So, I recently discussed metrics I did in 2020 regarding my priorities to evaluate candidates, and I wanted to judge how Biden is doing so far on them. That said, I am going to grade his progressive agenda in line with my voting metrics.
The metric
The metric is out of 200 points. However, I don't expect any candidate to ever get 200 points, as this is a progressive wishlist with mutually exclusive characteristics. To be honest, the highest I'd expect a candidate to realistically get is 150 points, and 100 is considered a pass.
The categories and their weight are as follows:
Basic income - 50
Medicare for all - 50
Combatting climate change - 25
Jobs program - 10
Free college - 10
Abolish student debt - 10
Get money out of politics - 10
Electoral reform - 10
Minimum wage increase - 5
Update labor standards - 5
Paid sick leave/vacation time/parental leave - 5
Strengthen unions - 5
Support codetermination/workplace democracy - 5
Obviously, I will give partial credit for partial implementations of the ideas above, or a willingness to act on them.
For reference, I have Biden down for a 93 based on his campaign promises. However, I would likely be more critical and give him something closer to an 83 now, going over his plans vs other candidates. So let's see how Biden does.
For reference, on grading Biden, I'll do so where anything over 100 is an A. A 80-99 is a B. A 60-79 is a C. 40-59 is a D. 0-39 is a F.
As you can tell I'm grading him on a curve, but hey this IS Joe Biden we're talking about. That said...
How he's doing
Universal basic income- 5/50
Wow, I gave him points for UBI? Why? Well, because his child tax credit idea, which he wants to make permanent, is like a mini UBI for kids. I admit it's done in a more EITC type form, and it's not unconditional, but it is pretty widespread to the point it's almost universal.
Admittedly, this isn't a full UBI. Not even close. But it is a positive plan that I think he deserves some credit on, as it resembles a UBI.
Medicare for all- 8/50
Biden's healthcare plan....sucks. Let's be honest about how I rate healthcare here. Full medicare for all would be 50 points obviously. A very strong public option like medicare extra for all would likely yield 30-35 points, say, 2/3, as a gesture of good faith in trying to reform the system. This is why I don't ace my own purity tests btw. A weaker public option could get anywhere from 15-25 points, and that's about how Biden scored on his election promises. He had a weak public option that was 15-20 points. Given my research into medicare extra I'd give it like 15.
The dude isn't even delivering a that. Instead we get a compromise on that anemic idea. Essentially, he wants to lower the eligibility age of medicare slightly and establish some caps on drug prices. Woop dee freaking do. I was always underwhelmed by Biden's plans. I mean his original plan was far weaker than even medicare extra for all. And now we get a compromise of THAT. Compromises, on compromises, on compromises. Joe Biden, everyone. Loving that incremental change yet?
Climate change- 20/25
Biden is doing pretty well on climate change. While his plan isn't as aggressive as, say, Bernie's plan, it is as aggressive as I'd like. Keep in mind, I'm not a green new deal type person. But his plan is essentially a mini green new deal that seems to do some positive things.
Jobs program - 10/10
Biden is pushing a jobs program as part of his infrastructure/climate change pitch.
Free college - 5/10
Biden is offering free community college, but not free 4 year college. Half the college, half the credit.
Abolish student debt - 1/10
Bernie wanted to forgive all student debt. Warren wanted a compromise of $50,000. Biden wanted $10,000 and to remove the tax bomb from IBR. As of now, Biden hasn't even forgiven the $10k, and only removed the tax bomb from people whose forgiveness happens in the next 4 years. This is pathetic. Even worse, a lot of progressives are arguing Biden could forgive all of it by executive order any time he wants. He's dropping the ball here. 1 point for the IBR tax bomb thing for the next couple years, but he's completely and utterly failed to act on this one.
Get money out of politics- 2/10
HR1 has some minor provisions to reduce some aspects of dark money in politics but like always it's a bunch of incremental crap.
Electoral reform- 5/10
When I meant electoral reform I meant reforming the system in ways that would break the two party system. Biden's HR1 plan does include some good provisions like same day/automatic voter registration (apply this to a public option, Biden). But ultimately, it does not reform the system perfectly, and it actually makes it harder for third parties to gain traction, solidifying power. I'll give it a 6 for effort, but then subtract one for trying to screw the greens again.
Minimum wage increase - 3/5
Biden is trying on the minimum wage. It was worthless centrists like Kyrsten Sinema who killed it. Also, he already raised it for federal contractors. Good faith 3 points here.
Update labor standards - 2/5
Biden has a lot of incremental ideas but nothing significant. 2/5.
Strengthen unions - 5/5
Biden is doing a good job on unions with his labor regs though.
Paid sick leave/vacation time/parental leave - 4/5
Well he's pushing 2/3 with paid family/sick leave. 4 points.
Workplace democracy/codetermination - 0/5
While Warren discussed codetermination on the campaign trail, Biden isn't doing it. Warren talking about it apparently spooked people though. Hahaha, let them sweat.
Grand total: 70/200 - C
Based on the metrics set forth above, graded on a curve of realism, Biden gets a flat C for his agenda. Biden is trying on a lot of issues. But a lot of what he proposes are incremental quarter measures that are anemic compared to what would get full credit.
If I were judging him in campaign season based on this, he would not get my vote. This is a fairly anemic platform. I mean, he's falling short of even where he campaigned. I gave him a 83-93 during campaign season. He's only hitting 70. Out of 200. So, about 35% of what I want out of a candidate.
That's not to say he isn't doing good on stuff not mentioned here, like COVID. He's doing excellently on that. But given the metrics on the progressive agenda I had in the 2020 election that I judged him on, curved for realism, he's doing...okay. He's falling short on healthcare and education/student debt specifically.
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