What political trends you don't like about your state?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I'd like to see Western PA go back to the Democrats (Mondale won 9 PA counties that Obama lost) as opposed to being swing-lean D. Actually, I'd be willing nationwide to trade rich Philadelphia/California suburbs to get back the Rustbelt in eastern Ohio, Western PA, WV, etc. I want to bring about a new New Deal Coalition, of the white working class, college students, ethnic minorities, liberal intellectuals, union members (sort of connected with the first one) with a Democratic party closer to Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown than Barack Obama and Tim Kaine.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I'm a Republican in NY.  Need I say more?

You had Pataki for 12 years.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Impossible. There simply aren't enough working class whites in good paying jobs (industry, auto-manufacturing). The old UAW workers are now living in the suburbs, and vote based on cultural issues. Today's union members are mostly hispanic and black service employees who don't make very much money and rely heavily on the state, rather than on the company.

I used to agree with your basic attitudes, in that I was a big supporter of the NDC and believed that it could be duplicated in today's climate. But then I read more about it and came to this conclusion: Every political generation has it's own coalitions, but they can't remain stagnant. The New Deal coalition served it's purpose in the 1930, 40s, and 50s. There was a general post-war consensus within the Democratic Party that government intervention into the economy generated jobs and growth for everyone. That was largely because we weren't competing with anyone as they had all gotten the sh**t bombed out of them. Our economy was thriving, revenue came pouring in, and we could afford a heavily involved government. Then social issues cropped up, leading Southern whites and later the WWC to vote for Republicans like Nixon and Reagan. At the same time, the Democrats began to do better among women, young people, and eventually suburbanites. However with folks like McGovern and Mondale, we clung to the old New Deal mantra. In the economy of post-1960s America, that was simply untenable. Competing with Germany, Japan, China, and the developing world, we can't believe that more government will solve our problems. Clinton recognized that, creating a New Democratic coalition based on the suburbs, minorities, and women. They supported less government intervention in the economy, were socially liberal, and wanted to change the way the welfare state functioned. Obama has built on this.

In short, we can't have the NDC back, nor should we want it. The protectionism of Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders hurts many more Americans than it helps. Sure, what's left of our paltry manufacturing base will benefit. But what about consumers, farmers, and tech workers? They have to pay more and sell less of their products. In today's economy, we can't pander to the old wwc which no longer exists in the way it used to. The New Democratic Party needs to be based around smart education, energy, and investment. Not big government.

The same Democratic party which continuously compromises the welfare of the people to support the rich base, and puts gay marriage above infrastructure? Don't get me wrong, I'm socially liberal. However, the fact is that, under successive administrations of corporate shills, inequality has grown, the rich have gotten richer even under these economic times, and Big Money has been shown to be far more potent than Big Government. Just like we needed a New Deal after the destructive Republican 1920s, today we need a New Deal. With crumbling infrastructure, decaying bridges, and thousands of jobs going overseas, how can we not need an intervention? Thanks to Republicans like Saint Emperor Reagan and Republican-lites like Obama, we are entering the worst time to be in the working class since the Gilded Era. That industry is leaving because we're quite literally paying corporations to ship those jobs to China. And you know what? Just for you, a fiscally conservative solution; tax credits for companies who stay in America, combined with tariffs on Chinese goods, as well as limiting free trade policies to developed countries with the same labor standards. Though we'll never see anything again like in the mid-20th century, we can put more focus into industry, and not just automobiles but other technologies; imagine the potential of a factory in Michigan to focus on the creation of wind turbines.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Maybe my solutions wouldn't be necessary if companies cared more about helping the U.S. economy at large than their own personal finances. Neoliberalism simply takes advantage of foreign labor and takes that labor from higher-paid American workers; in addition, both Democrats and Republicans seem more willing to spend money on Libya than East St. Louis. The New Democrats' squishiness on fiscal policy has allowed the most dangerous political party since the NSDAP to continually hook more strings onto the government, hoisted by those same corporate elites you idolize. And all the while, the party with a supposed duty to stand up for the working class people of all races willingly gives up health care and living wage rights for the far right to consider raising the top tax rate from 36% to 39%. Why not 50%, as it was under Reagan Christ?

If you truly do prefer winning the Kardashian vote to winning in Michigan, or Missouri, or Pennsylvania, go ahead. You're not welcome among what once was the party that stood up for true justice and equality, not just based on who you sleep with.