Says Chris Murphy, in "Can Democrats Win the Working Class and Save the Republic?/Senator Chris Murphy on the Democrats’ 'five alarm' crisis" (NYT podscast, but my link goes to Podscribe, with audio + transcript).
The figurative use of the word "lousy" — literally, full of lice — has been around nearly as long as the literal use. Both go back to the 14th century. The OED records one writer complaining about the word in 1849: "I wish I could never hear the word lousy again. I am willing to bet that Tommy Plunkett uses it fifty times a day, but he is no worse than the others. It is ‘lousy’ this and ‘lousy’ that. The rain is lousy, the trail is lousy, the bacon is lousy, and Gus Thorpe, losing in the card game, has just said that he has had a lousy deal."
Anyway, maybe you can sift through that Murphy stuff and find his "suite" and "set of policies" that Democrats could credibly offer the working class. Trump figured out a way to do it. Do it back. I'd like to see them try. Credibly.
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69 comments:
I prefer my "earthy" betters to use the word "Shitty" and "Fucked up" instead of "lousy".
A much higher minimum wage + 30 million illegal immigrants = lotsa black/gray market labor. Ain't nothing Empowered Labor Unions can do about it.
Senator Murphy offers more of the same old same old as a way to regain the support of the working class. It's going to take more than that to achieve his goal and get the Democrats back in power. Which of course is Murphy's goal--Democrats in power. I don't think that most of the working folks will buy whatever nostrum Murphy and his cohort offer.
In my church work and now in my library work, I see the reality. Free and heavily subsidized childcare is everywhere. The scarcity claim here is laughable.
The idea that Murphy who's a globalist and Big Business supporter is going to "Help the working class" is laughable. People like Murphy supported NAFTA and free trade with China knowing it would destroy millions of working class jobs. So, he babbled about "Retraining workers" 'Forcing the Chinese to obey enviromental standards" and "Paying the workers a living wage".
It was all BS, and Murphy knew it. This is just the same ol' con.
Not me. I don't want to see them try. I want to see them go full Che Guevara with AOC and Bernie.
They just need to yell louder, call all working class folks more names and route taxpayer money to their besties like they were under Biden. That will work this time, trust them.
IOWs bribing you with your own money. Here's a thought. Why not let everyone keep more of what they earn? I know. Crazy huh.
The lefts grasp of economics seems to consist of raising taxes and punishing producers.
Remember Trump's first term? He wanted to reach across the aisle and rebuild the infrastructure. Thousands of construction jobs. Maybe 100000 or more. And Murphy and D's said No. They didn't want to help workers, they wanted to destroy Trump.
And I've not forgotten the RR workers strike. Broken by Joe Biden. And who supported Biden? Senator Murphy.
Murphy's ideas sound great on paper until a tidal wave of "unintended consequences" and "bad luck" inevitably sweep everyone associated with them out of office. Unexpectedly.
If want to see the real face of the Leftwing - look at the labour party in England. They've just passed a scheme to import Indian white collar workers (paying 80 percent of the average English wage) to displace their native workers. That's the Left. In England, In the USA, In Canada. Replace the native workers.
Here’s an idea, bring jobs home with tariffs and cut wage competition by enforcing the immigration laws as written instead of loosing a flood of migrants to work cheap.
“Nah! We need the Democrat voters so let’s just pretend to help the working class. After all, we don’t actually like them very much, except for show.”
Yes, because the best cure for economic downturn is goverment brinery, extortion, and cronyism.
That went over soooooooo well in 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2024...
Senator Murphy doesn't want to UNrig the economy, he just wants to RErig it in a different way -- to be more accommodating of his personal preferences.
How's about just letting people keep more of what they earn, to spend, save, or invest as, how, and when they wish?
Democrats are all about redistributing wealth, it's their communist baseline. And it has been shown time and time again that raising the minimum wage arbitrarily causes unemployment. What you need are jobs that pay BETTER than minimum wage, so that people can get that first job, learn to not do drugs on the job, show up for work, treat customers with respect. THEN the can move to the next job after they have learned those basic skills.
Also if he didn't include shutting down the border and limiting immigration then he is just a huckster.
“Tariffs really stick in the craw of our big dollar donors.” -Democrats
I’m impressed that Murphy could speak that long without expressing hatred for our President.
The Democrats believe that you can flood the marketplace with cheap labor and order them to be paid higher wages and it won’t create economic distortions that make everyone not at the top poorer and transfers value to the affluent Democratic Party base.
That was a sentence that might have benefited from diagramming.
"how you unrig the economy" By getting Dems out of power.
"Democratic economic policy during the Biden administration, I would argue, was very heavily reliant on subsidy." Dem policy always meant taking from some and giving to others. Access to there people's money is the name of the game, and when you run out, borrow.
"efforts to write families a check in order to paper over the unfairness of the economy" Actually, to buy votes. GOP does as well, of course.
"have to be compensated for the fact that work doesn’t pay, that my inputs don’t match my outputs" Work pays as much as the effort is valued by other people.
"making work pay" Government can't make work pay (except by overpaying gov workers at taxpayer expense). The delusion that government can "make" this happen is the essence of prog econ illiteracy (copied to some extent by DJT).
I agree with Jaq @10:04: if you go by the results of decades of policy, it seems to me that the evidence for Democrats' wanting to help the working class is thin on the ground. Same, largely, for people of color, women, etc. It does seem to me that they want to help gay people, again based on the results of policy. But I'm not getting the impression they like people of the working class; they just know they need the votes.
If he really meant this, he would complain loudly about the District Judges who are blocking deportation of millions of illegal immigrants. It’s telling that he isn’t doing that.
"That means much more empowered labor unions."
To what end? Higher wages? Boy, that'll really pull the jobs back from Mexico and Viet Nam. Besides, you lost the union voters. You kept the union leaders but lost the union voters. Figure out how you managed to do that, and you might be on to something.
American Democrats desire the same type of ultimate power exerted by the Chinese Communist authoritarians.
Oh, that's great. "Afraid the new populist GOP won't crash the economy quickly enough? Accelerate progress! Vote Democrat!"
The government apparatus has been replaced by a big bin of potatoes.
Yet more blindness from the Democrats. Labor unions and minimum wage laws are not going to fix the issue. Tariffs and tight immigration policies have a better shot, and even then are unlikely to fix it. Combine them with better education, including education in trades, and getting rid of gender studies in universities might help as well. As usual, the Democrats are only interested in solutions that have opportunity for graft.
His conclusion does not follow from his observations. It's just another form of the same subsidies he describes. But this theme is popping up frequently.....
---... the deconstruction of corporate power....
The Mangione murder cultists are only the most visible. Corporations face a lot of hatred.
Can Democrats Win the Working Class and Save the Republic?
Who says it needs to be saved?
And to answer that question; not anytime soon if they persist with that attitude.
Wasn't that how they sold us things like the "Affordable" Care Act? Now they're saying that need to fix the fix?
"the increased Obamacare subsidies"
On the student loan side it's the Federal involvement in student loans that has helped to push the cost of tuition through the roof. The first $5,500 of student loans is cooked right into the costs and does not discount what the family is expected to be able to pay.
Morning Toe today had a great Gell-Mann segment. Ezra Klein was flogging his new book about how America can't build stuff anymore, mainly because of regulations, litigation, and taxes. Joe and Mika nodded their heads sagely. The discussion even went into why people are fleeing California for Texas.
Of course, if you picked that 5 minutes to take your shower, you would have just seen a show full of attacks on Trump for trying to relieve the burden of taxes, regulation, litigation, etc.
JSM
The Democrats under Biden couldn't think of any new entitlements. So they just passed grift bills for themselves.
Its probably because Biden was out of it, so everyone tried to take long drinks from the public well.
See Stacy Abrams' grift for example - these are far larger and more blatant than usual.
They were trying, rhetorically - Harris had her "Opportunity Economy" and Ezra Klein has his Abundance. I haven't read Abundance yet, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't involve many of the same subsidies, only presented as "we're a rich nation and can pay for an easier life for all" instead of "everything is terrible and we have to pay for basic necessities for all but the fat cats who don't pay Their Fair Share." Rhetorical, as I say.
The Opportunity Economy was transparently nothing but subsidies - she barely tried to disguise it as any sort of opportunity, and although she was ever so slightly constrained by the fact that the economy she was running against was her boss's, she still packaged it all as "everything is terrible," etc.
But rhetorical approaches are not ideas or plans. My son and I had a long talk in the hot tub last night in which I explained the reasons for the Trump administration economic policies, and the fact that they're a gamble and I have my fingers crossed really hard - but this administration at least acknowledges the depth of the problems and is attempting to improve if not solve them, rather than fiddling as Rome burns.
Freeman Hunt said...
"The government apparatus has been replaced by a big bin of potatoes"
Can't argue with that. Every day brings another reminder that most of our institutions are headed by mediocrities who look down on the people who actually make our society function.
Never in history has it been so easy to make money, lots of money. Look at the explosion of millionaires and billionaires. You will have to make it your goal though, not A goal, but THE goal, at least for a while, but it's very doable.
“ Which is why that has to be the structure of our efforts to unrig the economy: making work pay. That means a much higher minimum wage. That means much more empowered labor unions.”
Elementary economics: when price goes up, demand goes down. A higher minimum wage means fewer employers will pay it. If the minimum wage rises to $50 an hour, the average waitress’s pay will drop to $0.
Imagine you went into work and the boss had piles of cash everywhere, bags full, boxes full, even the trash cans were brimming with cash, and the boss rarely came to work, slept most of the day and nobody ever counted the cash. That was our government until DOGE.
The word 'credibly' cancels out Sen. Chris Murphy. If you've ever read his posts on X...he's pretty out there. Breathlessly TDS-y. Not sure this is a clear mind from which to take direction.
He's right about the Democrat reliance on giveaways. It's not so much that people feel lice-ridden about them. It's more that paying people not to work isn't productive.
But are stronger labor unions part of the answer? Are strong unions more likely to help or hurt the economy? Are we more like Britain, where unions may have gotten in the way of economic development, or like some European countries where unions weren't a problem and may have been an advantage? And how do we get stronger unions in a country where cheap, illegal labor is readily available? And if we do get powerful labor unions, would they be more likely to reject DEI and divisiveness or to promote it, combining class war with racial conflict?
Are we really going to get "the deconstruction of corporate power" from the Democrats? Who does Murphy get his campaign money from? I suppose it's possible that if Wall Street swings heavily to the Republicans, Democrats will recover their populist soul, but is that really likely? Murphy is echoing Bill Clinton's New Democrat rhetoric about "people who work hard and play by the rules," but it was with Clinton that the Democrats forged their alliance with Wall Street and went all in for global free trade.
Incidentally, if you're looking for survivals of the old money WASP establishment in today's politics, look no further than Connecticut's governor, Ned Lamont, great-grandson of a major Morgan partner.
Work is going to change bigly. The only way America can compete in the world economy is through automation. I'm in manufacturing, and I've seen the big changes happen for 40 years. First it was office computers, then CNC equipment and lasers, now they all function together seamlessly, and robots are getting cheap and easy to program. With the integration of AI into that, orders will be sent from your customers' computer to yours, planned, scheduled, materials ordered, programed, produced, inspected, packed and shipped with little human interaction. We will mostly repair things that break, which will happen less and less. There will always be lots of niche work that is low volume, customized and short run that will still be done by humans with computerized machinery and hand tools together, but not most things.
This change in trade is timed perfect for the U.S. to move into this new age with a clean start. A robot in China works for the same wage as one in the U.S..
Subsidies are an unfair trade practice. Yet no complaints from the left leaning conservatives and progressives that claim to want free trade. I’m sure they’ll claim these are good subsidies, when any technical school or Mike Rowe will tell you that is bullshit.
Weird how the "solution" to every Democrat hobbyhorse involves sending billions of tax dollars to the Party and it's allies. Someone posited "grifterism" as the Democrat's dominant ideology and, at this point, it's undeniable.
Cimate change, the homeless, DEI, the Ukraine. Nothing is changed or improved, but the Party is enriched and empowered.
In comparison to the Democrats, the simple fact that Trump wants to shrink the size of government makes him infinitely more qualified to lead.
I love the "small community bookstore" example. Employees will make at least $60k with full benefits and a month of paid vacation in his scenario, right? A pension, too. Wonder how much the books will cost, and will anyone buy them?
Chris Murphy does not understand how capital is formed, used or applied.
Money is just the medium used to incentivize labor and organize capital. Somebody has an idea for a product that other people want. They have to organize people and capital to produce and market that product. This is incredibly complicated.
Murphy just thinks businesses exist to pay employees. That is their only purpose for him. People in government always think this way. Entrepreneurs are just hosts for him to feed off of beca He could never do anything that difficult.
The true black swan event at the founding of the USA was giving freedom to the 1%. For the rest of human history they have been under the thumb of tyrants and government parasites like Murphy.
The best thing we can do for the world is purge it of people like Murphy. We don’t need more government and union parasites.
“ I know only two words of American slang, 'swell' and 'lousy'. I think 'swell' is lousy, but 'lousy' is swell.”
J. B. Priestley
"A much higher minimum wage"
Or we could just give everyone $5,000,000 a year. That way we can all be rich.
I love that his example of a small business getting crushed by corporate power is a bookstore. Apparently he hasn't heard of eBooks, or books-a-million.
How does someone not understand that a minimum wage itself, nevermind a "much higher" minimum wage, is the very definition of "rigging the economy"?
Looking up this bright spark on his own website, I see he was born in Westchester County, seems to have spent close to three decades as a student, five as a lawyer, and has been in the congress since '67. No other work experience on offer. Just the sort of fellow we want to "rejig the economy."
Just to drive the point home, the McDonalds around here use the kiosk system. There are three humans behind the counter but you order from the kiosk. That way they can afford to pay the employees more.
More bookstores is the answer. Huge space, thin profit margins.
Genius.
"This change in trade is timed perfect for the U.S. to move into this new age with a clean start. "
Obviously we need millions of new, low skilled migrants, though.
"It is ‘lousy’ this and ‘lousy’ that. "
*****************
That language has been turned into "fucking this, and fucking that", on TV , in movies and even in Congress.
In a few years we'll be hearing it on Sesame Street.
Not much of an improvement, in my opinion.
Sure, let’s just give everyone more money! It’s not like that would cause inflation, right? :eyeroll:
"Afraid the new populist GOP won't crash the economy quickly enough? Accelerate progress! Vote Democrat!"
What if keeping the economy on a smooth and steady course leads to a crash into the side of the mountain, then what will the words coming from the people who own the media, and who are getting wealthier every day through the current economic configuration, as the American economic heartland has a boot on its neck, and the next generation turns to lifestyles of despair or is forced into gig work.
"Populists, I don't care about your ox! Just don't gore my ox!"
I gotta start writing shorter sentences...
Maybe government should reduce regulations so those small businesses that start up aren't squashed by larger companies that can afford to deal with lots of regulations.
"Wonder how much the books will cost, and will anyone buy them?"
Books will cost $10k and Democrats will wail because bookstore workers can't afford to buy their company's products. And then insist on a higher minimum wage.
Blue-collar workers in skilled trades are going to be doing fine in the future. It's the white-collar workers displaced by AI who'll be making the noise. Unemployed journalists and Ph.D.s will be the activist base of the Democratic Party, so it won't change much.
Subsidy a.k.a debt a.k.a shared responsibility with forward-looking deficits.
Clyde said...
Sure, let’s just give everyone more money! It’s not like that would cause inflation, right?
Venezuela is full of millionaires.
SeanF said...
How does someone not understand that a minimum wage itself, nevermind a "much higher" minimum wage, is the very definition of "rigging the economy"?
There are 2 groups of people who support the minimum wage.
One group is smart and they know that the net effect is to lower wages and reduce the value of labor versus capital. They know it is bad for the working class.
The other group is just stupid.
Lazarus said...
< >Blue-collar workers in skilled trades are going to be doing fine in the future. It's the white-collar workers displaced by AI who'll be making the noise. Unemployed journalists and Ph.D.s will be the activist base of the Democratic Party, so it won't change much.
Be sure to differentiate between the white collar workers who produce value like engineers and the white collar workers in HR and DEI fields.
We can say the quiet part out loud now. It is time for all of the BS jobs created for Karen to go.
Yeah, lets not talk about reality in 2025, lets speculate about how AI will make us all rich, or put us all out of work or whatever. Meanwhile we have huge trade deficits, huge government deficits, and the Democrats who want to import 30 million 3rd worlders.
And the Minimum wage crap again! yeah, think of all illegal aliens we could hire if only we got rid of it.
The difference between Rich Republicans and Rich Democrats. The Wealthy Democrats want to rule the world. The Rich Republicans want to cut taxes.
"much higher minimum wage....empowered labor unions...A suite and a set of policies."
What a strange definition of "unrig".
My former senator. A totally dishonest hack. He's not wrong about identifying the problem with Dem policies, which is a start. He just wants to disguise the nature of the giveaways by pretending that these are new ideas. But they really are the same old "let us give you 'free' stuff because we like the control and power." And of course he assumes that "the economy" (which is 37 Trillion in the hole) is a fixed entity which produces money which exists for politicians to take by taxes in order divvy up amongst their subjects.
I believe it was Milton Friedman who noted that if you want to raise the cost of something, subsidize it. Look at what subsidies have done to higher education and healthcare.
The people setting the price they charge for what they offer factor in the subsidy. And the people paying are able to pay because they get a subsidy. But the subsidy gets taken by the increased price, and the subsidized person still can't afford it.
Subsidies are (mostly) economic idiocy, and certainly economic distortions. (Minimum wage laws are a subsidy).
"Maybe government should reduce regulations so those small businesses that start up aren't squashed by larger companies that can afford to deal with lots of regulations."
Yes, yes, yes. A thousand times yes.
Small businesses which often start with a small handful of people have regulations forced upon them routinely. A large corporation can add, say, an accountant to their existing accounting department (or even absorb the requirements with current staff). The little guy, where the accountant wears three other hats, not so much. So they cut into profits to staff up a non-producing position.
One of my D-I-L's was a head hunter for a regional bank. After 2008 she noted her job became, largely, looking for those that could successfully wade through the maze of new banking regulations.
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