Originally posted by Bernie Brewer
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Staunch conservatives are convinced that Dems waste money on welfare for lazy black people. This notion has grown stronger and stronger since Reagan's "welfare queen" trope. The truth is, according to the most recent study I could find (2010), that 90% of entitlement spending goes to the elderly, disabled and working households.
As for abortion, more Americans consider themselves "pro-choice" than "pro-life". A strong majority do not wish to see Roe v. Wade overturned. So when you hear conservative politicians talk about wanting SCOTUS to do the will of the people, take it with a grain of salt.
I think the Party needs to stay true to its core principles of civil rights, including the right of a woman to choose. And I think we need to stay true to our historic positions of support to working families and union labor. The Democratic Party took the position that union labor made this country great, by bettering wages and conditions, making it possible for everyday Americans to buy their own homes and live the American dream. As unions have declined since the early 70s, income inequality has skyrocketed, and wages have stagnated by comparison.
I've spent a lifetime on the fringe, but what now passes as the far left of the Democratic Party is far different that what is has been before. The Party needs to change, but careening to the left without clear purpose is a reaction, not a strategy, and it will not regain those working class voters who have been lost over the last 20 years.
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