Robert Reich writes: "Look at the outrage in Madison, Wisconsin. Look at the crowds in DesMoines, Iowa. Look at the demonstrations in Indiana and Ohio and elsewhere around America. Hear what they're saying: Stop attacking unions. Stop making scapegoats out of public employees. Stop protecting the super-rich from paying their fair share of the taxes needed to keep our schools running."

Portrait, Robert Reich, 08/16/09. (photo: Perian Flaherty)

The Birth of the People's Party

By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog

08 March 11

ook at the outrage in Madison, Wisconsin. Look at the crowds in DesMoines, Iowa. Look at the demonstrations in Indiana and Ohio and elsewhere around America.

Hear what they're saying: Stop attacking unions. Stop making scapegoats out of public employees. Stop protecting the super-rich from paying their fair share of the taxes needed to keep our schools running.

Stop gutting the working middle class.

Are we finally seeing average Americans stand up and demand a fair shake in an economy now grotesquely tilted toward the wealthy and the privileged? Are Americans beginning to awake to the fact that our economy now delivers a larger share of total income to the very top than at any time in living memory? That big corporations are making more money and creating more jobs abroad than in the United States?

That this concentration of income and wealth has so corrupted politics that corporations can extort whatever they want from the government - tax breaks, loan guarantees, subsidies - while the super-rich can take most of their income as capital gains (taxed at 15 percent), and the rest at the lowest top rate in 25 years? And that because of this our kids are crowded into classrooms, our streets and highways and bridges are falling apart, and our healthcare bills are out of control?

The Tea Party grew out of indignation over the Wall Street bailout - an indignation shared by the vast majority of Americans. But the Tea Party ended up directing its ire at government rather than at big business and Wall Street. Was this because billionaires Charles and David Koch and their like funneled money to the Tea Party through front organizations like Dick Armey's Freedom Works, and thereby co-opted it?

Now we may be seeing the birth of a genuine populist movement. Call it the People's Party. Like the Tea Party, the People's Party doesn't have a clear organization or hierarchy or single address. It doesn't have lobbyists in Washington. It's not even yet recognized by the mainstream media.

But the People's Party seems to be growing in numbers and in intensity. And it's starting to push elected officials - first at the state level - to listen and respond.

Robert Reich is Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written twelve books, including "The Work of Nations," "Locked in the Cabinet," "Supercapitalism" and his latest book, "AFTERSHOCK: The Next Economy and America's Future." His 'Marketplace' commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.

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+111 # BishopAndrew 2011-03-08 12:31

I do hereby declare I am a member of the People's Party. The Democratic Party and the President have betrayed us repeatedly and they no longer care what happens to us. So Finegold or whomever if you are listening come and join or lead the New Democratic Progressive Party otherwise known as the People's Party!

+11 # Vincent Czyz 2011-03-09 08:17

You coulddn't be more right!

+65 # jo an gaines 2011-03-08 12:38

Dennis Kucinich is my choice for PRESIDENT.

+33 # Michael Conley 2011-03-08 14:25

Quoting jo an gaines:

Dennis Kucinich is my choice for PRESIDENT.

I love Dennis and his politics. Let's have a serious debate about issues like healthcare, department of peace, military budget, drug laws, energy policy, taxation. Please!!!

+11 # wfalco 2011-03-08 20:54

Quoting jo an gaines:

Dennis Kucinich is my choice for PRESIDENT.

Like any good progressive I like Dennis too. But is that realistic ? Would he attract the necessary African-America n vote ? And think about how upset that demographic would be if Obama was unseated in a primary.
Any man or woman who becomes President is bound by the realities of presiding over a monstrosity that is completely controlled by the corporate oligarchs.
Stop blaming Obama ! Progressive change can happen without direct leadership from any president or politician.
If WE LEAD THEY WILL COME.

+13 # SharonToji 2011-03-08 21:31

You are right. Dennis Kucinich, as attractive as his politics are, is not a realistic candidate. Even with a really good candidate, it's pretty difficult to run against a sitting president from your party. Remember Ted Kennedy?

Our choice right now is to rise up ourselves and send an unmistakable message to the White House that the public is ready to lead even if the president is not.

+10 # DesertMac 2011-03-09 04:45

wfalco, I DO blame Obama! He has shown not one shred of leadership on anything. He has caved over and over again to the right without even a whimper! He took the public option off the table before the debate even began, and we never even heard about single payer. He's wanting to kill Fannie and Freddie so that middle class folks will never be able to get a homeloan again that isn't just highway robbery. He's done-- or not done-- so many things that totally betray the people in favor of big biz. I am more than over him. He's a DINO and he totally deceived us! And his Monsanto whore Vilsack is now foisting GMOs on us with no study, no labeling and no accountability. F*CK OBAMA!

+7 # CTPatriot 2011-03-09 12:49

AMEN!!!!!!!!

0 # GlennCaton 2011-03-16 06:59

You may remember that the Democrats failed to run viable candidates in many Republican house districts in 2008. That crippled the President and ensured that single payer health care would never see the table. The Democrats failed to replace "Conservative" Democrats (DINO's ?) in 2010 and Progressives in a snit with the President stayed away from the polls in droves. You can't wait for the President to act. If he is going to get anything done, he has to work with the Republicans to build consensus. Remember, he was known as a consensus-build er when he headed the Law Revue at Harvard. If the Progressives can not give him airtight majorities in both houses of Congress, you can't expect him to hold his breath until the Republicans turn blue. That is their trick. Also remember that like the radical right, the Progressives form little more than thirty percent of the total voters. That means they are going to have to work REALLY hard to reverse more than forty years of social push to the right.

0 # Bonnie Crawford 2011-07-05 09:47

Yes, I realize that Obama is very much controlled by corporate oligarchs. However, he did NOT have to give in to blackmail - extending the Bush tax cuts, for example, without a FIGHT. He just caves right in. He at least could go on national TV and tell it like it is to the people, but he seems too timid to do that. I thought we were getting another FDR, who would not stand for this nonsense and who would stand up for the middle class. Obama has been a huge disappointment! Two of the few congressmen I trust are Alan Grayson and Bernie Sanders. They DO tell the truth!

+8 # DaveW. 2011-03-08 22:09

jo an gaines, Kucinich is a good man and would make a great President. But I personally don't think he's electable in today's political environment. He'll be smeared a "Socialist" and the right will make it stick with a voting electorate long on indignation and short on both memory and common sense. BishopAndrew suggests Feingold and I believe he's the better choice. Pair him up with Bernie Sanders and I believe they might have a shot. No matter who many of us on the left ultimately decide on there's one candidate who clearly DOES NOT fit the bill. You can send him a postcard care of "The White House" Washington D.C.

+9 # Kanna 2011-03-10 08:04

Mr Feingold has started an organization.
ProgressivesUnited.org.

-1 # joeymac 2011-03-10 18:17

Quoting DaveW.:

jo an gaines, Kucinich is a good man and would make a great President. But I personally don't think he's electable in today's political environment. He'll be smeared a "Socialist" and the right will make it stick with a voting electorate long on indignation and short on both memory and common sense. BishopAndrew suggests Feingold and I believe he's the better choice. Pair him up with Bernie Sanders and I believe they might have a shot. No matter who many of us on the left ultimately decide on there's one candidate who clearly DOES NOT fit the bill. You can send him a postcard care of "The White House" Washington D.C.

Obama was smeared as a "socialist" and was elected with the added handicap skin melanin.

0 # James Wilson 2011-03-09 13:07

Quoting jo an gaines:

Dennis Kucinich is my choice for PRESIDENT.

I love the fact that we're having this argument: Who should run as President of the Peoples Party!

0 # Bonnie Crawford 2011-07-05 09:56

Bernie Sanders is my choice, hands down! He's never afraid to candidly speak the truth - what a refreshing change!

-2 # disgusted American 2011-03-12 20:45

Vincent CZYZ and jo an gaines:

Don't forget this very important fact:

Kucinich was a firm no-vote for Obamacare which was a good thing. Then, while Pelosi was twisting arms and breaking kneecaps out back in the woodshed to elicit yes-votes from fencesitters, he was taken for a ride in Air Force One with Obama to speak in Ohio and emerged from the plane as a firm yes-vote.

Good thing he wasn't the last yes-vote to end the bombing of Hiroshima.

P.S. In 2014 and 2015, when you find out how Obamacare really works, you will be appalled at what was done to you in the guise of health care reform. MA residents know firsthand about this.

+62 # Paul Wortman 2011-03-08 12:50

Let's hope this is the case and not just another fleeting moment. It's clear that the "tipping point" in wealth and power has been reached (perhaps, over-reached, is more appropriate). Feingold-Sander s would be my New Progressive Party ticket of choice. It's time to re-balance the the scales of economic, political, and social justice. Obama's concession on tax-cuts for the rich after the massive Wall St. bailout with its "inglorious bast*rds" rolling in public wealth and ingratitude, was a deal "too far" over the abyss for me. They should all be in jail rather than out on our bail!!

+71 # Dave2 2011-03-08 12:52

If forming the People's Party can function like the Teabag Party does for its constituents, forcing the Democrats to define themselves and stand up once again for democracy, worker's rights and Progressive causes as it used to, Sign-Me-Up! Enough with all this "bi-partisanshi p" capitulation - let the Middle Class pilfering, democracy-hatin g Repuglicans compromise with US for a change!

+18 # mlwentworth 2011-03-08 12:55

Excuse me, but we already have a people’s party — the Democratic party. The Democratic Leadership Council took over the care and feeding of Democrats elected to Congress when grassroots Dems were took their eyes off the prize.

We need to take control of our Party’s apparatus instead of looking down the road to some mystical configuration that supposedly will save us. We need to do the hard work of taking control of state committees and putting a platform forward for all Democrats to support. That is what political parties do.

+38 # robhood 2011-03-08 13:21

The people lost the Democrat Party and visa-versa over a hundred years ago, as recognized by William Jennings Bryan, when he called the 2 major parties, "tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee". The leadership of the Democrat Party sold out and sold their souls a long time ago, and there is no redemption.
And, "grassroots Dems" did Not take "their eyes off the prize"! They were betrayed! The 'progressive promise' that was Obama, was but a campaign illusion. The Democrat leadership serves the same 'puppet masters' that the Republican leadership serves, and they have since the Civil War.

-69 # w wheelock 2011-03-08 13:56

Fitrst find some way to rid the parfty of Goerge Soros. This self-confessed collaborator with the Nazis(on Larry King) is poison to everything he touches and is no different than the Koches and their ilk that we abhor!

+11 # CTPatriot 2011-03-09 12:52

Thanks for stopping in to share the lies and distortions you learned from watching Glenn Beck. Now please go back to the cesspool at Free Republic and swim with your own kind.

-3 # nobody 2011-03-10 07:04

Quoting CTPatriot:

Thanks for stopping in to share the lies and distortions you learned from watching Glenn Beck. Now please go back to the cesspool at Free Republic and swim with your own kind.

CTPatriot,

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think you know who "w wheelock" is, where he is from, what he watches on Tee Vee, or if in fact he or she even watches Tee Vee at all.

We are in the majority and in the right on this, and don't need to resort to top 10 lists of logical fallacies (false dichotomy, poisoning the well, & ad hominem for starters).

"One should play fairly when one has the winning cards."
- Oscar Wilde

+9 # LegacyCost 2011-03-08 14:33

The Progressive Democrats of America www.pdamerica.org might be one place to start!

+8 # SharonToji 2011-03-08 21:34

You might want to take a look at the Progressive Democrats of America. They decided to try to reform the Democratic Party by keeping their registrations and being activists. Because of them, California now has a very large and active Progressive Caucus. It's slow going, but progress is always a long, hard slog!

+14 # Cody 2011-03-08 21:58

I don't agree.

Both parties are in collusion, a Democratic president put forth NAFTA.

Money doesn't know partisanship.

+2 # BeCarefulWhatYouWish 2011-03-10 07:24

I wish Reich would wake up to the fact that both Republicans and Democrats have allowed a very small clique of global currency cartel types [in the 19th century They were called the "international gold cartel"] to run America's currency & credit (which leads to de facto dominance of economy & politics) for the past 9 going on 10 decades.

The fees They charge for this service are not exactly small change, but perhaps the 2nd largest category of official US government spending... getting on towards $700 bn. a year. Want to know why They keep get richer, and we keep getting poorer? The basic facts are appallingly simple; only the obfuscatory propaganda is unduly complicated and unclear.

Don't let them fool you. Private cartel Fractional Reserve Banking is the oldest trick in the book. The day we, as a society, outgrow it, is the day serdom becomes a thing of the past.

"The process by which [private] banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled."
- J.K. Galbraith

+40 # Leon Fairbanks 2011-03-08 13:00

This is a great idea! If someone will take the ball and start running, much of the nation will follow. We are so sick of the two corrupt ruling parties.

+20 # Walker Rugino 2011-03-08 14:17

We need to each and every one of us pick up the ball for ourselves and start running with it.
It isn't up to a leader to find us - it's up to us to lead, and allow the leader to emerge.
For too long, Americans have been passive recipients in their own lives - in how we take in the news from how we "find" jobs.
It's time to shift to active engagement.

+1 # 3rdM-3rdE 2011-03-10 07:26

End private cartel Fractional Reserve Banking.

No one can stop an idea whose time has come.

+21 # Rothie 2011-03-08 13:01

I'm in with the people's party so lets get going. Pretty soon the people will start striking like they did in Egypt and other countries for job, jobs jobs. It is about time the people spoke up and raised a little hell for what they want, after all look at the rich, they got everything while the middle class got skunked, and to make matters worse, the government didn't do a thing about it.

+43 # Leon Fairbanks 2011-03-08 13:12

Excuse me, mlwentworth, but what have you been smoking? The Democratic party might as well be called the Corporate Party #2. We have to break free of the influence of bankers, oil barons, war profiteers, etc. The Democratic Party in Congress is hopelessly corrupt and enmeshed with the Plutocracy.

+28 # enrique 2011-03-08 13:17

Yes, the People's Party. Long overdue. And please, don't come up with the self-defeating argument: “they can't win“. Of course they can't if you give up before you even try. Just picture this beautiful sight: all the crooks thrown out, all of them, clean house! Kucinich must become the leader of this party and win the presidential election. We must start organizing very soon, ASAP.

-39 # J.D. STUTZ 2011-03-08 13:17

ROMNEY REAGAN 2012....OH !......YOU,LL SEE ?

-5 # Leslie Basden 2011-03-08 14:15

I'm so tired of anti-third party naysayers. Do Democrats have surreptitious astroturfers as well?

+39 # Dorothy Jacobson 2011-03-08 13:21

Robert Reich is right on! And the Democratic party is supposed to be the People's Party. Let's have it act like it is!

+19 # James BEcket 2011-03-08 13:26

We need a progressive Third Party!

+47 # DPM 2011-03-08 13:29

When The Democrats start listening and acting on our behalf, I will vote Democratic. Otherwise I will vote for the "Peoples Party" wing of the Democratic party. If the Tea Party could do it with the Republicans, we can do it better.

+23 # Eva 2011-03-08 14:02

We need public financing for the campaigns. It is downright sick when $24 million or $60 million etc are spent to get elected.

+8 # NED WERTIMER 2011-03-08 17:48

the Democratic party is the democratic party!!! the tea party will eventually screw itself & the republicans

+5 # Glenn Fieldman 2011-03-08 23:37

I'm with Eva. The first thing I want on the agenda of our Party/Movement is a demand for public financing for federal elective offices. Reducing the role of $ in politics will make other parts of a people's party agenda possible. Otherwise the pay-to-play system will stop it in its tracks.

+1 # pirugenia 2011-03-08 14:05

WHICH people? Sounds very inclusive but

+10 # Patrick227 2011-03-08 14:11

The problem IS political parties. We should take the best lessons of the Middle East and North African revolts, the on-the-ground organizing in Wisconsin, and indeed all populist revolutions: people organizing their communities on a grassroots, collective level isn't just the means of change, it's also the goal.

Let's not allow another clique of "leaders", who inevitably misdirect and betray the people they rose up on the backs of, to take power. Keep power with the people.

+23 # bjw 2011-03-08 14:18

The plutocrats propaganda machine was attacking an abstract when they focused on public employee unions and blamed them for the budget problems and deficits. However, when people began to realize they were talking about take-aways from teachers, nurses and other people they depend on and members of their families, the picture looked very different.

The opinionators have doubled down in their attacks and we still are seeing little of these protests on the Martin Sheen obsessed networks. We will not have a successful People's Party movement until we have more of a People's Media Network to counter the Murdoch and Koch influences.

+3 # jon 2011-03-08 14:21

There IS NO Democratic Party.

+10 # Barbara Humphrey 2011-03-08 14:29

I declare myself a member of the People's Party. Time to get organized and let our voices be heard. $1 from one million equals $1 million from one.

+6 # fredboy 2011-03-08 14:35

I like the name. Let's today, together, take action and by doing so launch the People's Party.

+15 # Blast Dorrough 2011-03-08 14:47

I'm an Independent Voter and voted for President Obama who campaigned on the promise of revitalizing the FDR "New Deal." Unlike FDR who recognized the Coporatecrafter s as "economic royalists" BHO has yet to challenge the usurped power of the Corporatecrafte rs having rendered our constitutional Republic to -- take your pick, monarchism/comm unist capitalism/fasc ist monopoly. The People have been renedered to serfs as hereditary property of the greedy wealthy of "imagined nobility." Except in rare instances,the greedy wealthy must be excluded from holding positions of power via elections. In Federalist Paper 84 Alexander Hamiltion recognized this when writing: "Nothing need be said to illustrate the importance of the prohibition of titles of nobility [including those evilly afflicted with imagined nobility]. This may truly be denominated the corner stone of republican government; for so long as they are excluded, there can never be serious danger that the government will be any other than that of the people."

+7 # John Gill 2011-03-08 14:52

No kidding! I love it, The People's Party. If we win in 2012, we can rename our country The People's Republic...no wait. Heheh.

+4 # diacad 2011-03-08 15:02

Be of good cheer. The people's party is coming into being on a state-by-state basis. Essentially a rebirth of the Progressive Party, the most successful third party formation in American history, and the only one right now that is actually winning elections. This is happening right now in Vermont (see the Vermont Progressive Party website at http://www.progressiveparty.org/) and several other states are on the way. We are just starting in New Hampshire; see http://www.nhprog.org/ for some of the history and positions we endorse. More later.

+6 # GTrout 2011-03-08 15:06

Big problem, guys: the name "People's Party" harkens back to the communist flap in the 50's. You can bet every Rethuglican in the country will jump at the chance to tar a so named 3rd party as a "Communist terror group". We need a better name, one with less baggage!! Ideas?

+4 # Dave2 2011-03-08 16:35

You can bet every Rethuglican in the country will jump at the chance to tar a so named 3rd party as a "Communist terror group". We need a better name, one with less baggage!! Ideas?
Hmmmm....you have a point there. How about slappin' "The American" on it, making it "The American People's Party"? Or maybe "The American Freedom Party" - reclaiming some of the lexicon of patriotism for true patriots is my thought.

+2 # Lesabre 2011-03-10 16:45

I think what we're saying is that our form of Capitalism has not worked out for the people because it is dishonest and serves the wealthy and corporations and we need to try something else and it will be called everything they can throw at it with every scare tatic they can come up with...hope I live long enough to see it.

+1 # Lesabre 2011-03-10 16:40

Good, I hope it scares the Hell out of them....Let's go People.

+5 # HerbR 2011-03-08 15:16

Bob, "From your mouth to God's Ear"
but, "the people" do not appear to be mobilizing in ways sufficient to their cause and appropriate for the system of influencing outcomes. One watches in great frustration.
ONWARDS !

+18 # Sundown 2011-03-08 15:17

Reading these comments, I've been struck by the fact that there are so many opinions, and divisions, among us - but no one has mentioned the so-called 'mainstream' media. How many newscasts have you seen about demonstrations/ protests in states other than Wisconsin, other than - maybe - a passing mention?

And yet we've seen Governor Walker all over the airwaves, spouting his lies, turning the middle class against itself, trying to convince them that teachers and all public 'servants' are rich, have huge pensions, extraordinary benefits, etc. (Does anyone remember 'Cadillac welfare queens,' given to us by their demi-God, Ronald Reagan?)

It's back to this: the media is in control of hearts and minds, and they are NOT doing their job – or, rather, they are doing the job of the corporatocracy we’ve become. We must flood news organizations with e-mails and snail-mail, insisting on FULL coverage of the protests and the true issues.

Regardless of the many disappointments we have suffered, now there is hope.

+4 # CTPatriot 2011-03-09 13:00

They are close to a lost cause. While it's still important to try and coax the corporate media into behaving responsibly, your energies are better spent in being the media yourself.

How? Do whatever you can to inform your circle of friends and family about what's really going on in the world. Send them articles and blog posts that you find to be credible and relevant. Show them what the corporate media refuses to. Open their eyes. Be the media!

-36 # tomb215 2011-03-08 15:46

We need a group on Capitol Hill that will shut every thing down, stop all spending and give away programs until we are out of the red. This means every department that is spending way over a budget they need to just keep afloat. The floks on C.H. have done such a crappy job they should be the ones taking cuts in pay. They need to start bleeding like the rest of us. I say shut the government down and send everyone home, without pay.

-6 # JohnnyK 2011-03-08 15:49

Sorry to say but 3rd parties have always ended up being spoilers that make the bad guys a shoo in.

+1 # Lesabre 2011-03-10 16:50

It does seem to be the case and we have good recent of R's winning because of good third party people splitting the liberal vote Ie. Ralph Nader and Ross Paro, both of which I liked.... Our party will have to support Demo canidates while extracting promises of certain changes if we can deliver a majority in the house and senate. The Tea people are doing it now...

+3 # Ian Harris 2011-03-08 15:54

The People's party was a third party in the United Sates in the 1980 election. We ran Barry Commoner and LaDonna Harris respectfully as President and Vice President.
Getting a third party registered in hard because every state has its own unique process, some of which are very demanding, but the People's Party was on more ballots in a first time election than other third party in U.S. history.

+1 # tomb215 2011-03-08 15:55

The Peoples Party. This has got to be a joke. The people can't choose anyone to properly do the job in the two parties we have now. You want to form another party? If you have the people available to fill a third party then elect them into the system we have now. If we get enough third party thinkers in then we will start seeing the changes we want. If we vote them in and they don't do the job we want we vote them out next election they run in. We don't need a third party. We need the people of America to start exercising their right to chose who they want running this country. Throw the lap dogs we have in there now out in the street.When only 1/4 of the voting population goes to the poles each election what good is a third party going to do us.

+8 # Dave2 2011-03-08 16:46

If we get enough third party thinkers in then we will start seeing the changes we want. If we vote them in and they don't do the job we want we vote them out next election they run in. We don't need a third party. We need the people of America to start exercising their right to chose who they want running this country. Throw (out) the lap dogs...
Right, but in order to identify these "new third party thinkers" and define their "new ideas", we have to find a way to distinguish them from the old "lap dogs." If they lack even an identifying handle, they will be indistinguishab le from the rest of the herd. PR 101.

+7 # matsovani 2011-03-08 17:37

If that were working we wouldn't need a third party. But both of the other parties are owned by the corporations and the uber rich.
Tell me I'm wrong.

+3 # DaveW. 2011-03-08 22:34

tomb215, 59% of the voting electorate participated in '08 election. That's more than 1/4 but still not very good. A viable third party that balanced the needs of the country vs. living under a oligarchy as we do now would be preferable to a conglomeration of interests unable to achieve any meaningful change. Which is, of course, a perfect description of the current Democratic party. There aren't ANY Ben Nelson's or Evan Bayh's in the GOP.

0 # Lesabre 2011-03-10 16:52

That is correct, but we need a defined voting block like the Christians or the Gun people who the R's depend on heavely.

+12 # JayMagoo 2011-03-08 16:25

Let's also take a good look at Bernie Saunders, he sounds like the FDR I was too young to hear, but I read about. Lets let those filthy-rich so-and-sos start paying their fair share. I'm surprised it took this long for people to really get angry, I guess Fox had more of a grip on America than I'd assumed. But let's get things going in the right direction We need a "New Deal," does that sound familiar?

+7 # aikidokurt 2011-03-08 17:16

look, if I pay $16,000, which is 20% of my yearly income; i'm just asking if you make $6,000,000,000, you should give 20% of your income too...what's the problem? if you don't like it we can take 90%...what's it going to be? because the days of both of us giving $16,000 are over, bud!

+3 # Tom Miller 2011-03-08 17:23

Agreed it would be much easier to influence the Democratic Party, so that there is a true alternative, rather than establish a third party. It would be a much more efficient use of energy to work on all levels of the Democratic Party, where the People's Lobby could independently push for progressive reform. To a certain extent, Move-On plays this role now.

+7 # matsovani 2011-03-08 17:25

We definitely need to get the Peoples Party up and running for 2012 elections and we should draft Dennis Kucinich for President.

+12 # Msr.plaisir 2011-03-08 17:28

The problem is people do not know history; and history, since early 20th century is the Republicans are anti worker (union), people based programs Social Security, Medicare, Labor protection laws and it goes on). One might be angry, but, surely, voting Republican or Tea Party is not the answer. Know your history.

+7 # aikidokurt 2011-03-08 18:28

unfortunately, due to king Raygun and the "outcome-based edjumakation" program (really the "incomers" based education program for the poor) enacted during his glorious reign, Amerikans may no longer be educated and informed enough to participate in a viable democracy...

+12 # DaveW. 2011-03-08 22:46

Mrs.plaisir Couldn't agree more. When you figure out a way to get people away from I-Phones, I-Pods, Laptops, Big Screen TV's, Video Games, Texting, Sexting, and basically living in "Virtual World" please share it with the rest of us. You've GOT to read to know your history. How many American homes don't even own a book? I'm afraid to know. This is why the continual attack on both public and higher education and the impetus behind relying on "faith based" information. Knowledge in the right hands is power. African-America n slaves were committing one of their most egregious acts (according to their overseers)simpl y by learning how to read. Any student of history KNOWS why they didn't want their "property" armed with that power. The answers to our problems, in many ways, have already been written. You just have to pick up a book.

+6 # aikidokurt 2011-03-08 17:30

retire the gop to a museum of 19th century curiosities and novelties and let the dems continue doing what they're best at now: governing for businesses. let's get a real LABOR party in the usa! who cares if some call it communistic; there were no communes in soviet russia! the religous ones were sacked. stalin closed the last secular communes because the people in communes were too successful and started out-producing the state/red army business enclaves.
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
George Orwell

+7 # mtnview 2011-03-08 18:17

Since the Supreme Court has granted "personhood" to corporations, a more appropriate name for our new party might be The Citizens United Party. Now gather a few like-minded people, atleast 5 at your local coffee hang, and each put in $20 or so, and one person go to the Secretary of State's office at your state capital, and file and register this party. Then send out an email to all like-minded blogs and independent sources, and convene your first convention state-wide. Elect officers officially (you may need to name officers at the time you register your party) and elect national delegates and alternates. Set a date and place and time for a statewide convention. Allow for electronic voting, include a mandatory contribution of say, $25 to be wavied if 5 party members vouch for the inability to pay of a new member. Then ask your new members to divide up your state and send a person or two to every county and speak in every possible forum, enlist new members. Do not discuss Dems or Reps in any way. We do not want to be in bed with either group. Let them come to us and desire our association, by adhering to the principles hammered out at a state and national conventions. If you want this, you must make the commitment to do it yourselves. We must stop waiting for the leadership that does not come, rather we must be that leadership NOW.

+1 # aikidokurt 2011-03-08 19:26

awesome...thank you...

+6 # balconesfalk 2011-03-08 18:57

If the idea in the movetoamend link is one of the party tenets I could enthusiasticall y sign on:
http://movetoamend.org/news/new-video-resource-story-citizens-united-v-fec

-3 # Archie1954 2011-03-08 19:37

I have always believed that because of the Republican ideology, they never win elections, the Democrats lose them. So maybe the Democratic Party and its supporters should have thought about the potential for all these Republican egregious ideological attacks on mainstream America before they gave the election to the Republicans.

+5 # Frank Stewart 2011-03-08 23:50

I think mtnview has the approach that could get this started. I think Bernie Sanders could be a viable candidate. Where should I send my initial membership contribution?

+5 # kitster 2011-03-09 00:21

term limits, federal election funding, abolishment of the electoral college, prosecution of the war criminals who started the iraq/afghanista n follies, prosecution and the levy of fines against the financial felons who nearly bankrupted the country, reigning in of the financial-milit ary-industrial complex, healthcare for all, back to the clinton income tax rate for those making over $200k a year...these are just a few of the suggested goals for the people's progressive party. it's time to replace our present plutocracy with true democracy and justice for the people.

+6 # junglebob100 2011-03-09 01:18

Bernie Sanders would be a good candidate. Dennis Kucinich, who is a compassionate man of vision, has absolutely no organizational skills. I know, because I worked on both of his presidential campaigns in 2004 and 2008.

+4 # Tommy 2011-03-09 01:49

Let the Party BEGIN. Further the tea-baggers can piss off!

+10 # Skeeziks 2011-03-09 06:52

I don't believe there will be very many Congressional members who will listen voluntarily to the public outcry that is beginning to swell.

Why? Because the Congressionals are knee deep in cash from their corporate owners and will continue to use that cash to blow off any attempt to change what their predecessors did before them that made their status above the people.

-13 # libertyinmo 2011-03-09 08:26

The protests aren't the middle class uprising. It is just the elitist government workers who are employed by the taxpayers. The real middle class is at work to earn the money to pay the taxes that these elitist government workers feel they need to pay for their cushy pensions and benefits. The quiet majority supports the Wisconsin governor.

+7 # highlife 2011-03-09 10:23

What planet do you live on? Elitist garbage collecters? Elitist teachers? Have you been in a classroom lately?

+5 # A. Zide 2011-03-09 13:02

Quoting libertyinmo:

The protests aren't the middle class uprising. It is just the elitist government workers who are employed by the taxpayers. The real middle class is at work to earn the money to pay the taxes that these elitist government workers feel they need to pay for their cushy pensions and benefits. The quiet majority supports the Wisconsin governor.

These so-called 'elitists' are a) taxpayers! b) mostly women (upon whom the GOP seems to be waging an ideological war) in modestly paid professions like teaching , nursing, secretarial work etc.

WHAT FAUX PLANET DO YOU LIVE ON?

WHY do corporations like oil, agribusiness. gas etc. need SUBSIDIES?
WHY don't corporations and the uber-rich 400 pay their FAIR SHARE of TAXES??? and instead unfairly over-burden the working middle class?
WHY are college and school administrators (and CONGRESS et al) all given 100% lifetime healthcare for themselves and their families, while AT BEST retiring teachers and professors get 10 years after which they are on their own?
WHY are the banksters still getting outrageous bonuses (for failing!?) and NOT in jail where they belong for cheating and destroying the economy?
WHY aren't CHENEY, HALLIBURTON, KBR, BECHTEL all in prison for WAR PROFITEERING?????
Wake up!

+6 # Richard 2011-03-09 10:00

So is it now time to form the "Labor Party"?

Several countries have one.

+4 # enrique 2011-03-09 10:20

The "People’s Progressive Party", the PPP, sounds great. The job is enormous. Passionate organizers needed, please come to the fore, NOW!

-2 # highlife 2011-03-09 10:21

We don't need to have third party candidates. We need to get our elected dems to be more responsive and have some guts. We just need to unite to tell them that the middle class, working Americans are out here, we vote, and we won't cave to corporate America. The middle class needs to wake up.

+1 # Gerard 2011-03-09 17:50

I would vote for it

-5 # cherylpetro 2011-03-09 23:55

President Obama is doing what he can against huge odds! He is fighting against Republicans who vowed to make him fail! I know that if he had complete control, he would do as many wonderful things for all Americans! He has a good heart and cares about the welfare of people! Republicans HATE the middle class and poor, and want them to fail too (if not just die!)

-6 # gevers 2011-03-10 08:09

Government unions should be outlawed. If you don't like being a "public servant" get a job in the private sector.
Lobbyist's and political fund raisers need to be outlawed.
Free equal time to any political party for a nominal time period debates on the government licenced airwaves.

+2 # Gary in Midwest 2011-03-10 14:23

We should look to history to get a perspective on the current state of our democracy. What has done in every democracy since the beginning in Athens? It was politicians who gave away the keys to the store in order to get elected. We should do whatever is necessary to see that this poison pill of democracy is prevented in our country. Outlaw lobbyists! Demand the resignation of any politician who gives away ANYTHING just to get elected. Censor any campaign promise that proposes any sort of gift to any group in society and finally, never allow any government official to work in an industry he regulated. Ever. Period.

+3 # Old Mark 2011-03-10 14:46

I have been a solid Democratic voter since the late 1960's, but the Natrional democratic party has lost me as a donor, supporter and voter. They left me, along with American workers, middle class people and progressive/lef tists...evident ly they have a new constituancy. I do feel the need for some political voice that I trust to represent my interests, and that is not the current version of the Democrats.
People's Party? Yes, it is time...

mark

+2 # Casey Peters 2011-03-10 23:49

In the 1970s I was National Secretary of the People's Party that is best known for having run Doctor Benjamin Spock for president. Of course, in the 1890s there was another People's Party (the Populists). If Robert Reich and many of the commentators are serious, we need to have a convention in the summer of 2011 and in the meantime start ballot access work. If this is a call to form a new political party, there is a lot of work to do and many obstacles to overcome but it will be worthwhile. If this is intended to be a pressure group on the Democrats the way the Tea Party is on the Republicans, don't waste my time. We need to break with corporate rule and have a government by, for, and of the people.

+3 # Jorge 2011-03-12 01:40

Yes, Casey. Let's plan for a Progressive People's Party (PPP) convention in Madison this summer (July 4). Good idea.

0 # Smedley Butler 2011-03-14 06:06

"Now we may be seeing the birth of a genuine populist movement. Call it the People's Party. Like the Tea Party, the People's Party doesn't have a clear organization or hierarchy or single address. It doesn't have lobbyists in Washington. It's not even yet recognized by the mainstream media."

Although the Tea Party doesn't have a single address it does have clear organization and hierarchy. It is very definitely is widely recognized by the media and needs no lobbyists because elected politicians under it's banner ARE lobbyists.

There needs to be a progressive analog. The GOP has a right wing faction, the Tea Party. The Democrats have a right wing faction the Blue Dogs. Why is there no identifiable national progressive faction especially in the Democratic Party?

Virtually every successful Democracy in the world has a liberal-progres sive party or identifiable and organized faction.

I look more toward corporate control than American exceptionalism to explain this. The issue of organized national Progressive representation needs to be addressed in a big way.

+1 # David Gildea 2011-06-17 07:10

Draft Bernie Sanders for the peoples party!!! He's an independent that would be a perfect fit for this!

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