And here we are, with Biden once again limiting his plans out of compromise. Now he's basically limiting who can apply to student debt forgiveness. Kyle Kulinski covered it, and I feel like throwing in my own opinion, given that this is relevant to my own main economic plan.
Honestly, I've been being kind of soft on Biden recently. I've been reading my old stuff from 2021 recently, and I was WAY harder on him. But, I've concluded, as I've internalized some more moderate shifts, became less associated with the far left, and say Biden do some things I like, I've become a bit more okay with Biden.
Kyle thinks that this could lose him voters, and I kind of agree. Honestly? Im very disappointed with this shift. I mean when you limit your forgiveness plan to certain borrowers, that's just falling into the same trap the left loves to fall into. When you means test things to ensure only the so called "deserving" get help but the "undeserving" doesn't, that is the source of resentment that sabotages public opinion around certain ideas. If you forgive everyone, that's good, but if you limit it to A B or C, someone who is D, or E, or F would be like "well i dont get forgiven, why should I support someone else's forgiveness?" and for all of the talk of empathy the left loves to throw around, no, I believe many come to the left through their self interest, through the left supporting good policies, that benefit them. If you make it piecemeal, all you have left are those who directly benefit, and the high and mighty moralizers, who can't make effective arguments worth a crap.
(Btw, before I go further I technically qualify, so let's not act like this is JUST sour grapes here).
The fact is, universal policy is a good idea because it resolves the argument of resentment. Sure you got Joe 6 pack who votes for Trump and never went to college who will complain about it because they have NO debt to forgive, but honestly, the more universal a benefit is, the more politically popular I would argue it becomes. Because as an ex conservative, I understand resentment politics. It comes from someone else getting something that you don't, and not thinking it's fair. And at the end of the day, what does that lead to? Them chewing down stuff further and further, adding more arcane requirements to limit things more because people care more about denying someone something they're deemed not entitled to, than actually helping their fellow people. Most people will only help their fellow people if they also get help. This is why neoliberal democratic politics is in this wierd uncanny valley that most people do not like, and this is why they tend to lose elections on economic discussions. They just dont feel like the democrats help them, but they help others (often at their expense, to use the "taxpayer" argument), and they turn against them as a result.
The fact is, for all the moralizers out there, you're a minority, and no one cares about your morality, and your self righteousness and browbeating on the subject of how this might help someone "underprivileged" does Dicky McGeezax (to use a Kyle term) to get them to vote for you. If anything, it just drives people even further right where they will develop the "own the libs" mentality because they'd rather piss you off to take you down a peg, than to help you.
And Kyle is right, given Biden's already tenuous election position, this is a terrible idea. I mean to some extent I get it, the dude tried, but congress won't act, he's limited to executive orders, and he probably realizes he can't do it that way and has to limit it to do the most good possible. But the optics of this SUCK. And even I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth.
The fact is, I never liked Biden, nor wanted him as president. I was a Bernie and Yang guy. I support large scale programs that would effectively SOLVE the problems with our economic system in a categorical way. And Biden was WAY too moderate for me in the first place.
BUT, when I evaluated him this year, I concluded he at least tried on at least some of my priorities. He never gave us a UBI, but we did have the child tax credit, which was eventually repealed because Manchin being a de facto republican and screaming about "entitlement societies" (seriously F that guy). He never gave us medicare for all or even that public option he promised, and never tried. But he did have build back better. ALthough that was ground down into the "inflation reduction act", which was like the bare minimum. And his free college plan only included community college and he only forgave up to $20k and only if you had a pell grant at some point, otherwise it was $10k. And then THAT got held up. And now he's moderating on that.
And that's the problem with Biden and centrist democratic politics. He started off moderate, even on the issues I mentioned. He supported a public option, the left wanted medicare for all. he supported $10-20k in debt forgiveness, the left wanted ALL of it. He supported build back better, the left wanted a green new deal.
I admit, over the course of the Biden years I became more in favor of a public option and build back better than the left's original proposals given my UBI fixation and needing to make some fiscal room to pay for UBI, but then Biden aint even accomplishing those things. He's accomplishing next to nothing. And while I understand he's being railroaded by congress and the supreme court here, it's really just showing the follow of centrist dem politics. I predicted this. Compromise of a compromise of a compromise of a comproimise and only if you meet one of several certain situations. It sucks. This sucks. Your plans suck dude.
And remember why I'M voting for Biden in the general.
1) Donald Trump is too dangerous to allow to win again
2) Biden accomplished or tried to accomplish SOME things I like
3) THe lack of a meaningful left candidate who resonates with my policy preferences and doesn't have other flaws that alienate me
But if Biden is kinda giving up on full on student debt forgiveness, that lowers him on #2. He's now weaker from a positive "hey I like this guy's policies" perspective. And that really just leaves me voting for him because 1) I dont like trump, and 2) leftists kinda suck this time around. Leftists still suck. I mean, Marianne Williamson hits the economic ground enough for me to support her, but I also dont like her weak foreign policy positions and think her worldview and rhetoric sometimes are cringey. And cornel west is just...full on leftist.
At this point, it's like, I'm just supporting Biden to prevent trump.
Bleh. I hate this election cycle. Always have. I probably will still vote for Biden. But I'm getting to the point Im literally holding my nose. I have no love of the guy. I'm just trying to stop a dangerous fascist from being in the white house again.
Ironically, I was gonna do a "what do I really think about Joe Biden" article today, but this...kinda covered it. I dont love him. Cant say I hate him. Do I like him? Kinda, but when he makes tactical retreats like this I like him significantly less.
Biden is like a glass of lukewarm tap water to me. It's not terrible, but I can't say I like it. He's like the epitome of a 5/10 for me.
2024 sucks. Screw this election year.
Anyway, i guess Im still sticking with my plan. Williamson 2024 for the primary, and for the general, probably biden...I guess.
I mean, that's probably how the country feels about him in general. His literal cammpaign slogan should be "okay, Biden...I guess". I cant imagine anyone being truly happy with the dude unless youre a centrist and have the most milquetoast politics possible. He's truly the "saltine crackers" president. Much like lukewarm tap water, something you eat not because it's good, but because it's filling and I guess it is good enough for now. And yeah, I'll call it here.
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