海角大神

The President blames himself for the Democrat鈥檚 big losses Election Day.聽鈥淲e have not been successful in going out there and letting people know what it is that we鈥檙e trying to do and why this is the right direction,鈥� he said Sunday.

In other words, he didn鈥檛 sufficiently tout the Administration鈥檚 accomplishments.

I respectfully disagree.

If you want a single reason for why Democrats lost big on Election Day 2014 it鈥檚 this: Median household income continues to聽.聽This is the first 鈥渞ecovery鈥� in memory when this has happened.

Jobs are coming back but wages aren鈥檛.聽Every month the job numbers grow but the wage numbers go nowhere.

Most new jobs are in part-time or low-paying positions. They paythan the jobs lost in the Great Recession.

This wageless recovery has been made all the worse because pay is less predictable than ever.聽Most Americans don鈥檛 know what they鈥檒l be earning next year or even next month.聽聽are now living paycheck to paycheck.

So why is this called a 鈥渞ecovery鈥� at all? Because, technically, the economy is growing.聽But almost all the gains from that growth are going to a small minority at the top.

In fact,聽聽of the gains have gone to the best-off 10 percent. Ninety-five percent have gone to the top 1 percent.

The stock market has boomed. Corporate profits are through the roof. CEO pay, in the stratosphere.聽Yet most Americans feel like they鈥檙e still in a recession.

And they鈥檙e convinced the game is rigged against them.

Fifty years ago, justof voters believed government is 鈥渞un by a few big interests looking out for themselves.鈥澛燦ow,聽聽think so.

According to Pew, the percentage of Americans who believe most people who want to get ahead can do so through hard work has plummeted聽聽since 2000.

What the President and other Democrats failed to communicate wasn鈥檛 their accomplishments.聽It was their understanding that the economy is failing most Americans and big money is overrunning our democracy.

And they failed to convey their commitment to an economy and a democracy that serve the vast majority rather than a minority at the top.

Some Democrats even ran on not being Barack Obama.聽That鈥檚 no way to win. Americans want someone fighting for them, not running away from the President.

The midterm elections should have been about jobs and wages, and how to reform a system where nearly all the gains go to the top.聽It was an opportunity for Democrats to shine. Instead, they hid.

Consider that in four 鈥渞ed鈥� states 鈥� South Dakota, Arkansas, Alaska, and Nebraska 鈥� the same voters who sent Republicans to the Senate voted by wide margins to聽their state鈥檚 minimum wage.聽Democratic candidates in these states barely mentioned the minimum wage.

So what now?

Republicans, soon to be in charge of Congress, will push their same old supply-side, trickle-down, austerity economics.

They鈥檒l want policies that further enrich those who are already rich.聽That lower taxes on big corporations and deliver trade agreements written in secret by big corporations.聽That further water down Wall Street regulations so the big banks can become even bigger 鈥� too big to fail, or jail, or curtail.

They鈥檒l exploit the public鈥檚 prevailing cynicism by delivering just what the cynics expect.

And the Democrats? They have a choice.

They can refill their campaign coffers for 2016 by trying to raise even more money from big corporations, Wall Street, and wealthy individuals.聽And hold their tongues about the economic slide of the majority, and the drowning of our democracy.

Or they can come out swinging. Not just for a higher minimum wage but also for better schools, paid family and medical leave, and child care for working families.

For resurrecting the Glass-Steagall Act and limiting the size of Wall Street banks.

For saving Social Security by lifting the cap on income subject to payroll taxes.

For rebuilding the nation鈥檚 roads, bridges, and ports.

For increasing taxes on corporations with high ratios of CEO pay to the pay of average workers.

And for getting big money out of politics, and thereby saving our democracy.

It鈥檚 the choice of the century.

Democrats have less than two years to make it.