In 73 days, Donald Trump will officially lose power and Joe Biden will be sworn
in as our 46th president. And he will be a vast improvement on many levels. He
will bring, at long last, at scientific, compassionate approach to battling the
Coronavirus pandemic effectively. I believe he will be successful. Beyond that,
however, my hopes for Biden getting much else accomplished remain somewhat
subdued. Like President Obama, he will have to deal with an obstructive Mitch
McConnell-led U.S Senate. Biden will likely be hamstrung in getting even the
smallest possible incremental reform passed. Moreover, the new president-elect
has signaled that he may not make pushing for any progressive reforms a
priority. Pundits say Biden may appoint anti-labor, austerity-minded Republicans
like former Ohio Governor John Kasich to his cabinet. Meantime, many party
insiders close to Biden are warning progressives should back off from
promoting issues, such as Medicare for All. They say they will be harmful to any
future electoral success.
I believe this approach would be a mistake. Medicare
for All is hugely popular as recent polls indicate it has more than 70 percent
support among all Americans. In a recent piece
published in Common Dreams, New
York progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez points out that all the
congressional Democrats who lost their re-election bids in Tuesday’s elections
were centrists who did not support Medicare for All. While the candidates
supporting it, she maintains, won. Sadly, during the campaign, Biden has
categorically stated that he is opposed to Medicare for All, but did indicate he
supports a revised ACA plan with a public option. I hope, at least, he remains
steadfast to that promise.
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