Hard-hitting op ed from Governor Dean in the WSJ today.

[madfloridian]

It's a freebie if you can get past the welcome screen.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115888827162370858.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Under Mr. Bush and the Republican Congress, incomes today are $1,000 less for the typical household than during Bill Clinton's final year in office; incomes for the typical working-age household have declined every year since the president took office. Black and Hispanic households have fared worse over the same period: Black household income has fallen every year, after rising every year (except for a one-year $60 dip) under Mr. Clinton. Incomes for Hispanic households are down $1,000, after rising more than $7,000 under Mr. Clinton.

• Incomes have fallen because wages -- which provide 75% of income for typical families -- are stagnant for most workers. Under Mr. Bush, wages for college-educated workers increased only 1.3% between 2000 and 2005, as compared to 11.3% during Mr. Clinton's last five years. For the nation's lowest-paid workers, the situation is even worse, as the minimum wage is worth less now than at any time in at least 50 years.

• Health and retirement coverage have declined for most workers and their families, and workers' costs have increased. The share of Americans with job-based health coverage fell over the last five years from 62.6% in 2000 to only 59.5% in 2005, virtually erasing gains in such coverage under Mr. Clinton, when coverage rose from 57.1% in 1993 to 63.6 % in 2000. Workers are also paying more for their coverage. Between 2001 and 2005, the amount workers paid for family premiums grew more than 50%. These factors have fueled increases in the number of uninsured every year under Mr. Bush, to almost 47 million last year -- roughly one in six Americans.

• Retirement coverage has also declined. Only 19% of workers have guaranteed pensions today, compared with 39% in 1980. And under Mr. Bush, retirement coverage, including both guaranteed pensions and 401(k)s, fell almost three percentage points, to just less than 46% in 2004.

And a statement on the devastating effect Iraq is having on our economy:

The president's failures in Iraq are also hurting our economy, our country and our ability to fight the war on terror. We are spending $8 billion a month in Iraq -- that's $267 million a day. Consider that for what we spend in three weeks in Iraq, we could make needed improvements to secure our public transportation system; for what we spend in five days we could double the COPS program, and put more police on the streets to keep our neighborhoods safe, or we could put radiation detectors at all our ports.

There is more at the link.

[OzarkDem]

1. For those wondering what the Dem message is

here it is. Read it.

[Rainscents]

2. Dean is our leader... DNC!!!

[opihimoimoi]

4. Dean still needs to lead the TROOPs more effectively..He can do it!!

All he gatta do is try....the TROOPS are committed to him...all is needed is some focus and disciplne, he already got the message to use...

[madfloridian]

5. First he has to get some on the ground organization.

The power base is still with the DC insiders. Takes time. The congressional leaders consider themselves the "troop leaders." They really do.

They want him to stay in the background essentially while they make policy.

[opihimoimoi]

8. Armies need strong/wise Leaders who can strategize/plan/implement

For the Lack of a LEADER...the Army was LOST....

Lets get this thing going....we wanna win this time.....

[OzarkDem]

9. He's doing fine

He's already done a great job here in Ohio and other states the party had begun to overlook.

[Erika]

3. W is hitting the working class hard

and generally dismantling our government where it helps the public good. He's transferring our taxes to his empire building and his corporate buds.

[FogerRox]

6. Dr DEAN, right on brother, give 'em hell brother

[Change has come]

7. Nice!

Thank you so much for this thread. We've just got our talking points.

"The Republican record on managing the federal budget is dismal. Republicans have turned surplus into debt, hope into lost opportunity; they have become the party of borrow-and-spend".

"An economy that favors the top 1% at the expense of everyone else might be good for President Bush's politics, but a shrinking middle class is bad for capitalism, democracy and America. We need a new direction".

"Americans are taking on more debt just to keep up in the Republican economy. Last year, household debt was a record 132% of disposable income. Not surprisingly, home mortgage foreclosures are also up; in March of this year, the foreclosure rate was 63% higher than last year".

"These dwindling economic fortunes have resulted partly from a decline in unionization, which has been exacerbated by the all-out assault of the Bush Republicans on workers' rights to organize and bargain".


4th R

[hfojvt]

10. It sounds great

but I wonder if it won't fall on deaf ears among most WSJ readers.

[Change has come]

12. at least it plays ot one of our strengths.

Borrow and Spend Vs Balanced budget and Surpluses.

[The Wizard]

37. Borrow and

give to Halliburton. It's outright stealing and embezzling. They take money out of circulation by looting the Treasury. Money in Cayman Islands accounts never circulates.

[blm]

19. I think Dean hit the right tone for WSJ readers, too. The health of the

middle class and the working class is important to a SUSTAINABLE economy.

The wiser readers of the WSJ know that.

[Kurovski]

11. K&R.(nt)

[FrenchieCat]

13. Yo go, Dean!

Tell them! :headbang:

[eridani]

14. Give 'em hell, Howard!

Doesn't this just beat the bejeezus out of McAuliffe?

[Nimrod2005]

15. HAve I told you recently? Dr. Dean speaks for me....nt

[JNelson6563]

16. Dean takin' it to 'em, again!

Rock on Governor! :toast:

[ms liberty]

17. If only we could get all our Dems in DC to repeat these points

and repeat them ad nauseum every time they're in front of a mike or a camera. That's how the Republicult does it, and they do it with lies and half-truths. This is the FACTS, this is what's really happening.

We need to make these bites our mantra, from now til election day.

K&R and bookmarked

[texpatriot2004]

18. Howard Dean speaks for me. Thank you Dr. Dean. nm

[oc2002]

20. thats a good start, I like Dean, and I hope he takes up the issues

that affect most of America. As his mention of GLOBALIZATION is a big issue in the offshoring of our jobs over sea. The tax codes that actualy GIVES companies that MOVE to China/overseas a TAX CREDITS!

I would like to see some real immigration reform, but NOT BLANKET AMNESTY for illegals too.

There are many issues on the table, it makes me wonder why the Dems seem so feeble to put them together. Or, maybe they are just as corrupt as the Repugs.

[emald]

21. screw dean and the rest of the party of defeat

Did anyone here know that the vote to torture was lost because two democrats couldn't bother to be there for the vote? One of them was at a press confrence. Goddamn, wouldn;t want to interupt your camera time for something important like torture. Fuck the dems, the repubs. Now we live in a country of admitted torture, where lying gets rewards. Stupid pols make me sick. And they are making my country sick and rotten. magots.

[JDPriestly]

22. Name the Dems, please, and provide a link if possible. Thanks.

[emmadoggy]

24. Actually, my understanding of it is that

they WERE there for the vote, then 2 of the Dems had to leave, one or both of them attended the aformentioned press conference, and after they left the committee meeting the slimy REPUBS did a RE-VOTE on the torture measure and then it passed.

Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, but there was another post about this here at DU that explained what happened. I'll try to find it and provide a link if I can.

Edited to add this link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2185743

This is not the discussion I was thinking of. I'll try to find the other one.

Here's another... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=2186902

[dorktv]

38. They were talking about Medicare and we had a little to do with that

program being created.

[mnhtnbb]

23. This is a terrific appeal to rational voters. Problem is, the Repubs play

to emotion. God, guns, gays, and terror 24/7. Dean and all the Dem party leaders have to start addressing that, BEFORE they start in giving people the facts.

[Tigermoose]

25. And that is why the Democrats lose...

They ignore emotion and appeal to an ideal of rationality that has faded here in America. Now, its all about image and emotion.

[benEzra]

26. Guns are only an issue if the Dem candidate is pushing a ban-more agenda

otherwise the gun issue is neutral.

Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What?

Guns were a big issue in 1994, 2000, and 2004 only because the party leadership chose to make it an issue, by pushing for sweeping bans on nonhunting style guns. Since the ban-more-guns lobby has been marginalized since 2004, I think guns will be less of an issue this time around, unless new ban proposals start appearing on the radar.

[stopbush]

27. Looks like we're running on the economy - a disastrous move.

What Dean says is all true, but it won't win an election. It's a platform that - to its credit - demands a high degree of rationality.

Unfortunately, the Rs run on irrationality and win every time. We know what the RNC playbook is this election: terra, terra, terra. Like it
or not, the Ds need to respond to that. Most Americans are ill informed, uninterested and gullible. They will buy the R line of BS every time.
False safety and BS bromides mean a lot more to the average American than concrete ideas.

I hope that this economic talk is only one plank in the platform.

[madfloridian]

28. I disagree....this part will hit home.

In fact if it has not, why are all the righty bloggers going after Dean today...calling forth all the bad stuff they can think of about him.

And a statement on the devastating effect Iraq is having on our economy:

"The president's failures in Iraq are also hurting our economy, our country and our ability to fight the war on terror. We are spending $8 billion a month in Iraq -- that's $267 million a day. Consider that for what we spend in three weeks in Iraq, we could make needed improvements to secure our public transportation system; for what we spend in five days we could double the COPS program, and put more police on the streets to keep our neighborhoods safe, or we could put radiation detectors at all our ports."

[RangerSmith]

29. The WSJ is a great place to be running this

Plenty of conservatives are sick of bush and his fanatacal evangelicals, but they are still scared of the anti-corporate perception of the Democrats.

[Auggie]

30. How many middle class voters read the WSJ?

The voters dems need to reach are getting their news from Katie Couric and USA Today. This is a fine piece, but WAY beyond the reach of
mainstream America.

[woodsgirl]

31. First time on

DU, although I have been checking you guys out every day for
about two years.Felt like you were up to date , intelligent,
and that I could not add to your discussion/didn't know as
much. I finally decided to register because of what is
happening in the senate race up here in Maine. Olympia Snowe
has fallen from 72% in March to 53% presently. Internal Maine
poll called Maine pulse. The dem. candidate has a good chance
of defeating Snowe because she won't meet with the families of
Iraq troops. Also, the lumber business is about the only
manufacturing type industry left in Maine PLUS the woodsmen
who supply the mills. Bush just made more concessions to
Canada for a 45 million bribe. Congress has no oversight of
this money. I don't know what WE gave away for the gift to the
WH...but I'm sure those in the lumber business do..Jean Hay
Bright , the dem. candidate is for peace, unions, good
wages...she is an organic farmer. The democratic party is not
giving her any money. She doesn't have enough campaign
money/not corporate enough. That is the reason she doesn't get
money . She doesn't have money.Very telling about the
motivations of our party. I like Howard Dean a lot and have
emailed him about the problem. Another plus for a dem.
win...fair elections and The Bangor News is very fair,
although republican owned.Jean Hay Bright could win with no
help, but isn't that disgusting?

[madfloridian]

34. She says she is being helped by the DNC state intiative.

Several others have come here saying that same thing. I guess I will do some looking up, as she is getting some help.

Maybe not from Schumer and the DSCC, but I know she is getting some help.

I will see what I find and get back to you.

[woodsgirl]

32. Dem wi in Nov.

I have never posted on DU before. Thought you guys were so much smarter than me. I could help by just reading. I'm posting this comment because of the senate race in Maine. Olympia Snowe could very easily lose. She has fallen from 72% to 53% since March, according to an internal Maine poll called Maine Pulse. Jean Hay Bright, the dem, candidate is for peace, unions, anti NAFTA. Not getting any money from the dem. party because she doesn't have money. She is an organic farmer. This is why WE aren't represented in DC. How can our legislators know what WE need if they are all rich and connected, including the dems.

[madfloridian]

36. I found this. It is only the DSCC she needs to blame.

"The Maine Democratic Party is fully behind this campaign. In fact, the Maine Democratic State Committee in August passed a resolution in support of the campaign, as a signal to the Washington groups that they should get on board.

The Hay Bright campaign is a full participant in Maine's Democratic Coordinated Campaign, which is being staffed and funded in large part by the Democratic National Committee. Under the leadership of Howard Dean, the DNC is providing staff help directly to all 50 state Democratic committees, including staffing in Maine.

We are also working closely with the Baldacci, Allen and Michaud campaign teams. We are working with all the county and town committees, and with all the candidates for state house and county offices.

But it's true, some national Democratic and progressive organizations that should be in our camp have not been very helpful or forthcoming.

For instance, we are getting no support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), which is a separate operation from the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The DSCC is raising money in Maine for its own purposes, but, despite the organization's stated goal of helping to elect Democrats to the U.S. Senate, and despite crowing about raising more money than its Republican counterpart, has told us outright it will do nothing to help our campaign."

So to those who can't tell the various groups apart yet, you need to read this.

http://www.jeanhaybright.us/blog.html#Sep3

[Ramsey]

33. This has me worried

Not that there is anything wrong with what Dean said, but that this speech, along with some other stories I've read today, seem to indicate that the Dems intend to run on the economy this year -again. This is a huge mistake.

We cannot ignore Iraq, let the Repukes gain on the national security issue just when we've started to make progress, and hope to win back one of the houses of Congress this November. We did that the last two cycles and as a strategy it utterly failed.

The Dems need to hammer home one message and one message only- Bush and the Republicans are a failure. We can keep you safer in every way- whether it is against terrorists or against economic strife. They've screwed everything they've touched and we need a new direction.

I think it is a mistake to take our eye off the ball. Iraq is a failure for them and totally undercuts their claims to be superior on national security, the issue that has trumped all others for the past 5 years and doubtless will again this year.

[madfloridian]

35. Can't they do a twofer...Iraq and the ecnomy? Oh, well.

It must be just Iraq some say...but not long ago it was just voting issues..before that it was abortion.

I don't know where you have been reading, but they do have plans for national security. A few recommending staying...though some deny that is what they are saying.

Most are going along with the Korb plan, to get the guard and reserves out now...redeploy to surrounding areas.

[woodsgirl]

39. Thanks for

the update on the Maine senate race. Sorry for posting twice
on the same info. Still wish the DNC would get behind Hay
Bright with some money. If we had a tv spot with the bribe AND
the results of the bribe it could make a difference. Remember
when Gore used the company phone to solicit campaign funds. It
was in the news over and over. This is an out right bribe and
no coverage. I get the Canadian news on TV as I am at the
border of Canada, Heard that they have to do everything
possible before Nov.for softwood regs to help Canada. Guess
they can see the way things are going here in the US. We just
had another mill to close in mid state Maine..the effects are
so devastating the food banks are empty. Snowe has voted with
the administration 80 % of the time.