from HuffPo:
WASHINGTON -- A Democratic Party clash over economic populism continued this week with the head of the progressive think tank Center For American Progress rejecting the centrist group Third Way's criticism of the idea as a dead-end for Democrats.
Neera Tanden, president of Center for American Progress and a former staffer for Hillary Clinton presidential and senatorial campaigns, wrote in a New Republic op-ed published Sunday that Third Way's attack on populism was "surprising" and "confounding."
"Washington's obsession with fiscal 'solutions' that are in search of a problem has made it harder, not easier, to create good jobs, to increase wages, and to boost overall economic growth," Tanden wrote. "That's why a focus on inequality and requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share has not just been a successful political strategy for Bill de Blasio and Elizabeth Warren, but for leaders in Ohio, California, Maryland, and across the country."
The New Republic op-ed puts the top two Democratic-leaning think tanks for big policy ideas at loggerheads over how hard to push economic populism positions on taxes, entitlements and income inequality. As President Barack Obama prepares to exit the political stage after his second term, the battle may have implications for the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016 and the candidate's campaign platform.
Tanden's commentary is the latest criticism of a Third Way op-ed authored by Jon Cowan and Jim Kessler published in The Wall Street Journal two weeks ago. The op-ed called the economic populism championed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and New York City Mayor-elect Bill De-Blasio "disastrous for Democrats."
read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/center-for-american-progress-third-way_n_4455622.html
Elizabeth Warren gave the keynote address at a CAP conference recently.
= new reply since forum marked as read