*Now that the economy isn't a winning issue for liberals...*

[mburbank]

I don't know 'most people'. The people I know mostly have had their health care and energy costs rise faster than their salaries. I don't see that changing any time soon.

Do you have health insurance? Unless you had promotion, I'm guessing yours went up almost twice your raise.

I'm not sure I can define Liberalism anymore, people like you have muddied it's meaning so much it's more devalued than 'awesome'.

If Bill gates walks into my local bar, the average income is well over a Million Dollars, and the average income grows the entire hour he hangs out there (like anyone rich would ever set foot in my local bar). A conservtive will tell you about what a great sign it is that the average american in my bar is getting wealthier all the time. As a populist, I'm looking at the Mean income. And it's damn mean in my bar.

A populist thinks congress spending it's time barking about a constitutional amendment banning Gay Marriage is a huge steaming waste of time and worse yet, they know it. A populist thinks the whole 'culture war' thing is a lot of bullshit. I'm more concerned that a neighboring school district just had to cut all extra cariculars, including atheletics to get through the next year. I'm concerned that last year perscriptions cost me $5 and now they cost me $25.00. I'm concerened the science program at my daughters school has one part time teacher. I'm concerned it cost me almost twice as much this winter to keep my home at 65 degrees than it did the winter before, why my natural gas bill went up exactly as much as people who heat with oil. A populist is concerned that huge numbers of hard working people's lives are difficult as hell. During the Clinton administration, during the 'bubble', most of the folks I know had to work harder just to stay in the same place financially, and as a populist I was mad as hell. 'Family leave' may have looked like great 'liberal' benefit, but since it was only there for people who could afford to have one parent not working it didn't mean much to me or my wife.

Could you be more narrow? The NAACP is a branch of the democratic party, Populism is liberalism. Pat Friggin' Buchanan doesn't think that! Oh, wait, let me guess, you think he's a Democrat. And Chuck Hagel is a Democrat, and John McCain s a democrat and everyone who doesn't agree with you is a democrat, especially anyone who might suggest that you were paranoid because those people are just spreading lies about you.