Senator Chuck Schumer had a recent op-ed in the Progressive Liberal Democratic echo chamber called the New York Times. He seems to be asserting himself as the new voice of the Democratic party, with bold pronouncements of all of the new, progressive things he and his party are going to do for workers and for middle America. Though they do fit the progressive ideology, they are not, in any way, bold or new. They are pure rhetorical vapor.

He does have some points that certainly are true. Government has tilted the playing field in favor of the wealthy and powerful and has made it harder for ordinary Americans. Politics is a cesspool of special interests. Cronyism is rampant. Special interests spend tremendous sums of money to purchase politicians and favorable laws and rulings. He is not right, however, that Democrats have neglected these things. Not only have they not neglected them, they have embraced all of them and multiplied them. It is a government that he helped build over his decades in Congress. Democrats have shown just how corrupt, cronyist, anti-taxpayer, and anti-American they can be. November was judgment day.

Yes, Americans are sick of all of these things, but they are also sick of the active promotion of racial and class hatred. They are sick of arrogant politicians making proclamations from on high about what they are going to do for the “little guy” while they pile on more burdens and make it more difficult to run a business, to innovate, to hire employees, to buy simple insurance, to use your own property, and on and on. Americans are sick of nanny state politicians and bureaucrats telling them what they can and cannot do.

To be sure, many Democratic party members have good intentions and want what is best for the country and the people. They have the same problem as Republicans, however. Party leaders, the ones who speak for them, who give the party its public face, don’t care about America or Americans. They care about buying elections with goodies for constituents, about party politics, about increasing government power and scope, and about imposing their views on three hundred twenty million people rather than letting the people run their own lives.

Democrats lost control of government for the same reason that Republicans did before them. They make life more difficult, more unpleasant, and more expensive, and then blame everyone else. They believe that government is the answer to every problem, not recognizing that most of the intractable problems of today are the result of policies and laws and programs instituted years or even decades ago. They fail to realize the damage that monetary authorities do under every administration and fail to rein them in.

Schumer’s summary of his proposal demonstrates how flaccid the whole thing is: “It’s about reorienting government to work on behalf of people and families.” The three main points of the program show a blatant disregard for the actual problems and the sources of those problems in society today. All he has is empty rhetoric that will keep the Democratic party irrelevant, unless, of course, the Republican party screws up even worse, again, which is not out of the realm of possibility.

If the Democrats want to be relevant in American politics, they need to look in the mirror and give an honest evaluation of what they see, because it isn’t pretty to the bulk of Americans, as demonstrated by the last election. America is not socialism. America is not paternalism. In spite of its drift, the American idea is freedom, with individual rights and responsibilities. Treat Americans like grownups and maybe you can eventually show the Republicans a thing or two.

Dan McLaughlin is the author of “Compassion and Truth-Why Good Intentions Don’t Equal Good Results.” Follow him at daniel-mclaughlin.com.