Not this term
The writing on the wall concealed by President Biden’s poor approval rating is the redistribution of wealth Biden proposed has failed to pass Congress. (1)
America has been reminded once again, to paraphrase Paddy Bauler (2):
America ain’t ready for redistribution, yet.
Recall Biden’s campaign agenda in 2020. Redistribution of wealth was written all over it. Biden would be the new FDR, the new LBJ, the New Deal and Great Society all rolled into one.
October 27, 2020, ten days before Biden would be elected President: “Biden Calls for Unity and Healing from FDR’s Warm Springs, Georgia Retreat,” (3). Picture courtesy Brian Snyder/Reuters
And then Biden’s programs ran into Senators Joe Manchin, Krysten Sinema and Chuck Schumer and the programs Biden proposed came tumbling down. Strangled. Shredded. Tabled.
Manchin never changed positions; he simply waited out Schumer until Schumer caved and withdrew Biden’s agenda from the debate floor of the Senate. And America was left without a path forward. America was left with a bunch of “ifs.”
My favorite “if” is ‘wait until the mid-terms,’ vote out ‘the Manchins’ and their ilk. This ‘if’ without respectable voting rights in place. Without access to polls in place. Without voting districts that resemble neighborhoods.
How can we harbor the thought of a democracy when our representatives refuse to act democratically?
This is an old question really. Call it the “shadow Constitution,” the one that doesn’t begin, “We, the people…”
One can almost hear another approval point drop when a frustrated President ends a speech with “For God’s sake… (fill in the blank).”
America doesn’t like a President wading in “if” waters.
America has entered the land of ‘double bind’ politics. ‘Redistribution of wealth’ — let’s call it for what it is — ‘ain’t happening.’
Machin, hardly a candidate for mindful political discourse, commented on a reporter’s inquiry about his position and refusal to vote in favor of the Biden policies:
‘If they (Biden‘s program advocates) want a different result, they should elect more Democrats to the Senate.’
What he meant to say was elect ‘fewer Republicans to the Senate.’
Manchin is famous for excluding himself from “consequences.”
The time for handwringing has returned. The mudslinging and blaming Progressives for speaking truth to power has returned. The fruitless delirium of picking Presidential candidates — the popular amnesiac has returned full throttle.
‘For God’s sake, (America)…,’ we are twenty-eight months away from November, 2024.
Even an alleged tyrant can ride that wave.
July 15, updated July 26
Notes
1- “Redistribution of wealth” describes a shift in wealth distribution gained by increasing taxes of wealthier, higher income earners to offset the cost of expanding public programs. This distribution is different from cutting social programs to save ‘all’ taxpayers from increased taxes which is a net reduction in distribution of wealth — wealthier income individuals become wealthier.
In America, “redistribution of wealth” has been consistently curtailed by white resistance. W.E.B. Du Bois once made the point that ‘pitting black against white’ furthered the economic interests of the white wealthy elite.
For a recent analysis, read Bruce Covert, “There’s A Reason Why Can’t We Have Nice Things” NYTimes, Opinion, July 21, reprinted as “Why We Can’t Have Nice Things? Racism,” July 25
2- ”Chicago ain’t ready for reform yet,” spoken by 43 Ward Alderman and saloonkeeper, Paddy Bauler, upon news that Richard M. Daley had been elected Mayor, 1955. Daley would later ban Bauler from public functions for making the remark.
3- https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/election-live-updates-trump-biden/card/cHjZ44gXcGc6CMbZtTSD
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