Overcoming Trump’s rhetoric with a 4-point strategy that will succeed!!
Why Trump’s strategy will fail
Trump’s strategy for jobs and economy will fail for a number of reasons: (1) Tax cuts for companies or any jobs brought back from abroad because of strong arm trade tactics – the companies will pocket the money – they have learned how to handle larger profits and do it with fewer people, and (2) Lower regulations means that many big financial companies will steal large sums of money by creative financing, leading to a financial crisis bigger than that in 2008 – leading to bigger job losses than 2008.
How the Democratic Party Can Gain an Advantage
One major area where the Democratic Party is weak is in the area of Jobs & Economy, where Republicans dominate the field, and where Trump swung many traditional voters with promises of a lot of good paying jobs, mainly industrial. They claim they hold the magic wand when it comes to jobs, businesses, investments, and industry. The Democratic Party has generally shied away from major talk in this area, concentrating mainly on safety nets (social security, etc.), minimum wage, healthcare, women’s rights and a strong diversity plank – the main exception being, clean energy.
My argument is that one way to begin winning back the voters, and energize new voters (especially young ones), is to give them a powerful vision in the area of sustainability activities and a pro-employment and pro-environment economy. Here are four proposed areas.
Four Pronged Strategy Proposed for America
- Pro-Employment Tax Reform: Tax reform that allows depreciation of human capital (training, etc.), and favors greater employment, with incentives based on the size and sales volume of the company. Further tax reforms and financing provided would favor ownership by employees of corporations, and/or greater stock ownership accompanied by more representatives on the Board. Tax reform should be targeted rather than open ended as the Trump Tax cuts, so that they specifically accomplish what is needed.
- Pro-Employment Industrial Policy: Developing industries systematically that are pro-employment. This would develop industries from R&D to production development, from financing to marketing – pretty much like the US develops Defense industries today. Many other nations, from Japan, to Asian Tigers (Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia) and now China have done this successfully. Now this method needs to be used to create, help and guide pro-employment industries, ones that create more jobs for the money invested. This can mean that instead of favoring fully automated factories, semi-automated factories are encouraged that use more skilled or semi-skilled people.
- Local Production for Local Use: Not just Made in America, but local job creation for local consumption. This is the only way that depressed communities can be rejuvenated for the long term. This would encourage R&D and the development of industries that develop capital equipment for the processing of agricultural products – food and non-food, from a wide variety of crops, forest, fish, and other industrial products easily available locally. In the long term, this is the only method that will help communities depressed by companies leaving, or towns that were previously dependent on coal.
- Transforming All Activities – Making them Sustainable, Pro-Environment & Climate Friendly: By transforming activities leading to sustainable Energy (efficiency/production), Cities, Townships (Habitats – eco-cities), Industry (renewable energy and raw materials, or more locally available, together with waste recycling), Transportation (lower carbon transportation with more transportation choices that are better linked and integrated), Agriculture (more organic, with less use of fertilizers, biocides, water and energy), Forestry & Fisheries.
While much of this assumes national level actions, there are many aspects, that can be useful for California. A summary clause based on the above was approved at San Diego in February 2018 to be included in the California Democratic Party Platform. In this way, the Democratic Party and by other parties opposed to the Republicans, can gain an advantage over them in areas of jobs and economy, and then we can claim that we can create more manufacturing jobs by these means, more pro-employment, pro-environment and pro-sustainability.