Earlier this month, former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign released a 110-page document containing policy recommendations that the alleged Democratic presidential candidate is expected to defend on his platform and (in theory) follow if elected in November.
The conditions that led to the development of this platform are quite consistent. After Biden defeated Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the nomination, Sanders’ staff and supporters argued that they could not support Biden simply because he was the only viable alternative to President Donald Trump. Former Sanders employees joined Biden’s campaign in the explicit hope that Biden would incorporate part of Sanders’ progressive platform into theirs. That was the mindset they brought with them when six policy working groups – in economics, health, education, immigration, climate change and criminal justice reform – were formed in May to make policy proposals to the National Convention Platform Committee Democratic.
The working groups came out with a number of concrete policy suggestions, although they are not as progressive as the Sanders campaign had hoped. And that fact is alarming to some of Sanders’ progressive employees and supporters, who have been publicly pressuring the former vice president to be less centrist.
In fact, flipping through Biden’s policy recommendations, there is nothing about Medicare for all, an extremely political policy proposal in its own right, or eliminating immigration and customs enforcement, legalizing marijuana, or passing a green New Deal.
As noted in a recent New York Times article, Biden’s top employees continue to be center-left leftists of the type that were conspicuous during the administration of President Barack Obama. Many progressives want more of a third Obama term, but Biden surrounds himself with advisers like Rahm Emanuel (former Obama chief of staff and a corrupt and neo-liberal Chicago mayor) and Lawrence Summers (former Obama economic adviser and university president) from Harvard that he didn’t universally like). It is difficult to shake the feeling that this is what we are going to obtain.
So how are progressives supposed to feel about Biden and, more specifically, the policies he has committed to (and hasn’t committed to)? Supporters of Senator Sanders, both politicians and staff members, spoke to Salon about his priorities and attempts to shape the policies of the alleged Democratic candidate.
“The top priority is universal health care and Medicare for all, because there is a health care crisis,” Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, a former co-chair of the Sanders presidential campaign, told Salon. “Many millions of Americans now understand the pain of relying on employer-based health care, given that they have lost their jobs, and this is the time we must make sure that everyone is covered by Medicare and that we give everyone health That has been our biggest push. “
He added: “The second part has been in military budgets. I mean, we are spending $ 140 billion more than when Obama left. We should have at least a ten percent cut … [should] channel that money to build our manufacturing base and invest in clean technology jobs and support broadband. “
While Khanna admitted that Biden’s platform did not go as far as Sanders’ supporters wanted when it came to issues like Medicare for All, he expressed his satisfaction with what had been accomplished on that issue and hoped that Biden was persuasive to move. further to the left in the future.
Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, a Democrat who was national co-chair of the Sanders 2020 campaign, was not so pleased with the results of the working groups’ policies. When Salon asked her to rate her evaluation on a scale of zero to 100, she said “60” at the surface level and “one” at the substance level.
“Medicare for all is not negotiable,” Turner explained. “People are dying, losing their livelihoods. If the pandemic doesn’t awaken this party to the need for universal medical care. I don’t know what will.”
Turner also expressed dismay at what he called the unwillingness of Biden’s campaign to move in a progressive direction on issues such as marijuana legalization, the green New Deal and “widespread police reform.”
“Symbolically they came closer, and let’s not forget that these are recommendations, while people are going crazy about it, they are just recommendations,” Turner explained. “It will be up to Biden’s campaign, even in places where progressives feel they have a victory, to ask the question: ‘Will all this be implemented?'”
Turner felt it was dire that the Biden campaign was reluctant to accept even Medicare for all. “Even in symbolism, they couldn’t go as far as they say[ing] that healthcare is a human right and supports it with some substance. He’s just talking. “
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. – who was one of the co-chairs of the task force groups – he had a more optimistic view of the results of the task forces than Turner.
“I think we have come a long way,” Jayapal told Salon. “I think we can legitimately say that this platform is the most progressive platform we’ve had in healthcare for a long time.”
Jayapal admitted that Biden was not going to adopt Medicare for everyone. “We knew we would not get Medicare for everyone, unlike other problems. I think health care was one that he had clearly bet on in the arena during the debates and during the campaign. The Affordable Care Act is his However, what we were able to do was dramatically improve that platform and incorporate many of the elements of Medicare for All into this framework. “
Jayapal noted how the Biden campaign spoke of expanding the public option, making sure it is run by Medicare and not by private commercial insurers, and pressing to remove waiting lists for people who need long-term care.
“I think we can legitimately say, due to our negotiations, that no American will pay more for prescription drugs than any other country,” Jayapal told Salon. “There are a lot of things we were able to achieve. And I think I think we pushed it significantly to the left, but we’re not done. I haven’t changed my mind about Medicare for All. In fact, every article I see I think justifies why we need to have a universal single-payer healthcare system, and I’m going to keep pushing for that. “
Journalist Norman Solomon, national director of RootsAction.org and delegate of California Sanders to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, praised Biden’s campaign for his movement on climate change.
“Madness is rare among individuals, but very common among groups, nations, and societies,” said Solomon. “And that’s certainly true when it would be an understatement to say that the United States and the world and humans are destroying our nest. It is a form of folly for fossil fuels to be used the way they are, for medical care to be Frequent. Withheld from people as is, etc. “
He added: “When you look at the progression in the past few months, there has been at least a bit of verbal movement from Biden in a progressive direction.”
Solomon made it clear that while he is not happy with all the positions taken by Biden’s campaign, he feels that progressives who are considering not supporting Biden for ideological reasons are selfish.
“Is it about you or the country and the world?” Solomon asked. “If it’s about you, nurture your narcissism about your own conscience.”
