State of the Democratic Party

[Belsnickel]

(11-17-2016, 05:50 PM)THE Bigzoman Wrote: Hey Bell,

I want your perspective on something.

So, in generalities, it is very true that a lot of lip service is given to the idea of helping out the poor, just as it is the middle class, without a ton of action being done. Both sides do this, though the left tends to favor a direct help approach and the right a more indirect approach. This is why it appears that the left courts that voting bloc harder.

Here is why nothing happens, though: money. I'm not just talking about what it costs to carry out these programs, which is a big part of it, but also the money being spent on campaigns, the money being spent on lobbyists, all of it.

Budgetary concerns: Programs to help the poor cost money. Whether it is entitlements/welfare or whether it is job training, education assistance, whatever. It all costs money, and it all costs money that has to come from somewhere. These programs are tough to get passed because they don't come with great public opinion. People receive erroneous information on them in their planning stages from the opposing side, and that turns them against them. Doesn't matter if the idea was attempted by the other side 4 years prior, they will still trash talk it. Plus, the revenue used for these programs isn't going to be coming from the people that benefit from them most (though philosophically that can be debated) making it an even harder sell. The worst is if it involves a tax increase, otherwise known as political suicide.

Campaign finance: plain and simple, poor people don't have deep enough pockets to influence policy in this arena and those that do aren't considered with them.

Lobbyists: everyone is represented by lobbyists in our government. We are all a part of interest groups whether we have formal membership in the NRA, Sierra Club, AAA, whatever, or whether we are free riders on the benefits of the lobbying efforts of those groups. The largest and most influential lobbyist in the country is the Chamber of Commerce. They have a hand in just about everything. But who isn't there a lobbyist group for? The homeless. The poor. Sure, there are groups that will raise concerns that these segments of our population would be concerned with, but they don't have the dedicated lobbyists because, you guessed it, they can't pay them. And here is a little well-known secret, money alone isn't the guarantee for getting policy passed. Campaign contributions, they give you a 50/50 shot. Having more lobbyists than the other side? 60/40. Having more lobbyists that used to work in government? 75/25. Okay, so these numbers are pulled out of my ass because I can't find my charts presently but it's not that far off. I'll step off my soap box on this for the time being.

Anyway, my point with all of this is to show more about why these segments get ignored, and they get ignored by everyone. It's a sad story but it is why we need to suck it up as a country, put on our big boy britches, and work towards a better future by looking at policies that can help them. Yeah, it's going to cost money, but it can help our economy grow and become more prosperous.

Sorry for the rant there, and I hope I responded to you in a way that made sense. I know I got a little soap-boxy but this is something that I have been talking about a lot lately.