Under the general category of : We Told You.

Joe Biden’s campaign is telling the American people through an advisor and long-time friend of Joe Biden, former Sen. Ted Kaufman, that the Biden administration will not stand up for regular working Americans with economic policy.  “When we get in, the pantry is going to be bare,” said Kaufman speaking to reporters during the Democratic convention.

Kaufman is leading Biden’s transition team.  “When you see what Trump’s done to the deficits…all the deficits that he built with the incredible tax cuts.  We’re going to be limited.” 

So the Biden campaign is already laying the groundwork for backing off most of his campaigns economic promises.  Earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported that the Biden campaign had “rolled out a $35 trillion economic program….(that) promises to invest in clean energy and caregiving, buy more made-in-America goods, and start narrowing the country’s racial wealth gaps.”

At the same time, Biden was speaking to his donors and saying that despite his pubic campaign promises, he would not be pushing new legislation to change corporate behavior.  This was not covered by MSNBC, or NPR. 

And, after the Kaufman announcement to Wall Street Journal reporters, almost nobody noticed what David Sirota called important signaling that the Biden administration may back off “the entire agenda it is campaigning on.” 

For the Democratic Party to return to an austerity model in this economic context is unconscionable.  The outlines of this
“destructive and insane” policy are presented by economist Dean Baker.

Even more disturbing is the lack of coverage of the story, and the lack of outcry from the left.  Sirota notes that the lack of push-back from the left may well indicate that the left coalition has decided to repeat 2009 and just defer to the anticipated democratic president. 

Notes:

Sirota, David (8/20/20  ) “Team Biden…” Too Much Information.

Baker, Dean (8/20/20) CEPR.net