Bernie/Biden task force presents suggestions

[dreng3]

A few days late, but the Unity task force recently released their shared policy recommendations, most of which are pretty progressive.

NYT gives a quick overview of the main six points

6 Takeaways From the Biden-Sanders Joint Task Force Proposals (Published 2020)

Signature progressive programs like “Medicare for all” and the Green New Deal did not make it into the recommendations. But Senator Bernie Sanders’s allies pushed some policies to the left.

www.nytimes.com

And the entire set of recommendations can be found in the attached file.

Now we can only hope that Biden adopts as many of the recommendations as possible and that he becomes even more progressive after the election.

 

[Worgen]

Well, I would prefer a medicare for all thing but having a government plan is much more feasible politically and as long as democrats can keep republicans from ruining it, I would imagine that private insurance companies would start to dwindle as more and more people just go for the federal plan.

The rest of this seems fine, but still not as far as I would want. Except for education, that one seems good. Same with immigration.

 

[dreng3]

Well, I would prefer a medicare for all thing but having a government plan is much more feasible politically and as long as democrats can keep republicans from ruining it, I would imagine that private insurance companies would start to dwindle as more and more people just go for the federal plan.

The rest of this seems fine, but still not as far as I would want. Except for education, that one seems good. Same with immigration.

Totally agree, but I'd say this is a step in the right direction, and when people get used to the sweet new healthcare they will not only be loath to give it up, they will also be more receptive to even more progressive suggestions.
Even Bernie said that if Biden adopted these stances Biden would be the most progressive president since FDR, which is pretty good.

We've also yet to see Biden's running mate, but it seems like almost no matter who she will be more progressive than Biden and might be a positive influence.

 

[Worgen]

Totally agree, but I'd say this is a step in the right direction, and when people get used to the sweet new healthcare they will not only be loath to give it up, they will also be more receptive to even more progressive suggestions.
Even Bernie said that if Biden adopted these stances Biden would be the most progressive president since FDR, which is pretty good.

We've also yet to see Biden's running mate, but it seems like almost no matter who she will be more progressive than Biden and might be a positive influence.

Well for even this to have much of a chance, we either need things getting bad enough that the turtle has to act or democrats have to win the senate on top of the presidency.

 

[Dalisclock]

Well for even this to have much of a chance, we either need things getting bad enough that the turtle has to act or democrats have to win the senate on top of the presidency.

3rd option would be that the turtle gets sent home.

 

[Worgen]

3rd option would be that the turtle gets sent home.

If its only that then it depends on who the republicans choose to replace him with. It would be a loaded coin flip as to if we would get someone who believes in governance or someone who just wants to turtle, but probably looks less like one.

 

[Silvanus]

There's some fantastic stuff in there. Net-zero emissions on new buildings by 2030, eliminating carbon emission from factories by 2035, premium-free healthcare coverage automatically provided to low-income people.

Sanders and AOC are quite clearly invested in bringing about change through the realistic avenues that are actually available to them at this point. Here's hoping Biden commits to the proposals (and loudly).

 

[dreng3]

There's some fantastic stuff in there. Net-zero emissions on new buildings by 2030, eliminating carbon emission from factories by 2035, premium-free healthcare coverage automatically provided to low-income people.

Sanders and AOC are quite clearly invested in bringing about change through the realistic avenues that are actually available to them at this point. Here's hoping Biden commits to the proposals (and loudly).

And that he picks a vice president that is also more progressive than he is, something like that could easily be spun in a way that appeases the left of the democratic party.

 

[SupahEwok]

There's some fantastic stuff in there. Net-zero emissions on new buildings by 2030, eliminating carbon emission from factories by 2035, premium-free healthcare coverage automatically provided to low-income people.

Sanders and AOC are quite clearly invested in bringing about change through the realistic avenues that are actually available to them at this point. Here's hoping Biden commits to the proposals (and loudly).

A) those emissions reduction sentiments are lovely as sentiments, but that's also what they are. How many countries, historically more climate-conscious than the US, have actually achieved such goals? 15 years is an incredibly short time frame for major infrastructure changes, such as refitting all factories across the country to have net zero emissions from their processes.

B) premium free does not mean deductible free, and it's likely that the plans for low income people will feature high deductibles which make them functionally useless for anything but the most disastrous of emergencies which would prompt bankruptcy otherwise, simply because such plans are cheap. And low income people does not necessarily include no income people. Many US welfare benefits are tied to being able to show a minimum income level from at least the previous year.

I have my doubts that anymore than 3/4 of these proposals will be accepted into the party platform, and more doubtful that any more than 1/8 of it will pan out in amy substantial way under a Biden presidency.

 

[SupahEwok]

And that he picks a vice president that is also more progressive than he is, something like that could easily be spun in a way that appeases the left of the democratic party.

Vice presidents mean nothing. They have barely any powers enumerated in the Constitution, and many have spent their terms completely shut out of any policy decisions. Many others have only served as stand-ins for the president at home and abroad for social and diplomatic functions.

Here is how the VP pick is going to go down. If Biden picks a progressive, it means that party insiders think he'll be able to make it through a term without being incapacitated by dementia, and will be able to control his policies; therefore, it is "safe" to put out a progressive to cater for votes. If Biden nominates a neoliberal or party-line Democrat, than the Democratic leadership has no faith in his health being able to stand up to the rigour of even a puppet presidency, and will face the backlash from failing to bring in the progressive wing over giving the progressive wing a chance to inherit the presidency from an ailing Biden.

 

[Worgen]

A) those emissions reduction sentiments are lovely as sentiments, but that's also what they are. How many countries, historically more climate-conscious than the US, have actually achieved such goals? 15 years is an incredibly short time frame for major infrastructure changes, such as refitting all factories across the country to have net zero emissions from their processes.

Well, this is all the more reason to vote democratic. Clinton had a good climate plan in the 90s, then Bush got elected and rolled it back, Obama joined the Paris climate accords then trump pulled us out of it. Its all the joy of democracy.

 

[Eacaraxe]

Preserving private insurance and introducing a means-tested-to-hell semi-"public" option. In the middle of a global pandemic.

"States' rights" on marijuana and mass incarceration, more expansion to "community-oriented policing" slush funds that have been proven for decades not to be effective in reducing or eliminating police brutality.

No fracking ban, "net-zero" is an energy sector buzzword that does not account for insufficiency in carbon capture and sequestration technology, and on a time frame that cannot and will not prevent irreversible ecological damage and climate catastrophy. We need to be net-negative by 2030 and zero-emissions by 2050.

Economic stuff is a bunch of idpol nonsense that at best sticks a band-aid on the problem and asks us to consider it fixed without addressing root causes for economic inequality.

Education recommendations are a fart in a hurricane, and immigration is a return to the dogshit corporate-friendly Obama status quo.

All for a non-binding series of recommendations that almost certainly won't make it past the rogue's gallery of lobbyists and corporate pundits the DNC has stacked its committees with on the sly, to constitute a non-binding party platform the majority of Democratic elected officials completely disregard in the first place, upon which non-binding campaign promises can be made in bad faith, all for the sake of milquetoast policy proposals that will be "negotiated" by conservative Democrats into nothing long before a Republican legislator can lay hands on the horse's rotting carcass.

This was designed to fail, and it was all theater to pretend the party and its donors give a shit, to try to grift progressives into swallowing their bile long enough to punch their ticket for a known bad-faith operator with a four-decade Senate record of standing for every toxic and catastrophic position the United States has taken since Nixon.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

"Ending cash bail"

Hhm...

"The task force called for decriminalizing marijuana and legalizing it at the federal level for medical use, but for letting the states decide whether to legalize it for recreational use. That is the position Mr. Biden held in the primary, in contrast to Mr. Sanders, who supports full legalization. "

Good to see him not going full socialist.

"It also directly tied the effort to reduce fossil fuels to a need to address racial injustices that have led low-income communities to bear a disproportionate level of air and water pollution. "

I fail to see how these are at all related. Just looks like them trying to get their do nothing climate bills through by attaching them to something that gets more attention. It's also rather convenient that all these plans aren't estimated to produce any results till he would be out of office.

"The economy: Closing racial gaps and creating jobs programs"

Looks like more "Give us more money to do things that don't work" stuff under this.

"importance of schools as community centers that provide a broad array of social services, such as health care and meals. "

That's not the point of schools... wtf? Either make better education or stop pretending you're doing something for schools with this irrelevant crap.

"The task force commits to addressing the problem through strategies like busing and magnet schools, but does not mention a specific amount of funding. "

Shame something that could easily do some immediate good doesn't seem to be getting attention.

"Immigration: A focus on undoing Trump policies"

Meh. At least he's once again not doing the dumb stuff Sanders wants.

There we go, that's my gut reactions.

 

[SupahEwok]

Preserving private insurance and introducing a means-tested-to-hell semi-"public" option. In the middle of a global pandemic.

"States' rights" on marijuana and mass incarceration, more expansion to "community-oriented policing" slush funds that have been proven for decades not to be effective in reducing or eliminating police brutality.

No fracking ban, "net-zero" is an energy sector buzzword that does not account for insufficiency in carbon capture and sequestration technology, and on a time frame that cannot and will not prevent irreversible ecological damage and climate catastrophy. We need to be net-negative by 2030 and zero-emissions by 2050.

Economic stuff is a bunch of idpol nonsense that at best sticks a band-aid on the problem and asks us to consider it fixed without addressing root causes for economic inequality.

Education recommendations are a fart in a hurricane, and immigration is a return to the dogshit corporate-friendly Obama status quo.

All for a non-binding series of recommendations that almost certainly won't make it past the rogue's gallery of lobbyists and corporate pundits the DNC has stacked its committees with on the sly, to constitute a non-binding party platform the majority of Democratic elected officials completely disregard in the first place, upon which non-binding campaign promises can be made in bad faith, all for the sake of milquetoast policy proposals that will be "negotiated" by conservative Democrats into nothing long before a Republican legislator can lay hands on the horse's rotting carcass.

This was designed to fail, and it was all theater to pretend the party and its donors give a shit, to try to grift progressives into swallowing their bile long enough to punch their ticket for a known bad-faith operator with a four-decade Senate record of standing for every toxic and catastrophic position the United States has taken since Nixon.

Man, I just got finished saying that I expect the DNC to pick Biden's VP based on whether or not they think he'll drop comatose in the next 4 years, and even I find your post a tad too cynical.

Editted for clarity.

 

[Eacaraxe]

Man, I just got finished saying that I expect the DNC to pick Biden's VP based on whether or not they think he'll drop comatose in the next 4 years, and even I find that a tad too cynical.

That's why I've said for four months it's almost certain to be Harris, and everything else is theater for free press. She checks all the necessary idpol and ideological boxes to satisfy the Democratic party's "unfettered neoliberalism, but pretending to be woke" niche, while at the same time being the candidate most likely to trigger seizure of defeat from the jaws of victory.

Frankly, I'll take my chances with Trump still. He at least bucks the neoconservative trend (evidenced enough by neocons cozying up with Democrats to pull them hard right), and in a second Trump term we'd at least have the media continuing to shed light on all the fuck-awful shit the government does, instead of hiding and manufacturing consent for it as we saw under Obama and would be certain to see under Biden. Trump is eminently more likely to take the much-needed and woefully overdue Sherman hammer to the politico-media complex and FANG's, than a Senatorial pencil-dick who voted for the '96 Telecoms Act and DMCA, even if Trump would only be doing it out of egotistical, hyper-partisan spite.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Man, I just got finished saying that I expect the DNC to pick Biden's VP based on whether or not they think he'll drop comatose in the next 4 years, and even I find your post a tad too cynical.

Editted for clarity.

It's about on par with what I expect out of the party. I'd say it's pretty spot on.

 

[dreng3]

Vice presidents mean nothing. They have barely any powers enumerated in the Constitution, and many have spent their terms completely shut out of any policy decisions. Many others have only served as stand-ins for the president at home and abroad for social and diplomatic functions.

Here is how the VP pick is going to go down. If Biden picks a progressive, it means that party insiders think he'll be able to make it through a term without being incapacitated by dementia, and will be able to control his policies; therefore, it is "safe" to put out a progressive to cater for votes. If Biden nominates a neoliberal or party-line Democrat, than the Democratic leadership has no faith in his health being able to stand up to the rigour of even a puppet presidency, and will face the backlash from failing to bring in the progressive wing over giving the progressive wing a chance to inherit the presidency from an ailing Biden.

Biden took on a fair bit of responsibility during his tenure as VP so it is likely that he'd want his own VP to do the same.
Personally I'm hoping for Abrams as she is both pretty progressive and could help flip Georgia if marketed properly.

 

[Worgen]

Frankly, I'll take my chances with Trump still. He at least bucks the neoconservative trend (evidenced enough by neocons cozying up with Democrats to pull them hard right), and in a second Trump term we'd at least have the media continuing to shed light on all the fuck-awful shit the government does, instead of hiding and manufacturing consent for it as we saw under Obama and would be certain to see under Biden. Trump is eminently more likely to take the much-needed and woefully overdue Sherman hammer to the politico-media complex and FANG's, than a Senatorial pencil-dick who voted for the '96 Telecoms Act and DMCA, even if Trump would only be doing it out of egotistical, hyper-partisan spite.

So you want a conservative supreme court for pretty much the rest of our lives, you are totally down with global warming, you don't care about those without health care, you are ok with us pretty much abandoning the rest of the world, and you are down with corruption and incompetence. Ok, just making sure.

 

[SupahEwok]

Frankly, I'll take my chances with Trump still. He at least bucks the neoconservative trend (evidenced enough by neocons cozying up with Democrats to pull them hard right), and in a second Trump term we'd at least have the media continuing to shed light on all the fuck-awful shit the government does, instead of hiding and manufacturing consent for it as we saw under Obama and would be certain to see under Biden. Trump is eminently more likely to take the much-needed and woefully overdue Sherman hammer to the politico-media complex and FANG's, than a Senatorial pencil-dick who voted for the '96 Telecoms Act and DMCA, even if Trump would only be doing it out of egotistical, hyper-partisan spite.

The problem with that line of thought is assuming that Trump is competent enough to dismantle the industry, or reform it. He isn't. It'll be easier for him just to act out on Twitter and yell at his aides to find a way to cancel or sue any particular journalist or publication that says mean things about him.

I, for one, am not comfortable with the idea of Trump being in charge of the Boomer Doomer vaccine rollout, given his failure at allocation of medical supplies thus far. I will take Sleepy Joe at the helm of letting career cronyist administrations at least do a passable or mediocre job of (hopefully) delivering us from the pandemic, over Trump's narcissistic tantrums dragging out the tail end of the pandemic another few months of economic and personal health damage.

 

[dreng3]

"Ending cash bail"

Hhm...

"The task force called for decriminalizing marijuana and legalizing it at the federal level for medical use, but for letting the states decide whether to legalize it for recreational use. That is the position Mr. Biden held in the primary, in contrast to Mr. Sanders, who supports full legalization. "

Good to see him not going full socialist.

"It also directly tied the effort to reduce fossil fuels to a need to address racial injustices that have led low-income communities to bear a disproportionate level of air and water pollution. "

I fail to see how these are at all related. Just looks like them trying to get their do nothing climate bills through by attaching them to something that gets more attention. It's also rather convenient that all these plans aren't estimated to produce any results till he would be out of office.

"The economy: Closing racial gaps and creating jobs programs"

Looks like more "Give us more money to do things that don't work" stuff under this.

"importance of schools as community centers that provide a broad array of social services, such as health care and meals. "

That's not the point of schools... wtf? Either make better education or stop pretending you're doing something for schools with this irrelevant crap.

"The task force commits to addressing the problem through strategies like busing and magnet schools, but does not mention a specific amount of funding. "

Shame something that could easily do some immediate good doesn't seem to be getting attention.

"Immigration: A focus on undoing Trump policies"

Meh. At least he's once again not doing the dumb stuff Sanders wants.

There we go, that's my gut reactions.

I'll just go through your points and give my responses.


- I'm generally for full decriminalization of weed, but removing the restrictions on medicinal is a start.

- There is a racial element to climate change and pollution, black communities have typically been relegated to the parts of towns and cities most affected largely due to income disparity and the inability to pass on wealth to descendants.

- I don't know about job programs, I generally distrust the american bureaucracy and don't really believe that this will be implemented in a meaningful way without strong oversight.

- In order for a school to function and be provide a good learning environment the children must be both healthy and fed, besides, providing food will not only help poorer children get the required nutrients, it will also mean that the poorer children will not feel as exposed when it comes to meals.

- Agree on that one, though I guess it is hard to make estimates when you don't even know whether Biden is going to accept the recommendation or not.