Huge funding cuts for public education in Philadelphia lead to children sharing textbooks and locked bathrooms. Some nonprofits now make job applicants pay for security checks for low paying jobs. These are examples of the well-off trying to grind down everyone else to further enrich themselves. Income disparities are widening. Too many families are dropping out of the middle class.
The Democratic Party would have no trouble winning elections if it went back to its roots of supporting the poor, the disadvantaged, minorities, and unions. Yes the two parties have big differences on social issues. However, when it comes to economics, there “isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between them.”
What I think drives the 99% away from the Democrats is that they aren’t much better than the Republicans. Massive contributions from billionaires and multinational corporations have colored the views of most Democrats on public education, tax policy and unionism. For six years now, President Obama has started negotiations on economic, taxation and budgetary matters by giving away the store, so eager has he been to make a deal—any kind of deal—with the factotums of the 1%.