Romofan wrote:
He is to the right of Donald Trump, and it isn't a particularly close call.
A rather bold claim. Could you name a single area in which Biden is to the right of Trump in 2020? Biden’s positions in the 80s and 90s don’t seem particularly relevant given that they were mainstream views at the time.
Biden’s major flaw is that he has adopted too many positions in response to the far left’s attempts to hijack the Democratic Party.
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Joe Biden's historical legacy will probably rest on his helping to dismantle Roosevelt's New Deal, and on his zealous role as a drug warrior and tough-on-crime legislator.
Perhaps a reasonable thing to write in a biography before he became Democratic nominee for President, but his likely presidency (as the most left-wing president since FDR) will overshadow his lifetime as a legislator.
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He was for the dreadful Iraq War
He isn’t great on foreign policy - he was also opposed to the Gulf War, arguably the greatest American foreign intervention. But as President he should have more advisors than he did in Congress.
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for the mass incarceration of blacks,
Hindsight. The crime bill which ramped up incarceration was widely supported by black communities and black legislators because they were particularly suffering from the effects of violent crime. It’s only with history that consensus has swung against the bill with all its unintended consequences, and improvements in criminology showing it probably wasn’t necessary. But it was a mainstream position.
Today, Joe Biden is against mass incarceration and suggests several meaningful policies to combat it, including $20bn of investment.
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against gay marriage,
Again, a mainstream position in the 90s. However, in 2012 Joe Biden came out in favour of same-sex marriage during the Presidential campaign, and before Obama did (in fact it put Obama under a lot of pressure to say he supported it too).
Today, Joe Biden supports same-sex marriage.
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and against the legalization of drugs.
A mainstream position, particularly in the 90s. Today, Joe Biden supports the legislation of cannabis.
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Against socialized medicine
Leaving aside that “socialised medicine” is a meaningless phrase...
A mainstream position even today. However, Joe Biden supports an expansion of Obamacare and a public option.
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and against busing.
A mainstream view in the 70s and even today. However, you’ve misrepresented Biden’s 70s vote. He did not vote to make bussing illegal, he voted to stop the federal government mandating it.
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One particularly nasty piece of legislation that Biden spearheaded allowed cops to easily confiscate property. The biographer said that property taken from citizens went from a few million dollars into the billions.
This seems to be a rather left-wing idea. It was aimed at fighting drug kingpins but as the safeguards were removed it started being used to go after parents of kids who sold cannabis. Really stupid to remove the safeguards - sure, they protected drug lords, but they also protected ordinary Americans.
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Joe Biden is a neoliberal,
Speaking as a neoliberal - Joe Biden is a good candidate who will vastly improve on Trump, but he’s too left wing to be a true neoliberal. He has a history of being opposed to free trade which is absolutely central to neoliberalism.
Some of Joe Biden’s far-left policies:
- Federal $15 an hour minimum wage
- $400bn “buy American” campaign
- $10,000 of student loan debt forgiveness.
- Two years of free college
- $2.25trn investment in healthcare
- Reversing cuts to corporation tax
(I happen to think his proposed spending on pre-school, energy innovation, and prison reform are sensible, likely to be highly efficacious, and necessary. They would doubtless also appeal to the sections of the far-left that aren’t constantly purity testing).
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foreign policy hawk,
Again this seems to strip out all the nuance. Biden has a history of both dovish and hawkish views. He was the dove in the Obama White House, and opposed the Gulf War and even the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.
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Millions of dollars have flowed to his brother and children from places like Communist China and the Ukraine.
He has a family who have jobs?! Unacceptable.
21 Aug 2020, 2:45 am
