Joe Biden is new to being president of the United States, but some on the political Left in Massachusetts are already expressing skepticism about him.
Members of the Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party don’t trust the 78-year-old Democrat and 46th president in the country’s history just yet. Many of those affiliated with the party, which is to the left of the mainstream of the Democratic Party, didn’t vote for Biden. Instead, they voted for Howie Hawkins, their party’s presidential candidate in the state — and the Green Party’s nominee nationally.
With Biden set to take office, the Green-Rainbow Party put out a wish list of what party officials want to see Biden do as president in an email message to their supporters:
An immediate economic relief bill to restore economic security to working people and the oppressed without wasting billions on corporate welfare.
A REAL Green New Deal that would employ millions of good-paying jobs in building a safe and clean energy system to replace our dirty fossil-fuel infrastructure.
Urgent action by the Federal Government to provide universal free healthcare for all who reside in the US, regardless of immigration status.
Immediate and effective action to eliminate racial disparities in America and end police brutality.
The closing of the hundreds of U.S. military bases all over the world and major cuts to our overblown war budget so our tax dollars can be used to provide for our unmet needs here at home.
The cancellation of all student debt, medical debt, and back rent owed by pandemic-affected renters.
Party leadership has indicated that they will give Biden a chance, but they are going into it with a short leash. They don’t love his political track record, after all.
“The incoming Biden administration has already shown us through its cabinet picks that it intends to continue the same destructive policies that gave rise to Trump and will not relieve the suffering of the people of the US or the victims of US foreign policy,” Green-Rainbow Party co-chair Lois Gagnon said in a quote within the same email message to supporters. “Nor will it enact the bold policies needed to deal with the climate emergency as long as dirty energy companies fund political campaigns and are allowed to influence energy policy. Life on Earth can not afford a honeymoon for Biden.”
Biden has previously stated that he opposes the Green New Deal, a concept that the Green-Rainbow Party supports.
Green-Rainbow Party secretary John Andrews said, in a quote in that same email message, that while the party is glad that former President Donald Trump is finally out of office, he doesn’t expect much from Biden, either.
“We are relieved to see President Trump leave office since he is one of the most incompetent and corrupt presidents in our history,” Andrews said. “However, we must now join with many other progressive organizations and individuals to say that there must be no honeymoon for Biden. Biden’s history stands in opposition to core principles of progressive values.”
“He and his party support an overblown military budget, denial of ballot access to undermine democracy, corrupting levels of private money in elections, avoidance of effective action against climate change, and continuation of a failing profit-driven health care system,” he added. “Our party is speaking up for new priorities that truly promote People, Planet, and Peace. The needs are urgent and we cannot afford to slide further behind as we watch President Biden lead us backward.”
