106 Comments

Manchin is a little man swinging his little dick. But the D's need to stop playing victim.

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May 14, 2022Liked by Heather Lofthouse

I love Coffee Klatch. I look forward to listening every Saturday morning. Thank you for the insights.

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I love you guys! The bob and heather morning show! Dems unite!

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founding
May 14, 2022Liked by Heather Lofthouse

Here in New Hampshire the lilacs are blooming! Oh, to bury your face in that fragrance. It softens all the difficult news of the week. On messaging? And the Dems? We can't go wrong with a spirited reminder that we're ALL in this together - yes, we have differences of opinion, but ultimately as Americans, we do best when we pull together. Biden can deliver this message with fire - he believes it to his toenails. We need a passionate, inclusive affirmation of our capabilities.

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May 15, 2022Liked by Heather Lofthouse

Thank you, Prof. Reich and Heather, for expressing the thoughts, frustrations, and fears of many of us. It’s the next best thing to having coffee together! And yes, Democrats need to listen to the Progressive/Populist leaders in the Party: Sanders, Warren, Jayapal, AOC. They all need to pressure Biden to be bold in his leadership on the economic front. And they need to point out to the American people what the Republican Party stands for and what Democrats are against: Anti-democratic, racist, misogynist, autocracy, and cruelty.

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May 15, 2022Liked by Heather Lofthouse

I will often remind myself that "Hope is not a strategy, and you have to EARN your optimism." I believe most can sense or acknowledge that our democratic system and way of life are in peril, and that our responses to this point range between denial and rage. (By "peril," I mean due for an earth-shattering rearrangement.)

One thing that really gets to me are these annual state of the union messages that have become exercises in denying that serious problems WITH OUR UNION exist.

One source of hope is the belief that we have the tools and ability to adjust to the shocks and storms that await us. We simply are not even beginning to use them.

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Are Congressional Democrats afraid to lose big corporates donors? And is this watering down Dem’s messaging? All I receive from Democrats is constant requests for donations and complaints about Republicans. I have started deleting all political emails without reading them.

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I do believe that you are correct in stressing a strong, coherent populist message, not one motivated by the greed of the wealthy and the general hatred of right-wing white supremacists and xenophobes but by a concern for working people who are not making it. We should applaud the brave young and old people who are taking on the wealthy (and their hangers-on) by supporting unions, civil rights marches, the Roe v Wade decision, Planned Parenthood, and decent people who have decided that each individual in the US has an intrinsic value and worth, each of us has a voice equal to anyone else, that those who are only motivated by personal gain (wealth and power) should not set the agenda but all of us. We need legislators, elected officials and executives, and Supreme Court and other justices, who will put our mutual and majority will above their own will and interests.

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I think the Democrats have a message. It's too often too distant to mean much to individual voters. I cringe when they post things about the economy, unemployment, or the huge amounts that have been spent on infrastructure or covid relief. These things are too big or too abstract. I think what works is telling how individuals are helped. I agree our messaging needs to be more populist, and making it meaningful to individual voters is a crucial part of that. We also need to call out the Republicans for what they've done to obstruct and delay, and what they plan to do if voted back into power.

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I live in rural Ohio. PaulaOH, I feel you. I was very politically active in the 60’s and 70’s but not so much lately. 2016 was a rude awakening. Realized I couldn’t just slide off into the sunset if I wanted to feel like an ethical human. I now live in the rustiest rust belt ever. I’m wondering what happened to the Rural Initiative I volunteered for in 2020.

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Just glad I am dual. Moving to Canada next year.

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Why isn't Manchin asked to leave the Democratic Party? His voting record shows that he does not agree with our policies and philosophy.

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We are all exhausted because Biden, for whatever reason, is still beholden to corporate interests, and too many Democrats have made a fortune while serving to seriously push for the wealth tax. It is, of course, a no brainer. Unfortunately too many voters in trailer parks are waving Trump 2024 signs and think that he helped them. How? They can't specify - but it's the bigotry really. He hated (and still hates) the same people these poor trailer-park-haters hate. We need a STRONG populist message about how the billionaires are the "elites" who are ripping us all off. And we need to show how EVERYTHING they say are crimes that Dems (really Progressives) have committed are actually crimes THEY have and continue to commit., voting fraud, killing babies, unfair tax liability, letting people die because they have no health insurance and are poor etc.etc.etc. The economy is great for the rich - and we MUST clearly state that the economy is not so great for US - the working people. AOC and Katie Porter are great at this - but Establishment Dems keep side-lining them - to OUR collective peril. Talk about overwhelm and exhaustion - THIS is what keeps me up at night.

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Thanks again for the coffee klatches. IMO the dem's messaging is weak, and has been weak for many years, simply because they try so very hard not to alienate their corporate donors. Biden's recent statements that capitalism without competition is akin to exploitation, while it rings true to me, is not a truly a succinct, populist message that you can really get behind. He doesn't forcefully tie it the impact it has on pricing power and inflation like you have so many times in your newsletters and wealth & poverty classes. Please cut me some slack here, as I spent my life working in engineering, I think a more populist message would be "You can't help but win when you make the rules" or something like that. Of course, the dem's can't say that because many of them have helped the monied write the rules and have been complicit in the process. Now that we're the fallout from the draft R v W decision taking hold, my impression is that the dem's feel as is the repub's dropped a gift basket in their laps, that they can take to the bank. I'm not so sure that it's going to be enough. In my mind, until the dem's cut their dependence on corporate donations, they will never be a party that a majority of working families can really rally behind. I'll just keep supporting Bernie and other progressives because that is where I believe the real future and continuing prosperity for our country will be found. If Jessica Cisneros can defeat Henry Cuellar in the Texas in the Tx congressional democratic primary, maybe it will send another wake up call to the dem establishment to get their house in order and start prioritizing working families instead of the large monied corporations.

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I don’t really feel very anxious or upset at the moment. If a recession comes, we are still ok because our retirement income stays the same and prices go down. I have to do a little more budgeting right now with prices being so high but still feel confident in our government. My greatest fear is of Trump getting back into power and will do everything I can to assist the Democrats. I have mixed feelings about Roe v Wade. It has never affected me personally, will never affect me. I am certainly not on board with killing babies but, I feel strongly that what treatment or procedure is decided between a patient and a doctor should be kept private and is none of my business. I am not the one who will have to deal with the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy. What ever happened to the “right to privacy” laws?

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the coffee klatch is great. I would feel better about both the midterms and the stock market if the democrats had a clear policy approach to inflation that would likely work. agree that higher interest rates - while IMO needed at some level - won't solve the problem. at least longer term I think a lot of it is about supply issues - labor, energy, housing, etc. Make good investments in education, including vocational schools, get lower cost housing built in urban areas, let more immigrants in, absolutely invest in clean energy, do child care and elder care to increase labor participation rate - those are types of things that will give us a BETTER and more EQUITABLE economy. lay out the vision and policies even if you don't have the votes (now) - and the votes very well may follow. Do things that make a difference for those in the working class - the managerial class will figure out ways to make it no matter what ....

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