Progressive Thinking

MADISON - Do a Google search for the words “Republican presidential debates” and “circus” and you get close to 2 million results. Search for “Republican presidential campaign” and “train wreck” and you get 4 million.

Off the national stage, Republican officials in places like Wisconsin are showing clear signs of worry bordering on panic when it comes to their standing with the public. With good reason. Public approval of the GOP has reached its lowest point in decades. Support for the party hasdropped sharply even among self-described Republican voters.

So far, the Democrats seem content to be the slightly less objectionable alternative. Their strategy largely consists of handing the Republicans plenty of rope and hoping they hang themselves.

There are a lot of reasons why that is a questionable strategy. There is one reason in particular why it is actually a recipe for Republicans winning in spite of themselves. Democrats have lost their mojo in rural areas. They used to know how to appeal to rural voters but evidently have forgotten.

The Democrats have a primarily urban support base that has been whittled down in Wisconsin to not much more than Madison and Milwaukee. The Republicans have a suburban support base. Neither party’s base gets them to 50% in elections, so neither base alone can produce a governing majority. Democrats used to have an urban-rural coalition that produced governing majorities for them, but that alliance has fractured and in its place the Republicans have formed a suburban-rural, rich-poor alliance that has won them control of most statehouses across the country including Wisconsin’s.

Book after book has been written about how the Republicans manufactured this realignment. But it wasn’t just the Republicans’ doing. It had every bit as much to do with what Democrats have made themselves into over the last several decades.

When the Democrats were at the zenith of their power, they were unapologetic economic populists, starting with FDR’s New Deal for the Depression-ravaged masses in the 1930s and continuing right through the 1960s with LBJ’s War on Poverty and Great Society programs. Shortly thereafter, it started to become fashionable for Democrats to describe themselves as socially liberal but economically and fiscally conservative. In practical terms, that meant being for such things as abortion rights, gay rights, gun control and legalization of marijuana while becoming increasingly friendly to Wall Street and royals of global industry. The party has been in decline ever since.

One important reason for the steady erosion of the Democrats’ fortunes is that being socially liberal but economically elitist is exactly the opposite of what most rural people are. They are more socially conservative than your average Democrat, but are feeling vulnerable and exploited and taken advantage of economically.

It is definitely conceivable the Democrats could remain socially progressive and win over enough rural voters to win back statehouses and gain firm control over Congress, but only if they combine lifestyle liberalism with very assertive economic populism. It is not remotely possible to be socially liberal and economically elitist — as they are now — and make any meaningful political inroads in rural areas. Not even if Republicans keep shooting themselves in the foot.

MADISON - The Democrats have been a party in decline for more than 40 years. That’s not to say they haven’t won an occasional battle in that time, but they’ve been losing the war for that long. It’s been a downward spiral ever since the Great Society era drew to a close soon after the dawning of the 1970s.

Forty years of losing argument after argument about which direction the country should head has had a profound cumulative effect. America is more walled off. More locked up. Armed to the teeth. More militaristic, defended to the point of ridiculous overkill. All largely because we are becoming more unequal by the day. That’s what 40 years of trickle-down economics and crony capitalism and deregulation for deregulation’s sake get you.

In its heyday, the Democratic Party was countrypolitan. It isn’t anymore.

Countrypolitan is a slang term most often associated with music. But it can apply to anything — or anyone — that’s a mix of rural (country) and urban (metropolitan). That’s what the Democratic Party used to be decades ago. It is not countrypolitan today and hasn’t been for quite some time now. The Democrats started losing ground when they stopped appealing to people outside the cities.

The Democrats’ decline will continue until they get serious about exploring why rural and suburban people currently are sticking together to support right-wing values and policies, how they could be persuaded to part company, and how rural and urban interests could be reunited.

The Democratic Party has much to gain and little to lose from such exploration. It can’t sink much lower. But lower- and middle-class Americans in both rural and urban areas stand to gain the most. Policies benefiting them don’t stand much of a chance of becoming the law of the land as long as the vast wealth of a few holds policymakers in such an iron grip.

For there to be a chance of commoner-friendly thinking being reflected in government actions, a new coalition of commoners needs to emerge, one that packs enough punch to stagger the reigning political champion — money. Legions of diligent campaign finance reformers are watching helplessly these days as old safeguards against government corruption are stripped away and the floodgates are opened ever wider, allowing more and more money to flood into elections and lobbying. They are powerless to stop political inequality from breeding still more political inequality.

Growing political inequality then produces greater economic inequality and sustained social inequality. And the more government is seen working for just a few at everyone else’s expense, the more the masses despise government. The more government is despised, the easier it is for a wealthy and well-connected few to control.

This vicious cycle is the 99%’s quandary. And the Democratic Party’s.

Preventing our nation from becoming more stratified, more walled off and more fractured depends on breaking the vicious cycle of political and economic inequality. Today’s Democratic Party appears to be at a loss about how to do it or even what to try. Democrats would do well to start by reacquainting themselves with the forgotten countrypolitan formula that worked so well for them from the 1930s through the 1960s.

MADISON - I refuse to be gloomy!

Yeah, I know, we took a big hit on the GAB bill and the campaign finance bill. But I’m hopeful that things will turn around.

And one of the reasons I’m hopeful is that there is tremendous pro-democracy work going on around this state. For example, at the very time that the State Assembly was rubber-stamping these horrendous bills, I was at an inspiring conference in Milwaukee, where 150 pro-democracy and issue activists came together to chart a promising way forward. I write about it here:

Dark day in Madison, sunny dawn in Milwaukee

While I was in Milwaukee, our research director, Mike Buelow, was looking into a recent court decision that will handcuff the ability of the DNR to regulate high-capacity wells, which are siphoning off our water to factory farms. There’s one big factory farm that may benefit the most, as Mike reported here:

Milk Source, a big Walker donor, wins in judge's ruling on wells

Mike Buelow also uncovered all the money that employees of Johnson Controls have been giving Scott Walker, who doled out WEDC loans of almost $2.5 million to the company, which is now laying off workers:

Love triangle:  Johnson Controls, Walker contributions, and WEDC

By the way, I’m going back to Milwaukee tomorrow night to talk about “The Assault on Democracy in Wisconsin, and How We Can Fight Back.” So please come see me if you can.

Here are the details: I’ll be speaking at ATU Hall (Amalgamated Transit Union), 734 N. 26^th St, at 7:00 p.m. this Thursday night, Nov. 19.

And please tell your Milwaukee friends about it, too. It should be fun, and I promise to be hopeful.

A report published by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX) tracks statistics reflecting the economy, education and quality of life in Wisconsin. It's not rocket science, there's a lot of room for improvement.

MADISON - “My son’s grades improved at report card time,” Mari told me. Her son struggled in school for many years. “We had a great teacher conference. He got mostly Bs and Cs – which was an improvement.”

Wisconsin recently got its own report card. Our state also got mostly Bs and Cs. Although in several cases, these scores represent benchmarks that are not improving.

The report published by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX) tracks statistics reflecting the economy, education and quality of life in Wisconsin.

Our focus on education has historically been a great strength of our state. The report card reviewed education through “workforce readiness” and assigned Bs for all benchmarks measured – the only category to receive this consistent high mark.

More students graduate from high school in Wisconsin than any other Midwest state but Iowa. On national tests (NAEP), our students score better in math than every surrounding state but Minnesota. Wisconsin’s average ACT score beat every surrounding state but Minnesota.

Although Wisconsin’s K-12 students perform better than the national average, we lag the US average, and Minnesota and Illinois, in the number of people over age 25 with a bachelor’s degree. We need more people with a college degree.

Higher education improves income. Wisconsin also has an income problem.

The report card gave a D+ to Wisconsin’s average earnings. Wisconsin’s average earnings have been at least 10% behind the US average in 26 of 32 years between 1983 and 2014. We also lag the US per capita income. All neighboring states have higher per capita income.

Wisconsin also has a job growth problem. WISTAX reports a meager 1% growth per year since 2011. The five-year job growth is less than the national average and any surrounding state.

Traditionally, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate tracks about two percentage points below the national rate. Over the past few years that gap has narrowed. The recent Bureau of Labor Statistics September numbers showed Wisconsin’s unemployment rate less than a percentage point below the US average. Less people are filing for unemployment but job growth is anemic.

Measures of quality of life in the WISTAX report card include those without health insurance, safety as measured by violent crime and poverty.

Wisconsin has traditionally led the Midwest in those covered with insurance. Recently, Minnesota and Iowa edged out Wisconsin in health insurance coverage. The 2015 report card pegged the number of those uninsured at a hair over 9% of Wisconsinites.

The violent crime rate in Wisconsin has generally been steady over the past twenty years. Although our neighbor to the west, Minnesota, has both a historically lower rate and more success in sending that low rate even lower.

Fewer Wisconsinites own homes in 2014 than in even 2013. The roughly two-thirds of Wisconsin residents that own homes is better than the national average but lower than every surrounding state except Illinois.

Poverty has been rising in Wisconsin over the past fifteen years. WISTAX used the federal definition of poverty. For example, in 2014 a family of four with an annual income of $23,850 was at the poverty threshold. About 11% of Wisconsin residents earned less than the poverty threshold in 2013. As a percent of the population, Wisconsin has more residents below the poverty threshold than Minnesota and Iowa but fewer than Illinois or Michigan.

The report card covered several other measures but space limits us.

The WISTAX study isn’t nearly as easy to read or understand progress as your child or grandchild’s report card. The measures have changed over the years and letter grades have replaced an earlier “pass/fail” or “plus/minus” system.

Other factors make historical comparisons difficult. For example, when all students take the ACT college entrance exam, Wisconsin’s numbers are sure to drop.

Value can be achieved, however, in pausing to compare. Using benchmarks – both historical and across states – help us reflect on our progress and our continued challenges.

There is a lot of room for improvement in Wisconsin’s report card. Jobs, increasing wages and the number of college graduates are all on the list of challenges.

MADISON - It happened late Friday night.

I was almost all alone in the Wisconsin Senate Gallery. A cop was there, and a page, and occasionally one other person. That was it.

We were the only witnesses, other than the media, to the mugging of democracy that was happening right below us, on the Senate floor.

The Republican senators, with the notable exception of Sen. Rob Cowles, managed to make a horrible campaign finance bill more horrible, and then all of them smashed the Government Accountability Board to bits.

You can read my account here:

The mugging of democracy in Wisconsin

We recently unveiled our “Influence Peddler of the Month.” For November, it’s none other than Americans for Prosperity, which was founded by the Koch Brothers. You can see how that group throws its weight around in Wisconsin by clicking here:

Influence peddler of the month - Americans for Prosperity

And if you’ve got any spare time, please come hear me speak over the next few days about “The Assault on Democracy in Wisconsin, and How to Get Money Out of Politics.” This is where I’ll be:

• Nov. 10: Green Bay, 11:30 a.m., The Village Grille, 801 Hoffman Rd.
• Nov. 11: River Falls at 7:00 p.m. at the public library
• Nov. 12: New Richmond, 7:00 p.m., at Ready Randy’s, 1490 131^st St.
• Nov. 19: Milwaukee, 7:00 p.m., 734 N. 26^th St.

If you know anyone who also might be interested, please share these details with them.