Daily Beast Claims That Joe Biden Is Progressive Now. Let's Review.

 Mainstream media is trying to have their cake and eat it too when it comes to President Biden. Whenever it's convenient, Biden is a moderate who can reach across the aisle. The New York Times can't decide if Biden is a champion for blue collar workers or a working class myth.  And of course there are the numerous comparisons to FDR. (Let's not forget that FDR's policies we so popular, he was voted into office for four terms, only stopping because he died - and forcing the GOP to push for presidential terms limits).

Now, Daily Beast has a new title: Joe Biden, Progressive Hero.

How? Let's go over the their evidence starting with the praise heaped onto the stimulus bill (my reaction in glorious bold and italic:

"Biden’s White House spokesperson Jen Psaki described the measure as 'the most progressive bill in American history.'" Psaki's judgment leave a bit to be desired, considering she was the communications director for Joe Crowley (as well as the senior VP of Global Strategy Group, which led people to believe that Crowley was unbeatable), the guy who lost to AOC. But besides that, to claim that this bill is better than the original New Deal is ignoring history.

"The Congressional Progressive Caucus, the 93-member voice of the left on the Hill, said: 'The American Rescue Plan is a truly progressive and bold package that delivers on its promise to put money directly in people’s pockets and decisively crush the coronavirus’s spread, which is responsible for our economic crisis. Compared to the response to the Great Recession, this package meets the scale of this unprecedented crisis, delivering the equivalent of 7 percent of GDP for the coming year – exactly what economists say is needed to jumpstart our economy and the labor market.'" While I would love to embrace the CPC's endorsement, this is the same group who wouldn't fight on pushing Medicare For All to a floor vote a few months ago or a $15 minimum wage in this legislation (which ironically, many of them claimed they were saving their political capital for). And considering that: (1) the food service industry has been decimated, (2) millions of people have months of rent and/or student loans still due, and (3) every other industrialized nation have been giving their citizens monthly checks since the pandemic began, "meeting the scale of this unprecedented crisis" seems like a tone-deaf statement.

"Chris Hayes said on The Rachel Maddow Show, '(I)t feels like we drove a stake through a certain kind of anti-welfare austerity politics that was incredibly powerful for four to five decades.'" Chris Hayes doesn't seem to understand that pushing to cut Social Security (which Joe Biden has been talking about for years) and having high levels of tax cuts for the super wealthy (which has happened during Biden's entire political career and he has not indicated will be reversed) also counts as austerity.

"The Center for American Progress (CAP) issued a statement saying, 'The American Rescue Plan is transformative because it rejects the long-discredited doctrine of trickle-down economics by directing aid to the working and middle-class Americans who not only need it the most, but whose spending will boost the broader economy.'" Isn't this Neera Tanden's CAP? Pass.

" Vox’s story on the bill and where it could lead carried the headline 'Joe Biden just launched the second war on poverty.'" Our "War on ___" series has never gone really well (War on Drugs, War on Terror, War on Crime, etc.). In fact, have we ever won any of those? Oh, and care to explain why the previous "War on Poverty" didn't work out?

Now, before the readers get drunk/happy/upset over the praise, BD reminds us that "One piece of legislation does not a great progressive hero make." Thanks for the reminder, guys! But that does not BD from using the Reality Stone to create a world where everywhere you look, there a seeds of Biden's progressivism.

Like his choice of VP, cabinet and staff:

"Biden chose Kamala Harris, a woman of color with a strong progressive record on many issues, as his vice president. Biden’s administration has produced the first Cabinet with gender balance in U.S. history; many of them are breaking barriers as the first of the gender or race to hold the offices to which they were appointed." First of all, having more women, POC, or members of the LGBQT community in your administration does not equate with being progressive. Case in point: Candance Owens (black female conservative), Dave Rubin (gay conservative), and Daniel Cameron (black male conservative). And that leads to the second point: diversity of appearance/lifestyle, but having the same political ideology as those who have (traditionally) shunned such diversity, is not true diversity. A black cop beating up a black teenager is not progressive. And third: Kamala Harris' record regarding African-Americans in California is anything but progressive. 

His stance on unions:

"Biden has signaled he will be perhaps the most active champion of unions we have seen from a president in several decades." He also signaled getting Americans $2000.00 checks while campaigning in Georgia. So yeah. 

His stance on the environment:

"He has placed climate at the center of his agenda, made key appointments to back it up, returned the country to the Paris Climate accords, and will, as part of his upcoming infrastructure initiative, make green energy and transportation a centerpiece of how he 'builds back better.'" How soon are we getting this legislation

His stance on foreign policy

"On foreign policy, he and his team have restored human rights and democracy to a central role, made it clear that they will have a more worker-oriented trade policy than recent Democratic presidents, downplayed interventionism and exceptionalism, called out autocrats, released the damning intelligence report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and argued for a restoration of alliances and international institutions." The absence of "Biden is still sanctioning countries and there are still children in cages" is glaring. Also the Khashoggi part is basically negated by what's said below.

And in conclusion:

"While some of us on the left argue he has not gone far enough in some of these areas (I for one have argued for tougher and more direct sanctions on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the Khashoggi murder) and others are understandably frustrated at delays on key initiatives we hoped might be part of the rescue package—like raising the minimum wage to $15—it is becoming increasingly hard to ignore the fact that Joe Biden, fixture of the Washington establishment, a man with a mixed record over the years on progressive measures, has begun to put himself in a position to be seen as a transformational figure who represents a shifting of American views overall to the left." See? Told ya! And frustrated doesn't begin to characterize the Left's feelings on the matter of $15 minimum wage; AOC and the Justice Democrats basically said that the reason they weren't going to use #ForceTheVote on Nancy Pelosi's Speakership to get Medicare For All was because they were saving their energy for the FightFor15, which they didn't do. Oh, and did I mention that Bidden was the architect of the 1994 Crime Bill? Because he totally was.

That's a lot to take in. And by "that" I mean a combination of spin, falsehoods, and wishful thinking. But in peeling this onion you get to some stinky, eye-watering truths.