--- title: Better Deal: Here Are 3 Big Ideas From Democrats' New Agenda description: Democrats put forward a mix of populist themes and pragmatic policies Monday as part of a new agenda aimed at winning back Congress in 2018. canonical: https://time.com/4870975/democrats-better-deal-agenda/ author: Jack Brewster article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-24T18:16:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:42:06.322Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here Are 3 Big Ideas From Democrats' New Agenda og:description: 2. Negotiate drug prices og:url: https://time.com/4870975/democrats-better-deal-agenda/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdeab11861108974/6988d6f2e76ad22eed62e760/gettyimages-813953424.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol July 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are 3 Big Ideas From Democrats' New Agenda twitter:description: 2. Negotiate drug prices twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdeab11861108974/6988d6f2e76ad22eed62e760/gettyimages-813953424.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are 3 Big Ideas From Democrats' New Agenda > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Jack Brewster](https://time.com/author/jack-brewster/) ## Jack Brewster Jul 24, 2017 6:16 PM UTC  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol July 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol July 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Jack Brewster](https://time.com/author/jack-brewster/) ## Jack Brewster Jul 24, 2017 6:16 PM UTC Democrats put forward a mix of populist themes and pragmatic policies Monday as part of a new agenda aimed at winning back Congress in 2018. Called “A Better Deal,” the agenda calls for breaking up corporate monopolies, cutting prescription drug prices and improving U.S. infrastructure, among other policies which will be unveiled in the coming weeks. “It is an ambitious economic agenda that represents a renewed Democratic commitment to the hard-working men and women across the United States who have been left out and left behind for too long,” wrote House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in [a Washington _Post_ op-ed](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americans-deserve-better-than-the-gop-agenda-so-were-offering-a-better-deal/2017/07/23/151fd1ec-6e4c-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.54237fc72907) previewing the plan. The plan is reminiscent in parts of President Trump’s campaign rhetoric, including his call for helping “the forgotten men and women of our country” in [his inaugural speech.](http://time.com/4640707/donald-trump-inauguration-speech-transcript/) Trump also called for [cutting prescription drug prices](http://time.com/money/4593536/donald-trump-person-of-the-year-drug-prices/) and improving U.S. infrastructure, although his campaign pledge to rebuilt roads and bridges [remains stalled](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/23/us/trump-infrastructure-program.html) in Congress. But Democrats put forward much different approaches in their plan. Here’s a look at several proposals: • **Create a ‘Trust Buster.’** The plan calls for [creating a new consumer advocate](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/23/democrats-take-aim-at-big-business-drug-prices-in-economic-campaign.html) who would look more closely at corporate mergers and their effects on consumer privacy, product quality and jobs. • **Negotiate Drug Prices.** Democrats argue for [creating an independent agency](https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2017/07/24/democrats-drug-prices-better-deal/) to fine companies that hike the price of prescription drugs dramatically and allowing Medicare Part D to negotiate drug prices directly. • **Spend More on Infrastructure.** The agenda also includes [new investments in infrastructure](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/24/16017570/democrats-better-deal-explained), more technical training and a tax credit for employers that hire and train certain workers. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the plan would help make the Democratic position more clear to voters, a nod to critics who argued the Democratic party lacked a clear economic message in the 2016 election. “The number one thing that we did wrong is we didn’t tell people what we stood for,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday. > [](https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/889123245793959936) Even now, a majority of the country–52 percent–believe that Democrats don’t stand for anything other than resisting President Trump, [according to a Washington _Post_/ABC News poll](https://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2017/07/16/National-Politics/Polling/release%5F480.xml?tid=a%5Finl) released last week. On Monday, [House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americans-deserve-better-than-the-gop-agenda-so-were-offering-a-better-deal/2017/07/23/151fd1ec-6e4c-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.3cdb2f26b91b),[ Schumer](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/opinion/chuck-schumer-employment-democrats.html) and fellow Democrats are scheduled to hold a press conference in Berryville, Virginia, to talk about their new plan. The town is in a district represented by Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock in a district Democrats hope to flip in the midterm elections. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4870975/democrats-better-deal-agenda/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4870975/democrats-better-deal-agenda/"},"headline":"Here Are 3 Big Ideas From Democrats' New Agenda","datePublished":"2017-07-24T18:16:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:42:06.322Z","description":"Democrats put forward a mix of populist themes and pragmatic policies Monday as part of a new agenda aimed at winning back Congress in 2018.","url":"https://time.com/4870975/democrats-better-deal-agenda/","keywords":["democrats","Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdeab11861108974/6988d6f2e76ad22eed62e760/gettyimages-813953424.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Brewster","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-brewster/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdeab11861108974/6988d6f2e76ad22eed62e760/gettyimages-813953424.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol July 13, 2017 in Washington, DC.","caption":"Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol July 13, 2017 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/democrats/","name":"democrats"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4870975/democrats-better-deal-agenda/","name":"Here Are 3 Big Ideas From Democrats' New Agenda"}}]}] ```