A Democrat for the majority of my adult life, I have watched my former party shift increasingly toward socialism. With the rise of Bernie Sanders and democratic socialists at the state and city level, it is a party I no longer recognize. The 2020 presidential election presents a clear choice between the beleaguered American Dream and rising democratic socialism. The current—and perhaps unwitting—vehicle for this movement, 77-year-old Joe Biden, is in no way fit to lead the nation for the next four years.
Biden’s economic plan seeks to raise $3.2 trillion in revenue over the next decade. It would do this, in large measure, by increasing the individual tax rate for the vast majority of Americans. It would also increase capital gains and corporate taxes. While not the largest tax increase on record, Biden’s tax proposal would compare to the tax increases that helped finance World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Implementing this policy during the pandemic, and before the economy has fully recovered, would be unwise. It would have a negative impact on the earning capacity of individual Americans and delay economic recovery.
Biden’s position on how to deal with COVID-19 is superficial and shortsighted. Based on his statements, if faced with a new wave of the virus, he would simply shut the economy down without carefully balancing this against the risks to public health and the further economic devastation this harsh step would cause. In an August interview, Mr. Biden said he would be willing to shut the economy down again to combat the virus.“I would shut it down; I would listen to the scientists,” Biden said. He continued, “I will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives.” His willingness to defer only to his scientists—and not exercise broader judgment—is folly.
Biden is now on the wrong side when it comes to law and order. In 1993, when Biden was instrumental in passing the so-called 1994 Crime Bill, he was outspoken against crime, warning of “predators on our streets.” He was heavily criticized in the 2020 Democratic debates earlier this year for the legacy of mass incarceration that the law led to.
Fast forward to the August 2020 Democratic National Convention, and we see that the transformed “progressive” Biden steers clear of discussing crime on the streets of America’s cities. Biden (and the other primetime Democratic speakers at the convention) failed to even mention the widespread anti-police violence, looting, and rioting across American cities. His weakness on this issue is amplified by Democratic mayors and cities across the country that fail to arrest and prosecute criminals, allow businesses to be looted and burned, and actively defund police. And blaming President Trump, as Biden has attempted to do, for the violence since it occurred on the president’s watch is as effective as blaming the president for Governor Cuomo’s policy of sending COVID patients to nursing homes to recover since it occurred while Trump was president.
Biden continuously flip-flops on important policy positions, making it impossible to know what he truly stands for. He has done this throughout his career, and it has been on full display in the past year.
For example, in 2019, Biden naively was of the view that China did not pose a geopolitical threat to the U.S. He stated: “China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man.” He went on to state that China is “not competition for us.” Realizing his position on this crucial issue was dead wrong, he reversed himself in June 2020, stating: “We need to get tough with China. They are a serious challenge to us and in some areas a real threat.” While at times he has stated that he is not in favor of police defunding when asked during an August 2020 interview if he would redirect budgeted police funds to non-police areas, he replied, “Yes” and “Yes, absolutely.”
He flip-flopped on fracking in a March 2020 debate with Bernie Sanders when he appeared to say he would ban fracking (“We would work it out. We would make sure it is eliminated.”) as well as at a New Hampshire rally (“We are going to get rid of fossil fuels”). Then, more recently, he reversed his position: “I am not banning fracking. No matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me.”
Biden has referred to himself as a” transition candidate making way for the Mayor Petes of the world to come into my administration.” This indicates that some of the socialist and progressive candidates that surrounded him on the 2019/2020Democratic nomination debate stage would serve in his Cabinet and shape national policy.
His strategy seems focused on avoiding gaffes by minimizing press conferences and not taking questions from unfriendly reporters. Pandemic or not, preventing voters from seeing him legitimately tested with probing questions will not serve him well. Does it seem like he is hiding something?
It may be that Mr. Biden’s failure to provide coherent responses without losing his thought mid-sentence, contradicting past statements, or struggling to remember the right word to use could be signs of a cognitive issue. If true, this casts serious doubt on his ability to serve in the demanding, four-year role of president. And it casts even more doubt over his ability to rein in the democratic socialist forces likely to control his Cabinet.
I will not be voting for Mr. Biden on Election Day.
TOM CROWE
