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Anonymous wrote:If only there was a Party that addressed the concerns of working and middle class Americans. Not seeing anything from Hakeem Jeffries or Chuck Schumer. And meanwhile leading Democratic presidential candidate Gavin Newsom spends his days like a middle schooler with his online trolling and memes.
At some point the rest of the world is going to acknowledge that the US is not a serious country. The moment when the US dollar - which has dropped more than 10 percent in recent months - is abandoned as the global reserve currency is when the bottom drops out for the US. And it will be catastrophic.
The EU and Asia seem to be buying time now to prepare for a new world. But it’s just a question of time. Absolutely no country can rely on the US for anything anymore - including capital markets.
Harris offered up a whole platform of solutions which are still part of the Dem party platform. You can choose to ignore, or you can acknowledge that the Dems have been fighting for the working class for decades and that Governor Newsome is trying to meet the moment, taking on Texas with respect to Gerrymandering.
Historically, the Dems and the Unions are responsible for: 5 day work week, minimum wage, healthcare, worker safety requirement and a whole host of other things that people like you either ignore or memory-hole for some reason.
What is the GOP doing for working class residents other than killing jobs, stagnating wages and eliminating guardrails to corporate greed and exploitation?
I'll say this for Trump and the working class. He was right to call out NAFTA and China's accession to the WTO as a big reason for why manufacturing jobs were obliterated in the US. He was right to call out the enormous impact illegal migrants have had on wages as employers seek to exploit vulnerable people to reduce wage costs - not to mention all the social, housing, education, and crime issues that came with opening the border like Biden did. He was also right - unique among Republicans - to call out how stupid our endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were, which overwhelming affected the working and middle class folks who serve.
I don't like Trump. I think he's a disaster.
But what do Democrats offer?
Some obscure tax credit, and then samo samo for Wall Street and the warmongers. Plus, Democrats are all about preferential hiring for certain chosen people, which profoundly impacts whites, asians, and hispanics just trying to make a living. Throw in the refusal of Democrats to prosecute violent crime, which overwhelmingly impacts working and middle class communities. And then add all the social progressive crap - with its DEI, LatinX, CIS-whatever, Terfs, and all the other nonsense. Then finish off with Democrats making it impossible for public schools to have safe and well-run schools because "Equity."
Republicans suck. But what the WTF do Democrats do for the working and middle class?
The answer is nothing. They make day to day life for the vast majority of working and middle class folks more difficult. Can't deal with crime, schools, unfair trade, fair hiring, and they have a propensity for being enthusiastic for stupid wars.
I despise Trump and Republicans. But they are right on some things. And Democrats offer absolutely nothing. A tiny little tax credit does F all to fix America.
I am not sure why you don't think OSHA and safe working conditions, a 40 hour work week, a five day work week, a minimum wage, affordable healthcare, support for public ediucations, safe food and water, safe drugs etc are not things the Democraats have done for working Americans.
Name one thing the GOP has done for working Americans since the 1950's.
Federal minimum wage is a joke. You've never worked in a factory have you?
The GOP/MAGA just blocked the Dems federal wage increase two months ago.
Obama had all the tools he needed to fix it, index it to inflation for example. Republicans don't do minimum wage, but Trump is doing tariffs. That is something which is not insignificant. If your argument is Democrats give us Minimum wage vs Trump giving us tariffs, well did Democrats really give us a decent minimum wage? I don't think so.
Then what about everyone else that aren't in a Union and make more than a minimum wage. (Hint: I lost my job and ACA was horrible.)
They dems have been trying to raise it for decades. What are you even arguing here?
So, given that federal minimum wage is practically impossible politically (see below in the timeline when Obama had a filibuster proof majority), why do you present it as an alternative to tariffs? It really doesn't exist as an alternative.
Timeline of Obama’s Senate majority
January 2009: Obama takes office with 58 Democratic Senators (including independents Bernie Sanders & Joe Lieberman, who caucused with Democrats).
April 2009: Senator Arlen Specter switches from Republican to Democrat, bringing the caucus to 59.
July 2009: After a long recount, Al Franken (D-MN) is finally seated, giving Democrats 60 votes — the number needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.
➡️ This was the only period in Obama’s presidency with a filibuster-proof majority.
How long did it last?
The true 60-vote supermajority lasted from July 2009 to January 2010 (about six months).
It ended when Scott Brown (R-MA) won Ted Kennedy’s former seat in January 2010. After that, Democrats were back to 59 votes and could no longer reliably beat filibusters.
Why not use that window for the minimum wage?
Priorities were elsewhere
Obama and Democratic leadership used most of their political capital on the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare), economic stimulus, and financial reforms after the 2008 crash.
These were massive fights that consumed nearly all of Congress’s bandwidth.
Intraparty differences
Even with 60 Democrats, the caucus was not perfectly unified.
Conservative/centrist Democrats (like Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, and Joe Lieberman) often opposed progressive measures, especially those seen as “anti-business” during the fragile recovery.
This meant a nominal 60-vote majority didn’t always translate into 60 reliable votes.
Political calculation
Some Democratic strategists worried that pushing a federal minimum wage increase while the economy was still in deep recession (2009–2010) would open them up to criticism that it would hurt hiring.
Instead, Obama focused on minimum wage increases later in his presidency (2013–2014), but by then Republicans controlled the House and filibustered in the Senate.
✅ So technically, yes — Obama had a short period with a filibuster-proof majority.
❌ But practically, the combination of limited time, competing legislative priorities,
and a split Democratic caucus meant a minimum wage hike never made it onto the must-pass agenda.
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