Dr. Michael Fine: Will the real Democratic Party please stand up?

In the past week, it has become abundantly clear that the Democratic Party does not have a viable candidate for president, and equally clear that the Democratic Party can’t tell itself the truth and move on for the good of the country. Joe Biden has been a good president. But he’s not re-electable, something everyone else besides Democratic insiders know. Allowing President Biden’s candidacy to get this far may cost the Party the election, and it will do further damage to American democracy if the party doesn’t reverse itself very soon indeed.

But the problem is much deeper than just Joe Biden. The problem is that the Democratic Party stopped working to make life better for poor, working, and middle-class families in any coherent way.

Here are some numbers: In the eighties, the average house cost twice as much as the average annual income. Now the average house costs six times as much. In the eighties, private college tuition cost half as much, per year, as the average annual income, and the average yearly public college tuition cost one fourth of the average annual income. Now yearly private college tuition is about ten percent more than the average annual income (it became more expensive than the average income in 2006) and public college has also doubled, on a percentage basis, and costs about half of the average income, so a private college four-year degree costs five times the average income, and a public college four year degree costs about twice the average income. In the eighties, family health insurance cost about fifteen percent of the average annual income. But it doubled, on a percentage basis, and now it costs thirty percent of that average income.

Which means there is no way to get ahead unless you make a ton of money – no way for poor, working and middleclass people to survive.

What’s going on here? I’m not an economist, but I’m betting this is all the end result of an unrestrained market, using its market power and financial manipulation of various sorts to effectively extract money from families and communities with greater and greater success, which is exactly what has happened with health care, an arena in which I do have expertise.

How do we fix this mess? It’s not complicated. We build public housing, lots and lots of it, as we revamp the housing mortgage market in several ways to make mortgages and houses affordable for average people. We tax second houses and use that money to fund new public housing construction. We make college education free but tie it to an obligation for students to work in some kind of national service, which would provide workforce for schools, parks, health centers and hospitals as well as help us maintain our military. And we organize a health care system that is for people and not for profit and starts by providing primary care to everyone in the US, in every neighborhood and community, which will cut the cost of health insurance in half as it improves the public health.

None of these are rocket science ideas. They are simple practical ideas which can help level the playing field for poor, working and middle-class Americans, the people who deserve to live and breathe and were the traditional supporters of Democrats.

The Democratic Party was the traditional defender of poor, working class, and middle-income people. Where has it gone?

The failure of the Democratic Party to find a viable presidential candidate is a symptom of a much more dangerous disease, which is that the Democratic Party is now run for its insiders, and so it isn’t proposing solutions to the nation’s problems anymore.

Why would anyone support it?

Michael Fine, MD, is a writer, community organizer, and family physician. He is the chief health strategist for the City of Central Falls, RI, and a former Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, 2011–2015. He is currently the Board Vice Chair and Co-Founder of the Scituate Health Alliance, and is the recipient of the Barbara Starfield Award, the John Cunningham Award, and the June Rockwell Levy Public Service Award. He is the author of several books, medical, novels and short stories, including On Medicine and Colonialism, Rhode Island Stories, and The Bull and Other Stories, You can learn more about Michael at www.michaelfinemd.com

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