Aiming toward the 2018 mid-term elections, Democratic leaders in the Senate and House unveiled an economic agenda that includes a large tax credit for job training — an idea intended to resonate in rural areas and small cities, said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. The package, called “A Better Deal,” puts a priority on bringing broadband to all parts of the country and promises stricter antitrust laws to preserve competition in agriculture.
“This is the start of a new vision for the party,” wrote Schumer in an essay in the New York Times, saying Democrats would pursue “a strong, bold economic program for the middle class and those working hard to get there.”
The package says, “We will make it a national priority to bring high-speed Internet to every corner of America and offer apprenticeships to millions of new workers.” It criticizes “courts and permissive regulators” for allowing mergers that lead to higher prices and less competition in airlines, cable TV, and food and beverages. The remedy, it says, is to block mergers that will not benefit consumers or workers, to require periodic reviews after a merger to ensure competition in the marketplace, and “create a 21st Century ‘Trust Buster’ to stop abusive corporate conduct” and ongoing exploitation of markets.
“The consolidation of six agricultural giants is set to threaten the competition in food and agriculture in America,” says the package, referring to consolidation of the “big six” seed and ag-chemical companies into a “big three” that controls 60 percent of seed sales. “These mergers take place as countless farmers in rural America struggle to adapt to a declining rural economy. This corporate take-over of the farm industry will not only hurt small-town, family-operated farms, who will have to pay more for seeds, but it will also raise food prices — vastly limiting consumer choice.”
Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, who had a hand in formulating the document, told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s our message to build an America where working people know we have their back.” A member of the House Agriculture Committee, Bustos is “chair of heartland engagement” as Democrats try to win often-conservative rural districts in 2018. Democrats need a net gain of 24 seats to take the House majority.
To read “A Better Deal,” click here.