THOMAS FRANK, LISTEN, LIBERAL | Guest on Bill Maher Show, Friday, April 29

Last edited Thu Apr 28, 2016, 03:23 PM - Edit history (2)

Thomas Frank will be a guest, Fri. April 29, 10 PM on the HBO Show, "Real Time with Bill Maher". Other guests: Rob Reiner, Wayne Pacelle, Mark Leibovich, Kellyanne Conway. http://www.real-time-with-bill-maher-blog.com/


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Political writer Thomas Frank's newest book, "Listen Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People" (2016) outlines the transformation of the Democratic Party of the New Deal and the Big Tent to a party of the professional class according to the author. Frank has also written the noted books, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" and "The Wrecking Crew." In the last few months, Frank appeared on Thom Hartmann's programs to discuss "Listen Liberal" and held book talks in Kansas City, Seattle and other events some of which are posted here.
Kansas City, MO Library Book Talk, http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017358989
Elliott Bay Bookstore, Seattle Talk, http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017360353
The Big Picture, Thom Hartmann Show, http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=340617

Politics & Prose Bookstore, Wash., DC ."In his sharp appraisal of the current political scene, Frank, founding editor of The Baffler and former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Harper’s, notes that though Democrats have held the White House for the majority of the last twenty-four years, there’s been little commensurate achievement on many social justice issues. With the same common sense and mastery of argument and evidence he wielded in books including Pity the Billionaire, The Wrecking Crew, and What’s the Matter with Kansas?, Frank takes Democrats to task and warns the party to shake its complacency or prepare to be voted out."




*IN THESE TIMES, April 26, 2016. "THOMAS FRANK ON HOW DEMOCRATS WENT FROM BEING THE 'PARTY OF THE PEOPLE' TO THE PARTY OF RICH ELITES", Democrats have gone from the party of the New Deal to a party that is defending mass inequality.
The Democratic Party was once the party of the New Deal and the ally of organized labor. But by the time of Bill Clinton's presidency, it had become the enemy of New Deal programs like welfare and Social Security and the champion of free trade deals. What explains this apparent reversal? Thomas Frank—best known for his analysis of the Republican Party base in What's the Matter with Kansas?—attempts to answer this question in his latest book, Listen Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?

According to Frank, popular explanations which blame corporate lobby groups and the growing power of money in politics are insufficient. Frank instead points to a decision by Democratic Party elites in the 1970s to marginalize labor unions and transform from the party of the working class to the party of the professional class. In so doing, the Democratic Party radically changed the way it understood social problems and how to solve them, trading in the principle of solidarity for the principle of competitive individualism and meritocracy. The end result is that the party which created the New Deal and helped create the middle class has now become “the party of mass inequality.” *In These Times spoke with Frank recently about the book via telephone.
The book is about how the Democratic Party turned its back on working people and now pursues policies that actually increase inequality. What are the policies or ideological commitments in the Democratic Party that make you think this?
The first piece of evidence is what’s happened since the financial crisis. This is the great story of our time. Inequality has actually gotten worse since then, which is a remarkable thing. This is under a Democratic president who we were assured (or warned) was the most liberal or radical president we would ever see. Yet inequality has gotten worse, and the gains since the financial crisis, since the recovery began, have gone entirely to the top 10 percent of the income distribution.

...A lot of progressives that I talk to are pretty familiar with the idea that the Democratic Party is no longer protecting the interests of workers, but it’s pretty common for us to blame it on mainly the power of money in politics. But you start the book in chapter one by arguing there’s actually something much deeper going on. Can you say something about that? Money in politics is a big part of the story, but social class goes deeper than that. The Democrats have basically made their commitment [to white-collar professionals] already before money and politics became such a big deal. It worked out well for them because of money in politics. So when they chose essentially the top 10 percent of the income distribution as their most important constituents, that is the story of money.

It wasn’t apparent at the time in the ‘70s and ‘80s when they made that choice. But over the years, it has become clear that that was a smart choice in terms of their ability to raise money. Organized labor, of course, is no slouch in terms of money. They have a lot of clout in dollar terms. However, they contribute and contribute to the Democrats and they almost never get their way—they don’t get, say, the Employee Free Choice Act, or Bill Clinton passes NAFTA. They do have a lot of money, but their money doesn’t count. All of this happened because of the civil war within the Democratic Party. They fought with each other all the time in the ‘70s and the ‘80s. One side hadn’t completely captured the party until Bill Clinton came along in the ‘90s. That was a moment of victory for them.
Read More: http://inthesetimes.com/article/19084/listen-liberal-thomas-frank-democratic-party-elites-inequality