For the better part of a year now, we have witnessed the beginnings of what many political experts believe to be is an influential populist uprising in America. Whether they are organized elements (e.g. “tea-baggers”) or some other type of loosely-organized movement, the defining feature seems to be an increasing disconnect between the problems and issues that confront Americans on a daily basis in their communities, and the misplaced priorities of our elected elite.

It is, I believe, a corrosive atmosphere that is undoubtedly gaining traction, attention and, most of all influence in American politics. Just ask Martha Coakley in Massachusetts.

The recent U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts was a very good indicator of the increasing level of struggle, frustration, and concern that everyday working Americans are experiencing during this horrible economic downturn, and how they see themselves becoming ever more detached from their governmental leaders, which is leading to ever more levels of frustration and anger.

On the eve of that election, Democratic Pollster Celinda Lake said Coakley was hampered by the failure of the White House and Congress to confront Wall Street, rather than sit passively by while the unemployment rate continues to go up and the Goldman Sachs of the world enjoy record profits at our expense. That failure, she said, means that Democrats are being blamed by angry independent voters worried about the state of the economy.

“If Scott Brown wins tonight he’ll win because he became the change-oriented candidate. Voters are still voting for the change they voted for in 2008, but they want to see it. And right now they think they’ve got economic policies for Washington that are delivering more for banks than Main Street,” Lake said.

Ms. Lake is onto something here, I believe. For not only are voters angry about the hundreds of billions of dollars that have gone to Wall Street, and the vast profits these banks are now raking in, but they also harbor deep concerns about other issues that our governmental leaders continually fail to address. Issues such as the outsourcing of jobs and whole industries; shrinking paychecks for those jobs that do remain in this country; increasing state and local taxes; and ever-higher health insurance premiums.

Certainly, these are all legitimate concerns, and worthy of rigorous attention and debate in the U.S. Congress, as well as state legislatures.

But, what is incredibly ironic is the fact that those who are continuously and energetically fanning the flames of our current populist revolt – people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck – are the very same people who are advocating for a conservative-oriented policy approach that would exacerbate many of these problems even further!

Allow me explain by using a comparison/contrast example from the U.S. construction industry.

For any public or private entity or agency looking to invest significant dollars and resources in a major construction project, they essentially have two distinct business models from which to choose.

The first is the organized construction market business model. This is a business model that offers increased jobsite efficiencies through a 21st century labor-management approach based upon cooperation, harmony, partnership and customer service. It is an approach that is designed to ensure that the construction owner will have a steady supply of the world’s safest, most highly skilled and productive skilled craft workforce.

Now, that workforce, in turn, receives a pay and benefits package reflective of their skill, their training and their productivity levels. Numerous studies have shown that utilizing such a highly trained, highly productive and safe workforce can actually reduce costs on major construction projects – both public and private.

Further, the organized construction business model is wholly dedicated to the idea of “workforce development.” The demographics of the U.S. construction industry are troubling. The average age for a construction worker in America today is roughly 40 years old. Many building trades unions will see a third of their current members retire in the next 10 years. And even though we are mired in a terrible economic slump today, projections are that there will be a dramatic increase in the need for skilled craft professionals over the next 20 to 30 years.

The union construction sector spends roughly $750 million a year on the most advanced and envied skills training infrastructure in the world. Additionally, both labor and management are in agreement on the need to develop additional outreach efforts designed to increase the career training opportunities for historically disadvantaged citizens; particularly women, minorities and those from economically distressed communities.

Now, this organized construction business model lies in stark contrast to what is known as the “open shop” or “merit shop” business model, where success is fundamentally predicated on the assembly of a low-cost, low-skill,