervention in Syria-Iraq, Trump not favoring intervention. Other issues setting the two parties apart is the approach to immigration and Obama health care program. Donald Trump has the most strident views on immigration calling for large deportations, and Hillary Clinton calling for giving a pathway to legal status for illegal immigrants. In the debates Democratic candidates repeatedly emphasize that immigration from Mexico is now practically nill following the sharp U.S. recession. Mainstream media on the Republican side see risks in the strident po

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Parties’ Divide on the Economy Widens

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Donald Trump Notches More Wins, but Ted Cruz’s Victories Promise Long Race

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A Donald Trump rally in Orlando, Florida, and Chicago, Illinois in March 2016- anti-establishment politics of some white working class voters, divisive rhetoric against Hispanics, minorities, and the response in Chicago

03/09/2016

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What His Believers See in Donald Trump

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In defense of the GOP - The Washington Post

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Many Democrats want to face Trump in November. They’re wrong. - The Washington Post

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Meyerson, Cherlin and Dionne in the Washington Post on the severe problems facing America's white working class by 2015

11/12/2015

Meyerson, Cherlin and Dionne describes the severe problems facing the white working class in America by 2015, as incomes and educational opportunities decline, and social structures disintegrate. Upward and social mobility in the U.S. is severely affected by this situation.

Grouped Articles

America’s white working class is a dying breed - The Washington Post

Washington Post 11/12/2015

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Both parties face a blue-collar imperative - The Washington Post

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German lessons on power-sharing - The Washington Post

Washington Post 11/12/2015

Populism on the Rise in GOP Race for President

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The Bleak Reality Driving Trump’s Rise

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