A year or two ago you and The Mystic kindly answered my question, whether you thought Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and like minded politicians would hold the reins after the 2020 election. If I remember correctly, your answer was a lot like HedonistForever's post,
I believe you went on to say that come 2024 or 2026, watch out, given the demographics in America (more people who are young now will be voting, and baby boomers will be passing away). The far left may control the Democratic Party and the country.
While I share your view that Obama and Biden are not socialists, they would have moved America farther to the left if they had the opportunity. During their first two years they were constrained by a recession, so couldn't, for example, boost taxes a lot. And after the first two years, they were constrained by Republicans controlling one or both houses of Congress.
Biden moved to the left during this election season to get the Democratic nomination. He's allowing Bernie Sanders to help write the Democratic Party's platform, by appointing 40% of the members of task forces that will shape policy of the Democratic Party. AOC is part of the group working on Climate Change for example.
I share your view that the Democrats will probably win in November. You've made the case for Trump losing. In the Senate it's a foregone conclusion that Republicans will lose Arizona and Colorado. Montana is now a toss up, and even Susan Collins in Maine and Thom Tillis in North Carolina are underdogs. The Republicans only look to pick up Alabama.
This, for me at least, is a little scary, depending on how far left the Democrats will go, at such time as they control the Congress and the presidency.
Two questions:
1. Do you believe Biden is going to pursue policies like the Green New Deal and sharply higher taxes on corporations and wealthier Americans, like he's been saying he will? Or is this just his strategy to win the election, and he'll come back towards the center assuming he wins?
2. Any thoughts now on when the far left is likely to control the federal government? Could it be just around the corner instead of 5 or 10 years down the road?
Originally Posted by Tiny
I could be wrong but I don't remember saying exactly what you think I might have said. The Democratic party seems to be heading vocally further left with new voices like AOC. But the Democrat's victory in the 2018 midterm elections in the House was by primarily moderate Democrats. And those moderate Democrats who won ion 2018 did not want Sanders as the nominee. I am sure I said that it seems like younger Democratic voters are moving more to the extreme left than in previous years. I am definitly NOT far left wing and I hope the moderate wing of the Democratic party wins out.
Biden is being pressured by those further to the left to embrace the Green New Deal. I'm sure he embraces parts of it but does not embrace all of it.
Biden's plans
Biden's actual platform calls for the United States to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions — which would leave little room for fossil fuels — by 2050.
He calls the Green New Deal "a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face" but stops short of endorsing or embracing it.
And while he appeared to endorse a fracking ban in a March debate, his campaign staff later walked it back. He has said elsewhere he wouldn't support banning the oil and natural gas production process.
Biden has labeled Sanders' Green New Deal as "impossible." Sanders, in turn, said Biden's platform is "nowhere near enough," while the Sunrise Movement, which backed Sanders, gave Biden a grade of F-minus on climate.
But Biden told reporters last month he saw an "opportunity" in the debate over coronavirus recovery legislation "to use my green economy — my Green Deal — to generate both growth, consistent with the kind of infusion of monies we need into the system to keep it going."
That hasn't stopped Trump's campaign from seeking to tie the two together, betting that voters would find the Green New Deal off-putting enough to sway key swing states such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to Trump.
"President Trump has been a stalwart champion of American energy workers, whose hard work and ingenuity resulted in the U.S. becoming the world's No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas. Joe Biden, on the other hand, has openly pledged to 'sacrifice' energy jobs and ban fossil fuels in pursuit of his extreme environmental agenda," Trump campaign spokeswoman Sarah Matthews said, pointing to Biden's Green Deal comments.
As discussed before, my opinion is the 2017 tax plan gave too much to corporations and the rich and gave little to the middle of the middle class and below who really needed the money. And the deficit grew by a trillion dollars due to the tax cuts. Biden would raise taxes on people making $400,000 and above by a little. And he also supports raising the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28%. I thought 25% was a fair rate.
Finally, as stated above, I don't think the far left will take control anytime soon. They will make noise but, just like most Republicans are not far right, most Democrats are not far left.
And like you, I prefer to not have one party control the presidency and the House and the Senate.
