Democrats Unveil Their New 'Better Deal' for America

Still smarting from November's brutal election and looking to push a more populist agenda in the lead-up to the 2018 midterms, Democratic Party leaders gathered in the small town of Berryville, Va., on Monday to announce their new "Better Deal" plan, the AP reports. "The focus starts on economic issues," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. "That’s where the American people are hurting. That’s what we most felt was missing in the past in the last several elections.” Here are some of the plan's details:

• Cost of living: Democrats promise to lower the cost of prescription drugs and college tuition, fight for "families struggling with high monthly bills," and crack down on monopolies.
• Higher wages: The "Better Deal" plan promises millions of good-paying jobs, a higher minimum wage, investment in infrastructure, and an aggressive crackdown on corporations that outsource American jobs.

• 21st-century economy: Democrats say they are committed to providing tax breaks to employers who offer workforce training, bringing high-speed Internet to the whole country, and offering millions of apprenticeships.
• What's missing: Noticeably absent from the "Better Deal" plan is any mention of the social issues that motivate many Democratic voters but that may turn off the rural, blue-collar voters who abandoned the party for Donald Trump last year. Those include immigration, LGBT rights, and abortion, Politico reports.
• Strategy: Democrats want to talk about "how working- and middle-class incomes have stagnated as the costs of housing, health care, education, and everything else have continued to increase," writes Ben Mathis-Lilley at Slate.
• Critique: Roll Call reports that it took the Twitterverse no time at all to point out the similarity between the "Better Deal" slogan—"Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Wages"—and that of pizza delivery giant Papa John's: "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza." Columnist Jonathan Allen goes deeper on what he thinks is not only a bad slogan, but a "muddled message" overall.

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