ALPERN AT LARGE-The politics behind "media bias" would be laughable if there weren't so much ongoing financial and emotional misery persisting in so many Americans who want nothing more than a chance to "make it" and move ahead. The biggest challenge and insult to their struggle: "The Big Lie". Things are getting better. Joblessness is down. The economy is shaping up. We're doing just FINE.
In short, "The Big Lie".
And while the Federal Reserve (or, the Fed, for short, and for those whose eyes aren't yet glazing over because they're already bored about this topic) has done a great job propping up Wall Street for those who can afford more than food, rent and utilities (like stocks, bonds, etc.), and to keep mortgage and other rates low, a quarter of U.S. families are under economic stress without hope of wages rising, according to Reuters.
And while that Reuters article notes that a third of respondents reported retiring later, it didn't denote other dangerous implications of a Federal Reserve and a presidency that is--despite all the public proclamations against Wall Street, health plans and misbehaving corporations--entirely supportive of Wall Street elites and showing little to no love for average Main Street families trying to survive.
Screaming about misbehaving corporations makes good campaign fodder (and some very good moral points), but it does NOTHING to fix the problem. Even with long-overdue Congressional action, there's a limit as to what the government can do to prevent legal addresses (and employment) from changing to realms outside the U.S.
Publicly berate Wall Street, then help it (I know--very clever, helps you win elections and funding, but harmful to the economy).
Publicly berate health plans, then pass an Affordable Care Act (which probably most of Congress and the President didn't really read and understand--who could have?) written by these same health plans (I know--very clever, helps you win elections and funding, but harmful to the economy).
Publicly berate the banks, then propping up those entities too big to fail and allowing high-paid bank execs to pass on their fines and loan repayments on to the consumer instead of making THEM pay (I know--very clever, helps you win elections and funding, but harmful to the economy).
Publicly berate Congress for not creating comprehensive immigration reform and yell at native-born Americans (who are black, white, Latino and Asian, not just white) who are begging for a policy that doesn't flood the market with low-wage labor and undercut minimum- and lower-wage workers' ability to negotiate for pay raises, and then throw money at those who knowing are breaking the law and at the expense of native-born minorities and veterans.
Again, all very clever, and helps you win elections, funding and love from a fawning media that is happy to misrepresent the truth (and from a political powerbase that is happy to do or say anything to protect itself), but the recent Reuters/Ipsos poll that reportedly showed Americans were AGAINST speeding deportation of "migrant children" sent here illegally (and paid for by?)...yet was actually FOR sending them home.
No one, when they get their blood pressure down, wants to send children back to a certain misery or death--so being against a pell-mell deportation of any children into harm's way is as ridiculous as the suggestion that Americans are heartless and noncaring about the slaughtering of civilians in Iraq, Syria and other parts of the Mideast.
So when those intrepid folks question the ability of states and cities to demand a 33%-50% hike in the minimum wage without offering some relief to employers (who, with the ACA and higher taxes and regulations, are staggering under this burden), are they demonized or taken seriously?
So when those intrepid folks who want homelessness addressed with both services and responsibilities for all, are they demonized or taken seriously?
So when those intrepid folks ask whether our environmental policies are destroying the ability of businesses to survive, while jacking up the cost of food, transportation, utilities, etc., are they demonized or taken seriously?
So when those intrepid folks question the wisdom of quoting the U-3 (unemployment figure limited to those who report being unemployed) instead of the U-6 (which includes unemployed, underemployed and unhappily employed) which STILL might not give an accurate view of how many people are feeling nervous or giving up on ever getting ahead...are they demonized or taken seriously?
Increasing numbers of Americans are caring not about which major political party should get the job done, but care only about actually getting that job done. Demonizing the Tea Party or the Occupy Movements while they rail at a Wall Street/Washington political/economic cronyism will just NOT fix the problem.
Demanding the Tea Party or Occupy purge itself of their lunatic fringes makes good sense, but neither the Republican Party should ignore its conservative wing nor the Democratic Party should ignore its liberal wing.
It's easy to demonize conservatives or liberals at the edges of power for their political philosophies, but both appear to be speaking truth to power: too much focus on monied elities, and too little focus on Main Street. College and debts are too darned high, and taxes are being spent inappropriately. Businesses on Main Street are being shown no love, and Wall Street misbehaving parasites are being shown too much love, by Washington.
{module [862]} {module [662]}
As with the educational danger that is Common Core, where both hard-core liberals and hard-core conservatives are being thrown together in a rather unique oppositional alliance, it will be up to our next generation of leaders (or this one, if it wants to survive) to recognize that "being conservative" or "being liberal" is just name-calling and doesn't focus on the Big Question:
IS THE AVERAGE AMERICAN BEING GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO SURVIVE, THRIVE AND SUCCEED?
Any other political distractions and paradigm-slamming ignores this critical question...and promotes only "The Big Lie" that proclaims we're all doing "just FINE..."
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] . He also does regular commentary on the Mark Isler Radio Show on AM 870, and co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.
-cw
