PAKET UMROH BULAN FEBRUARI MARET APRIL MEI 2018

INDUSTRI SEWA MOBIL MELAJU CEPAT, UNTUNG PUN DIRAIH

Ceruk peluang bisnis bagi industri sewa mobil melaju pesat seiring dengan pertumbuhan ekonomi yang semakin meningkat di Indonesia dan telah membuat banyak perusahaan bertumbuh besar. Alat transportasi pun juga semakin dibutuhkan untuk dapat memudahkan mobilisasi demi kepentingan bisnis. "Sekarang memang banyak jasa sewa mobil yang berdiri atau tumbuh karena kebutuhan perusahaan semakin banyak. Baik itu transportasi karyawan hingga transportasi untuk mengangkut hasil tambang," Prodjo Sunarjanto, Presiden Direktur PT Adi Sarana Armada (ASSA), salah satu perusahaan sewa mobil perusahaan terbesar di Indonesia.

Dia juga mengakui sebelum ini industri sewa mobil untuk perusahaan memang sudah banyak pemainnya, tetapi dengan pertumbuhan ekonomi seperti ini telah membuat bisnis semakin menggiurkan. Oleh karena itu dia berharap ekonomi Indonesia bisa terus meningkat atau setidaknya terjaga agar ritme industri sewa mobil bisa terus bertahan. "Kalau pertumbuhan ekonomi jelek atau anjlok kayak waktu tahun 1998, ya kacau. Perusahaan pada bangkrut, tingkat sewa juga menurun drastis," ungkapnya.

Pendorong lainnya adalah persentase Return on Equity (ROE) atau rasio tingkat pengembalian atas modal yang tinggi yang mengindikasikan apakah perusahaan dikelola dengan baik dan efisien. Semakin tinggi persentase artinya semakin efisien sebuah perusahaan dikelola. "Perusahaan kami tahun ini akan menargetkan ROE mencapai 18%," harapnya. Dia juga menambahkan, model bisnis sewa mobil memang padat modal sehingga modal yang dibutuhkan tinggi.

 
Industri Sewa Mobil Didukung Perbankan

 
Cara manajemen dan skema keuangan pun telah menjadi penting untuk dapat menghasilkan keuntungan. "Banyak perusahaan yang salah menerapkan hal ini karena tidak menyadari industri ini telah memiliki skema yang berbeda, jadi banyak perusahaan yang tidak berkembang atau malah bisa tutup. Salah satu skema yang biasa terjadi adalah kompetisi dengan harga murah, tidak memperhitungkan banyak hal hingga akhirnya kekurangan dana untuk berkembang," tambahnya. Oleh karena itu, ASSA memutuskan tidak akan main banting-bantingan harga.

Risiko yang tersebar juga menjadi andalan industri rental mobil untuk terus melaju pertumbuhannya. Prodjo juga menjelaskan, banyak bank yang berminat untuk memberikan pinjaman karena kemungkinan gagal bayar sangat kecil. Alasannya, industri rental mobil merupakan bisnis padat modal berupa mobil atau kendaraan lainnya. Modal ini pun bisa dicairkan dengan cara menjual sesuai dengan kebutuhan yang diperlukan.

"Kita kan bisnis padat modal, banyak mobil yang kita miliki yang harganya minimal Rp 150 juta. Kalau ada utang atau apa-apa yang butuh uang kita tinggal jual. Apalagi kalau ekonomi sedang anjlok berarti harga mobil dan kurs dolar meningkat, artinya harga jual mobil bekas juga meningkat. Pengalaman saya waktu tahun 1998, harga mobil Rp 30 juta bisa dijual Rp 100 juta," jelasnya. Hal ini membuat risiko perusahaan tersebar sehingga cenderung lebih aman. "Oleh karena itu, bank juga selalu siap meminjamkan uangnya karena senang dengan bisnis model industri rental mobil," tegasnya.

Buah hati terserang cacar air? Sebaiknya jangan beri 6 makanan ini

Saco-Indonesia.com - Penyakit cacar air merupakan salah satu jenis penyakit yang pasti akan menyerang siapapun dan pada usia berapa pun. Penyakit ini disebabkan oleh virus varicella-zoster (VZV) dan menyerang sistem imunitas tubuh.

Walaupun penyakit ini mampu menyerang pada usia berapa pun, namun kebanyakan anak-anaklah yang banyak terserang penyakit ini. Sebab saat masih anak-anak, sistem kekebalan tubuh masih belum sempurna.

Agar penyakit ini tidak bertambah parah, tentu saja Anda harus melakukan perawatan yang baik. Salah satunya adalah berkaitan dengan makanan. Berikut adalah makanan yang sebaiknya tidak diberikan pada anak yang terserang penyakit cacar air.

Produk olahan susu
Hindari memberikan produk olahan susu seperi keju, es krim, dan mentega. Mengonsumsi produk olahan susu ketika terserang penyakit cacar air justru akan membuat kulit menjadi berminyak.

Daging
Mengonsumsi daging akan meningkatkan suhu tubuh dan malah akan memperparah penyakit cacar air yang diderita.

Makanan cepat saji
Makanan cepat saji adalah makanan yang paling dilarang untuk dikonsumsi ketika terkena cacar air. Makanan cepat saji hanya akan membuat penyakit bertambah parah.

Jeruk
Jeruk adalah salah satu buah yang seharusnya dihindari oleh penderita cacar air. Sebab jeruk mengandung asam yang akan mengiritasi lukanya menjadi melepuh dan semakin membuat gatal.

Makanan pedas
Makanan pedas dan berbumbu juga sebaiknya dihindari ketika menderita cacar air. Sebab makanan ini akan membuat tubuh penderita menjadi tidak nyaman.

Makanan bergaram tinggi
Kandungan garam yang ada di dalam makanan ini akan memperparah gatal cacar air serta mampu menimbulkan bekas luka yang buruk.

Penyakit cacar air dapat semakin parah tergantung pada makanan yang dikonsumsi. Oleh karena itu sebaiknya hindari pemberian makanan di atas pada penderita cacar.

Sumber : Merdeka.com

Editor : Maulana Lee

WANITA KEJAR BANDIT YANG JAMBRET TASNYA

Wanita satu ini tergolong nekat. Seorang bandit tunggal yang telah menjambret tasnya dikejar hingga akhirnya tertangkap polisi di depan SPBU Jalan Ahmad Yani, Cempaka Putih,Jalkarta Pusat . “Pelaku tersebut sudah tujuh kali beraksi dan biasa dia selalu berdua kalau beraksi tapi kali ini main tunggal, seminggu lalu ia juga menjambret di Jl Pramuka namun lolos dari sergapan petugas,”tegas Kapolsek Cempaka Putih Kompol Tofiq,SH,MH. Kini bandit jambret yang sempat diamuk massa telah diamankan ke kantor polisi dan dari tangannya disita tas kulit milik korban, pelaku bersama sepeda motor Honda Supra X digunakan menjambret juga diamankan sebagai barang bukti. Kanit Reskrim Polsek Cempaka Putih AKP Supriyadi, telah menuturkan kejadian tersebut sekitar pukul 04:30 dinihari, ketika itu korban Astuti yang berusia 24 tahun, warga Jalan Cipinang Muara, Jakarta Timur, mengendarai sepeda motor Yamaha Mio warna putih. Korban tadinya mau ke pasar kue subuh, karena dijambret akhirnya wanita ini gagal belanja. Korban ketika itu datang dari arah Rawamangun melintas menuju Jl Ahmad Yani, namun wanita berambut sebahu itu tidak menyadari semenjak melintas di Rawasari sudah dibuntuti satu pengendara sepeda motor yang belakangan diketahui bandit jambret. Motor korban semula sempat di dahului kemudian korban kembali mendahului motor pelaku. Namun begitu mendekati SPBU (Stasiun Pengisian Bahan Bakar Umum), bandit kelompok Pendongkelan,Jaktim, itu memepet korban hingga wanita itu nyaris terjatuh, tas yang nyantol di depan bawah jok dirampas pelaku Setelah tas berpindah tangan, wanita tidak tinggal diam malah bandit tunggal yang kabur kearah Cocacolla diuber sambil diteriaki rampok…rampok, hingga mengundang perhatiam massa maupun petugas lagi diploting di Jalan Ahmad Yani. Tak pelak lagi, polisi dengan mengendarai motor RX King turut menguber bandit tersebut dan pelaku sempat terjatuh setelah menabrak trotoar kemudian dibekuk pengojek. Massa sempat emosi mendaratkan pukulan mengenai wajah hingga darah segar mencrot dari hidung. Petugas serse yang ikut mengejar berhasil menyelamatkan bandit jalanan itu dari amukan warga. Kini tersangka Risma Kasim, sudah 7 kali menjambret diamankan ke kantor polisi bersama tas dan sepeda motor yang dipakai menjambret. “Akibat perbuatannya itu ia akan dikenakan pasal 363 KUHP, dengan ancaman pidana 7 tahun penjara,”tegas Supriyadi> WANITA KEJAR BANDIT YANG JAMBRET TASNYA

PRIA PARUH BAYA DITEMUKAN TEWAS

saco-indonesia.com, Martogi Marpaung yang berusia (49) tahun alias Yogi seorang pria paruh baya telah ditemukan tewas dengan luka tusuk di perut. Yogi telah ditemukan di dalam kamar kosnya di lantai dua, Jalan Kebun Sayur RT 02/07, Tanah Abang, Jakarta Pusat.

Informasi dari Humas Polda Metro, Senin (30/12), jasad Yogi telah ditemukan setelah warga mencium bau tak sedap dari kamar kos di Jalan Kebon Sayur RT 02 RW 07 Nomor 2, Tanah Abang itu. Setelah membuka kamar itu, warga telah mendapati Yogi tewas secara mengenaskan. Penemuan jasad karyawan toko buku ini sontak telah membuat warga sekitar gempar warga sekitar.

Dari hasil olah tempat kejadian perkara (Olah TKP), polisi telah menemukan sebilah pisau yang diduga digunakan pelaku untuk dapat menghabisi nyawa Yogi. Kini, polisi juga masih menyelidiki siapa pelaku pembunuhan sadis tersebut.

Untuk kepentingan lebih lanjut, jasad Yogi dibawa ke Rumah Sakit Cipto Mangunkusumo Jakarta untuk dapat diautopsi. Kasusnya sedang ditangani oleh Polsek Tanah Abang.

Editor : Dian Sukmawati

8 Manfaat kesehatan di balik segarnya air tebu

Saco-Indonesia.com - Tebu merupakan tanaman yang paling banyak ditemui di Indonesia. Oleh karena itu orang Indonesia menemukan banyak cara kreatif dalam mengolah tebu sehingga dapat dijadikan sebagai olahan minuman yang menyegarkan, salah satunya adalah air tebu.

Ternyata di balik olahan air tebu yang menyegarkan tersimpan beberapa manfaat untuk kesehatan. Inilah manfaat air tebu seperti dilansir dari boldsky.com.

Menyembuhkan penyakit kuning
Air tebu merupakan obat alami untuk menyembuhkan penyakit kuning. Penyakit kuning adalah pigmentasi kuning pada kulit dan membran yang disebabkan oleh adanya billirubin di dalam darah. Penyakit ini terjadi karena menurunnya fungsi hati. Namun air tebu mampu mengembalikan kekuatan fungsi hati sehingga air tebu mampu menyembuhkan penyakit kuning.

Menyembuhkan infeksi
beberapa infeksi seperti infeksi saluran kemih, penyakit menular seksual, hingga peradangan pada perut mampu disembuhkan dengan segelas air tebu.

Mengobati batu ginjal
Batu ginjal terjadi karena dehidrasi di dalam tubuh. Oleh karena itu untuk menghidrasi tubuh kembali, Anda dapat mencoba mengonsumsi air tebu secara rutin. Air tebu juga mempunyai kandungan alami yang dapat memecah batu ginjal.

Baik untuk penderita diabetes
Air tebu baik dikonsumsi oleh penderita diabetes sebab air tebu mengandung pemanis alami. Sehingga tidak membahayakan atau memicu penyakit diabetes.

Kaya akan nutrisi
Air tebu kaya akan vitamin dan mineral seperti fosfor, zat besi, kalium, kalsium, dan magnesium. Selain itu penelitian menunjukkan bahwa air tebu mampu membantu memulihkan kekurangan vitamin di dalam tubuh akibat penyakit demam yang tinggi.

Menyembuhkan flu dan pilek
Jika Anda berpikir bahwa air tebu akan memperparah sakit tenggorokan Anda, maka Anda salah. Sebab air tebu justru mampu membantu menyembuhkan sakit tenggorokan, pilek, dan flu.

Mencegah kanker
Karena kandungan alkali di dalamnya, air tebu baik untuk mencegah kanker terutama kanker usus besar, kanker paru-paru, dan kanker payudara.

Menghidrasi tubuh
Dehidrasi masih menjadi penyakit yang jamak ditemui terutama ketika musim panas. Oleh karena itu untuk mencegahnya, Anda dapat mengonsumsi air tebu untuk menurunkan panas tubuh dan menghidrasi tubuh.

Sedang mencari alternatif minuman sehat? Tidak ada salahnya apabila Anda mengonsumsi air tebu.

Sumber : Merdeka.com

Editor : Maulana Lee

Police Rethink Long Tradition on Using Force

WASHINGTON — During a training course on defending against knife attacks, a young Salt Lake City police officer asked a question: “How close can somebody get to me before I’m justified in using deadly force?”

Dennis Tueller, the instructor in that class more than three decades ago, decided to find out. In the fall of 1982, he performed a rudimentary series of tests and concluded that an armed attacker who bolted toward an officer could clear 21 feet in the time it took most officers to draw, aim and fire their weapon.

The next spring, Mr. Tueller published his findings in SWAT magazine and transformed police training in the United States. The “21-foot rule” became dogma. It has been taught in police academies around the country, accepted by courts and cited by officers to justify countless shootings, including recent episodes involving a homeless woodcarver in Seattle and a schizophrenic woman in San Francisco.

Edward Chambers, Early Leader in Community Organizing, Dies at 85

A lapsed seminarian, Mr. Chambers succeeded Saul Alinsky as leader of the social justice umbrella group Industrial Areas Foundation.

Jozef Paczynski, Inmate Barber to Auschwitz Commandant, Dies at 95

Mr. Paczynski was one of the concentration camp’s longest surviving inmates and served as the personal barber to its Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss.

Don Mankiewicz, Screenwriter in a Family Film Tradition, Dies at 93

Mr. Mankiewicz, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter for “I Want to Live!,” also wrote episodes of television shows such as “Star Trek” and “Marcus Welby, M.D.”

Jack Ely, Who Sang the Kingsmen’s ‘Louie Louie’, Dies at 71

A 2-minute-42-second demo recording captured in one take turned out to be a one-hit wonder for Mr. Ely, who was 19 when he sang the garage-band classic.

Top News China’s Intents Are Questioned as It Builds in Antarctica

HOBART, Tasmania — Few places seem out of reach for China’s leader, Xi Jinping, who has traveled from European capitals to obscure Pacific and Caribbean islands in pursuit of his nation’s strategic interests.

So perhaps it was not surprising when he turned up last fall in this city on the edge of the Southern Ocean to put down a long-distance marker in another faraway region, Antarctica, 2,000 miles south of this Australian port.

Standing on the deck of an icebreaker that ferries Chinese scientists from this last stop before the frozen continent, Mr. Xi pledged that China would continue to expand in one of the few places on earth that remain unexploited by humans.

He signed a five-year accord with the Australian government that allows Chinese vessels and, in the future, aircraft to resupply for fuel and food before heading south. That will help secure easier access to a region that is believed to have vast oil and mineral resources; huge quantities of high-protein sea life; and for times of possible future dire need, fresh water contained in icebergs.

It was not until 1985, about seven decades after Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen raced to the South Pole, that a team representing Beijing hoisted the Chinese flag over the nation’s first Antarctic research base, the Great Wall Station on King George Island.

But now China seems determined to catch up. As it has bolstered spending on Antarctic research, and as the early explorers, especially the United States and Australia, confront stagnant budgets, there is growing concern about its intentions.

China’s operations on the continent — it opened its fourth research station last year, chose a site for a fifth, and is investing in a second icebreaker and new ice-capable planes and helicopters — are already the fastest growing of the 52 signatories to the Antarctic Treaty. That gentlemen’s agreement reached in 1959 bans military activity on the continent and aims to preserve it as one of the world’s last wildernesses; a related pact prohibits mining.

But Mr. Xi’s visit was another sign that China is positioning itself to take advantage of the continent’s resource potential when the treaty expires in 2048 — or in the event that it is ripped up before, Chinese and Australian experts say.

“So far, our research is natural-science based, but we know there is more and more concern about resource security,” said Yang Huigen, director general of the Polar Research Institute of China, who accompanied Mr. Xi last November on his visit to Hobart and stood with him on the icebreaker, Xue Long, or Snow Dragon.

With that in mind, the polar institute recently opened a new division devoted to the study of resources, law, geopolitics and governance in Antarctica and the Arctic, Mr. Yang said.

Australia, a strategic ally of the United States that has strong economic relations with China, is watching China’s buildup in the Antarctic with a mix of gratitude — China’s presence offers support for Australia’s Antarctic science program, which is short of cash — and wariness.

“We should have no illusions about the deeper agenda — one that has not even been agreed to by Chinese scientists but is driven by Xi, and most likely his successors,” said Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a former senior official in the Australian Department of Defense.

“This is part of a broader pattern of a mercantilist approach all around the world,” Mr. Jennings added. “A big driver of Chinese policy is to secure long-term energy supply and food supply.”

That approach was evident last month when a large Chinese agriculture enterprise announced an expansion of its fishing operations around Antarctica to catch more krill — small, protein-rich crustaceans that are abundant in Antarctic waters.

“The Antarctic is a treasure house for all human beings, and China should go there and share,” Liu Shenli, the chairman of the China National Agricultural Development Group, told China Daily, a state-owned newspaper. China would aim to fish up to two million tons of krill a year, he said, a substantial increase from what it currently harvests.

Because sovereignty over Antarctica is unclear, nations have sought to strengthen their claims over the ice-covered land by building research bases and naming geographic features. China’s fifth station will put it within reach of the six American facilities, and ahead of Australia’s three.

Chinese mappers have also given Chinese names to more than 300 sites, compared with the thousands of locations on the continent with English names.

In the unspoken competition for Antarctica’s future, scientific achievement can also translate into influence. Chinese scientists are driving to be the first to drill and recover an ice core containing tiny air bubbles that provide a record of climate change stretching as far back as 1.5 million years. It is an expensive and delicate effort at which others, including the European Union and Australia, have failed.

In a breakthrough a decade ago, European scientists extracted an ice core nearly two miles long that revealed 800,000 years of climate history. But finding an ice core going back further would allow scientists to examine a change in the earth’s climate cycles believed to have occurred 900,000 to 1.2 million years ago.

China is betting it has found the best location to drill, at an area called Dome A, or Dome Argus, the highest point on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Though it is considered one of the coldest places on the planet, with temperatures of 130 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, a Chinese expedition explored the area in 2005 and established a research station in 2009.

“The international community has drilled in lots of places, but no luck so far,” said Xiao Cunde, a member of the first party to reach the site and the deputy director of the Institute for Climate Change at the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences. “We think at Dome A we will have a straight shot at the one-million-year ice core.”

Mr. Xiao said China had already begun drilling and hoped to find what scientists are looking for in four to five years.

To support its Antarctic aspirations, China is building a sophisticated $300 million icebreaker that is expected to be ready in a few years, said Xia Limin, deputy director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration in Beijing. It has also bought a high-tech fixed-wing aircraft, outfitted in the United States, for taking sensitive scientific soundings from the ice.

China has chosen the site for its fifth research station at Inexpressible Island, named by a group of British explorers who were stranded at the desolate site in 1912 and survived the winter by excavating a small ice cave.

Mr. Xia said the inhospitable spot was ideal because China did not have a presence in that part of Antarctica, and because the rocky site did not have much snow, making it relatively cheap to build there.

Anne-Marie Brady, a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and the author of a soon-to-be-released book, “China as a Polar Great Power,” said Chinese scientists also believed they had a good chance of finding mineral and energy resources near the site.

“China is playing a long game in Antarctica and keeping other states guessing about its true intentions and interests are part of its poker hand,” she said. But she noted that China’s interest in finding minerals was presented “loud and clear to domestic audiences” as the main reason it was investing in Antarctica.

Because commercial drilling is banned, estimates of energy and mineral resources in Antarctica rely on remote sensing data and comparisons with similar geological environments elsewhere, said Millard F. Coffin, executive director of the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart.

But the difficulty of extraction in such severe conditions and uncertainty about future commodity prices make it unlikely that China or any country would defy the ban on mining anytime soon.

Tourism, however, is already booming. Travelers from China are still a relatively small contingent in the Antarctic compared with the more than 13,000 Americans who visited in 2013, and as yet there are no licensed Chinese tour operators.

But that is about to change, said Anthony Bergin, deputy director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. “I understand very soon there will be Chinese tourists on Chinese vessels with all-Chinese crew in the Antarctic,” he said.

Gilbert Haroche, Builder of an Economy Travel Empire, Dies at 87

Mr. Haroche was a founder of Liberty Travel, which grew from a two-man operation to the largest leisure travel operation in the United States.

William Price Fox, Admired Southern Novelist and Humorist, Dies at 89

Mr. Fox, known for his well-honed countrified voice, wrote about things dear to South Carolina and won over Yankee critics.

William Pfaff, Critic of American Foreign Policy, Dies at 86

Mr. Pfaff was an international affairs columnist and author who found Washington’s intervention in world affairs often misguided.

Jayne Meadows, Actress and Steve Allen’s Wife and Co-Star, Dies at 95

Ms. Meadows was the older sister of Audrey Meadows, who played Alice Kramden on “The Honeymooners.”

Robert Patterson Jr., Lawyer and Judge Who Fought for the Accused, Dies at 91

Judge Patterson helped to protect the rights of Attica inmates after the prison riot in 1971 and later served on the Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Elizabeth Brown Pryor, Biographer of Clara Barton and Robert E. Lee, Dies at 64

Ms. Pryor, who served more than two decades in the State Department, was the author of well-regarded biographies of the founder of the American Red Cross and the Confederate commander.

Dan Walker, 92, Dies; Illinois Governor and Later a U.S. Prisoner

As governor, Mr. Walker alienated Republicans and his fellow Democrats, particularly the Democratic powerhouse Richard J. Daley, the mayor of Chicago.

Harvey R. Miller, Renowned Bankruptcy Lawyer, Dies at 82

Mr. Miller, of the firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, represented companies including Lehman Brothers, General Motors and American Airlines, and mentored many of the top Chapter 11 practitioners today.

G.O.P. Hopefuls Now Aiming to Woo the Middle Class

WASHINGTON — The last three men to win the Republican nomination have been the prosperous son of a president (George W. Bush), a senator who could not recall how many homes his family owned (John McCain of Arizona; it was seven) and a private equity executive worth an estimated $200 million (Mitt Romney).

The candidates hoping to be the party’s nominee in 2016 are trying to create a very different set of associations. On Sunday, Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, joined the presidential field.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida praises his parents, a bartender and a Kmart stock clerk, as he urges audiences not to forget “the workers in our hotel kitchens, the landscaping crews in our neighborhoods, the late-night janitorial staff that clean our offices.”

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a preacher’s son, posts on Twitter about his ham-and-cheese sandwiches and boasts of his coupon-clipping frugality. His $1 Kohl’s sweater has become a campaign celebrity in its own right.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky laments the existence of “two Americas,” borrowing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s phrase to describe economically and racially troubled communities like Ferguson, Mo., and Detroit.

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“Some say, ‘But Democrats care more about the poor,’ ” Mr. Paul likes to say. “If that’s true, why is black unemployment still twice white unemployment? Why has household income declined by $3,500 over the past six years?”

We are in the midst of the Empathy Primary — the rhetorical battleground shaping the Republican presidential field of 2016.

Harmed by the perception that they favor the wealthy at the expense of middle-of-the-road Americans, the party’s contenders are each trying their hardest to get across what the elder George Bush once inelegantly told recession-battered voters in 1992: “Message: I care.”

Their ability to do so — less bluntly, more sincerely — could prove decisive in an election year when power, privilege and family connections will loom large for both parties.

Questions of understanding and compassion cost Republicans in the last election. Mr. Romney, who memorably dismissed the “47 percent” of Americans as freeloaders, lost to President Obama by 63 percentage points among voters who cast their ballots for the candidate who “cares about people like me,” according to exit polls.

And a Pew poll from February showed that people still believe Republicans are indifferent to working Americans: 54 percent said the Republican Party does not care about the middle class.

That taint of callousness explains why Senator Ted Cruz of Texas declared last week that Republicans “are and should be the party of the 47 percent” — and why another son of a president, Jeb Bush, has made economic opportunity the centerpiece of his message.

With his pedigree and considerable wealth — since he left the Florida governor’s office almost a decade ago he has earned millions of dollars sitting on corporate boards and advising banks — Mr. Bush probably has the most complicated task making the argument to voters that he understands their concerns.

On a visit last week to Puerto Rico, Mr. Bush sounded every bit the populist, railing against “elites” who have stifled economic growth and innovation. In the kind of economy he envisions leading, he said: “We wouldn’t have the middle being squeezed. People in poverty would have a chance to rise up. And the social strains that exist — because the haves and have-nots is the big debate in our country today — would subside.”

Continue reading the main story

 

Who Is Running for President (and Who’s Not)?

Republicans’ emphasis on poorer and working-class Americans now represents a shift from the party’s longstanding focus on business owners and “job creators” as the drivers of economic opportunity.

This is intentional, Republican operatives said.

In the last presidential election, Republicans rushed to defend business owners against what they saw as hostility by Democrats to successful, wealthy entrepreneurs.

“Part of what you had was a reaction to the Democrats’ dehumanization of business owners: ‘Oh, you think you started your plumbing company? No you didn’t,’ ” said Grover Norquist, the conservative activist and president of Americans for Tax Reform.

But now, Mr. Norquist said, Republicans should move past that. “Focus on the people in the room who know someone who couldn’t get a job, or a promotion, or a raise because taxes are too high or regulations eat up companies’ time,” he said. “The rich guy can take care of himself.”

Democrats argue that the public will ultimately see through such an approach because Republican positions like opposing a minimum-wage increase and giving private banks a larger role in student loans would hurt working Americans.

“If Republican candidates are just repeating the same tired policies, I’m not sure that smiling while saying it is going to be enough,” said Guy Cecil, a Democratic strategist who is joining a “super PAC” working on behalf of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Republicans have already attacked Mrs. Clinton over the wealth and power she and her husband have accumulated, caricaturing her as an out-of-touch multimillionaire who earns hundreds of thousands of dollars per speech and has not driven a car since 1996.

Mr. Walker hit this theme recently on Fox News, pointing to Mrs. Clinton’s lucrative book deals and her multiple residences. “This is not someone who is connected with everyday Americans,” he said. His own net worth, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is less than a half-million dollars; Mr. Walker also owes tens of thousands of dollars on his credit cards.

But showing off a cheap sweater or boasting of a bootstraps family background not only helps draw a contrast with Mrs. Clinton’s latter-day affluence, it is also an implicit argument against Mr. Bush.

Mr. Walker, who featured a 1998 Saturn with more than 100,000 miles on the odometer in a 2010 campaign ad during his first run for governor, likes to talk about flipping burgers at McDonald’s as a young person. His mother, he has said, grew up on a farm with no indoor plumbing until she was in high school.

Mr. Rubio, among the least wealthy members of the Senate, with an estimated net worth of around a half-million dollars, uses his working-class upbringing as evidence of the “exceptionalism” of America, “where even the son of a bartender and a maid can have the same dreams and the same future as those who come from power and privilege.”

Mr. Cruz alludes to his family’s dysfunction — his parents, he says, were heavy drinkers — and recounts his father’s tale of fleeing Cuba with $100 sewn into his underwear.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey notes that his father paid his way through college working nights at an ice cream plant.

But sometimes the attempts at projecting authenticity can seem forced. Mr. Christie recently found himself on the defensive after telling a New Hampshire audience, “I don’t consider myself a wealthy man.” Tax returns showed that he and his wife, a longtime Wall Street executive, earned nearly $700,000 in 2013.

The story of success against the odds is a political classic, even if it is one the Republican Party has not been able to tell for a long time. Ronald Reagan liked to say that while he had not been born on the wrong side of the tracks, he could always hear the whistle. Richard Nixon was fond of reminding voters how he was born in a house his father had built.

“Probably the idea that is most attractive to an average voter, and an idea that both Republicans and Democrats try to craft into their messages, is this idea that you can rise from nothing,” said Charles C. W. Cooke, a writer for National Review.

There is a certain delight Republicans take in turning that message to their advantage now.

“That’s what Obama did with Hillary,” Mr. Cooke said. “He acknowledged it openly: ‘This is ridiculous. Look at me, this one-term senator with dark skin and all of America’s unsolved racial problems, running against the wife of the last Democratic president.”