Why Democrats Need to Stand With Working Americans vs. Big Banks

Why Democrats Need to Stand With Working Americans vs. Big Banks

Why Democrats Need to Stand With Working Americans vs. Big Banks

Democrats should stop supporting a bill that would loosen the reins on Wall Street.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

For election watchers, perhaps the most significant development of the past week happened not in Washington but in Wisconsin, where Democratic candidate Patty Schachtner won a state Senate race in a district that President Trump carried by 17 points. The unexpected victory, which Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) called a “wake-up call” for the GOP, marked the 34th legislative seat that Democrats have flipped this cycle and offered yet another signal that a wave election may be coming.

A year into the Trump era, the discontent that drove his support among the working class in places such as Wisconsin has not abated. Though Trump’s base has not yet abandoned him, his approval rating has dropped across voter demographics. The environment is ripe for Democrats, powered by the massive resistance that manifested again last weekend at Women’s March events nationwide, to reclaim control of Congress. Unfortunately, a group of Senate Democrats seems intent on squandering this moment by siding against working families on the issue that most clearly embodies how the US economy is rigged against them. They are joining with Republicans to roll back regulations on big banks.

As The New York Times reports, 11 Democrats are co-sponsoring a bill introduced by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) that would significantly weaken the Dodd-Frank reforms enacted in 2010. Trump has expressed that loosening the reins on Wall Street is one of his top legislative priorities for 2018, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is expected to bring Crapo’s bill to the floor within the next month.

Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

Support independent journalism that does not fall in line

Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

But this journalism is possible only with your support.

This March, The Nation needs to raise $50,000 to ensure that we have the resources for reporting and analysis that sets the record straight and empowers people of conscience to organize. Will you donate today?

Ad Policy
x