Populism in America Today

After watching Barack Obama's State of the Union Address, and after reading David Brooks' article, "The Populist Addiction", I have decided that populist ideology still exists today.  Today is very different from the late 19th century when populism first started, but some of the populist ideology from 1896 is still seen today. When reading, "The Populist Addiction", by David Brooks, I realized populism plays a role in American politics.  Mr. Brooks described in his article how populism divides the country.  He wrote,  “They’ve taken to dividing the country into two supposedly separate groups –real Americans who live on Main Street and the insidious interests of Wall Street.” (David Brooks, The Populist Addiction)  This is very true today.  The country is very much divided into two groups, which are Republicans and Democrats.  This division of the country into the working class agianst the industrialists began when populism first started back in 1896, and still exists today.  The populist movement was fueled, and is still fueled, by the idea of government helping out the people who are economically disadvantaged.  I also saw this populist idea in Barack Obama's State of the Union Address.  In his address, Barack Obama spoke about how America must tax the upper one percent of Americans, and how America should have tax cuts for the lower ninety-nine percent.  President Obama also talked about how he wanted to reform education in America by making college education affordable for students, and by creating more schools dedicated to skill building, with government help.  These ideas of making colleges more affordable for students, giving the lower ninety-nine percent of Americans tax cuts, and giving financial assistance to the unemployed, are all populist ideals.  Since the birth of populism in the late 19^th century, populism has continuously found its way into American politics.  These ideas of helping the less fortunate through government aid and through government reform are examples of how populism is still existent today.