Joe, this is fantastic. We don’t agree on a great many things, but this is a time when people who believe disparate things have to join together. I am very glad you have decided to help provide clarity by bringing yourself under our banner, where conservatives are completely completely welcome if they believe in democracy and the rule of law.
Appreciate you Joe! A runs a construction company and we just visited an affordable housing project that he just finished. The regulatory burden as you know is substantial and almost prohibitive.
It’s one of the many things that so many rational people are pissed off at the Democrats for as you know. And yet still, despite everything, not a peep from the Democrats about the need to improve regulation and its efficiency. The degree to which the party is out of touch with society is and remains shocking and I’m not sure how you wake them up. The true need for rational but agrees diff approach to government efficiency, and the need to bring down the national debt are real - the Dems are utterly silent and without plan. The Dems have no leadership and no message other than the sane old tired message, they seem to have no awareness. So how does one wake them up, get new leadership, teach them to fight, move them to the center, etc.
It’s going to be real work and we’re glad you are there because the Dems need a big shove in the right (into the center) direction. Thank you Joe.
The “abundance agenda” specifically targets the regulation that makes it hard to build. It’s something that Democrats are talking about on podcasts and in articles. So I’m not sure why you think there isn’t a peep from Democrats on this issue.
Well, if the Dems are peeping, it’s awful hard to hear them and I spend a lot of time listening. They may think that they’re talking about something and advocating for it, but I guarantee you almost no one is hearing them.
And, what do you think about the framing of the “abundance agenda“. I think it’s a total misnomer and terrible framing. I think if they want to have an “accountability agenda”, i.e. them being accountable to society, being accountable leaders, then that would be great but “abundance” seems like poor framing, even though I understand what Ezra Klein was getting at. The people like me, centrist who the Democrats need, will not respond positively to them trying to brand around abundance. I don’t think they’re going to win hearts and minds with an abundance agenda. I need the Democrats to be accountable to leadership which to me they have failed at for decades. I understand positive things that have happened in the Democratic administration, and I understand the Positive damn advocacy, which is generally right minded but poorly executed. We’re here because the Dems failed to address the malignancy growing in the Republican Party for decades. The Dems watch it happen right in front of their own eyes and failed in every aspect of leadership to counteract it. So no, I don’t think the Dems are messaging and I don’t think they’re anywhere close to the degree of leadership that they need.
Your comments spur a couple of thoughts…perhaps instead of abundance the concept should be ‘there is enough for everyone.’
R’s try to hammer this idea of efficiency, or fixed sum, constantly pounding on the deficit etc, but the last time the budget was balanced was under democratic leadership. Since then, the deficit and debt is more than 90% composed of Republican wars and tax breaks to the rich.
Those tax breaks that were supposedly going to ‘pay for themselves’ never have.
I have spent my life building lean processes, driving efficiency in production and other systems, and one of the first things you are taught is some processes are not designed for efficiency.
Efficient government is an oxymoron, not because it has to be done away with, but because government is burdened with providing public goods, things that can’t be squeezed for efficiency.
Ironically, with interest rates so high, now is finally the time to care about the deficit & debt and yet this current bill will explode it.
I don’t see why the government couldn’t be more efficient building train lines, repairing roads and bridges, or approving green tech. Certainly it would be nice if the defense department was more efficient and accountable. I mean the last few times I went to the DMV, I found it quick and easy - if it can be done there, why not in most places.
The main place I see government always being inefficient is with voting because elections only happen twice a year. Thus any investments start to become dated and inefficient after only a few uses. And yet voting is still easier than in the past.
The challenge in defining efficiency is the same as defining value.
Going back to my experience in Lean processes, it is commonly understood that the first step always has to be defining value. What costs or programs add value, and which don’t.
I would argue that the most value adding programs the U.S. government provides are the ones that provide liberty and increase quality of life. That is the opinion of one person, but I can only speak for myself.
I would also argue that while national security is important, having ‘the largest most lethal army in the world’ is of lesser value.
There is a line somewhere that provides national security without bankrupting our country.
Now the art of this whole thing is recognizing that a 10% reduction in foreign aid saves far less money than a 10% reduction in military spending.
Analysis by National Priorities Project explained that if the one trillion targeted by the President for the Military was instead used to invest in ordinary Americans we could erase all medical debt, slash child poverty, end homelessness, tackle the nation's nursing and teacher shortages, replace all of the country's lead pipes, and build nationwide high-speed rail,
It would be more accurate to share that part of the Democratic coalition is talking about it. And since so much focus is on harm reduction now, I don’t expect that it’ll be more than policy discussions or local/state governance discussions. But I have read about it locally in the context of holding our mayor to account for lack execution on goals and wasting tax payers’ money.
I would say that Americans have become more zero sum in their thinking. There’s not enough for everyone so I should get mine, support “my”people/group/party/state, and stop other people from getting theirs. And without producing a lot more housing, doctors, energy, and educational opportunities most policy choices and election have about the same number of winners and losers. (Unless it’s destructive: like tariffs! No just kidding! More tariffs! TACO) And from the articles I’ve read by Thompson and Klein and others they make a reasonable case that the restrictions on government building and the private sector building are a major factor, maybe even the biggest factor inhibiting building anything from housing to training doctors.
I am not a marketer and if I understood why people make political decisions I wouldn’t be so surprised much of the time. So maybe it’s not compelling. At this point, I’m more interested in whether it accurately diagnosing how government & society is failing to build. I think values should lead to policy and both should inform message and frankly find the messaging less interesting than the values or policy.
Why do you say, “we’re here because the Dems failed to address the malignancy growing in the Republican Party for decades”?
Because the Dems have been inept at acknowledging what is right before their eyes and doing something about it for decades. When Reagan taught the country that it was OK to hate your government, did the Dems do anything to counteract that? No.
When Newt Gingrich stated that the Republicans will stop at nothing to get what they want and he meant it, did the Dems do anything to counteract that? No.
When Mitch McConnell kept Obama from selecting a Supreme Court justice, did the Dems do anything to counteract that? Minimal. This list could go on and on and on. Democratic leadership has been terrible for decades. They are right-minded and well intended, but they have no idea how to lead the public.
It was clear that much of the woke movement was alienating voters in the middle, but did the Dems do anything about that? No, they moved further to the left.
It was clear that Biden’s strategy should have been to move strongly to the center, and to swat down the far left so that the far left did not crate an allergic reaction in the country. Did the Dems do that? No of course not. So what we got was an allergic reaction in the country to the Dem Party, understandably so.
The Dems are right minded and well intended, but their leadership has been horrible for decades. Again, the list could go on and on.
My concern about the Democratic Party being moderate, as you think they should, will mean becoming more conservative, and it has been the conservative approach that has hurt the nation, as the fulfillment of the conservative agenda has actually taken place with trump now residing in the White House.
Yeah, regulation is necessary, because corporations refuse to regulate themselves, but regs shd not be so burdensome as to inhibit growth. Glad to know Dems are doing something to address it. Maybe we need less regs, more accountability…and no loopholes!
Charles, if you believe the Democrats aren’t ready to fight, you haven’t been paying attention to the Democrats. Your insult of excluding Democrats as “rational people” doesn’t show much desire to work together to make this right. And no one is going to listen if you try to “shove” us. This is a time to unify and fight together, not against one another. You’re going to have to move a bit to the center yourself, from the sound of your post.
I think the Democrats need to move more to the center.Their 100% vote against the child protection bill ( keeping msn out of women’s sports , supported by 80%of all Americans ) was a completely stupid vote with some completely stupid reasons ! Nobody will be doing genital checks, and they know it!
Governor Newsom to his credit broke with them on this , and that will help him if he runs. If the Democrats run someone like Buttigieg, they won’t win, because he’s 100% for the trans ideology.
Widely acknowledged on nearly all fronts… the Dems delivered Trump to the White House sadly. They need new leadership, a compelling vision, a focus on managing the country with excellence and a focus on things like excessive regulation, government efficiency and effectiveness, and they need to learn to communicate in unison. You somehow think I’m on the opposing side. I’m not, but like a growing number, I’m furious with the Dems.
Regulation is necessary for the market to function. Otherwise cheaters win out over the honest. Adam Smith understood this. Read Chiara Cordelli's "The Privatized State" to see how the bureaucratic state evolved to get us out of the 'state of nature' in which the strong rule the weak, to our modern state, where greater equality can be achieved.
Privatization, and an antagonism toward rules and bureaucracy, push us back toward that state of nature. This is not to say our current bureaucracy can't an be improved. Regulatory capture is a real problem which allows large enterprises to shut out smaller ones by excess and inappropriate regulation. The sort of legal maneuvers Trump is a master at allow people to escape responsibility and delay justice. Real reform is clearly needed.
I think Dems need to defend the good and hard work done by those in government. In my experience, government scientists and other technically trained people are more straightforward and honest than those who have a commercial incentive to slant the facts.
I am generally impressed at how people misinterpret something that someone says or implies. Of course regulation is critical, but overregulation is not. And right now we have a hyper regulation environment thanks to the Democrats largely. We need to rationalize regulation and make it much more efficient.
Of course, we should cherish the government and government employees, which is not the same as saying that we need the government and government employees to be highly efficient and effective. There are industrial strength methodologies to help with this, such as lean. similarly, we should be all for working people and unions however, unions really ought to focus on making their employees, the most valuable asset that a company has by making the employees expert in performance improvement, using methodologies such as lean and six sigma.
The Democrats do not focus on excellence in management or excellence in government, to their detriment to our detriment. Nor do the Republicans by the way, but if you’re going to be the party of government that you need to demonstrate just how good it can be and how effective and how efficient and you need to communicate thatvery effectively and continuously. The dams don’t do any of that.
The DOGE whistleblower didn't confirm your impression that government is inefficient. Just the reverse. And DOGE has not produced any evidence of inefficiencies that weren't laughable errors on their part.
The focus on efficiency is also incomplete. Robustness, the ability to withstand shocks to the system, almost always requires things that look like inefficiencies when everything is going fine. But cut them out, and things break when the crap hits the fan, as we will notice soon with all the cuts to FEMA. In business, the company goes bankrupt or gets bought up and dismantled, but this isn't good enough in government. We don't want the USA to be Trump's next bankruptcy.
I do agree that the Dems need to do a better job of making their case.
Yes, I agree and also don’t. All businesses are inefficient… or rather have significant opportunities for greater efficiency. The bottom line is that leaders need to manage the systems to excellence.
True. And that was one reason for the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 -- to promote expertise and insulate the civil service from the sort of cronyism that we're in danger of returning to.
I agree with Joe Walsh, I used to be a republican, but no more. The Republican Party is not the same party that it was years ago and personally, I will no longer be a part of it. Empathy, inclusivity, and a right attitude is what is needed, and I hope the Democrats can provide that. I’m a 68-year-old white male and I guess it’s never too late to change :-)
This is the best news. We need you. You had spoken recently about being independent and I admired you for that. Now to make this move and help our party fight is incredible. Thank you for taking the time to explain in detail. Let’s fight.
Right now we need someone to STOP him! I believe he can be stopped! But right now the democrats in power don’t know how to do that, many are working really, really hard and getting things blocked, temporarily. But way more needs to be challenged with a formal army that will storm his capitol!
I went to bed really disturbed watching Ice rage across our country wondering WHY IS THIS POSSIBLE!!!??
Then seeing your words, is what I needed, what we need! No BS, all gloves off, a plan of action and implementation.
That's right! Texas Democrats will show the way. We have been in the authoritarian crucible for awhile now. We know you have to act like this stuff matters or voters won't think it matters either.
We need righteous indignation. We need it presented in plain-spoken straight talk. Democratic leadership seems to talk in overly cautious jargon that obscures more than it reveals.
Beto has the organizational chops and the fire in his belly. He talks to people and he welcomes Republicans to his town halls. He listens to Republicans. He speaks to their concerns. Why is this so hard for national Democrats? I would like to see the day when states aren't put into a color box. This rigid and artificial categorization has encouraged people to think of everyone in a particular state as a monolith, which is not true.
Beto has been the voice crying in the wilderness ever since Trump's election. We kept the flame alive. Now the Democratic party needs to execute on it. It needs to stop spending millions on "how to talk to young men" and just go do it.
Also, Texas Democrats' new state party leader Kendall Scudder is electrifying.
I got to see Beto speak in Denton, Texas, a few weeks ago. He’s the real deal. You can tell he genuinely cares about people. If he runs for office in the future, this disenchanted ex-Republican will be working hard as part of his campaign!
Joe is the fighter, the tireless defender of democracy that the party needs now. Joe truly cares about THE PEOPLE, all people. And he is absolutely unafraid to speak up for the freedoms that we all cherish. This is not a time to debate policy, Joe is not shy about his stance. And I’d imagine he’d be glad to debate that with anyone, like an adult, WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER.
We absolutely need Joe to be a leader in this fight and this is the spark the party needs NOW. I, for one, sincerely hope that Joe runs for office, whether it’s in the House or the Senate. He is a man for the people, and he knows how government works. Thank you Joe!
Great!!!! I've said it many times - the worst lies are the lies you tell yourself, because those are the lies you believe. I'd really like to think of myself as an Independent, but the truth is there is not one single person running under the R banner I would vote for. Anyone I would consider voting for will never ever ever make it onto a R ticket.
As such, I have to be honest with myself. I'm a Democrat. And actually, I have found being a centrist democrat is pretty comfortable waters to swim in.
Glad you have reached the same conclusion. The D party needs a big coalition and they need to learn to TOLERATE the diversity of opinion a big coalition requires.
Welcome, Joe!! Thank you for joining this fight. It is for all Patriots; this ranks above any Party affiliation. Delighted to have your passion aimed towards preserving our Democracy.
Thanks Joe. I must admit I was far from a fan of yours back in the Tea Party days. But I’ve grown to respect and admire you more than almost anyone in politics.
I applaud your leadership! Welcome! Much farther back than you I abandoned the GOP. I was getting sermons from the pulpit making it very obvious that there was only one way to vote. Bible studies actually taught me that as a “daughter of Eve” I could not be trusted to make decisions, and that a woman’s right to vote should never have happened, but since it did, I had to ask the male in headship of me how to mark my ballot and follow his instructions exactly (I am not making any of this up). There were also sermons advocating for the end of all safety net programs, with churches being “responsible community partners” to manage grants from the federal government. One of the benefits they put out was that they could refuse money to anyone “sinning,” and that church membership would greatly increase because people would believe they would be more likely to receive help if they were attending a local congregation.
As a daughter of Eve incapable of rational thought, I wondered how they would afford all this largesse without social security supporting their most generous and consistent tithe payers…
The unholy marriage of the GOP with some of the loudest voices in Evangelical Christianity has done serious harm to the witness of Jesus. God calls his justice the care and protection of the most vulnerable. It is an irony that the group who most loudly wants to proclaim us a “Christian nation” also wants to further enrich the wealthy while demonizing the “other” among us and further reducing resources for the poor, widowed and orphan.
As much as many people believe we need at least a valid third party (if not even maybe four or five), we are so entrenched in the two party vision in this country that starting a third party would most likely only further support the current GOP by diluting votes against it. Joining together under the big tent of the Democrats is our best chance to end the current authoritarian push and rescue our country. In the end it is Conservatism, as we rescue and restore the values that made us great.
Lisa I concur with everything you said. The combination of Christian “power” movers and government is in my view demonic. I never agreed with all the evangelicals in my life that this is all spiritual warfare, and demons are always out there trying to destroy good people. Until now, watching Joni Ernest’s “apology” I could literally see the devil looking out of her eyes. These “Christian’s nationalists” have been following false prophets for a generation or more and now they regularly blaspheme about Jesus and Christianity itself. If this isn’t the fulfillment of prophecy I don’t know what is. We have to all come together against this evil and do everything necessary to eradicate it from existence. Blessed be
Thank you! I am starting a Substack about my struggles (I get by on only social security, and the cuts by DOGE have already cut the once a month food pantry list I can choose from by 1/3; this week they took two more items away for people who have no one else on their family, like me), but I know so many are like me. I want to tell their stories, too. So… if you know anyone who might want to share what they are going through, or want to follow along, I would love any help you can offer! ☺️
Every allegation the Republican Party leveled against the Democrats is/was an admission of guilt of their party.
They are the swamp, they are the oligarch technocrats who are the swamp. Joe, I’m happy you joined the fight, but why the hell did it take something so awful, so despicable as the convict in chief to correct your errors? You seem to have decent critical thinking skills. I just can’t wrap my head around how this reign of terror has been brought to us by “conservatives”.
Welcome to the big tent party, but we will not agree on guns, nor some of your conservative ideas but we can all have our opinions.
I’m so proud of you for seeing the light and having the courage of your convictions by breaking from Republicans after Trump and MAGA crashed the party. And I concur with you fully that if American democracy stands any chance surviving we need a coalition of progressives, centrists, and conservatives doing everything within their power to save it.
And mazel tov to you on your decision to become a Democrat. Our all too frequent tepid party leadership definitely needs fighters like you to ‘light a fire’ under their asses!
Good for you Joe. The Democratic party needs all, including progressive, centrists, and conservatives to keep our party from becoming like the republicans. I don't want a party whose members fall in step and don't think for themselves. Welcome aboard.
Joe, every day you give me courage. I am so tired of the polarization and the extremes. Our labels have become meaningless except in how they allow us to function politically (vote in primaries, etc.). For that reason I am glad you've made the switch. Our beliefs and, mostly, actions are what define us and I so respect yours. Your passionate work, and your ability to listen and grow are inspirational. We need you in this fight. It's bad out there...
Thank you, Joe! Nothing but respect for those who are intellectually honest conservatives. That means that those who believe, among other things, in unintrusive government, respect for the law and for the costitution, fiscal responsibility, respect for those who serve or have served in the military, and the role of the US as a respected and effective global leader only have one political party that represents them: the Democratic Party.
Joe, this is fantastic. We don’t agree on a great many things, but this is a time when people who believe disparate things have to join together. I am very glad you have decided to help provide clarity by bringing yourself under our banner, where conservatives are completely completely welcome if they believe in democracy and the rule of law.
Appreciate you Joe! A runs a construction company and we just visited an affordable housing project that he just finished. The regulatory burden as you know is substantial and almost prohibitive.
It’s one of the many things that so many rational people are pissed off at the Democrats for as you know. And yet still, despite everything, not a peep from the Democrats about the need to improve regulation and its efficiency. The degree to which the party is out of touch with society is and remains shocking and I’m not sure how you wake them up. The true need for rational but agrees diff approach to government efficiency, and the need to bring down the national debt are real - the Dems are utterly silent and without plan. The Dems have no leadership and no message other than the sane old tired message, they seem to have no awareness. So how does one wake them up, get new leadership, teach them to fight, move them to the center, etc.
It’s going to be real work and we’re glad you are there because the Dems need a big shove in the right (into the center) direction. Thank you Joe.
The “abundance agenda” specifically targets the regulation that makes it hard to build. It’s something that Democrats are talking about on podcasts and in articles. So I’m not sure why you think there isn’t a peep from Democrats on this issue.
Well, if the Dems are peeping, it’s awful hard to hear them and I spend a lot of time listening. They may think that they’re talking about something and advocating for it, but I guarantee you almost no one is hearing them.
And, what do you think about the framing of the “abundance agenda“. I think it’s a total misnomer and terrible framing. I think if they want to have an “accountability agenda”, i.e. them being accountable to society, being accountable leaders, then that would be great but “abundance” seems like poor framing, even though I understand what Ezra Klein was getting at. The people like me, centrist who the Democrats need, will not respond positively to them trying to brand around abundance. I don’t think they’re going to win hearts and minds with an abundance agenda. I need the Democrats to be accountable to leadership which to me they have failed at for decades. I understand positive things that have happened in the Democratic administration, and I understand the Positive damn advocacy, which is generally right minded but poorly executed. We’re here because the Dems failed to address the malignancy growing in the Republican Party for decades. The Dems watch it happen right in front of their own eyes and failed in every aspect of leadership to counteract it. So no, I don’t think the Dems are messaging and I don’t think they’re anywhere close to the degree of leadership that they need.
Your comments spur a couple of thoughts…perhaps instead of abundance the concept should be ‘there is enough for everyone.’
R’s try to hammer this idea of efficiency, or fixed sum, constantly pounding on the deficit etc, but the last time the budget was balanced was under democratic leadership. Since then, the deficit and debt is more than 90% composed of Republican wars and tax breaks to the rich.
Those tax breaks that were supposedly going to ‘pay for themselves’ never have.
I have spent my life building lean processes, driving efficiency in production and other systems, and one of the first things you are taught is some processes are not designed for efficiency.
Efficient government is an oxymoron, not because it has to be done away with, but because government is burdened with providing public goods, things that can’t be squeezed for efficiency.
Ironically, with interest rates so high, now is finally the time to care about the deficit & debt and yet this current bill will explode it.
I don’t see why the government couldn’t be more efficient building train lines, repairing roads and bridges, or approving green tech. Certainly it would be nice if the defense department was more efficient and accountable. I mean the last few times I went to the DMV, I found it quick and easy - if it can be done there, why not in most places.
The main place I see government always being inefficient is with voting because elections only happen twice a year. Thus any investments start to become dated and inefficient after only a few uses. And yet voting is still easier than in the past.
The challenge in defining efficiency is the same as defining value.
Going back to my experience in Lean processes, it is commonly understood that the first step always has to be defining value. What costs or programs add value, and which don’t.
I would argue that the most value adding programs the U.S. government provides are the ones that provide liberty and increase quality of life. That is the opinion of one person, but I can only speak for myself.
I would also argue that while national security is important, having ‘the largest most lethal army in the world’ is of lesser value.
There is a line somewhere that provides national security without bankrupting our country.
Now the art of this whole thing is recognizing that a 10% reduction in foreign aid saves far less money than a 10% reduction in military spending.
Analysis by National Priorities Project explained that if the one trillion targeted by the President for the Military was instead used to invest in ordinary Americans we could erase all medical debt, slash child poverty, end homelessness, tackle the nation's nursing and teacher shortages, replace all of the country's lead pipes, and build nationwide high-speed rail,
Thank you for your reply.
It would be more accurate to share that part of the Democratic coalition is talking about it. And since so much focus is on harm reduction now, I don’t expect that it’ll be more than policy discussions or local/state governance discussions. But I have read about it locally in the context of holding our mayor to account for lack execution on goals and wasting tax payers’ money.
I would say that Americans have become more zero sum in their thinking. There’s not enough for everyone so I should get mine, support “my”people/group/party/state, and stop other people from getting theirs. And without producing a lot more housing, doctors, energy, and educational opportunities most policy choices and election have about the same number of winners and losers. (Unless it’s destructive: like tariffs! No just kidding! More tariffs! TACO) And from the articles I’ve read by Thompson and Klein and others they make a reasonable case that the restrictions on government building and the private sector building are a major factor, maybe even the biggest factor inhibiting building anything from housing to training doctors.
I am not a marketer and if I understood why people make political decisions I wouldn’t be so surprised much of the time. So maybe it’s not compelling. At this point, I’m more interested in whether it accurately diagnosing how government & society is failing to build. I think values should lead to policy and both should inform message and frankly find the messaging less interesting than the values or policy.
Why do you say, “we’re here because the Dems failed to address the malignancy growing in the Republican Party for decades”?
Because the Dems have been inept at acknowledging what is right before their eyes and doing something about it for decades. When Reagan taught the country that it was OK to hate your government, did the Dems do anything to counteract that? No.
When Newt Gingrich stated that the Republicans will stop at nothing to get what they want and he meant it, did the Dems do anything to counteract that? No.
When Mitch McConnell kept Obama from selecting a Supreme Court justice, did the Dems do anything to counteract that? Minimal. This list could go on and on and on. Democratic leadership has been terrible for decades. They are right-minded and well intended, but they have no idea how to lead the public.
It was clear that much of the woke movement was alienating voters in the middle, but did the Dems do anything about that? No, they moved further to the left.
It was clear that Biden’s strategy should have been to move strongly to the center, and to swat down the far left so that the far left did not crate an allergic reaction in the country. Did the Dems do that? No of course not. So what we got was an allergic reaction in the country to the Dem Party, understandably so.
The Dems are right minded and well intended, but their leadership has been horrible for decades. Again, the list could go on and on.
My concern about the Democratic Party being moderate, as you think they should, will mean becoming more conservative, and it has been the conservative approach that has hurt the nation, as the fulfillment of the conservative agenda has actually taken place with trump now residing in the White House.
As an add on, let’s be honest when we talk about Liberal, Conservative and Centrist.
Over the years the whole window has shifted to the right.
Those that we refer to as the extreme left, are not that different from Eisenhower Democrats.
If you compare ‘the extreme left’ in America today to other countries it is clear how conservative things have become.
Yeah, regulation is necessary, because corporations refuse to regulate themselves, but regs shd not be so burdensome as to inhibit growth. Glad to know Dems are doing something to address it. Maybe we need less regs, more accountability…and no loopholes!
Some of the rules are to stop government from building.
Well that was sent prior to editing obviously. Sorry about the many typos!
lol, it happens to all of us 😄
Charles, if you believe the Democrats aren’t ready to fight, you haven’t been paying attention to the Democrats. Your insult of excluding Democrats as “rational people” doesn’t show much desire to work together to make this right. And no one is going to listen if you try to “shove” us. This is a time to unify and fight together, not against one another. You’re going to have to move a bit to the center yourself, from the sound of your post.
I think the Democrats need to move more to the center.Their 100% vote against the child protection bill ( keeping msn out of women’s sports , supported by 80%of all Americans ) was a completely stupid vote with some completely stupid reasons ! Nobody will be doing genital checks, and they know it!
Governor Newsom to his credit broke with them on this , and that will help him if he runs. If the Democrats run someone like Buttigieg, they won’t win, because he’s 100% for the trans ideology.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/opinion/democrats-trump-winning.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Widely acknowledged on nearly all fronts… the Dems delivered Trump to the White House sadly. They need new leadership, a compelling vision, a focus on managing the country with excellence and a focus on things like excessive regulation, government efficiency and effectiveness, and they need to learn to communicate in unison. You somehow think I’m on the opposing side. I’m not, but like a growing number, I’m furious with the Dems.
Regulation is necessary for the market to function. Otherwise cheaters win out over the honest. Adam Smith understood this. Read Chiara Cordelli's "The Privatized State" to see how the bureaucratic state evolved to get us out of the 'state of nature' in which the strong rule the weak, to our modern state, where greater equality can be achieved.
Privatization, and an antagonism toward rules and bureaucracy, push us back toward that state of nature. This is not to say our current bureaucracy can't an be improved. Regulatory capture is a real problem which allows large enterprises to shut out smaller ones by excess and inappropriate regulation. The sort of legal maneuvers Trump is a master at allow people to escape responsibility and delay justice. Real reform is clearly needed.
I think Dems need to defend the good and hard work done by those in government. In my experience, government scientists and other technically trained people are more straightforward and honest than those who have a commercial incentive to slant the facts.
I am generally impressed at how people misinterpret something that someone says or implies. Of course regulation is critical, but overregulation is not. And right now we have a hyper regulation environment thanks to the Democrats largely. We need to rationalize regulation and make it much more efficient.
Of course, we should cherish the government and government employees, which is not the same as saying that we need the government and government employees to be highly efficient and effective. There are industrial strength methodologies to help with this, such as lean. similarly, we should be all for working people and unions however, unions really ought to focus on making their employees, the most valuable asset that a company has by making the employees expert in performance improvement, using methodologies such as lean and six sigma.
The Democrats do not focus on excellence in management or excellence in government, to their detriment to our detriment. Nor do the Republicans by the way, but if you’re going to be the party of government that you need to demonstrate just how good it can be and how effective and how efficient and you need to communicate thatvery effectively and continuously. The dams don’t do any of that.
The DOGE whistleblower didn't confirm your impression that government is inefficient. Just the reverse. And DOGE has not produced any evidence of inefficiencies that weren't laughable errors on their part.
The focus on efficiency is also incomplete. Robustness, the ability to withstand shocks to the system, almost always requires things that look like inefficiencies when everything is going fine. But cut them out, and things break when the crap hits the fan, as we will notice soon with all the cuts to FEMA. In business, the company goes bankrupt or gets bought up and dismantled, but this isn't good enough in government. We don't want the USA to be Trump's next bankruptcy.
I do agree that the Dems need to do a better job of making their case.
Yes, I agree and also don’t. All businesses are inefficient… or rather have significant opportunities for greater efficiency. The bottom line is that leaders need to manage the systems to excellence.
True. And that was one reason for the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 -- to promote expertise and insulate the civil service from the sort of cronyism that we're in danger of returning to.
and a woman's bodily autonomy
Registered independent here. Yes, we need all.
I agree with Joe Walsh, I used to be a republican, but no more. The Republican Party is not the same party that it was years ago and personally, I will no longer be a part of it. Empathy, inclusivity, and a right attitude is what is needed, and I hope the Democrats can provide that. I’m a 68-year-old white male and I guess it’s never too late to change :-)
This is great! To the benefit of all. The Democratic Party must fight for democracy first. Thanks for your passionate commitment to the country, Joe!
This is the best news. We need you. You had spoken recently about being independent and I admired you for that. Now to make this move and help our party fight is incredible. Thank you for taking the time to explain in detail. Let’s fight.
Right now we need someone to STOP him! I believe he can be stopped! But right now the democrats in power don’t know how to do that, many are working really, really hard and getting things blocked, temporarily. But way more needs to be challenged with a formal army that will storm his capitol!
I went to bed really disturbed watching Ice rage across our country wondering WHY IS THIS POSSIBLE!!!??
Then seeing your words, is what I needed, what we need! No BS, all gloves off, a plan of action and implementation.
I hope you form fighting coalition.
Look up Texas Democrats.
Jasmine Crockett, Al Green, James Talarico, Joaquin Castro, Greg Caesar and BETO O’ROURKE. Texas Democrats are ALL trying to stop him.
Invest in Texas. Flip it Blue.
That's right! Texas Democrats will show the way. We have been in the authoritarian crucible for awhile now. We know you have to act like this stuff matters or voters won't think it matters either.
We need righteous indignation. We need it presented in plain-spoken straight talk. Democratic leadership seems to talk in overly cautious jargon that obscures more than it reveals.
Beto has the organizational chops and the fire in his belly. He talks to people and he welcomes Republicans to his town halls. He listens to Republicans. He speaks to their concerns. Why is this so hard for national Democrats? I would like to see the day when states aren't put into a color box. This rigid and artificial categorization has encouraged people to think of everyone in a particular state as a monolith, which is not true.
Beto has been the voice crying in the wilderness ever since Trump's election. We kept the flame alive. Now the Democratic party needs to execute on it. It needs to stop spending millions on "how to talk to young men" and just go do it.
Also, Texas Democrats' new state party leader Kendall Scudder is electrifying.
I got to see Beto speak in Denton, Texas, a few weeks ago. He’s the real deal. You can tell he genuinely cares about people. If he runs for office in the future, this disenchanted ex-Republican will be working hard as part of his campaign!
Beto is for real. He means it when he says ‘no labels’. And he is very sensible too. He is not the crazy idiot Abbott libeled him as.
Yes, @PLawson85, these people give me hope!
Joe is the fighter, the tireless defender of democracy that the party needs now. Joe truly cares about THE PEOPLE, all people. And he is absolutely unafraid to speak up for the freedoms that we all cherish. This is not a time to debate policy, Joe is not shy about his stance. And I’d imagine he’d be glad to debate that with anyone, like an adult, WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER.
We absolutely need Joe to be a leader in this fight and this is the spark the party needs NOW. I, for one, sincerely hope that Joe runs for office, whether it’s in the House or the Senate. He is a man for the people, and he knows how government works. Thank you Joe!
Totally agree!!!!
Great!!!! I've said it many times - the worst lies are the lies you tell yourself, because those are the lies you believe. I'd really like to think of myself as an Independent, but the truth is there is not one single person running under the R banner I would vote for. Anyone I would consider voting for will never ever ever make it onto a R ticket.
As such, I have to be honest with myself. I'm a Democrat. And actually, I have found being a centrist democrat is pretty comfortable waters to swim in.
Glad you have reached the same conclusion. The D party needs a big coalition and they need to learn to TOLERATE the diversity of opinion a big coalition requires.
I’m probably in the same boat. Democrats piss me off pretty frequently, but Republicans horrify me consistently.
One Team. One Mission. Make America Free Again!
I like your new slogan!
Welcome, Joe!! Thank you for joining this fight. It is for all Patriots; this ranks above any Party affiliation. Delighted to have your passion aimed towards preserving our Democracy.
Thanks Joe. I must admit I was far from a fan of yours back in the Tea Party days. But I’ve grown to respect and admire you more than almost anyone in politics.
I applaud your leadership! Welcome! Much farther back than you I abandoned the GOP. I was getting sermons from the pulpit making it very obvious that there was only one way to vote. Bible studies actually taught me that as a “daughter of Eve” I could not be trusted to make decisions, and that a woman’s right to vote should never have happened, but since it did, I had to ask the male in headship of me how to mark my ballot and follow his instructions exactly (I am not making any of this up). There were also sermons advocating for the end of all safety net programs, with churches being “responsible community partners” to manage grants from the federal government. One of the benefits they put out was that they could refuse money to anyone “sinning,” and that church membership would greatly increase because people would believe they would be more likely to receive help if they were attending a local congregation.
As a daughter of Eve incapable of rational thought, I wondered how they would afford all this largesse without social security supporting their most generous and consistent tithe payers…
The unholy marriage of the GOP with some of the loudest voices in Evangelical Christianity has done serious harm to the witness of Jesus. God calls his justice the care and protection of the most vulnerable. It is an irony that the group who most loudly wants to proclaim us a “Christian nation” also wants to further enrich the wealthy while demonizing the “other” among us and further reducing resources for the poor, widowed and orphan.
As much as many people believe we need at least a valid third party (if not even maybe four or five), we are so entrenched in the two party vision in this country that starting a third party would most likely only further support the current GOP by diluting votes against it. Joining together under the big tent of the Democrats is our best chance to end the current authoritarian push and rescue our country. In the end it is Conservatism, as we rescue and restore the values that made us great.
Lisa I concur with everything you said. The combination of Christian “power” movers and government is in my view demonic. I never agreed with all the evangelicals in my life that this is all spiritual warfare, and demons are always out there trying to destroy good people. Until now, watching Joni Ernest’s “apology” I could literally see the devil looking out of her eyes. These “Christian’s nationalists” have been following false prophets for a generation or more and now they regularly blaspheme about Jesus and Christianity itself. If this isn’t the fulfillment of prophecy I don’t know what is. We have to all come together against this evil and do everything necessary to eradicate it from existence. Blessed be
Just remember, the Devil goes to church as well, to whisper in their ear how great they are for listening to those whispers.
Lisa, this says what I believe better than almost anything else I have read! Thank you for this comment!
Thank you! I am starting a Substack about my struggles (I get by on only social security, and the cuts by DOGE have already cut the once a month food pantry list I can choose from by 1/3; this week they took two more items away for people who have no one else on their family, like me), but I know so many are like me. I want to tell their stories, too. So… if you know anyone who might want to share what they are going through, or want to follow along, I would love any help you can offer! ☺️
Every allegation the Republican Party leveled against the Democrats is/was an admission of guilt of their party.
They are the swamp, they are the oligarch technocrats who are the swamp. Joe, I’m happy you joined the fight, but why the hell did it take something so awful, so despicable as the convict in chief to correct your errors? You seem to have decent critical thinking skills. I just can’t wrap my head around how this reign of terror has been brought to us by “conservatives”.
Welcome to the big tent party, but we will not agree on guns, nor some of your conservative ideas but we can all have our opinions.
Joe,
I’m so proud of you for seeing the light and having the courage of your convictions by breaking from Republicans after Trump and MAGA crashed the party. And I concur with you fully that if American democracy stands any chance surviving we need a coalition of progressives, centrists, and conservatives doing everything within their power to save it.
And mazel tov to you on your decision to become a Democrat. Our all too frequent tepid party leadership definitely needs fighters like you to ‘light a fire’ under their asses!
Good for you Joe. The Democratic party needs all, including progressive, centrists, and conservatives to keep our party from becoming like the republicans. I don't want a party whose members fall in step and don't think for themselves. Welcome aboard.
Joe, every day you give me courage. I am so tired of the polarization and the extremes. Our labels have become meaningless except in how they allow us to function politically (vote in primaries, etc.). For that reason I am glad you've made the switch. Our beliefs and, mostly, actions are what define us and I so respect yours. Your passionate work, and your ability to listen and grow are inspirational. We need you in this fight. It's bad out there...
Welcome to our party!
Thank you, Joe! Nothing but respect for those who are intellectually honest conservatives. That means that those who believe, among other things, in unintrusive government, respect for the law and for the costitution, fiscal responsibility, respect for those who serve or have served in the military, and the role of the US as a respected and effective global leader only have one political party that represents them: the Democratic Party.