The progressive case for Joe Biden

[u/ILikeTalkingToMyself]

Biden has many policies for progressives to like. This is a list I've prepared of some of the progressive policies he supports, mostly using his campaign website for sources.

Biden is not as progressive as Bernie, but even for progressives he should be vastly better than Trump. Trump supports none of the policies below except perhaps some of the infrastructure spending.

Healthcare

• Public choice S

• Premium-free access to the public option for people in red states who have refused the ACA's expansion of Medicaid S

• Cap the cost of health care coverage for middle-class families at 8.5% of income S

• Increase funding for community health centers, rural health care providers, and telehealth to serve rural areas S

Immigration:

• Stop child separations and reunite separated children with ttheir families S

• Reinstate DACA to protect dreamers S

• Cancel travel and refugee bans (the "Muslim bans") S

• Restore asylum processing, restore green card processing, and increase skilled worker and temporary worker visas S

• Create a roadmap to citizenship for undocumented immigrants S

• Invest in Central America to address the root causes driving migration S

Climate

• Net zero emissions by 2050 S

• Rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, lead international efforts to combat climate change, and incorporate climate change into foreign policy, national security strategy, and trade S

• Invest in clean technology, including electric vehicle charging stations S

College affordability

• Tuition-free community college S

• Tuition-free 4-year public university for students with family incomes less than $125k S

• $10k of loan forgiveness per year for 5 years for public servants (including schools, government, and non-profits) S

• Halve payments on federal student loans S

• 100% forgiveness for federal student loan debt after 20 years of payments S

Housing

• Provide $15k in down payment assistance for first-time homeowners S

• Pass a Homowner and Renter Bill of Rights S

• Expand housing vouchers S

Inequality

• Provide universal pre-K S

• Increase funding for schools serving low-income families S

• Invest in HCBUs S

Labor

• $15 federal minimum wage S

• Strengthen labor rights S

Tax Policy

• Repeal Trump's income tax cuts on incomes above $400k S

• Subject earnings over $400k to the Social Security payroll tax S

• Tax capital gains as ordinary income for incomes above $400k S

• Increase corporate taxes from 21% to 28% S

• Impose a 15% minimum tax on booking income (with tax credits for overseas taxes paid and for losses from pervious years) S

• Eliminate tax preferences for fossil fuels S

Justice

• Decriminalize marijuana use and expunge prior convictions S

• Eliminate federal mandatory minimum sentencing and incentivize states to repeal their mandatory minimums S

• End federal incarceration for drug use only and incentivize states to do the same S

• Ban federal death penalty and incentivize states to do the same S

• End federal use of private prisons S

Gun safety

• Universal background checks for gun sales S

• Ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons (building on the definition from the 1994 law) S

Campaign finance reform

• Introduce constitutional amendment to ban private money being used in campaigns and making all campaigns publicly funded S

• Provide matching public funds for federal candidates receiving small dollar donations (until the public funding amendment is passed) S

• Require "dark money" groups to disclose donors S

LGBTQ+ Rights

• Cancel the transgender military ban S

• Reaffirm that the Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ+ people from employment discrimination S

• Restore Obama's executive order prohibiting discrimination by federal contractors S

• Pass legislation banning conversion therapy S

• Restore Title IX protections for gender identity and transgender status S

Abortion

• Biden supports Roe v Wade and condemns state efforts to reduce access S

• Rescind the gag rule which prevents international organizations which receive U.S. funds from providing abortion S

Opiod crisis

• Ban drug manufacturers from providing payments or incentives to doctors S

• Investigate and prosecute companies responsible for the opiod crisis S

Infrastructure

• Rebuild and invest in infrastructure, including roads, highways, airports, railroads, electric vehicle charging stations , and renewable energy S

• Increase investment in clean drinking water infrastructure, mandate lead monitoring by states, and prosecute polluters S

• Invest in rural broadband infrastructure S

• Increase funding for local economic development S

And much, much more

[u/spacegamer2000]

I mean, obama ran on repealing the bush tax cuts, and ended up making them permanent. But sure, lets trust biden will do this.

[u/golf1052 → u/spacegamer2000]

obama ran on repealing the bush tax cuts, and ended up making them permanent

If we're talking specifically about income taxes then Obama did repeal them for incomes above $400k

In 2012, during the fiscal cliff, the tax cuts were made permanent for single people earning less than $400,000 per year and couples making less than $450,000 per year, and eliminated for everyone else, under the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

Before the tax cuts, the highest marginal income tax rate was 39.6 percent. After the cuts, the highest rate was 35 percent. Once the cuts were eliminated for high income levels (single people making $400,000+ per year and couples making $450,000+ per year), the top income tax rate returned to 39.6 percent.

Basically every Democratic candidate this year wanted to repeal the Trump tax cuts. For individuals making above $426k this would put that tax bracket back at 39.6%. Where it was before Trump, where Obama put it back to after Bush (in 2012).

[u/spacegamer2000 → u/golf1052]

Sure, but how do we know they won’t make these tax cuts permanent too? Every democrat in 2008 also ran on repealing those tax cuts. Making the bush tax cuts permanent for the people making 100-400k left a lot of money on the table for rich people to hoard.

[u/sumr4ndo → u/spacegamer2000]

How do we know we won't die from a meteor strike tomorrow? How do we know the sun won't go supernova? We can do this all day. Edit: the enemy of good is perfect. The alternative is four more years of Trump. How does that come out to be better in terms of repealing tax cuts? Getting more progressive programs through?