“No one’s standard of living would change.”
By Eoin Higgins
Common Dreams (6/19/19)
Don’t worry, billionaires: your standard of living won’t change under a Joe Biden administration.
That’s the message the Democratic frontrunner delivered to donors Tuesday as he continued a fundraising trip in New York that saw him on Monday tell a room of wealthy Wall Streeters “you guys are great” and ask a Trump-loving supermarket magnate for support.
In Biden’s comments Tuesday, the former vice president told a room of 100 of the New York financial elite, including bankers Robert Rubin and Roger Altman, both of whom worked in the Treasury Department under Democratic administrations, that he wasn’t their enemy. According to Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Epstein, Biden took pains to separate himself from the rest of the field in his comments.
All good pals
“Remember, I got in trouble with some of the people on my team, on the Democratic side, because I said, you know, what I’ve found is rich people are just as patriotic as poor people,” said Biden. “Not a joke. I mean, we may not want to demonize anybody who’s made money.”
But, said Biden, their taxes might have to be raised a little to achieve some of his legislative goals—though he assured the members of the 1 percent in attendance at the Upper East Side Carlyle Hotel that under his plan, the increase wouldn’t even be noticeable.
“The truth of the matter is, you all, you all know, you all know in your gut what has to be done,” said Biden. “We can disagree in the margins but the truth of the matter is it’s all within our wheelhouse and nobody has to be punished.”
“No one’s standard of living will change,” said Biden. “Nothing would fundamentally change.”
A number of observers on Twitter seized on that message as emblematic of Biden’s campaign strategy in general.
“Biden 2020: ‘Nothing would fundamentally change,'” said financial reform advocate Alexis Goldstein.
Biden’s phrasing “might be the most honest thing he’s said since he defended segregated schools,” writer Nathan Bernhardt tweeted.
Lawyer Matthew Cortland agreed.
“When someone tells you who they are,” said Cortland, “believe them.”
- Crime Report: Analysis Shows Top 1% Gained $21 Trillion In Wealth Since 1989 While Bottom 50% Of Us Lost $900 Billion — “The top one percent owns nearly $30 trillion of assets while the bottom half owns less than nothing.” Adding to the mountain of statistical evidence showing the severity of U.S. inequality, an analysis published Friday found that the top one percent of Americans gained $21 trillion in wealth since 1989 while the bottom 50 percent lost $900 billion. Matt Bruenig, founder of the left-wing think tank People’s Policy Project, broke down the Federal Reserve’s newly released “Distributive Financial Accounts” data series and found that, overall, “the top one percent owns nearly $30 trillion of assets while the bottom half owns less than nothing, meaning they have more debts than they have assets.” The growth of wealth inequality over the past 30 years, Bruenig found, is “eye-popping.” … Read the Rest