Dems ignore working class, how to make government work again and other commentary

Liberal: Dems Ignore the Working ClassWorking-class Democrat voters want “economic populism and nationalism along with socially conservative values,” notes The Liberal Patriot’s John Halpin — something “neither faction in the current Democratic Party fully represents.” “Progressives want to ramp up the economic populism without confronting and purging their extreme cultural leftism.” The moderates “acquiesced too much” to “cultural leftism.” Witness “Joe Biden’s mix of big government spending plus government-wide ‘equity’ measures.” The result? “Inflation and misplaced priorities that cost Democrats tons of voters.” Now, “many solid left-liberal economic ideas never get a hearing with working-class voters because they too often come from cultural elites with strange beliefs.”A new platform? How about “economic development in all regions,” plus “secure borders,” “law and order” and “love of country.”Red-tape watch: How To Make Gov’t Work AgainAt The Wall Street Journal, Philip K.Howard ponders what the “overdue” Department of Government Efficiency should fix.

“The civil service certainly needs an overhaul” — not to inject “terror in government employees but to instill trust” and assure accountability.The greatest reform? Ditching “rusty machinery that grinds public choices through years” of “box-checking.” Bureaucratic rules should “give way to human responsibility.” Rather than bog down over “the scope of regulation,” the panel should fix DC’s incompetent “operating structures.” The nation “can’t be strong” if “we’re unable to modernize infrastructure, procure needed ships and technology” quickly, “fix broken schools, or cut red tape that stifles” initiative.

The idea shouldn’t be “to hobble government but to make it work again.”Health desk: The FDA’s Dumb Butter Recall“Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration recalled almost 80,000 poun...