General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: DU was for change, not progressivism... [View all]phleshdef
(11,936 posts)That's all the proof you need. First came Reagan and Bush. Then the corporate Dems and the Republicans were given control of the House. Then we got Bush and Republicans were given the Senate and the House. Dems got a foothold in 2006 and were quickly rebuked for even doing something slightly liberal with healthcare in 2010.
The American public is not nearly as pro-union as it use to be. And although people on an individual level love social safety nets when it helps them, they seem to have no problem electing a bunch of folks who are determined to destroy those social safety nets. Prior to the 1980s-90s, people like that were mostly eaten alive by the electorate.
From FDR through Carter, Americans elected Presidents who did not embrace trickle down bullshit, Presidents that believed in government action, collective spending toward common goals, progressive taxation, Keynesian economics and support for unions and Social Safety nets. That changed with Reagan.
The American people are going back and forth with voting against their own interests and that's why things are as bad as they are now.