On CNN yesterday, a little after 9 AM, a quote from Senator Michael
Bennet, that he is "furious" at the Democratic Party over their
"inability to offer a compelling vision" to voters.
That certainly sounds right. Bennet -- one "t" in Bennet, Art -- is right about the Dems offering no compelling vision. But CNN didn't quote any specifics.
Specifically,
I'd say the Democrats offer no comprehensive economic plan. They offer
dribs and drabs, patchwork economics, and little fixes at best. What they
need is a new and better understanding of the economic problem, and a
plan based on that understanding.
I've said it this way:
Democrats don't have a clue
about the economy. Democratic policy is always and everywhere a way to
help people cope with a bad economy. Coping is not the same as fixing.
Republicans
do have a clue about the economy. They seem to want to return to the
policies of the 1800s. Unfortunately, those policies no longer work. The
economy changes. The economy evolves. Economic thought must evolve with it, or it is Fall-of-Rome for us.
I've said it this way:
Republicans make strong economic arguments; Democrats make
no economic arguments. Republicans always turn to economic principles
when making their case. Among Democrats, candidates and voters
alike tend to avoid economics. As a result of these differences, Republicans are able to make arguments that are overly
simplistic or outright wrong, and Democrats are still unable to respond
effectively.
Republicans like economic solutions. But they too often use old, obsolete arguments. It doesn't seem
to matter to them that their arguments no longer hold good. Republicans don't worry
about it, and Democrats have no idea.
Democrats do not opt for economic solutions. They
don't choose to fix economic problems by using policy to change the
economy. They wouldn't know what to change. Instead, they provide money to help people cope with the
problems. That is how it looks to me.
I don't know what's going on
in their minds. But it looks to me as if Democrats have something like
"math anxiety" about economics. Dems seem to think that if they go
for sound economic argument, they will necessarily come to the same
conclusions as Republicans.
I don't know how they could
possibly think such a thing, as it is based on the flawed premise that
Republican economics is sound.
Let me say it again. Republicans are generally wrong about the economy. Democrats seem
to avoid talking about the economy because they are afraid the
Republicans are right. Or, as I like to say:
This little piggy has bad policy
That little piggy has none
Senator Bennet is right: Democrats fail to offer a compelling vision.
