Working Class Coalition: a parliamentary party

[Editor’s note: this is part five in a series of posts re-imagining the United States as a parliamentary government. To see the introduction piece to get a better idea of what this is and why I’m writing it click here. Part one described the new Democratic Party, part two the Republican Party, part three the Conservative Party, part four America First, and part five the Centrist Party. Everything included in this post is fictional, including quotes, motives, policies, logos, and strategies. However, I’ve done my best to imagine what could be based on the players involved and the circumstances provided.]

Where do we Stand:

Much of the narrative of the Democratic party has been of ideological division between moderates and progressives since the 2016 presidential election. So it comes as no surprise that a group of progressives decide to forge their own political course in hopes of shaping left-wing governance. What is surprising however, is the splitting off of progressives into two separate parties not one singular progressive coalition. The Working Class Coalition is a curious mix of progressive politicians and technocratic liberals. Instead of joining their progressive siblings in the Democratic Socialists of America (which we'll detail in the next post), the Working Class Coalition (WCC) stand for progressive values, innovative and clear solutions couched in language they hope will appeal to average Americans. The new party comes into the 117th Congress with plenty of weight to throw around, but can they manage to convince voters that they are more than just a smaller Democratic Party?

America works better when we recognize each other's contributions and pay forward our debt owed to those who paved the way for our success.

-Senator Elizabeth Warren

Seats in the House: 18

Seats in the Senate: 6

Policy

The Working Class Coalition is built on progressive ideas with technocratic solutions. The party wants to win over working class voters by passing affecting legislation which regular people will feel makes a noticeable impact on their life while simultaneously appealing to the educated, higher income voters who have flocked to the Democratic party following the election of Donald Trump. At the same time, the WCC is hoping they can avoid the negative branding associated with socialism, social democracy, and labor parties that have been an effective cudgel for the GOP. Therefor the party has consciously adopted branding and language that distances itself from those progressive traditions.

Welfare

The WCC is first and foremost a party committed to progressive policy reform built on evening the playing field and redistributing wealth more equitably across America's income ladder.
Wealth Tax a starting point for any WCC priorities, while this party is committed to expanding the welfare state, they are also focused on doing so in a sustainable way, or, finding ways to pay for ambitious social programs through taxes.
Increase the corporate income tax and close loopholes allowing larger businesses to offshore their wealth without facing serious penalties at home.

Healthcare

At the core of the welfare program the WCC wants to implement is the establishment of a national health service. So called "Medicare for all who want it."
In this way, the party is trying to establish a universal system while allowing some to remain on private insurance for the time being.

Education

Increasing access to quality education at all levels is a major priority.
Free or reduced costs for college education, or higher public funding to allow universities to charge lower rates.
This may include capping what public universities can charge for tuition or directly subsidizing student costs via tax breaks or incentives.
Higher funding for k-12 education with a focus on closing property tax based disparities across school districts.

Child Care

The party aims to increase support to young families and encourage birth rates by making child rearing more economically feasible for all families.
This may include: a child tax credit, childcare tax credits or direct stipends, programs to increase the availability of affordable childcare providers, and programs aimed at reducing the burden on single parent families.

Workplace reform

The party is aimed at helping working Americans and they view the strengthening and protection of unions as a primary tool of doing just that.
They seek to pass laws rectifying the anti-union legal landscape enacted by a series of recent Supreme Court decisions.
A $15 minimum wage set as the starting point for negotiations but with some leeway to set a lower or slower increase.
Create a framework to increase worker protections for the "gig economy."
Work to build a stronger worker-ownership model in decision making similar to the German majority worker stakeholder system.

Big tech

Of all the new or old parties formed from the parliamentary split, no other party is as focused on reigning in the power of big tech.
The party has proposed breaking up the big tech giants and forcing them to create multiple separate companies for all their various separate business ventures.
The party has also proposed creating a new version of section 230, which dictates how responsibility is shared for speech on online platforms.
Reforming anti-trust law to return it to its original understanding and away from the Borkian definition of consumer harm. This would mean that anti-trust law would look at the totality of the enterprise and how it interacts with its market competitors and not just how that competition (or lack there of) affects consumers.

Foreign Policy

The WCC is willing to reexamine foreign dealings, particularly with non-democratic and illiberal allies, but is mostly wishing to maintain a certain level of status quo.
The party is anti-intervention but not willing to completely disarm in rhetoric or capabilities.
Traditional, and particularly European allies, are held in the highest esteem as many of those allies have built the type of welfare states that the WWC would like to emulate at home.

Cultural

The party aims to project itself as the most "American" of parties: that hard work and innovation are the core elements of the American experiment.
While seeking to represent and promote diversity and inclusivity, the party has a clear strategy of avoiding what they see as culture war topics around race and identity.
Furthermore, the party has made clear choices in avoiding traditional socialist/labor party branding and language. Opting, instead for the colors of orange and navy blue as inspired by the work uniforms of millions of Americans.
To the best of their ability, the WCC wants to avoid topics of culture and focus on issues that all Americans can relate to: work, and income.

The Important players

The WCC, while no match for the size of the Democratic Party, managed to win over a number of former rising stars from the old party. In the Senate, the party is headed by major progressive names like Elizabeth Warren (MA), Sherrod Brown (OH), and Tammy Baldwin (WI). They are joined by Ed Markey (MA), Kirsten Gilllibrand (NY), and Jeff Merkley (OR) making for one of the strongest senatorial coalitions of any of the new parties.

In the House, the party is headlined by new party leader Ayanna Pressley (MA) who is joined in leadership by Tim Ryan (OH), and Katie Porter (CA). Other significant members in the House include Joe Neguse (CO), John Yarmuth (KY), Rosa DeLauro (CT), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Bennie Thompson (MS), and Brad Sherman (CA).

Unlike the Centrist Party, the WCC had an easy choice in appointing congressional leadership. Pressley, even with her short time in Congress, has proven herself as a progressive with serious strategic and pragmatic qualities, exactly the type of leader the new party desires. Furthermore, the party managed to lure a number of high profile progressives into their camp in Katie Porter, Elizabeth Warren, and Sherrod Brown. These members could have easily joined the DSA had the more moderated message of WCC not been an option.

The Road Ahead

The WCC sits clearly in position to be a coalitional party in the next government. However, if the Democrats have to rely heavily on the Centrist party it may mean fewer policy wins for the more progressively minded WCC. But, considering their pragmatic approach, the WCC seems unlikely to rock the boat too hard, preferring instead to take half loaves when available.

The party will need to also think electorally. Just like all the other new parties, the WCC has never actually received a single vote and must use their presumed time in government to convince voters that they should desire a stronger WCC in future governments. As seen from many other coalitional governments, this is much easier said than done. The party must also navigate its sister party in the Democratic Socialists of America who share much of the same policy positions as the WCC but without the messaging concerns and with a greater tenacity to buck cooperation and leave the negotiation table. The WCC, while wanting much the same as the DSA will be competing most directly with the socialist party for voters. They are making a bet they can win over a greater share with a message that avoids confrontation and traditional "red" stereotypes. At the same time, this approach may make the party harder to understand from the voters prospective and they may lose the more traditional center-left progressives to the Democratic party and its well established brand.

Which ever way the voters choose in the next election is still in the distance however and the party has perhaps the strongest leadership in the entire congress with Pressley at the helm and Porter and Ryan running as support. How these ambitious politicians navigate the parliamentary waters will be a major voyage to follow.

Coming up

In the next installment, we'll cover the last of the major new parties before moving on to cover the smaller parties and unaffiliated members of congress. The Democratic Socialists of America have existed for decades but have morphed into a political action organization as opposed to a traditional party. Now, with the parliamentary split underway, the group is able to spring back up as a party and as a major player in progressivism in America.

The DSA benefit from having already existing members in Congress, and with the split, they add even more. How will the DSA, lead by the already superstar "squad" manage to shake up traditional left-wing politics? Can the party find a way to enact change and form consensus now that party unity is no longer a concern? How will American voters react to seeing major politicians under the banner of socialism on the ballot ?