Cory Booker: Leading The Democratic Party And The USA Into True Greatness?

 

Wikipedia 

2025 Senate Filibuster

Democrats Need To Change Its Leadership And Tactics NOW

"While a recent NBC News poll revealed Trump's approval rating is the highest it's ever been, the data behind the poll tells a much different story. Steve Schmidt breaks down the numbers in the poll and explains why Trump's approval rating isn't as positive as it might seem."

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Steve actually focused on two things in this video:

• Most pollsters are not adequately educated in the science of polls (i.e. the first image below is the typical media poll that is too superficial and narrow.)
• The MAJOR point is what the second image below shows: the Democratic Party is in a deep hole with the public and must change what it is doing fast by changing its leadership and plan.

Click on the link below for the video:

The Real Story Behind Trump's Recent Poll Numbers

BOTH US POLITICAL Parties Will Not Stand Up

Everyone who has a functional brain and can objectively look at reality KNOWS that the present Republican Party is a piece of sh!t. 

Today, the DEMOCRATIC PARTY allowed the evil to have a clean pass into dictatorship. Folks, there are only two final blocks to it, and one is the justice system. Once the present blocks from such get to the Supreme Court, do you really think justice will be preserved with THIS Supreme Court? 

The bottom line? "We the people" have the final say in the voting process. Up to now, most of us have not even voted. Shame on us. Can we agree that we can do a better job?

Oh, In 1856, the anti-slavery party didn't cave (link).

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Just Another Republican Lie: The Deficit

 

The Truth About The USA

"Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan gave the Democratic rebuttal to President Trump's joint address to Congress on Tuesday night. She explained how to 'protect the middle class,' and also said, 'the president pits Americans against each other."

Watch: Sen. Elissa Slotkin refutes Trump's speech to Congress in Democratic rebuttal

Can Taxing The Rich Balance The Budget In The USA?

This question does have an answer if one is open-minded and is fact-based in thinking. Below are representative opinions. I have mine:

Progressive:

Why neoclassical economics has failed

Bipartisan:

Could tax increases alone close the long-run fiscal gap? Yes.

Taxing the rich could raise trillions but that alone won't fix our fiscal crisis

Conservative:

Biden’s Math of Just Taxing the Rich Doesn’t Add Up

The Limits of Taxing the Rich

The Democratic Party And Economic Inequality

Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's Secretary of Labor, is one of the most prolific communicators of the truth about the source of economic inequality in the USA. Click on the links below for a 2-part in-depth expose of such, and how the Democratic Party has not been aggressive enough in challenging the lies of Republicans regarding who is responsible for it:

America's Four Stories (Part 1)

America's Four Stories (Part 2)

A summary:

"The Democrats’ weakest story has been the Rot at the Top. Democrats have been reluctant to condemn economic elites who have grown richer than ever and who have used their affluence to corrupt the political system.

"This should not be surprising. Since the 1980s, Democrats have been drinking at the same funding troughs as Republicans — big corporations, Wall Street, and wealthy individuals. And as the Supreme Court opened the spigots of big money into politics, those troughs have become far larger, for both parties."

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"Bernie Sanders told this story about the real Rot at the Top, but other leading Democrats have been reluctant to tell it.

"The Democrats’ failure to tell this story has enabled Republican cultural populism to fill the void, offering Americans who were growing distrustful of the system an explanation for what had gone wrong and a set of villains to blame — immigrants, '“coastal elites,' 'woke'ism, the 'deep state,' transgendered people, 'communists,' 'socialists,' the 'Left,' Critical Race Theory, 'cat ladies,' and other bogeymen.

"But none of these is the real explanation. The real explanation, the real Rot at the Top, has been a new record concentration of wealth and power at the top — enough to corrupt our system of self-government."

Authoritarianism: Two Podcast Episodes To Help In Better Understanding

"Authoritarianism and autocracies take many forms. So how do you know it when you see it? Our guide to the erosion of choice, rights, truth and power is Anne Applebaum, author of several books including, most recently, Autocracy, Inc."

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-authoritarianism/id1195657423?i=1000679860773

"We’re in strange times. In the U.S., we’re finding ourselves in a situation in which the possibility of genuine democratic retrenchment and some version of presidential authoritarian dictatorship is a real possibility. There’s a lot to consider as the liberal democracy we’ve become accustomed to could erode right before our eyes in the near future. Steve Levitsky is a professor of government at Harvard and serves as the director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Levitsky is also a New York Times bestselling author of numerous books including, “How Democracies Die” and “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point,” which he co-authored with Daniel Ziblatt. He joins WITHpod to discuss entering into a new era, the uncertainty of this moment, the process by which a democracy might backslide into something that's less democratic and resisting the erosion."

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-democratic-backsliding-happens-with-steve-levitsky/id1382983397?i=1000679858361 

A Look At The US's Historical Battle Regarding Liberalism

"When Movement Conservatives convinced followers to redefine 'liberal' as an epithet rather than a reflection of the nation’s quest to defend the rights of individuals—which was quite deliberate—they undermined the central principle of the United States of America. In its place, they resurrected the ideology of the world the American Founders rejected, a world in which an impoverished majority suffers under the rule of a powerful few."

Click here for a perspective from my favorite American historian, Heather Cox Richardson.

Why The Political Split Based On A College Degree?

" - - - Over the past few decades, American society has experienced seismic changes. One of the trends we have seen is a rightward shift towards the Republican Party among voters without a four-year college degree and a pro-democratic center-left shift of voters who have a four-year college degree. There’s a lot to unpack about what has animated these changes. Matt Grossmann is the director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and a professor of political science at Michigan State University. Dave Hopkins is a political scientist at Boston College. Grossmann and Hopkins are the co-authors of “Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics.” They join WITHpod to discuss the origin of these trends, the effects on both major parties, and more."

Click on the link below for a podcast delving into a phenomenon that effectively lost the election for Kamala Harris:

Polarized by Degrees

Leading Economists Strongly Prefer Harris' Economic Plan

"Twenty-three Nobel Prize-winning economists endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump in a joint letter released Wednesday. Morning Joe economic analyst Steve Rattner joins Morning Joe to discuss the economic plans of both Trump and Harris."

Click on the link below for the details:

Trump’s mass deportation and trade war plans will tank the economy

The "Multiplier Effect" In The Economy

Many economists will admit that economics is the "Dismal Science." Why? Because there are unaccounted-for variables. That said, the Multiplier Effect is science, thus real. In other words, when you spend money on ANYTHING, that goes through the economy and becomes worth more than the original amount of money many times over, to the benefit of all. The Democrats/Progressives recognize this reality, but the conservatives/Republicans/MAGA don't. That is why it is wrong for wealth to pool at the top of society unspent when EVERYONE benefits more when the middle and lower classes get more money because they SPEND more of their wealth.

The Difference Is Stark: Vote Wisely

"The difference between the Democrats and the Republicans in this election is stark, and it reflects a systemic problem that has been growing in the U.S. since the 1980s."

Click on this link from my favorite American historian for an informed summary of the positives of the Democrats and the negatives of the Republicans as the USA faces the most important vote since at least the Civil War.

It Is Difficult To Determine Causation Regarding The Economy

Click on the links below for several articles about whether Trump or Biden was better for the economy. It is important to consider all influences. One cannot just look at their effects presently:

The Trump and Biden Economies by the Numbers

Biden versus Trump's Economies

Biden versus Trump's Economy, in Eight Charts

How The Economy Really Fared Under Biden/Harris And Trump

Two Views Of The Future In The USA

Click on the two links below for two views that can't be reconciled:

The Democrats

The Republicans

VOTE WISELY!!

15 Minutes To Really Understand US Politics

"An overwhelming majority of WHITE Christians vote Republican. And an overwhelming majority of BLACK Christians vote Democrat. Why is that? Don't they read the same Bible and pray to the same God? Which group doesn't know they're voting for the wrong party?? Phil Vischer takes us on a fast-paced trip through history to figure out why different American Christians read the same Bible, pray to the same God, and vote very, very differently."

Click on the link below to look at US history through the changes in the two major US political parties since the Civil War:

Why do White Christians Vote Republican, and Black Christians Vote Democrat?

Healthcare Policy: The Difference Is Stark

"The general election campaign is underway, spotlighting former President Trump, the Republican nominee, and Vice President Harris, the Democratic nominee, as the viable contenders for the presidency. Although health care reform may not be a central issue in this election as in the past, health care remains a significant concern for voters. Trump and Harris have distinctly different records and positions on health care. This side-by-side analysis provides a quick resource for understanding Trump’s presidential record and Harris’ record in the Biden-Harris administration and in previously held public office, as well as their current positions and proposed policies. Proposals are from when candidates served as president and vice president respectively unless text or links indicate otherwise. This tool will be continuously updated as new information and policy details emerge throughout the campaign."

Bookmark this post as it is updated. DO NOT ACCEPT THE DISINFORMATION FROM MAGA!!

https://www.kff.org/compare-2024-candidates-health-care-policy/

Nationalism Is NOT Patriotism

"What is the 'idea' of America? The core of the American identity? Trump, Vance, and the GOP say they’re all about patriotism; in fact, they’re promoting a white Christian identity form of nationalism, which is an entirely different thing. A dark, dangerous, and deadly thing. Incompatible with our Founders’ idea of America. The work of our day is to restore the idea of America — an egalitarian democratic republic — and then help it realize its full potential after all these many long years…"

Click on this link for a video exposing the danger of white, Christian nationalism.

Reflections On Important Matters Now

Click on the link below for a bonus Best of the Left sample podcast looking at the following:

- How we're feeling
- The philosophy of liberal patriotism
- The positive policies Democrats should be running on to inspire voters
- The reckoning the current Democratic Party desperately needs

REFERENCES:

Liberal Patriotism Is About More Than Flag-Waving

How to Beat Trump in a World of Unreason

Democrats don’t just need a new candidate. They need a reckoning.

Bonus Sample: In a Dinghy of Hope

Don't Believe The Lies: Democrats Best Against Crime And For The Economy

US Crime Rates At Historic Lows

The FBI released its latest Uniform Crime Reporting survey last week that revealed a notable positive trend continuing across the US—with violent and property crimes dropping by double digits.

Compared to January through March 2023, data from the first quarter of 2024 indicates that reported violent crime decreased by 15.2 percent.

Murder decreased by more than 26 percent.

Rape is down by 25.7 percent.

Robbery dropped by 17.8 percent.

Aggravated assault reports decreased by 12.5 percent.

Property crime also decreased by just over 15 percent.

The report includes data from more than 18,000 city, county, state, tribal, university and college, and federal law enforcement agencies.

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/us-crime-rate-drops-to-historic-lows-new-q1-stats-show/

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Surging crime levels, out-of-control Democratic cities and 'migrant crime.'

Former President Donald Trump regularly cites all three at his campaign rallies, in news releases and on Truth Social, often saying President Joe Biden and Democrats are to blame.

But the crime picture Trump paints contrasts sharply with years of police and government data at both the local and national levels.

FBI statistics released this year suggested a steep drop in crime across the country last year. It's a similar story across major cities, with violent crime down year over year in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

NBC News analyzed crime data to evaluate Trump's assertions about the topic.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trumps-claims-crime-rates-clash-police-data-rcna145353


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Democratic Administrations Have Economic Advantage Since 1949

Since 1949, there has been a Democratic advantage in the average performance of key macroeconomic indicators measuring economic health, including: 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
Job growth
Unemployment rate
Growth in inflation-adjusted wages
Growth of market-based incomes per capita
Inflation
Interest rates

This Democratic advantage is across the board in all variables we measure but strongest in private-sector outcomes—notably, business investment, job growth, and the growth of market-based incomes.

Household income growth (adjusted for inflation) was faster on average and far more equal during Democratic administrations, and the Democratic advantage shows up for every group.

https://www.epi.org/publication/econ-performance-pres-admin/

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