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Unfinished Business
September 26
During a moment when the assembled minds of MSNBC were trying to position Candidate Harris’s presentation of her economic policies at Tuesday’s speech before the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, guest commentator Sarah Longwell of The Bulwark (www.thebulwark.com) contrasted Harris’s vision with her — dare I say — predecessor’s: ‘If you look at how both Biden and Harris talk about their economic policy, Biden is defensive, speaking to what his initiatives have accomplished, whereas Harris is more forward looking.’
Consider Longwell’s observation under the glass of political transitions.
Recently, cable streaming houses have been serving up a menu of series about transitions of the rich, powerful and acclaimed. First, we had Emmy winning “Succession” (HBO) followed this year by “The Perfect Couple” (Netflix) and “La Maison” (Apple TV+). Beyond their soapiness, the dramas tell us something about personal wealth, accumulation and distribution thereof. We’re fascinated by wealth, perhaps because its effervescence reveals the mystery of the unattainable — fodder for our meagre times where economic statistics reveal less than what daily realities present.
Biden’s pandemic geared economic agenda is based on restoring a policy thread running from FDR through Lyndon Johnson to a downsized replication during Obama’s tenure —…
