In a recent speech in Washington, Michigan Democratic U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin introduced an economic strategy aimed at revitalizing the middle class, which she described as essential to national security. Slotkin emphasized that the decline of the middle class poses a significant threat to democracy and urged her party to focus on creating an inclusive economy. She highlighted key areas such as well-paying jobs, quality education, affordable housing, and accessible healthcare as fundamental to rebuilding the economy.
Slotkin criticized both political parties for systemic failures and stressed the need for bold reforms. Her proposals include reshoring critical supply chains, adopting a comprehensive energy policy, and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. She also suggested banning cellphones in K-12 classrooms and addressing the housing shortage by constructing millions of new homes.
The senator called for unity within her party and urged Democrats to adopt a more assertive stance against divisive politics. Slotkin’s remarks were delivered at the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, where she engaged in a discussion with CEO Neera Tanden. While some critics dismissed her ideas as mere political messaging, Slotkin remains focused on presenting a clear vision for the country’s future.
— news from The Detroit News
— News Original —
Slotkin outlines economic ‘war plan’ for Democrats to expand middle class
Washington ― Michigan Democratic U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin on Thursday laid out an economic “war plan,” declaring the country’s shrinking middle class an existential threat to U.S. national security and calling on her party to go on the offense and “ruthlessly” focus on the economy. In a speech in Washington billed as an alternative vision for the country’s future, the former Pentagon official and CIA officer urged her party to “face up” to what’s not working, change course and pursue “an economy that works for everyone.” Michigan, she said, is a place where people feel it’s harder to get and stay in the middle class, which can lead to feelings of shame and suspicion of those who are different, which is “how we begin to tear each other apart from the inside.” “I believe, deep in my bones that if we lose our middle class and, by association, the American dream, we will lose our democracy and, eventually, our country. This is the existential threat,” Slotkin said. “Leaders have a responsibility to respond, to chart a path forward and to not just complain from the sidelines.” Slotkin blamed “broken” government systems, failures by both parties and politicians distracted by interest groups, their own reelections and niche issues ― compounded by “bitter fighting” daily between Democrats and Republicans. Things aren’t “off” because Americans have stopped working hard, but because the government hasn’t lived up to its responsibility to set the conditions for success, she said. “To me, those fundamentals are the following: Jobs that pay enough to save every month. Schools that prepare our kids for those jobs. A home you can call your own. Safety and security from fear. Energy to power our lives, and an environment to pass on to our kids. Health care you can actually afford,” Slotkin said. “This economic war plan aims not just to ‘fix’ these systems or nibble at them around the margins ― but to rebuild them. And, as Democrats, if we have to slaughter some sacred cows to do it, then so be it.” The three-term congresswoman was elected to the U.S. Senate last fall on the same ballot as President Donald Trump, a Republican, who won battleground Michigan by nearly 2 percentage points. Slotkin won by 19,000 votes or three-tenths of a percentage point. Her speech on Thursday echoed themes of economic security from her winning campaign and from her high-profile rebuttal to Trump’s joint address to Congress on behalf of her party in March. Slotkin plans two other speeches later in the year ― one on security and another on democracy, she said. State Sen. Jim Runestad, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, dismissed Slotkin’s remarks as “comical” in light of her embrace of President Joe Biden’s “far left” policies during the last administration. The recipe for change presented by Michigan’s junior senator is mere “messaging” to make Democrats seem reasonable and palatable to voters and not about genuine policy change, Runestad said. “All of the stuff she says is absolutely comical in terms of what the Democrats are actually doing. Safety and security? My gosh, look at these apartments in Colorado taken over by Venezuelan gangs, and … all these people who have been murdered around the country (by immigrants), and fentanyl pouring across the border,” Runestad said. “She blows smoke all over the place, saying that they care about these issues, but it’s the same old playbook that got them a massive loss in the last election.” Slotkin’s remarks Thursday came as the Democratic Party debates its direction after taking a beating in the 2024 election and casts about for leaders. In a series of appearances this spring, Slotkin has had “tough love” messages for her party, advising them to drop identity politics, stand up with a “muscular” defense to Trump’s actions and unite behind a strategic plan in response to him. Her choice of venue Thursday was notable for its intended audience: The Center for American Progress is a think tank in the heart of both downtown D.C. and the Democratic establishment, founded in 2003 as a progressive alternative to the conservative Heritage Foundation. Many of its staff have been influential thinkers or policymakers in both the Obama and Biden administrations. “I wanted to come here, frankly, because we haven’t agreed on every single issue in the past,” Slotkin said. Her remarks Thursday were followed by a conversation on stage with Neera Tanden, CEO of the center who served as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Joe Biden. Slotkin told Tanden that Democrats have lost some of their “alpha energy” ― what she described as football coach “bravado”: “Sometimes people are not looking for a 13-page policy treatise on the website, but for you to show some fight,” she said, pounding her fist. She suggested their alpha energy is partly why she and Trump both won Michigan on the same ballot. Slotkin’s run of remarks on the national stage and media hits have prompted questions about whether she’s considering a run for the White House herself ― something she’s told reporters is “not where my head is focused right now.” Still, it’s been noticed back home. “It’s not something I had on my radar for her a year ago, but now she is really working toward that national presence in a way we’ve seen (Gov.) Gretchen Whitmer doing,” said Andrea Bitely, a Republican and public relations consultant in Lansing, which Slotkin represented in the House. “I think Slotkin has bigger ambitions.” Slotkin has described her “war plan” as a road map for not only going on “offense” to contain and defeat Trump and Republicans who control majorities in Congress but to detail what Democrats would do if they had control of the levers of power in Washington. “No team in history ― on the field or in Washington, D.C. ― ever won a damn game without going on the offense,” she said. “We need to offer a different vision and demonstrate an affirmative, positive plan for the country.” Since her election to Congress in 2018, Slotkin has cultivated a centrist brand, and she’s not shied from separating herself from the progressive wing of her party. In Thursday’s remarks, she contended that the shrinking middle class is a “core issue” that unites moderates, progressives “and everything in between.” Some of her policy prescriptions would sound familiar to anyone who has followed her campaigns and policy proposals in recent years: Bringing home critical supply chains from overseas, an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy needs, the option of a nationwide public insurance plan and allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. Slotkin also repeats some long-sought reforms for Congress that she said would regain the public’s trust, such as banning candidates from taking corporate political action committee money and barring lawmakers from trading stocks and cryptocurrencies so they aren’t “personally profiting from their access.” But she also pitched newer ideas like banning cellphones in K-12 classrooms and declaring a housing emergency to spur the construction of 4 million homes to catch up with demand. “We need to thoughtfully introduce AI into schools, balancing the need to prepare young people with the need to develop good, old-fashioned critical thinking skills,” Slotkin said. The freshman senator has also called for “slaughtering” some of the Democrats’ sacred cows, targeting the party’s approach to climate change and regulation, saying she’s open to peeling back some environmental permitting rules that can drag out the approval process for major job-creating projects. “The way some Democrats approach climate change is elitist. You’re either with us or against us,” Slotkin said. “People get that extreme weather is a pocketbook issue. Let’s start from there and try and bring as many Americans into the cause as we can.” She also wants to take “a stick of dynamite” to the federal workforce training programs to blow them up, noting they’re found across 40 different programs in 14 different agencies. “We have to align all those programs around one goal, training and retraining people for a future economy,” Slotkin said. In the speech, Slotkin said Congress needs to abandon the talking point of “comprehensive” immigration reform, blaming both parties for rejecting immigration deals for 20 years because they preferred to use the issue for political ammunition or the bill wasn’t “perfect.” Incremental reforms are OK, including boosting the caps for every visa category, she said. “Both parties have been a mess on this issue,” Slotkin said. “I will work with any adults I can find who are actually interested in making some kind of progress on immigration.” She defended unions but challenged her party to quit “vilifying” corporate CEOs and others who employ a lot of people because it makes too many voters think the party is anti-business. “Yes, we want everyone in America, including the president of the United States, to play by the same set of rules. Yes, we need a fair tax code to ensure all Americans are paying their fair share,” she said. “No matter who you are or where you come from, Black, White, Latino, first-generation, we want you to make as much money as possible.” But the government shouldn’t give tax breaks to big companies and then have to pay again to keep their employees from going hungry, Slotkin asserted. Those companies should lose eligibility for tax incentives, she said. “That’s double-dipping — it makes the taxpayer pay twice for corporate greed. And it’s got to stop,” she said.