> https://sirota.substack.com/p/team-biden-now-signals-austerity > <https://sirota.substack.com/p/team-biden-now-signals-austerity?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyODc4MTksInBvc3RfaWQiOjg3NTI3OCwiXyI6IitBejY4IiwiaWF0IjoxNTk3OTU5NDgzLCJleHAiOjE1OTc5NjMwODMsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0zNzc3OCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.5a-ZSKTiCHmfG7Eh6JWaQMvL9aFMiDRGAvRjdQsPTQs> > 8/20/20 > Team Biden Now Signals Austerity, Despite Campaign Pledges Biden's top > adviser made a hugely important declaration -- and almost nobody noticed > it. > > <https://sirota.substack.com/people/8698295-david-sirota> > *David Sirota <https://sirota.substack.com/people/8698295-david-sirota>* > 6 hr > > *Update: Joe Biden’s campaign has now responded > <https://twitter.com/ddayen/status/1296517572540559361?s=20> to our story > and the firestorm it set off. See below.* > > <https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4755c6-29f2-45bb-9304-91e76a6a39f4_567x305.png> > > The Democratic convention has sucked up all the political oxygen in > America — so much so, that most people missed Team Biden signaling that it > may back off the entire agenda it is campaigning on. This monumental > declaration went almost completely unnoticed for an entire day — which is a > genuinely disturbing commentary on how the biggest of big political news > gets routinely ignored. > > To review the situation: earlier this month, Bloomberg News > <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-03/joe-biden-envisions-trillions-of-dollars-in-u-s-spending> > reported that Biden’s “campaign rolled out a $3.5 trillion economic program > over the past month” — one that “promises to invest in clean energy > <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-14/biden-clean-energy-plan-would-accelerate-state-efforts-on-carbon> > and > caregiving, buy more made-in-America goods > <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-09/biden-offers-build-back-better-approach-to-reviving-economy>, > and start narrowing the country’s racial wealth gaps > <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-28/biden-announces-plans-to-bridge-racial-economic-gaps>.” > This, said the news service, was proof that Biden no longer adhered to an > ideology of austerity and deficit hawkery — which would be good news. > > But then on the eve of Biden’s convention speech, the Democratic nominee’s > top aide suggested to Washington reporters that, in fact, that’s not true. > Here’s the key excerpt: > > *Former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, a Biden confidant who succeeded him in > the Senate, predicted during a Wall Street Journal Newsmakers Live > interview Tuesday that a large increase in federal spending would be > difficult to achieve in 2021.* > > *“When we get in, the pantry is going to be bare,” said Mr. Kaufman, who > is leading Mr. Biden’s transition team. “When you see what Trump’s done to > the deficit…forget about Covid-19, all the deficits that he built with the > incredible tax cuts. So we’re going to be limited.”* > > Economist Dean Baker goes over exactly how destructive and insane this > ideology is. As he says: “The idea that we would not address pressing > needs, like climate change, child care, and health care because we are > concerned about the debt burden is close to crazy. As long as the economy > is not near its capacity, there is zero reason not to spend to address > these priorities.” I encourage you to read his piece > <https://cepr.net/the-burden-of-the-debt-lessons-for-biden-adviser-ted-kaufman/> > . > > What I find particularly troubling is that Kaufman’s quote made it into > the Wall Street Journal yesterday. The newspaper tweeted it out early in > the morning > <https://twitter.com/WSJPolitics/status/1296077882763157505?s=20>. It sat > out there for almost 24 hours — an eternity in the current news ecosystem. > And yet, as far as I can tell, nobody noticed. Hell, the Journal’s tweet > had all of 1 retweets on it as of this morning. > > I snipped Kaufman’s quote and tweeted it out at 1am > <https://twitter.com/davidsirota/status/1296342455260860416?s=20> last > night when I first saw it — and thankfully, my tweet pushing it out there > has now belatedly moved it around into the political bloodstream. Lots of > people are tweeting about it and commenting on it all this morning. > > That’s good — I guess I’m glad my Twitter feed has at least some minor > value. However, the fact that this wasn’t huge news the moment it came out > is troubling. > > This monumental declaration was in a major newspaper — it should have set > off immediate alarm bells from all the think tanks, unions and advocacy > groups in Washington whose job is to make sure that this kind of > destructive austerity ideology does not once again take hold in the > Democratic Party. There should have been press releases, and statements of > outrage and congresspeople on TV talking about it. > > But for an entire day, there was nothing, until it was shamed into the > conversation. > > This is not the first time there’s been silence on stuff like this — less > than a month ago Biden explicitly promised his Wall Street donors > <https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/07/joe-biden-wall-street-donors-blackstone> > that despite his public campaign promises, he will not be pushing new > legislation to change corporate behavior. That happened and it basically > went unreported. You didn’t see it on MSNBC or hear it on NPR. You didn’t > see it anywhere, except for right here at TMI > <https://sirota.substack.com/p/biden-just-made-a-big-promise-to> (this is > the kind of reporting you are supporting when you become a subscriber > <http://sirota.substack.com/subscribe>). > > What all of this says to me is that party officials have successfully > distracted everyone, or the left coalition in Washington is committed to > repeating 2009: keeping quiet and deferring to a new Democratic president > no matter what he does. Indeed, it seems so many political leaders, > operatives, pundits and party tryhards are so busy cheering and angling for > their next job, that deference is now the overarching ideology. Nero > fiddled while Rome burns, Trump golfs while a pandemic rages — and > Democratic politicos in Washington prioritize their quest for their next > White House gigs as the devastating ideology of austerity comes back to > life. > > This does not augur well for the future. > > On a personal level, I don’t particularly *enjoy* the experience of TMI > being one of the very few news outlets that has the guts to report > inconvenient facts about Biden. It’s not a pleasant experience — you get > crapped on all day, everyday (and I so appreciate our supporting > subscribers pitching in <http://sirota.substack.com/subscribe> to help us > do this work). > > But dammit, some people have to do it or there’s going to be a disaster. > Biden stomping on his own campaign pledges and loading up the Democratic > convention with GOP icons threatens to deflate voter enthusiasm — raising > the possibility that Trump gets reelected or we see something even worse in > the future. > > I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if Democrats win this election > and 2020 is a repeat of 2009, then 2024 is going to be a repeat of 2016, > only with a much smarter version of Trump winning the presidency. > > Deferring to the Democratic establishment — sitting quietly when the > destructive ideology of austerity is now re-normalized — is intolerable. > > The alarms need to be sounded now. > > Deference is not acceptable. > > *UPDATE**: *Biden’s team has now issued a statement in response to TMI > spotlighting Kaufman’s comments: > David Dayen @ddayen > Andrew Bates, Biden campaign rapid response director, gave me the > following statement regarding Ted Kaufman's comments in the Wall Street > Journal that Biden would be "limited" in his fiscal actions in 2021 because > of the budget deficit: > > August 20th 2020 > 12 Retweets34 Likes > <https://twitter.com/ddayen/status/1296517572540559361?s=20> > > Nathan Tankus > <https://twitter.com/NathanTankus/status/1296518931813937154?s=20> reacts > to the Biden statement: “This is completely unacceptable. I don't want a > qanon president in 2024. The fiscal policy we need is much greater than > short term stimulus and commiting to ‘long run’ austerity is horrendous and > amounts to a commitment to cut medicare and social security.” > ------------------------------ > > *This newsletter relies on readers pitching in to support it. If you like > what you just read and want to help expand this kind of journalism, > consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking this link > <http://sirota.substack.com/subscribe>.* > > > >
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