Biden is No Friend of the Working Class; Solidly Backed Invasion of Iraq in 2003
This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by DonViejo (a host of the Editorials & Other Articles group).
When The New York Times front-paged its latest anti-left polemic masquerading as a news article, the March 9 piece declared: Should former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. enter the race, as his top advisers vow he soon will, he would have the best immediate shot at the moderate mantle.
On the verge of relaunching, Biden is poised to come to the rescue of the corporate political establishment at a time when, in the words of the Times, the sharp left turn in the Democratic Party and the rise of progressive presidential candidates are unnerving moderate Democrats. After 36 years in the Senate and eight as vice president, Biden is by far the most seasoned servant of corporate power with a prayer of becoming the next president.
When Biden read this paragraph in a recent Politico article, his ears must have been burning: Early support from deep-pocketed financial executives could give Democrats seeking to break out of the pack an important fundraising boost. But any association with bankers also opens presidential hopefuls to sharp attacks from an ascendant left.
The direct prey of Bidens five-decade association with bankers include millions of current and former college students now struggling under avalanches of debt; they can thank Biden for his prodigious services to the lending industry. Andrew Cockburn identifies an array of victims in his devastating profile of Biden in the March issue of Harpers magazine. For instance:
Biden was long a willing foot soldier in the campaign to emasculate laws allowing debtors relief from loans they cannot repay. As far back as 1978, he helped negotiate a deal rolling back bankruptcy protections for graduates with federal student loans, and in 1984 worked to do the same for borrowers with loans for vocational schools.
Even when the ostensible objective lay elsewhere, such as drug-related crime, Biden did not forget his banker friends. Thus the 1990 Crime Control Act, with Biden as chief sponsor, further limited debtors ability to take advantage of bankruptcy protections.
Biden worked diligently to strengthen the hand of credit-card firms against consumers. At the same time, the credit card giant MBNA was Bidens largest contributor for much of his Senate career, while also employing his son Hunter as an executive and, later, as a well-remunerated consultant.
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/03/11/joe-biden-on-the-relaunch-pad/
EveHammond13
(2,855 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)He takes bashing Biden to a whole new level. I'm amazed that an essay like that is allowed on DU.
Edit: that's the same essay that appeared in the OP under a different headline! Sad.
DonViejo
(60,536 posts)Per the decision(s) and instruction(s) of the DU Admins, all articles/OPs regarding the Democratic Primaries for President and the candidates in those primaries, are to be posted in the Democratic Primaries Forum. Please post your article in that Forum. Thanks