Kevin Mahoney takes over the mic for this conversation as the two of us take a close look at Democrat Bob Harvie’s “New Fair Deal for Working Families” – a 12 point plan for “Restoring the Promise of the American Dream in the 21st Century.” The former Social Studies teacher turned to his History textbook and the Truman administration for inspiration. (What do you first think of when you hear “President Truman”?)
The thing is, Truman’s “Fair Deal” (which looked to build on the legacy of FDR’s transformative “New Deal”) wasn’t even very successful because of a conservative coalition of Southern Democrats and Republicans who blocked most of the president’s agenda.
I think it’s fair to say that we have some questions for the Harvie campaign and some thoughts on what’s needed if Democrats have a shot at defeating the always slippery, deep-pocketed, yet vulnerable Republican Brian Fitzpatrick in this year’s mid-term elections.
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NOTE: At one point in the conversation I misspoke regarding health care spending. I said that the U.S. spends half as much on insurance than other countries. What I meant to say was that OTHER COUNTRIES spend half as much as the U.S. per person on health. For clarification, here’s the relevant article from Peterson-KFF:
