- Joined
- Aug 4, 2019
- Messages
- 13,042
- Reaction score
- 8,463
- Location
- 'Murica
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Independent
What are Joe Biden's political positions?
- On healthcare:
- Biden was vice president during the crucial negotiations that produced the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
- Biden supports a healthcare plan that would build upon the ACA, including an expansion of the public option.
- The plan would also not allow pharmaceutical corporations to avoid negotiating with Medicare over drug prices.
- Consumers would be allowed to import drugs from other countries, which the Biden campaign says would promote fairness.
- He opposes Medicare for All, a proposal that would make the government the main health insurance provider for Americans. Its made him a frequent target from left-wing candidates like Bernie Sanders.
- During the July Democratic debate in Detroit, Biden contended Medicare for All would be too expensive and reiterated his call for building on Obamacare by providing a public option.
- He doubled down on his more healthcare moderate approach in the September Democratic debate and criticized Medicare for All being pushed by rivals such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "I think we should have a debate on health care. I think — I know that [Senator Warren] says she's for Bernie, well, I'm for Barack. I think it worked," Biden said.
- On immigration:
- Biden voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which built additional walls and barriers along the US-Mexico border.
- In January 2019, Biden said "We need border security but that's not the border security we need" in reference to the wall Trump demanded lawmakers give him the funds for to end the partial government shutdown.
- Biden was also vice president when former President Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which granted temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants taken to the United States as minors.
- Biden has rejected giving drivers' licenses to undocumented immigrants as recently as 2007.
- Biden defended the Obama administration's record on deportations when confronted about it during the September Democratic debate. "The president did the best thing that was able to be done," Biden said.
- On climate change:
- Biden supported the Paris climate accords, which the Trump administration abandoned in 2017. Biden has called the Paris accords "the best way to protect our children & global leadership."
- Unlike many of the far-left Democratic candidates, Biden has not endorsed the Green New Deal, which would usher in radical transformations of the US economy to reduce human impact on global climate change.
- Biden released a host of new climate change proposals, but came under criticism for having copied several passages from outside sources without attribution.
- Biden had an awkward moment during a CNN town hall in September when he was asked how he could be depended on to take on fossil fuel companies despite plans to attend a fundraiser hosted by the co-founder of a liquefied natural gas production company.
- "I was told by my staff he doesn't have any responsibility related to the company," Biden said in response to the question during the town hall. "If that turns out not to be true, then I will not, in any way, accept his help."
- On campaign finance:
- Biden has taken credit for advising Bernie Sanders not to accept donations from corporate PACs, but has not made any pledges himself for the 2020 race.
- He wrote in an op-ed for Politico magazine about the dangers of dark money groups from foreign donors into super PACs.
- "Campaign finance reform is certainly a necessary part of the solution, but so too is disclosure of beneficial ownership and greater transparency in real estate transactions," he wrote. "As matters of national security, these are issues that should be of interest to both Democrats and Republicans who want to reduce our vulnerability to foreign corrupt influence."
More issues here:
Who is Joe Biden? Bio, age, family, and key positions - Business Insider
It's like 90% of what Bernie wanted to do.