How to be a good POTUS

Trump proved how easy it is to be a good POTUS: just put the interests of the US lower and middle class first.

That's it.

The conservative pundit class has done an exemplary job over decades of convincing the middle class that their interests are opposed to those of the lower class. Their purgation from the right, started under Trump, if completed, could be the most consequential thing that happens in the 21st century.

The way forward for the GOP is a political alliance between the lower class and middle class, with the middle class accepting and promoting the lower class moving up as a plus for everyone. This isn't exactly "a rising tide lifts all boats" but it is a manifestation of it.

This path forward means, first and foremost, taking on a new understanding of the relationship between lower and middle class. Too often, this is defined purely on an economic basis. Someone will always be in the lowest 20%. But there is no reason why the difference between the bottom quintile and those just above it must be significant. We can have an extremely flat slope from lower to middle economic class.

There was a conception, perhaps from before my time, but I certainly lived it, of the lower class being something you passed through when you were young and on the way to the middle class. That's the idea relationship between the lowest economic segments. Think of it as starting out in an apartment, them moving to a starter home, and eventually getting the white picket fence. That imagery doesn't have the appeal in the 21st c. that it did in the 20th, so by all means, adapt the concept to your own illustration.

In essence, what I am describing is a set of aspirational values that can transcend class. And, no, I don't mean some right-wing trad-culture. I'm talking about something the Brookings Institute landed on. You can read about the Three Simple Rules Poor Teens Should Follow to Join the Middle Class via the link, but the rules themselves are simple: 

1. Finish high school.
2. Get a full-time job.
3. Wait until age 21 to get married and have children.

According to Brookings' research, "of American adults who followed these three simple rules, only about 2 percent are in poverty and nearly 75 percent have joined the middle class."

Let me briefly address the most common criticism. You have to follow all three rules. I can't tell you how many "debunkings" I've encountered that show people who only follow one or two rules don't achieve the results that following all three does. To which I say, "Duh." 

These three rules aren't hard. Nor do they promise astounding success. They merely promise a high likelihood of avoiding poverty. That's it. As the basis of a culture, they are practically rudimentary. If this culture were shared across the lower and middle class, the economic difference between middle and lower class would be mostly statistically insignificant.

That said, there are a few policy steps that can be taken, as well. 

One low-hanging-fruit proposal would be to restructure public assistance programs so that recipients aren't perversely incentivized away from promotions and pay raises, as described by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI). “I once had a job,” Moore testified before Congress, “and begged my supervisor not to give me a 50-cents-an-hour raise lest I lose Title 20 day care.” Instead of the cliff that Moore repeatedly describes, those on assistance need a staircase, so that 50¢ per hour raise doesn't end up costing them $1000 per month.

This, of course, would be a fraught direction for the GOP, who have been vilified as the destroyers of welfare. Their rhetoric hasn't helped. Instead of speaking about how to get people off of welfare, the GOP needs to learn how to discuss the same subject in terms of building families. It's a tricky road. Even terms like "independence" imply dependence, which is an insulting word to most people. The point is, welfare is inherently a carrot, so don't treat it or talk about it like a stick.

Another area that the GOP used to be good at and should come back to is being the party of small business. More small businesses means more employees working closer to the boss, seeing what the boss does, and learning how to start their own businesses. It may be tempting to talk about how this increases marketplace competition, but that takes the humanity out of it. Instead, talk about the choices it gives people, both in what they buy and in how they work. 

Importantly, promoting small business means the GOP has to stop protecting big business. (Don't worry about them. The Democrats have shown they are more than willing to ride in big business's pockets.) Eliminate regulation that protects big corporations by letting them close off the opportunities they took advantage of. Lower those taxes that big corporations are most able to avoid or offset and would disproportionately land on small business. 

Overall, there needs to be a mental shift away from "I did it the hard way, so why should I make it easier for anyone else?" That way of thinking actually leads to actively making things harder for those who follow, which is the opposite direction a society should run. Instead, the GOP needs to take up a trailblazer mentality. 

“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”