Republicans have now reached the point where they agree that things like inequality and wage stagnation are important, and they should discuss them with voters. Which isn't a bad first step, but I'm skeptical about whether they can take the obvious next step. That's the topic of my Plum Line post today:
The current Republican efforts to reposition themselves on economic questions remind me a little of how Democrats used to talk about national security before the Iraq War went south and discredited Republican wisdom on the issue. Democrats were always defensive about it, and when they tried to come up with a new message for whatever campaign was looming, the point was never to win the argument over national security. They just wanted to minimize the damage the issue could do to them, or at best, fight to a draw so that the election would hinge on issues where they were stronger.
If Republicans are to do that now on economics, it isn't a bad start to say their focus has to shift to what people who aren't wealthy or business owners (or both) care about. Now they just have to come up with an answer to this question: Okay, so what are you going to do about it?
At the moment the answer is, not much. Just look at the interview John Boehner and Mitch McConnell did with 60 Minutes last night. They said that inequality is a problem, and Barack Obama has made it worse. Then Scott Pelley asked some questions about why it exists and what might be done to combat it. Everything that they responded was about employers and the wealthy. Regulations are crippling business! Taxes are too high! How about Obama's proposal for free community college tuition? We can't afford it. So there you go: exactly the same policies as before, but we'll introduce them by saying, "Yeah, inequality, wage stagnation, yadda yadda yadda, we care, whatever."
Finally, as an extra bonus, here's a column I wrote for CNN.com on the latest GOP attack on Social Security.
