After the election | rs21
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Louis Proyect
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Michael Meeropol
FROM THE ARTICLE: Biden and Harris are not only opposed to all the popular reforms championed by Sanders (Medicare for All, abolishing student debt, etc.), but have pledged to increase funding for the police and are promising savage austerity in social spending in the face of a continuing pandemic and deepening recession. Put simply, a Biden-Harris administration will continue and deepen the neo-liberal offensive that will bring greater insecurity and poverty to the vast majority of people in the US. ONE COULD HAVE SAID THE SAME THING about what FDR offered during the 1932 Presidential election --- Unless the Democrats are truly insane (as in doing the same "bi-partisan" shit that Obama did but expecting a different result) they will attempt to appease the working class, the black communities, the young people --- Biden has already committed to a $15 federal minimum wage -- -which in some states is a REAL income push for the working poor --- Instead of being so damn certain Biden will re-establish Obama's failed policies we should gird ourselves for action to force Biden NOT to do that ....
On Wed, Oct 28, 2020 at 9:10 PM Louis Proyect <lnp3@...> wrote: https://www.rs21.org.uk/2020/10/24/after-the-election/?fbclid=IwAR2-LtRBZ1gJDgABavmhF5-z7YZsoZiPTmYNcZ3A8qb2Bb-jmx16FDZ_9Rc
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Alan Ginsberg
I am unaware that Biden and Harris "are promising savage austerity in social spending..."
Can anyone point to anything that supports Post's claim?
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Louis Proyect
On 10/28/20 9:10 PM, Louis Proyect
wrote:
https://www.rs21.org.uk/2020/10/24/after-the-election/?fbclid=IwAR2-LtRBZ1gJDgABavmhF5-z7YZsoZiPTmYNcZ3A8qb2Bb-jmx16FDZ_9Rc
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/08/biden-democratic-national-convention-austerity Joe Biden’s Campaign Is Making It Very Clear: They Will Push Austerity in the White HouseAlmost no one noticed it, but earlier this month, a top Joe Biden advisor indicated that the entire agenda Biden is campaigning on won't be pursued once he's in the White House. Instead, Biden's inner circle appears wedded to the ideology of austerity.
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Stephen Shalom
If one is going to cite an August piece by David Sirota about Biden and austerity, why not quote his October 23 words: A few months ago, our reporting team spotlighted how Joe Biden’s campaign was suggesting that if Trump is defeated, a new Democratic administration may not even try to fulfill its campaign promises because of deficit concerns. When our story went viral, Biden’s campaign frantically — and rightly — backtracked, which was a huge win for accountability journalism. At the final 2020 presidential debate, that success culminated in one of the most important moments in the entire campaign. During a discussion about the budget, Biden brushed off his old deficit hawk buddies, outright rejected GOP talking points, and instead made the point that the federal government must spend what it takes to rescue cities and states. “Every single state out there finds themselves in trouble — they’re gonna start laying off, whether they are red or blue, cops, firefighters, first responders, teachers, because they have to balance their budget,” Biden said. “The founders were smart. They allowed the federal government to compensate for the United States of America.” Overall the debate was demoralizing and depressing, but this moment wasn’t. It was a moment that won’t get a ton of attention from a media obsessed with frivolity, but it wasn’t some small matter. It was everything. If a new administration accepts deficit concern trolling and the Beltway’s austerity frame, then it is doomed to fail. If a new administration rejects that frame, then the possibility of real change remains alive. It is hard to overstate how big a shift this is for Biden. He was the guy who spent decades touting his work with Republicans trying to cut programs like Social Security in the name of budget austerity. Now he’s expounding on the need for countercyclical deficit spending. To use a Biden-ism, that’s a BFD. Biden’s rhetorical change is not only good politics, it is sane policy. With the economy in crisis, and with states unable to deficit spend, the federal government must be the demand-side spender of last resort. And it’s not like there aren’t priorities that require big funding — investments in jobless benefits, infrastructure projects and climate change mitigation will boost the economy and are desperately needed for obvious reasons.
On Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 4:02 PM Louis Proyect <lnp3@...> wrote:
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Louis Proyect
On 10/29/20 4:12 PM, Stephen Shalom
wrote:
And as our economy changes, let's be the generation that ensures our nation's workers are sharing in our prosperity. Let's protect the hard-earned benefits their companies have promised. Let's make it possible for hardworking Americans to save for retirement. And let's allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country's middle class again. Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America. Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills, and afford child care so their kids have a safe place to go when they work. Let's do this. Let's be the generation that finally tackles our health care crisis. We can control costs by focusing on prevention, by providing better treatment to the chronically ill, and using technology to cut the bureaucracy. Let's be the generation that says right here, right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the end of the next president's first term. Let's be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil. We can harness homegrown, alternative fuels like ethanol and spur the production of more fuel-efficient cars. We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation, and job creation, and an incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world. Let's be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we did here. --Barack Obama, February
2007 speech announcing his campaign for President
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