09-15-2019, 04:28 PM
Rolando wrote:
Not keeping up. What kinda right wing stuff is Pete Spouting? Genuinely curious.
It's not just that he sometimes leans right when he's off guard. It's that almost all of his answers are evasions and a lot of what he says sounds kind of stupid. We're in the stretch and candidates should have their sh!t together. He doesn't.
He won't provide details in interviews and sometimes just seems to be spouting whatever comes to mind in the moment. He is better at evading direct questions than answering them.
He's said a lot about health care. He originally said that he favored health care for all, including illegal immigrants. He said that he was in favor of a single payer system. Then said that private insurance could embrace all of the problems people are talking about with the health care system. Then said that private health care was competitive and single-payer could be part of the private health system. Then said that his plan was to keep Obamacare and put back the subsidies that Trump removed rather than offering single-payer. Sometimes he says that he'll promote a “Medicare-type insurance plan” as one of many choices in the ACA marketplace, but tailored so that it won't be better priced than private plans so that private companies can still make their profits. This is not health care reform.
His pro-abortion stance is lacking. He evades questions on late-term abortions. He started his campaign indicating that he was against the Hyde amendment but now he kind of isn't. Okay, so generally, he's pro-abortion, maybe. Give him progressive points for that?
His position on student loan debt is that students should be allowed to refinance.
His "plan" for reinvigorating urban centers appears to be the same one that he implemented in South Bend which evicted a thousand poor black and Latino families to allow corporations from outside the area to buy their properties at pennies on the dollar. Nice way to rapidly gentrify a community. This is not progressive.
What's his position on civil rights? That he favors gay marriage (which is already law of the land). What's his plan for racial equality? Fund historically black colleges (which even Donald Trump still does) and legalize marijuana. As mayor, he fired a black whistleblower and defended white racist cops. He says that he wants to empty out the prisons, but doesn't want to put felons on the streets. When challenged on his record, he said that his goal is to "build trust" and that as mayor he named a street "Martin Luther King Blvd." WTF does that imply? Latest position: We should increase diversity sensitivity training in the workplace.
Foreign policy: Supports Israel. Okay, what else? Supports the Iran nuclear deal. Good. Wants to deploy more troops overseas, but not in Afghanistan. US foreign policy should be "based on American values" and we need to pay more attention to intelligence agencies. Mmmkay?
Gun control: Seemed to be in favor of a ban on assault weapons when he started. Now wants a voluntary buyback. Plan for dealing with gun violence: Install microphones on the street corners to capture (
Homeland security: Boost the defense budget and make a new holiday called Vietnam Veterans Day. This is not progressive.
Immigration: Increase ICE funding and continue DACA. This is not progressive.
Employment: Unions are generally good (yay!), NAFTA is bad - wants to end it. Wants to raise the minimum wage (yay!), but wouldn't push to do so as that's up to Congress.
Tax reform: "Everyone should pay their fair share." Mmmkay. Asked for details, he endorsed a "fairer tax." :facepalm:
Climate-change: A "crisis is looming" and "history will judge us..." We need to "unleash the power of communities." Mentions the "Green New Deal," but instead of explicitly endorsing it, says that Congress needs to do something "realistic." Wants to quadruple green-energy investment through a new government-funded, but privately run bank. (An unregulated bank with billions in government-funding. What could go wrong?) Wants to close all public lands to mineral-exploitation. (Good!) And wants to give fossil fuel companies $200 billion to retrain their workers in new industries. (Ummm...?)
Technology/antitrust: "Federal regulators should be empowered to do their jobs." Mmmkay. What's that mean? Apparently, he wants to increase government spending on technology. Not sure what that's supposed to accomplish. How does this address the investigations into Facebook/Google/Apple? It doesn't.
Politics and election reform: Wants to "depoliticize the Supreme Court." Mmmkay? Has no plan, but when challenged on this by NBC he came up with a scheme to amend the Constitution to allow 15-justices to sit. Nobody takes this proposal seriously. Okay, so we've got problems with a new spate of Jim Crow laws, hacked voting machines, purges of voter rolls, and the electoral college so what's he got to say about that? Supports more federal funds for elections.
To be clear: I'm not saying that he's not a very smart guy who means well. I'm saying that he's clearly over his head and has had to improvise way too much to make up for lapses that shouldn't be there at this point in the campaign and some of his position-statements have swung in odd directions, including some that swung right. He lacks focus. He's missing critical leadership qualities. His political machine is grinding some gears when it should be smoothly oiled. He is not the candidate to back at this time.