Has the Republican Party gone completely insane, or do Trump’s Puppets really think that undecided voters will buy the load of horse—t that Joe Biden is a closet socialist bent on radical (to hear Trump and Pence, demonic) transformation of American politics, economics, and culture?
If only Biden did have the heart to move America in the direction of prioritizing social welfare! Nothing should be more welcome to social workers, whose increasingly desperate clients stand on the brink of apocalyptic despair. Alas, the overwhelming evidence is that it just isn’t so. The only socialist in the Democratic Party hunt for the presidential nomination was Sanders, of course, and Bernie’s brand of socialism itself was a far cry from “radical” – much closer in spirit to Roosevelt’s 1944 proposal for an economic bill of rights than to a call to take over major sectors of the economy in the name of working people.
In fact, could Biden be any less socialist in his policy positions? His long legislative record shows him to be the best friend a banker or other corporate oligarch could have. He opposes universal health care. He opposes canceling student debt. He opposes the Green New Deal. He opposes the legalization of marijuana. He opposes a wealth tax, a financial transactions tax, and a progressive estate tax. He opposes redirecting police funding toward social services. He opposes cutting military spending, and, believe it not, sounds more hawkish than Trump, who Biden claims is not tough enough on either Russia, China, or Venezuela (an actual socialist country).
In short, Biden is not only not a socialist; he actively opposes most of the relatively modest proposals for change that most U.S. progressives endorse.
There’s only one reason Trump and the Republicans are trying to sell the “Democrats are socialists” line. They’re desperate, and in the face of the multiple, cascading crises facing the U.S., they’ve got nothing left in their trick bag of propaganda and deceit. You’d think that Roger Stone – Trump pardon beneficiary and “political dirty trickster” par excellence – could do a bit better than that.
The Southern Miss School of Social Work 