The Democrats' Radical Agenda

[babylonsister]

June 30, 2019 9:00AM ET
The Democrats’ Radical Agenda
Play it safe or go bold? In the race to beat Trump, party leaders are rolling out revolutionary policies for the first time in a generation
By Tim Dickinson


For the 2020 election, Democrats are proposing policies of sweep and ambition not seen since the New Deal or the Great Society. Ideas that would have seemed radical even five years ago — publicly funded college, a Green New Deal, Medicare for All — are now at the top of many candidates’ platforms.

Most intriguing: As once-fringe ideas enter the mainstream debate, they are proving popular. “Medicare for All is supported by at least 55 percent of the public,” says Sean McElwee, a co-founder of the progressive think tank Data for Progress. “So why is that treated as an extreme position?” By offering visionary reforms for a defective democracy, a foundering middle class, the climate crisis and a system rigged for the wealthiest, progressives hope to inspire an electorate whose anger helped propel a strongman like Donald Trump to power.

These are moonshot ideas, to be sure, impossible to pass unless Democrats reclaim both the White House and the Senate. (Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to be the “Grim Reaper” for these plans if the GOP holds the chamber.) And with price tags often soaring into the trillions — with a “t” — these proposals face resistance from America’s wealthiest, whose taxes would be hiked to pay for them, as well as centrist Democrats who fear tacking too far left might fumble one of the most consequential elections in the nation’s history.

Below, we examine a half-dozen of the Democrats’ edgiest ideas, underscoring what they could achieve, how much they might cost, and the obstacles they face.

A GREEN NEW DEAL

The Problem It Solves: The world has about a decade to arrest greenhouse-gas emissions to avoid catastrophic climate change, including the collapse of ice sheets that would raise sea levels, displacing as many as 200 million people by the end of the century.

Prominent Backers: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey rolled out the Green New Deal in February, calling for massive investments to quit carbon and create economic opportunities for America’s most disadvantaged communities. While 2020 candidates from Bernie Sanders to Amy Klobuchar are backing the GND, to varying degrees, Jay Inslee has offered the most detailed plan. He would invest $3 trillion in federal funds to drive $9 trillion in economy-wide investment, creating 8 million jobs, and he promises 100 percent clean electricity and zero emissions from new cars and buildings within a decade.

Biggest Obstacle: A Green New Deal would be cheaper than adapting to submerged cities or waves of climate refugees. But spending trillions to decarbonize America is anathema to a Republican Party subsidized by the fossil-fuel industry, which has waged a four-decade disinformation campaign — including $1 billion spent globally on deceptive lobbying and PR since the Paris Agreement. Some top Democrats have also questioned the GND, with Nancy Pelosi dismissing it as “the green dream or whatever,” and others promoting a more moderate solution, like a carbon tax.

more...

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/2020-election-democrat-platform-848304/