They’re All Socialists Now

Biden’s $3.5 trillion budget was written by a socialist—and it shows

Washington Free Beacon Editors • August 11, 2021 4:10 pm

The budget revealed by Senate Democrats on Monday raises the basic question of who, exactly, they believe won the presidency last November.

For nearly two years, Joe Biden enjoyed fawning coverage from the press about how his campaign represented a return to normalcy and moderation. The New York Times described him as a “lifelong centrist” as recently as April. Imagine our confusion when we saw the White House entrust self-described socialist Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) with formulating a $3.5 trillion spending plan, the largest in U.S. history.

A number of the budget’s provisions, such as earmarked funds for a “Civilian Climate Corps,” match legislation introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.). A bulk of the spending revolves around various green initiatives, including something called “climate equity,” meant to meet President Biden’s lofty “climate change goal” of cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030.

That sounds a lot like a Green New Deal, a policy Joe Biden disavowed several times on the campaign trail. And Democrats are not trying to hide the fact—Sen. Ed Markey (Mass.) said on Tuesday that “the Green New Deal is in the DNA” of the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending plan.

Markey could have accurately stated that most of the Bernie Sanders campaign platform is in the budget’s DNA. Whether it’s lowering the Medicare eligibility age, offering universal Pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds, or providing widespread “debt relief,” it’s hard to see how things would be dramatically different if Sanders occupied the Oval Office himself. Sanders, who pitched socialism on the campaign trail as an extension of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s legacy, has said that the Democratic budget “will be the most consequential piece of legislation” since the New Deal. We hear Biden thinks of himself as a new FDR, too.

The budget proposal, which also includes mass amnesty for illegal immigrants, has the full support of Democratic leadership. It is supported by both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.). NPR described it as “a blueprint of President Joe Biden’s top domestic policy ambitions.”

A number of House Democrats panicked about the party’s performance in 2020, which they blamed on the embrace of socialism.

“Don’t say socialism ever again,” warned Democratic congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (Va.) after the party suffered losses in 2020. Spanberger predicted that House Democrats would “get f–king torn apart” in 2022 if they didn’t change course. Biden and Democratic leadership responded by putting socialist Bernie Sanders behind the wheel on government spending.

Maybe they’re gluttons for punishment.