Joe Biden Is Sounding Like Bernie Sanders at Just the Right Time

[mcar]

Joe Biden Is Sounding Like Bernie Sanders at Just the Right Time
The president-elect put economic inequality in the middle of his plan to revive the country's economy, a sign that for the first time in a long while, the federal government knows what it's there for.

By Charles P. Pierce
Jan 15, 2021

On Thursday night, we saw President-Elect Joe Biden bow to the iron constraints of The Blog's First Law of Economics. To wit:

Fck the deficit. People got no jobs. People got no money.

To which we have added the codicil:

People got the 'Rona.

For decades, Biden's been a fiscal liberal, but one who was willing to cut deals that made him look less like a liberal and more like a creature of the mushy center. On Thursday, with a $1.9 trillion "American Rescue Plan," he declared himself firmly on the side of Professor Keynes.
...

No hedging. Not even a head fake toward The Deficit. Nothing about tax cuts. We will spend, and spend big, because that's what this unprecedented double crisis demands. ...

To hear Joe Biden sounding like Bernie Sanders, and to hear him put economic inequality in the middle of his plan to revive the country's economy, is to hear for the first time in a long while that the federal government knows what it's there for. After four miserable years being in thrall to the whims of an incompetent president,* and a Republican Congress that repurposed itself as nothing more than the Human Resources department of the federal judiciary, the federal government is stirring again to act on its own. If nothing else, Joe Biden knows where all the levers are. That, in itself, is a cause for hope.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a35230188/joe-biden-covid-pandemic-recovery-plan/

[luv2fly]

1. AAAAAA...

...MEN!!

[msongs]

2. end the F35 program and we'lll have loads of $$. Somebody might not like that tho nt

[mcar]

4. There's a thought

[bigtree]

8. Do you think Joe Biden wants to end F-35s

...will he halt the ramped-up production approved by the Pentagon in December?

[msongs]

12. not speaking for joe biden nt

[bigtree]

18. hmm

...there's no daylight between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden on F-35s, except, possibly on where the next president chooses to sell them.

Yes, I understood the inference of your F-35 remark.

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. Biden needs to give Manchin, Sinema, etc. "The Johnson treatment"

Once he gets them to support killing the filibuster, then he is free to govern like Sanders, or FDR or any other great progressive.

[mcar]

5. Don't think that was the point of the OP, but OK.

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. Biden sounds like Sanders was the topic, my point is he can't do anything like Sanders

With Manchin’s obstruction.

[George II]

33. Biden is going to govern like Biden. Why do we need to make comparisons, especially to someone....

....who was never President?

[Fiendish Thingy]

34. LBJ was never president?

I was suggesting that, in order to implement his agenda (which some have compared to Sanders), Biden should utilize some of LBJ’s tactics on recalcitrant Dems.

[George II]

35. Didn't you say "he is free to govern like Sanders"? When was he President?

[Fiendish Thingy]

36. I was responding to the OP- Biden is free to govern however he chooses, but only if filibuster dies.

[sheshe2]

6. Thank you, mcar.

Always a lot of talk. However I do believe that Biden and Harris collectively can make this happen.

I am no fool. Zero to Sixty will not happen on day one. I am not a stupid voter that believes in miracles. It will happen incrementally, yet it will happen.

[mcar]

10. I trust Biden and Harris

There will have to be compromise, which won't sit well with the Purity Patrol. But they will get things done that will help the American people. Will it be perfect? No.

It will happen. And if the Purists cause us to lose both houses of congress in 2022 because they didn't get their cookies...

[Hortensis]

9. To me Biden sounded like the New Dealers using federal deficit

spending to pull the nation out of the Great Depression by investing in people. I think there's a huge difference between that kind of pragmatic good sense and Sanders' ideology-driven zealotry, the end of capitalism over the horizon always the goal. It's like the enormous difference between Elizabeth Warren's "radical pursuit of tradition" and Sanders' socialist dream.

[mcar]

11. I agree

I think the plan is more common sense than pie in the sky. I just think it's an interesting comparison, given the angst on this board today over a difference in counting.

[Hortensis]

14. :) You put it well. And their agreement on what needs doing

is definitely worth noting. Glad you came down to underline that commonality.

[mcar]

22. ...

[betsuni]

16. +1

[brer cat]

23. +1 nt

[JoeOtterbein]

13. For me Joe's speech was his....

...best yet!

[BannonsLiver]

15. If he gets the $15 minimum wage done it would be monumental

There will be those who will move the goal posts. Yeah, it may not be enough to live in the Bay Area or Manhattan or Malibu, but it would be impactful for people just about anywhere else. Those people matter too. We often forget that here. It would be a monumental achievement.

[msongs]

19. one suspects there will a considerable waiting time to get to that amount. IMO just

do it now and get it done. have not seen much to indicate damage in areas that have already done so

[BannonsLiver]

20. Still an achievement either way.

I’m not one to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Sure, it would be great to get it done with an immediate phase in, but it’s also very unrealistic.

[JI7]

26. Other places did it over time. It helps businesses to adjust .

[aidbo]

17. I disagree but it's a good start.

[GulfCoast66]

21. Really? To me he sounds like a democrat.

[mcar]

24. He sure does

Despite some people's claims to the contrary.

[JI7]

25. Yup, he sounds like he always does. In the end it's about getting things done

and Democrats getting control of House and Senate means there is more that can be done than if we didn't have one or both of them.

[betsuni]

27. Yes, he sounds like a Democrat, has actual plans.

Why anyone thinks economic inequality isn't a core Democratic issue, I don't know. What were a lot of right-wingers freaking out about Obama? That he was going to redistribute the wealth, give everyone health care, regulate Wall Street and raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

[marlakay]

28. I think it's because Joe has so much empathy

For people hurting, sad, sick and it physically hurts him to see others not have food to eat or a place to sleep.

He may do more for the poor and out of work than any president because of that.

[mcar]

29. The empathy just shines from him

[Cha]

30. Yeah, it sounds like Joe Biden to me!

But.. it is not just ".. If nothing else..".. there is so much MORE with PE Biden & VPE Harris!

We are So Fortunate!

[mcar]

31. We are, Cha!

And yes, this policy is all Joe and Kamala - smart, compassionate, and sensible. It will reduce the child poverty rate by half.

Can you believe some on the left are complaining about it?

[Cha]

32. Yes.. bc that's what

they do.

But We Got Joe Biden & Kamala. Harris.. who in 5 More Days will Be President Joe Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris!

Look at the long road we've Traveled & we're Almost to the January 20, 2021 Fork in the Road!