Define "corporatist democrat"

[cleveramerican]

I am asking because when I was talking with friends about the deficit commission,
they all agreed that Erskine Bowles is the quintessential "corporatist democrat".
I was in no position to refute this seemingly universally held claim
because I am not exactly sure what the term means.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. A corporatist Democrat is generally OK on social issues

like abortion & gay rights, but curries favor from corporations in order to get funding from them. They typically adhere to fiscal and regulatory policies that serve corporate interests, and are willing to spend on wars but not on domestic programs for poor and middle-class people. They often vote anti-union.

As a rule of thumb, if it's a "liberal" policy and the corporations don't care about it, they vote with the liberals.
If it's a "liberal" policy that will inconvenience a corporation, they will vote their corporate funding.

[cleveramerican]

3. would you agree with the claim about Bowles?

is he indeed the quintessential "corporatist democrat"?

If not him then who is?

[laughingliberal]

21. If he's not, he'll do until a real one shows up. Other strong contenders: Bayh,Nelson, Conrad. nt

[butterfly77]

40. Harold Ford..

[readmoreoften]

26. I don't even think they're one way or the other on social issues.

[Jackpine Radical]

42. I suppose that depends on what they think they need to say

to get elected in their districts.

Without at least the social issues to distinguish them, they truly are Republicans in drag.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. To me a corporatist is someone who puts big business interests ahead of human interest. Someone who

would gut regulations in order to make the business climate more friendly, but at the expense of the health, well-being, or security of people, for example. We used to just call those people Republicans, but a new name was needed to cover people from other parties as well.

[polichick]

4. What GreenPartyVoter said - and someone who is invested in the...

...corporate status quo, such as not wanting health insurance companies to go out of business.

[Gman]

5. Umm... there's a whole lot of us here on DU that don't want health insurance companies

out of business mainly because we have health insurance.

[polichick]

6. Of course I meant going out of business because we all have gov't run...

...universal health insurance.

[Gman]

7. Well OK

universal health care is the goal.

[polichick]

8. I think some in Congress are far too invested in the health insurance industry...

...and maybe some in the WH too - thus, the crazy deal-making.

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. Yeah, it's a real honor to pay for some MBA's kid to go to Harvard.

Health care should not be a for-profit enterprise, and health insurance is nothing more than a protection racket.

If the government ran health insurance, the overhead would be 2-4%, not 30% skimmed off the top. Yeah, I now HCR says the insurance companies HAVE to pay 85% of the policies cost on health care, but do you really think their multi-million dollar lawyers and accountants can't find a way around that? The insurance companies would not have allowed HCR to pass if they were going to have to take a pay cut. Would not happen.

[OHdem10]

9. A corporate Democrat is usually Centrist Pro-Business Democrat

The social issues have been blurred. We now have Pro-Life
Pro Gun Democrats.

Pro-Business pretty much means if a piece of Legislation
is forcing a choice between Business, Corporation and what
is good for the people, they will vote Corporations and therefore
Wall St. What is good for Corporate America is good for Wall St.
This describes the Corporatist Democrat. Also implied her using
Corporatiwst--they have assisted in making Business so powerful
they practically run the country.

[doc03]

10. Bill Clinton n/t

[bigwillq]

13. How dare you call our former president that.

:rofl:

[Exilednight]

14. If the NAFTA shoe fits. n/t

[bigwillq]

16. Those NAFTA shoes

look stunning on Hillary as she treks around the world. :rofl:

[Exilednight]

17. NAFTA, another Obama promise not kept. n/t

[Dr.Phool]

11. The polite terms are "New Democrat" , "DLC", "Blue Dog".

They go by other names like, Liebermoron, Baucus, Bayh, Schumer, and many other alias's. They'll sell out the citizens to make life easier for corporate interests, such as the 27 "New Democrats" who signed a letter to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, begging him to please hurry up and put that heinous Bankruptcy "Reform" up for a vote, so that they can vote for it.

Corporatist, thine name is Landrieu or Feinstein. You used to be called Old Republicans.
Edited to add two species of Clinton.

There is an antidote, though not very effective, especially when infected by campaign contributions, called a primary.

There is some preventative measures when taken in large doses, called a Kucinich, a Feingold, a Brown (sub-species, Sherrod), and the very rare element, Wellstone.

[Exilednight]

15. Harold Ford Jr, Clinton, Rahm, and I am sure we are leaving many more out. n/t

[midnight armadillo]

18. Barack Obama

A corporatist Democrat is a Democrat whose words claim to support the people but whose actions do the bidding of corporate donors.

[LibDemAlways]

19. + 1000. n/t

[babylonsister]

24. Then why do corps. hate him and throw $ at rethugs? nt

[harun]

32. Greed. They are getting everything they want and now they want MORE.

[babylonsister]

33. Disagree. They actively fought against the Dems and our agenda,

going for greed, yes, from the folks who will give them everything they want, the rethugs.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

37. Good question.

[avaistheone1]

38. Corporations gave more to Obama during his presidential campaign than to McCain

[LoZoccolo]

20. They have no definition because it wouldn't be applied consistently anyways.

It's just another verbal club with which to bully elected officials used by people who think they can affect change without getting off of their computers.

[jberryhill]

28. +1

[jefferson_dem]

22. It's just a stupid "catch all" label for any Dem politico who does something those who like to...

use the label disagree with.

Like when the RWNJs toss around "communist" or "socialist". Flip sides of the same simpleton coin.

[readmoreoften]

27. Nope. It's Democrats who put business before labor.

Present company included.

[laughingliberal]

23. Kick nt

[readmoreoften]

25. A Corporate Democrat puts business before labor, if labor at all.

Kind of like "Old Republican."

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Odin2005]

30. Someone who consistantly sides with the interests of the Capitalist Class over The People.

Bill Clinton is an example. His mentor was historian Carroll Quigley, Who was a shameless apologist of Elite Privilege, claiming that concentration of wealth into the hands of the few is necessary for a civilization to flourish.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x444782

[harun]

31. The members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are not Corporatist Democrats.

For the rest of them...

If they put the interests or heed to the will of the biggest corporations they would be a Corporatist Democrat.
If they put profits before people they would be a Corporatist Democrat.
If they say they are a New Democrat or a Blue Dog Democrat they would be a Corporatist Democrat.
If they are a member of the Democratic Leadership Council they would be a Corporatist Democrat.

[boppers]

34. It's a label with no real meaning.

That's the power of it, it's so nebulous, and without definition, that it can be used as a slur at whim.

Here, think about this: was Reagan a "unionist Republican"?

[tkmorris]

39. I'm quite certain the ATCs didn't think so.

Interesting you should mention unions, as it is a sure way to identify corporatist Democrats. They DON'T support unions, or labor in any form really. They vote the way the big money donors tell them to. Often the corporate interests they support are determined by location or other obvious factors. Biden for example would never have angered a credit card corp. when he was a Senator. Landrieux supports Big Oil. Feinstein supports defense contractors. And so on.

There is always an argument which can be made in defense of voting for or against a particular bit of legislation to deny these tendencies. That does not make the term nebulous in any way. "By their fruits ye shall know them", and arguments otherwise are simply attempts to make inscrutable what is very scrutable indeed.

[boppers]

45. It wasn't a mistake....

He was a past union president (of the Screen Actor's Guild), and supported the Polish Solidarity movement, so in that sense, he could be thought of as pro-union, which is part of why PATCO (along with the Teamsters, and Air Line Pilots Association) supported Reagan over Carter... he was thought to be a "union Republican".

....Until, of course, he broke a strike.

[provis99]

46. well then liberal and conservative are meaningless labels, too.

[GSLevel9]

35. Chuck Schumer. nt

[paulk]

36. today's "Rockefeller Republicans"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Republican

[Mimosa]

41. Paulk, I've been saying the same for years. *smile*

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the 'Rockefeller Republican' types were rather repulsed by the GOPs increased alliances with the Silent Majority and Christian Coalition types. The whole shtick was just too lowbrow and hokey. A Rockefeller Republican is more comfortable at an art gallery opening than a country and western music concert.


So the Democratic Party is now full of people who profit from the classic capitalist economic system and claim that unregulated 'free markets' and 'free trade' best serve the interests of humanity. I think Bill Clinton's was the type of presidency the US might have had if Nelson Rockefeller had ever won that office. But Rockefellers and their compatriots -including the Bush family evil empire- are actually directing the show behind the curtains anyway.

[whistler162]

43. Simple any Democrat that doesn't believe exactly in what

posterX wants them to believe in!

It is one of those easy labels. Takes no thought and means little.

[joe1991]

44. insert Joe Lieberman pic here

Yeah I know he's an "independent" now, but he was the first Dem I pulled the lever for that left a bad aftertaste... I wonder if he ultimately cost Gore the White House.

[krispos42]

47. "The business of government is business"

People that think that what's best for the people of the United States is to pander to the people for whom they work for... and who have lots of ready campaign cash and/or blackmailable evidence in the vault.

[LatteLibertine]

48. Seems like we go over this every other day

What it means to me, is a Democrat who serves corporate special interests >first< regardless of the consequences to the nation or the overwhelming majority of her population. Their votes are essentially bought with "contributions".

Usually these folks are career politicians who have always been corrupt, or have become corrupt by being influenced by perks and money from lobbyists. Some actually move back and forth between lobbying and government.

So the short of it is they are politicians who are corporate lackeys who always vote the will of large corporate special interests.

[LWolf]

49. A neoliberal.

The DLC, and the "New Democrats," for example, are neoliberals and thus "corporatist Democrats."