America's One Party

It's sad, but it's true: Bernie Sanders folded in the fight for a raise of the minimum wage to 15 dollar per hour. And it's not just Bernie, it's the entire left wing of the Democratic Party that let down the American workers they're supposed to represent and fight for.

I've been one of the many critics on the political left of the Trump administration and the Republican party. One of the biggest complains from me an others was how thoroughly and completely the GOP fell in line behind Trump, even after they said that Trump isn't a real traditional conservative, that he would divide and maybe even destroy the party. We all know what happened in reality though; the Republican party literally became Trump's party, and even now, after he lost the election, it still is. But the Democrats aren't much better. Sure, they've proven with the 1.9 trillion dollar relieve bill that they are willing to do something for Americans who are suffering under the socioeconomic crisis brought about by the global pandemic, and yes, they're not as blatantly anti-working class as the GOP. But with that 1.9 trillion dollar bill they've also proven that they're ultimately just the other side of the same coin.

The most popular provisions in the original draft of the relieve bill were the 2000 dollar direct payment checks, and the raising of the minimum wage to 15 dollars per hour. Both didn't make into the bill that passed though. What makes this so hard to swallow is the fact that it wasn't the Republicans who prevented these highly popular provisions to pass, it was the Democrats themselves. When it comes to making the changes that are necessary to make life better for America's poor and working poor, the Democrats suddenly forget how to fight, how to use the political power given to them by the people who they promised the 2000 dollar checks and the 15 dollar minimum wage. The news reporting on the liberal mainstream media was that the progressive wing in the Democratic Party would "fall in line" behind the demands of the establishment party-members like Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Manchin, after Bernie Sanders defended the final draft of the bill. Well, thanks a lot Bernie...

There was also a 400 dollar weekly unemployment check in the original draft that was cut down, as demanded by Joe Manchin, to 300 dollar. The 2000 dollar check was lowered to 1400 dollar with the feeble excuse that 600 dollar was already paid with an earlier check. But the real story of how the Democratic party as a whole fails, including its so called progressive wing, is the so called fight over the 15 dollar minimum wage. To begin with, it wasn't the progressives who promised this; it was Joe Biden himself, who in several interviews claimed that "no one should work 40 hours a week and live below the poverty wage," and "if you're making less than 15 dollar an hour, you're living below the poverty wage." Biden himself proposed lifting the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 as part of his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. But when the Senate Parlementarian, a person and position no one has ever heard about and holds no real political power, said no to that proposal, suddenly he claims that "his hands are tied on a $15 minimum wage."

That's not true, and the progressive wing knows that it's not true, so 23 of them sign a letter to Biden: 23 progressive Democrats including AOC urge Biden to overrule top Senate official and keep a $15 minimum wage in the stimulus package. It was Ro Khanna who wrote that letter and it was signed by prominent Democrat progressives. But... When Ro Khanna was interviewed only days after, he said that he would sign the bill, even if the $15 minimum wage wasn't included... That's so weak. Like it's said in the below linked video, this is a "must-pass-bill", and if the house-progressives acted as a united front, they could have forced Biden and the VP to negotiate with the naysayers... This is so disappointing and frustrating. It's just another piece of evidence that politics is indeed a charade; both parties fall in line behind their figurehead of choice and let them sell the party line of America's only party, a right wing corporate party with two wings, one called Republicans and the other called Democrats...

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