Robert Kuttner is editor of The American Prospect. Here he writes that Biden has asked Rahm Emanuel to advise him. What Kuttner fails to mention is Rahm’s disastrous control of the Chicago public schools. He should be forever stigmatized by his decision to close 50 public schools in a single day. He was continually at war with the Chicago Teachers Union. To know him, if you value public schools, is to loathe him.
Kuttner writes:
MAY 29, 2020
Kuttner on TAP
Say It Ain’t So, Joe: Rahm Emanuel?? Just when you thought that Team Biden couldn’t get any worse than Larry Summers, we now learn courtesy of the Chicago Tribune that Clinton and Obama alum Rahm Emanuel is a Biden adviser.
A quick refresher (or maybe emetic) on Emanuel. He began as a staffer in the Clinton White House where he helped push through NAFTA, then went to Wall Street to make his fortune (he made $16 million in less than three years). From there, he got elected to Congress where he epitomized everything bad about the revolving door.
As head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he arranged to load up the House Financial Services Committee with Wall Street Democrats who sought the prized seat to raise lots of Wall Street money and protect Wall Street’s financial interests. This made the job of Chairman Barney Frank much harder when Congress was working on what became the Dodd-Frank Act.
Obama, looking for someone who knew Congress, selected Emanuel as his White House chief of staff, where he was a force for lowballing recovery outlays. He tried to talk Obama out of proposing the Affordable Care Act.
After exiting the White House, he got elected mayor of Chicago in 2011, where his approval ratings dropped to 18 percent following the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald and the city’s bungled attempt to withhold evidence. Emanuel initially announced for a third term, but pulled out. He then joined the private equity firm Centerview Partners.
Just the guy to advise Biden. Though events are conspiring to push Biden to the left, his default setting is to reach out to the old boys of the Obama years.
Meanwhile, polls show that Elizabeth Warren is the possible running mate most likely to help Biden get elected. The two have been doing a public mating ritual, but the Wall Street Democrats close to Biden will do everything possible to keep her from being named.
If by some miracle Warren is selected, it will be trench warfare, with Wall Street Dems demanding one of their kind for the power posts of Fed Chair, Treasury Secretary, and head of the National Economic Council to balance Warren.
Rahm Emanuel! A good thing that Andrew Mellon is dead and Bernie Madoff is indisposed.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What a perfect closing line. Perfect.
Anybody here shocked?
Nobody should be.
The advocates for public education against privatizers (us) haven’t changed the needle where it matters. Remember that. The institutional left (Dems) all err on the side of privatizers and neo-liberal policies. They haven’t been given a reason not to.
There should be no one shocked when/if Trump wins re-election either. Biden/Dems have the absolute demonstrated ability to lose this election. These decisions remind us of that.
How utterly uninspiring and disappointing! I will vote for Biden, but only because it’s a vote against the nightmare regime currently occupying/running the WH. I can’t ever remember feeling any sense of pride or hope placing a vote for POTUS since I got my voter registration in 1982. I wonder if I will ever get to place a vote for someone I can believe will do what’s right for the people and not for politics?
I too have tended to vote against people rather than for them s the country moved solidly to the right,
Rahm Emanuel and Andrew Cuomo are probably my two least favorite politicians who identify as Dems.
That being said, unless Robert Kuttner has some inside information, I did not read that Chicago Tribune as proof that Biden had gone over to the dark side with Emanuel having his ear.
On the contrary, at first read I thought it seemed like Emanuel trying to promote the view that he was extra close to the campaign when he wasn’t.
“Emanuel is not on any of the panels, but he told the Tribune he “talks regularly” with members of Biden’s campaign team.”
Rahm talks with members of the campaign team? That doesn’t sound like he is a valuable voice — it sounds more like Rahm wants to be thought of as important.
I would bet a box of doughnuts that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren also “talk regularly” with members of Biden’s campaign team. In fact, from the looks of it I think Elizabeth Warren talks to Biden himself much more than Rahm does.
Rahm was rather critical of Biden’s “ain’t black” remark, too.
I thought Rahm did offer one sound piece of public advice to Biden in that Chicago Trib article.
“The GI Bill and Social Security offered as part of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1940s should be the “North Star,” Emanuel said.”
““My view is go back, and let’s basically raise the floor on the New Deal, which is guarantee in and around retirement security, guarantee in and around health care security and guarantee in and around the education of your children all the way through post-high school,” Emanuel said. “That would be the most important thing we could do that is both fundamental and structural so those elements that come to a middle-class life have more foundational support than they did pre-the-crisis.”
If that is what Rahm is “advising” Biden to do, then even the most conservative elements of the democratic party have moved significantly to the left in 2020.
Good to hear Democrats embracing FDR’s New Deal instead of running away from it as they have done in the past.
Hmmm, I was sure that as long as I prevented Jimmy Carter from having a second term, I would be ushering a new era of progressivism. And didn’t 8 years of Ronald Reagan bring about the progressive nirvana that I wanted?
And progressives were sure that if only they prevented Al Gore from being president, that would be ushering a new era of progressivism. And didn’t 8 years of Bush and Cheney give us just that?
And progressives were sure that if they only prevented she who must not be named from being president, that would be ushering in a new era of progressivism. And here we are, 4 years later, in a country where the right wing judiciary will hamper progressive legislation for decades and our very democracy is in danger.
Sadly, it seems that a few voters on the left keep believing what the right wing propagandists (laughing at them all the way) keep telling them to believe. That their votes to enable 8 years of Ronald Reagan, 8 years of Bush Cheney, and 4 years of Trump were what will bring about the progressive nirvana and that progressive nirvana would have happened much faster if those progressives had also prevented the evil Clinton and Obama and their evil Supreme Court Justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg from ever having any power.
Sure, those on the left get to kick the “democratic” football that the right wingers are holding for them to kick. That football they are so proud of themselves for kicking is Ruth Bader Ginsburg and anyone who stands in the way of the right wing neo-fascist takeover of this country. The right wing is happy to let you kick it all the way to the neo-fascist future.
But honestly, anyone who still refuses to recognize the danger of Trump is clearly in a position of privilege. Maybe you can kick the football again because the right wing will be pleased to have you help them being about the progressive nirvana that 8 years of Trump, 8 years of Reagan, 8 years of Bush/Cheney brought about. Right?
Just remember that your POV led to having Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court instead of justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Your POV led to a federal judiciary that is now packed with young right wing ideologies whose only agenda is to prevent progressive legislation from happening instead of those evil democrat-appointed judges like Ginsburg.
I can’t help doubting that you really believe that is how you make this country more progressive. But you are the one who keeps kicking the football held by the right wing and helping them make this country a right wing nirvana. I’m the one voting for more Ginsburgs, more enfranchisement, and the defeat of the right wing Republican party. Your entire focus seems to be only the defeat of the democratic party. The fact that you and the right wing Republicans share that as your prime goal speaks for itself.
At least I had the sense to recognize my error when I just “knew” that defeating Jimmy Carter and the evil DNC was the way to bring about a progressive nirvana. And Ronald Reagan was practically a centrist compared to Donald Trump. Sandra Day O’Connor versus Brett Kavanaugh?
If you haven’t already realized what is wrong with your certainty that helping defeat the evil Democrats so that Trump wins another term is the way to a progressive nirvana, nothing I write will change your mind.
Great response to an alleged progressive who is an enabler of the Trumpish fascists and neo-conservatives that control the GOP.
Actions speak louder than words. Biden has gone out of his way to court the vote of the nation’s public school teachers who are not terribly excited by his candidacy in the first place due to his past neoliberal associations. Then, hiring the guy that closed fifty public schools in one day to offer him “advice” is an affront to supporters of public schools. Now that Anthony Weiner is no longer available, Emanuel may be a good attack dog for talk news stations, but he is an unworthy advisor.
There isn’t any evidence that Biden “hired” Rahm.
This article said Rahm “talks regularly” to members of Biden’s campaign team. That doesn’t exactly sound like an insider.
I hope that is true, that Rham is not part of Biden’s campaign staff. Maybe Rham is only attempting to get into another Presidential administration where he will be able to do more damage to the country. Rham is nothing but another corrupt wrecking ball.
“talks regularly” is political shorthand for “close advisor”. Think political kitchen cabinet, the ones who have more influence behind the scenes that those in them.
Raymond may be trying to insinuate himself into the Biden campaign. He’s a self promoter.
unworthy and so shockingly dangerous in this moment
Emanuel is addicted to power and abusing it. We won’t be rid of him until he is ashes.
Pray that COVID-19 will speed up the date of the cremation of his remains.
Amen! True. Thanks, Lloyd.
I can’t write what I really think about that Rahm-BOO.
He reported made $17 million as an “investment banker” the one year we was not on the public payroll before he ran for mayor. That needs to be looked into in greater detail, just like when Kasich cashed in on Lehman Brothers (not that anyone cared). I’m sure the client list will expect their tribute.
Yeewww, ugh, kpletch, Rahm Emanuel, Mr. School-Destroyer on steroids. Sunday Morning with George Stephanopoulos has a panel in which Chris Christie and Rahm are sitting side by side. They are supposedly adversaries. Ha, ha, ha, when it comes to education they are on the same destructive hideous team. I sincerely hope that Rahm does not become part of the Biden administration, assuming that Biden even makes it to the election. That could cause many teachers to skip voting altogether. Rahm is toxic to public school teachers.
Thing like this reinforce my belief that I probably won’t vote for Biden. He is part of the corrupt DNC establishment. They aren’t real democrats. The only way I would vote for Biden is if he chooses a progressive for his VP. Under no circumstances will I vote for Trump. The DNC and the candidates they support are not a friend of education.
I will vote for Biden to help remove #45. I see it as civic duty. No matter what we think of Biden, the more important step is to remove the current occupant from the White House. I hope Biden chooses a progressive as it would be a wise move on his part.
Jackie, a progressive who doesn’t vote is helping Trump. Listen to Bernie Sanders. Listen to Warren.
Hey, clueless jackiebass, this is election is Trump vs Biden, and the United States has never had a president that is a serial liar, a crook, a con-man, a cheat, a fraud, a failed honest businessman, a racist, a traitor, et al. like Donald Trump
This country cannot survive another four years with the Kremlin’s Agent Orange, the dictator loving, minority hating Donald Trump with his sidekick Moscow Mitch McConnell.
Tell me Jackiebass what a real Democrat is? That is why I think you are clueless. You have no idea what a real Democrat is.
Just like most of the United States, the Democratic Party is made up of factions that hold slightly different beliefs.
FiveThirtyEight explains what those factions represent. There are other sources that also explain this fact. There is not one unified Democratic Party where everyone believes the same thing.
Click the link and read the entire piece and lose the clueless tag I think you and everyone else that thinks like you should wear around your neck like a granite headstone that says, “I am clueless about the real Democratic Party.” Just because the faction you think is the real Democratic Party doesn’t represent the majority that rules the party doesn’t mean you are justified in jumping ship and abandoning your country. I repeat, FOUR MORE YEARS of Donald Trump and there will be no country left. At least with Biden, there will still be a U.S. Constitution with three branches of government sharing the power. Biden does not love dictators. Biden is not a crook. Biden is not a white supremacist. Even if Biden brings Rham Emanuel into his administration, Biden will still be a better president for the United States than Donald Trump who is not a president. He is a hate-filled bully, troll, and dictator.
“The Six Wings of the Democratic Party”
“The American political system has only two major parties, resulting in those parties being large and internally diverse — a political reporter could write a “Democrats divided” or “Republicans divided” story virtually any day of any year.”
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-six-wings-of-the-democratic-party/
The Republican Party is also complicated and some of those Republicans belong to the majority of Americans that are Never Trumpers.
Have you heard of the Lincoln Project?
“The Lincoln Project is an American political action committee formed in late 2019 by several prominent Republicans. The goal of the committee is to prevent the reelection of Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.”
https://lincolnproject.us/
Did you know that these Republicans that do not want Trump re-elected have already said they will vote for Biden?
These Never Trump Republicans say, “Donald Trump has left America in a state of danger, despair, and economic depression. We cannot allow him another term.
“Joe Biden is the best choice to lead America through our worst crisis in a century.”
Calling people “clueless” is a surefire way to get them to see your point of view. Congratulations, keep it up, and enjoy four more years of the Orange One.
It was obvious nothing was going to change her mind.
The only way the Orange Fascist gets re-elected is if Democrats choose not to vote for Biden or if they sit home waiting for a better candidate. Biden is the only alternative to Trump.
Jackie, it’s a rumor. only.
If you going to in effect cast your vote for trump by not voting for biden based on a rumor, I think that would be a terrible decision.
When a progressive or Democrat withholds their vote or votes third party, the beneficiary is Donald J. Trump.
On Not Being Heard When It Is a Matter of Life and Death
The rich and powerful in the United States will keep pushing their toy until it breaks. They clearly know as little history as does the utter moron in the now oh-so-much-Whiter House. They have ignored systemic violence and racism against people of color and dramatically growing economic inequality and growing childhood poverty and food insecurity and lack of healthcare for millions until we’re at a breaking point. How many people in this country won’t be able to pay their rent or their mortgages this month? How many more nonresisting black men are we going to see on the asphalt saying, “I can’t breathe,” over and over? How many more shot while jogging or simply walking back home from a store in a white neighborhood? How many diabetics will choose this month between food and insulin? How many parents will debate whether they can afford to take their kid to the doctor? How long until Jeff Bezos becomes the first man with a personal fortune of a trillion dollars? How many more golden boy investment bankers and hedge fund managers will make policy going forward? How many more “CARES” acts will we have dispensing welfare to rich people? George Floyd’s death is both a horrendous personal tragedy for his family, something that can never be made right, and a symbol of the larger crisis. We’re seeing that in the protests around the country right now, which are, I suspect, just the beginning. And, we have a racist in chief as president and armed brownshirts in the streets. I’m deeply worried. This could get really, really bad.
I thought everybody loved Rahman.
Larry Summers – Toxic.
Rahm Emanuel – Toxic.
Next thing you know, Joe Biden will select Amy Klobachur for his running mate.
Reality, like the New York Times had to grudgingly admit, endorses Bernie Sanders.
It doesn’t seem like Mr. Biden has a sense of what these dire times is demanding from a leader.
I just wish he would withdraw while there’s still time.
Eleanor,
Biden will not withdraw. He won the majority of delegates. He has been endorsed by every other Democratic candidate. He will be the nominee.
The choice is Trump or Biden. A third party vote by a progressive is a vote for Trump.
Is “Eleanor” a Russian bot or a paid-for Turmpist and/or GOP Moscow Mitch minion? Any negative comments aimed at Democrats and Biden must be viewed with suspicion no matter what the name of the commenter is.
I read a piece yesterday that pointed out how to detect a bot. When you reply to the comment, the bot never replies or replies with something that has nothing to do with what you said, sometimes nonsense.
Good point, Lloyd. I have no doubt that the Russian troll farm is working overtime to sow division and suppress the anti-Trump vote.
I read the results of a study of the Russian campaign in 2016 to get Trump elected. The Russian bots send out messages to cast doubts on Hilary Clinton (for instance with messages that she was a racist) and seldom if ever did the Russian bots actually encouraged anyone to vote for Trump or mention him.
The goal of the Russian propaganda was to cast doubts on Trump’s opponents so people that would not vote for Trump would not vote for someone like Hillary.
It worked, that study found that about 200,000 black voters in crucial battleground states did not vote at all, and Hillary lost all three of those states by less than 80,000 votes. The same study pointed out that for more than 20 years, the black vote had increased every year and never decreased, except in 2016.
Diane, I posted a lengthy reply to you and Lloyd (his comment for some reason does not have s “reply” link) as a separate post.
OMG. So any dissenting voices are now “Russian bots” or “paid-for Turmpist (sic) and/or GOP Moscow Mitch minions”. Wow. This is what this blog has come to. McCarthy would be proud. You, however, Diane, should be ashamed.
Dienne,
I am not one bit ashamed of anything I have written. And yes, after everything we have learned since January 2017, I believe that no thoughtful intelligent person supports Trump. Those who petulantly say they won’t vote or will vote third party should be ashamed.
Diane and Lloyd: The last thing I am is a bot. It’s just after 44 years of voting blue, I have never felt so dispirited over the binary choices being offered to us. I recognize the barely veiled contempt the DNC insiders has toward progressives.
The Democrat party of today is a far cry from the Democrat party I grew up with: one that supported working people. My father held a blue-collar job in a union shop, and while we didn’t have a lot of “extras,” he was able to provide the basics for his wife and seven children.
For the last 40 years, too many Democrats played “me too” with their embrace of austerity and their worship of Wall Street, whether it was Bill Clinton destroying Roosevelt’s AFDC program or Barack Obama’s fealty to Wall Street while refusing to support those Wisconsin workers decimated by Scott Walker’s Act 10.
COVID-19 is shattering the ideology of laissez faire capitalism and austerity for the masses. As cruel and venal as D. Trump is, he is only the symptom of what has been ailing us for decades now.
Yet the trial balloons being floated by the Biden campaign – a promised veto of Medicare For All, an open ear ready for the likes of Larry Summers and Rahm Emanuel – are giving us a glimpse of what the Biden presidency might look like.
If a President Biden governs like a centrist, I would bet that the Democrats not only lose the house and senate, but will pave the way for a person worse than Donald Trump.
Democrats need to return to their Rooseveltian roots, but I don’t see it happening in my lifetime. I’ll do my civic duty, but this year it will be about as pleasant as a root canal.
“Democrats need to return to their Rooseveltian roots…”
FYI, that happens to be exactly the advice that the evil and corrupt Rahm Emanuel is giving to Biden. it’s also the advice that Bernie and Warren are giving to Biden. Lots of suburban moms who are not going to vote for Biden because Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are giving him his marching orders. After all, they read it on the internet so it must be true.
Democrats do support working people. The fact that unions have not gone all in for Medicare for All is why Biden has not gone all in for Medicare for All.
It is the democrats raising minimum wages and trying to socialize the goods that are so expensive like health care.
Eleanor, not a bot, says she has been voting for 44 years and that the Democratic Party of today is not the Party she grew up with.
I suspect that what Eleanor does not like about the Democratic party of Today is the neoliberal or corporate faction. The change that Eleanor allegedly perceives did not happen overnight. It took decades to happen. Where were you, Eleanor?
“These days, the meaning of ‘neoliberal’ has become fuzzy. But it has a long history of association with the Democratic Party.”
If you click this link and learn about that long history of association with the Democratic Party, were you unaware of what was going on, Eleanor?
https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2019/6/11/18660240/democrats-neoliberalism
1976 was 44 years ago: Does that mean Eleanor grew up with the Democratic Party after LBJ signed into law the Civil Rights Act and changed the Democratic Party dramatically.
The president in 1976 was Gerald Ford, a Republican. Before Ford, the president was Nixon, a Republican. The only Democratic President before Bill Clinton ( what has been called a neoliberal) was Jimmy Carter who was a one-term president that lost to Ronald Reagan, a Republican. Then there was President George H. W. Bush, a Republican followed by Clinton an alleged neoliberal or corporate democrat.
In fact, before LBJ and the Civil Rights Act, The racist southern states voted Democratic as a block. After LBJ and the Civil Rights Act. the southern white racists left the Democratic Party and became Republicans Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
The Democratic Party of today is what the Republican Party was before Nixon, and the Republican Party decided to become the racist-fascist party it is today that has moved even further to the right to support fundamentalist Christian nut cases.
If GOP President Dwight D. Eisenhower were to run for office today, he’d have to be a Democrat to have a chance to win an election. Most of today’s Republicans would never vote for Eisenhower.
Nothing stays the same forever, even political parties. Instead of a knee jerk reaction to what Eleanor is hearing about Biden, I suggest strongly Eleanor learns who Biden is from what he has done as an elected official. The only site I know that offers that information is Vote Smart.
Here is the link: There are six folders. Open each one and start reading. That is your assignment, Eleanor. Pay no attention to what anyone says about Biden. Learn who Biden is really is by his actions as an elected representative and Vote Smart provides all of that information on one site. Actions speak much louder than what Biden says or what his enemies say.
https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/53279/joe-biden-jr
You are on fire tonight, Lloyd!
As for Elinor’s “hav[ing] never felt so dispirited over the binary choices being offered”, I felt that way when Clinton sold out on welfare reform and Obama caved without a fight on repealing the Bush tax cuts. I’m waiting to see how much influence Bernie’s ideas will have on the platform, and if Biden defies my pessimism and is elected, what cabinet will look like. He’s not my first choice, but I’m far from being dispirited about his candidacy. And please read the framers’ writings from the Constitutional Convention. “Binary choices” was their intent.
I agree about FDR. Any Democrat who cannot immediately recite the Four Freedoms is suspect and likely not a Democrat. I’m betting Biden can recite them verbatim.
Lloyd, FDR died before he could implement his “Second Bill of Rights.” JFK and LBJ advanced progressive measures. Carter took the reins during a troubling time, but was still able to advance human rights and was visionary enough to see that our nation needed to transition to green energy to free us from oil shocks.
And you ask, “Where were you?” I was very active in our local democratic party and held an elected office for more than 15 years. I’ve knocked on hundreds of doors (for myself and other candidates). I’ve done lots of phonebanking and GOTV.
The Democrat party went from being a strong voice for the poor and the working classes, to a binary choice as dictated by Wall Street.
WRT Biden’s record, I am very aware of his positions, which is why it troubles to me to see him as our nominee. The state of Delaware is a corporate haven, and Joe served those corporate interests very well.
I’m also aware of his history of plagiarizing and his prevarications: the things that might get one expelled from a university or fired from a job. But the Orange Menace is much worse, so we have to settle for the low, low bar we are now presented with.
People are hungering for authenticity and want to have a reason to vote for a candidate, not cast a vote against a candidate. But we are where we are today, and there is little that can be done.
We’ll have to see which Joe Biden emerges after the election. David Dayen, writing for The American Prospect, has an interesting analysis of Mr. Biden: https://prospect.org/politics/dr-jekyll-or-mr-biden/
As I stated earlier, I will vote. And I will figuratively hold my nose while doing so.
Thank you. Better to hold your nose above water than drown if Trump wins.
Sorry, Eleanor, I must have been thinking of Elinor Donahue.
But I am very suspect of the truthfulness of your comment above. No member of the Democratic Party would refer to it as the Democrat party. Not one. It’s a dead giveaway. For those of you who have seen Inglorious Basterds, this is like differentiating between an American using the three middle fingers to signify the number three vs. a European, who always uses the thumb, index, and middle finger to do so. I’ll stop there since any further exposition of my thoughts could be construed as an ad hominem attack.
With all that is going on, I hope that people remember Rahm & the Laquan McDonald cover-up (actual video of CPD murder of black teen, hidden away so Chicago mayor could be reelected) & jettison Rahm–from commentator jobs & from advising (definitely does not belong back in the WH: read Game Change–Obama was about to fire him–both he & Lawrence Summers {another one we need like a hole in the head} reportedly were harassing WH women. such as Valerie Jarrett & even 1st Lady}) –once & for all.
But the first transgression I mentioned is insurmountable (see also the documentary
16 Shots).
I met Rahm once. He was rude and obnoxious.
So, in other words, he was Rahm.
So, GregB, I used the noun instead of the adjective. is it a venal or mortal sin? A misdemeanor or a felony?
Focusing on labels over actions and substance, when done on a mass scale, is how we end up with candidates who serve donors first, regular people as an afterthought.
It’s how the MSM gets away with demonizing a Bernie Sanders while elevating the likes of a Joe Biden. How many times have we been hit over the head with that “evil” word, socialist?
While we were fed a steady diet of identity politics, of “lite” news about saxophone-playing presidents, or which candidate would be our best beer-drinking buddy, the neoliberal agenda was being gradually implemented.
Forty years of austerity, with the implicit approval of both parties, sowed the seeds for the pandemic and economic crash we are experiencing now. Add three centuries of racism to the mix, and all that was needed was a spark to watch. The murder of George Floyd may have been that spark.
We’ll see which direction the Democratic party takes once Mr. Biden is elected. If they resume the Clinton/Obama practices, it will be very difficult to excite an electorate to support you. The Identity Card is ragged. the Fear Card is showing some wear and tear around the edges.
At a minimum, if one claims to be Democrat–which again I doubt, Eleanora (tried to post Russian spelling early, but WordPress wasn’t having it)–and calls their party the “Democrat party,” is at least a political felony and would lead to an investigation for probable cause. To then express faux outrage and still get it wrong by writing “Democratic party” and not Democratic Party certainly heightens suspicion of venal mendaciousness. Until proven otherwise, I’d be willing to sign a warrant for further investigation. Anything else you write is suspect if that issue isn’t cleared up. To repeat: no Democrat would call his or her party the Democrat party. Not one. Not a single, solitary one.
Greg, I think that fretting over labels, over adjective and noun usage, while Rome is burning, is frankly a waste of time and energy. Honest, it display an extremely narrow worldview. Don’t we try to encourage our students to be critical thinkers? To be creative? To question things?
I suppose the DLC appreciates those attempts to distract from the issues at hand.
Again, we’ll see how Biden governs. If he insists on appeasing the Never Trumpers over the progressive base, it will cost us the WH in 2024.
Too many working-class people have suffered from the neoliberalism policies of the Clinton/Obama wing of the Democratic party. The Democrats have been too willing to embrace Republican policies like austerity. They have lost their courage.
FDR welcomed the hatred of the economic royalists; the DNC genuflects before them as they beg for campaign cash.
Eleanor, how does Biden govern. Biden has never been president. Biden has never been a governor. As a Senator, he never governed a city, a state or the nation. As Vice President, Biden never governed the nation.
The only time a VP ran the country was when President G. W. Bush gave Chenny the power to make most of the decisions.
President Obama did not give Biden the power of his presidency like Bush gave Chenny.
VP choices are often political ones to gain the support of the people that would vote for that ticket with that VP on it.
Biden did not govern this country as a VP. Obama was President.
When I mentioned Vote Smart to you in an earlier comment and suggested you study Biden’s actions in the Senate (What he did and what he didn’t do), the next time you replied to me never mentioned if you even visited Vote Smart to see Biden’s actual actions as a Senator instead of allegations that you made that you never supported with links to reputable news sources.
Therefore, let’s take a brief journey through Biden’s years in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009 based on Joe Biden’s ratings. I will not list all of them. Just a few.
For instance, Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund rates him at 100% and Illinois Right to Life ACtion rates him at 0%. That means even though Biden is a devout Catholic, he supports a woman’s right to have an abortion if that is what she decides since her body is supposed to belong to her.
Next, Business and Consumers: Biden does not do well at all with ratings from corporations and business groups, but the Consumer Federation of America rated him at 80% and the National Association for the Self-Employed rated him at 100% and an organization called Public Citizen rated him at 92%. “Public Citizen serves as the people’s voice in the nation’s capital. Since our founding in 1971, we have delved into an array of areas, but our work on each issue shares an overarching goal: To ensure that all citizens are represented in the halls of power.”
For Employment and Affirmative Action, the only group that rated him 100% was the League of Women Voters. Biden’s next two highest ratings were 75% from Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and Solar Tribune. “Solar Tribune is a solar news, education, and advocacy website. We offer straightforward reporting that promotes solar interest and awareness. We also help promote solar adoption by providing helpful tools and resources for people considering solar power solutions.”
For the Environment, look at the organizations that give him high ratings. Out of 18 ratings, he earned 100% from six on the list and the Sirra Club rated him at 80%.
Under the listing for Fiscally Conservative (the word conservative says it all), he only had one 100% and the rest of the ratings were horrible. The only 100% came from Nationalists and populists interested in political action on behalf of 102 issues which are pro-individual liberty and pro-patriotic. Supports free gold market, lower taxes, fewer farm controls, less government spending, and protective immigration laws.” This organization has dissolved. Its archives are kept here as a public service. – Project Vote Smart
Just a few more. The list is really long and I don’t want to be writing this comment twelve hours from now.
Under Education, he was based by The Center for Education Reform with a 44% but earned three 100%s and one of those highest ratings came from from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
For k-12 Education, Biden earned a 44% rating from The Center for Education Reform versus an “A” from the NEA and 87% from the National Parent Teacher Association. and the National Association of Elementary School PRnicpals (you know, the administrators that are often a pain in the ass for teachers) gave him a zero.
What about Immigration? Well, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda rated him at 100% and what was formerly known as La Raza rated him at 100%, but Americans for Immigration Control only gave him 25%. I’m sure they gave Trump 100%.
Under “Liberal” he had four high ratings and four low ones. I counted anything at 50% or lower as a low rating. His highest rating came from a group called the National Committee for an Effective Congress.
Under Religion, Biden only did well in four of 19 listenings. For instance, The John Birch Society game him 17% versus 100% from Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
What about “Socially Liberal”? Out of eight listings, seven were rated at 75% to 91% but the only one that gave Buden a zero was The Progressive Patriots Fund. “At Progressive Patriots, we strive to spread the word of the Constitution that outlines American patriotism, and to defend the liberties the Constitution guarantees.” This organization has dissolved. Its archives are kept as a public service — Project Vote Smart
The 75% was from Pro-Choice America. “The 2.5 million members of NARAL Pro-Choice America fight for reproductive freedom for every person in every state. Each day, we organize and mobilize to protect that freedom by fighting for access to abortion care, birth control, paid parental leave and protections from pregnancy discrimination. Like 7 in 10 Americans, we believe abortion must remain legal and accessible. We are the foot soldiers who work to ensure that abortion access is not only protected, but expanded for every American. Since 1969, our member-driven campaigns have propelled political and cultural change at every level, from the statehouse to the White House. When it comes time to rally by the thousands on the steps of the Supreme Court in support of abortion access, our members are there. When it comes time to push back against the daily lies and fear peddled by anti-choice zealots who want to drag our country backward in time, our members are there. And when it comes time to hold political leaders accountable at the ballot box, our members are there. Working together, we push our friends to be bolder, lift up the champions fighting for true reproductive freedom, and shine a spotlight of accountability on the bad actors trying to impose their out-of-touch agenda on us all.”
Eleanor, how does Biden compare to Trump?
Lloyd,
Thanks for this fact-filled comment.
Please note that the deceptively named “Center for Education Reform,” which gave Biden a low rating, is a right wing pro-charter, pro-voucher, pro-remote learning, pro-homeschool Organization.
The worse nightmare is when Biden chooses Rahm as Secretary of Education. Nobody wants the Dad Duncanstein.
Agreed. Rahm would be a nightmare. We have to push hard to keep Biden’s campaign focused on supporting public education. The hopeful news is that the Sanders-Biden education unity panel is co-chaired by Heather Gautney, who was Sanders’ education advisor. We have to do whatever we can to stop Rahm, Duncan, Gates, CAP Aand the other advocates of failed ideas from worming back into control of education. Keep your eye on the ball: equity and funding, not testing and school choice.