The Democrats don't make an argument. The Republicans do. Republicans have tight money, balanced budgets, tax cuts
for the wealthy, and deregulation. It's not the policy we need, but at least it is economic policy.
The "silent majority" of
Nixon's time may not have complained, but they were not perfectly happy
with the economy. As time has gone by and the
economy has continued to get worse, more and more quiet, disinterested
people
became interested, adding their voices to the calls for solutions to our
economic problems. But we have seen solutions offered only on the
Republican side. The
Democrats offer nothing. Indeed, Democrats' issues are interpreted (at
least by
Republicans) as problems requiring cultural or moral rather than
economic solutions.
The Democrats offer nothing. They have nothing, so they offer nothing. The honesty is refreshing, but the lack of solutions is a problem. This came up the other day at the dinner table. I said the Dems only try to help people cope with problems, and never try to fix the problems. The wife offered Biden's plan to cancel student debt as a Democrat's economic fix. Crafty, the wife: she knows I always say debt-is-the-problem. She went for the jugular.
I think she's wrong. I don't think Biden wants to cancel debt out of concern over the harmful effects debt has on the economy. But you may say it doesn't matter: If canceling debt improves the economy then it improves the economy (you may say) and Biden's reason for canceling debt doesn't make a difference.
I don't buy that. If Biden understands that excessive private debt is the source of our economic troubles, then all of his efforts will come together around the concept, and the results will be far more economic improvement and far less debt. If I was Biden I would jump on this immediately, and fortnightly introduce a plan to reduce private sector debt as painlessly as possible in one area or another of the private sector. Then I'd sit back for a week to see how the opposition reacts, and then improve my plan. There are only 35 more fortnights before election day. Surely Biden's team can come up with 35 ways to reduce private-sector debt! That would be my whole campaign strategy, if I was him.
To find out why Biden
favors student debt relief, I went looking for White House remarks on the topic. Turned up a White House Fact Sheet with the title "President Biden Announces Student Loan Relief for Borrowers Who Need It Most". Biden's plan is to provide relief for those who need it most, to help people cope with the bad economy. His plan is not
to reduce debt to make a bad economy less bad. The Democrats have no
economic plan. Their plan is to help people cope, while things continue to get
worse.
The Fact Sheet says
The skyrocketing cumulative federal student loan debt—$1.6 trillion and rising for more than 45 million borrowers—is a significant burden on America’s middle class. Middle-class borrowers struggle with high monthly payments and ballooning balances that make it harder for them to build wealth...
They throw big numbers in there, but that is just a distraction. The numbers suggest either that we should feel really bad for a lot of people (and thus favor the Biden plan) or else be shocked by the potential cost of the Biden plan (and thus oppose it). Apparently, this is the Administration's idea of good argument.
The numbers distract us from the fact that they are
saying student loan debt "is a significant burden on America’s middle
class." The Fact Sheet doesn't say what it should say, that all of our debt is a significant burden on the economy:
Our economy under-performs because we have so much debt. Somebody has
to take a stand. Somebody has to say it. No one does. No
Republican, no Democrat. No one is saying student loan relief is the first step in a multi-faceted plan to reduce debt throughout the private sector, to reduce financial cost, to reduce the size and power of the financial sector, and to begin restoring the health and vigor of the US economy. No one is even thinking such a thing.
Again, the Fact Sheet:
Today, President Biden is announcing a three-part plan to provide more breathing room to America’s working families as they continue to recover from the strains associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This plan offers targeted debt relief as part of a comprehensive effort to address the burden of growing college costs and make the student loan system more manageable for working families.
In other words:
- The plan is "to provide more breathing room to America’s working families" -- not to solve problems, but to help people cope with the problems.
- The plan offers "debt relief ... to address the burden
of growing college costs" -- not to solve the problem of growing
college costs, but to help people cope with that problem, now that it is quite certainly a problem.
- The Fact Sheet ignores the fact that in a better economy, more jobs and better-paying jobs would be available, and people would be better able to pay down their own debts.
The Democrats don't even acknowledge the economic problem. They attribute the need for "breathing room" to the pandemic. But student loan debt was a problem long before the first fever of the pandemic, the first cough, the first achy muscle, the first fatigue, and the first pandemic-related death. Doesn't that count for something?
I say again:
That little piggy has none
