Adam Smith, Israel/Occupied Palestine, 11.04.2022
The US Midterm election will take place shortly. Some of the keys issues are going to be the state of the economy, abortion, immigration and the far-right threats. Other issues are related to LGBT rights in schools, climate change, gun violence and crime. Both parties are the parties of capital, albeit with the Democrats being slightly to the left of the Republicans. We can see this, for example, in the virtually unanimous support for sanctions on China. [1] In short, we call to abstain from voting for either one of them. Let us briefly go over the record of the Democrats on some of the issues to see why they are a “fig-leaf” of capitalism.
On abortion: Perhaps the loudest issue of the Democrats, the fact is that they have failed to block Trump’s nominations to the supreme court, which paved the way to this decision, as well as Joe Biden Catholic background, as he tries to avoid saying the word abortion. “In the 1980s, Biden voted for a constitutional amendment that would have allowed states to overturn Roe v. Wade. As he campaigned for President in 2019, Biden dropped his decades-long support for the Hyde Amendment, the 1970s law blocking federal funds from subsidizing abortions.” [2] Also, abortion is not the only issue facing women today – it is also inflation, gun violence and many other issues which Biden has failed to deal with.
Another example of the Democrats reactionary positions is their tough on crime attitude, with Joe Biden passing the law known as the “Crack-Cocaine Law” which basically says the punishment for crack(read: black) users should be much harsher than cocaine(read: white) users, despite the fact that cocaine is obviously more dangerous.
As for the economy, the Fed has continued the policy of giving money to banks in order to try to stimulate the economy(quantitative easing), and inflation is still increasing rapidly, especially in housing costs, which make up the bulk of household spending.
On immigration, although some of the more extreme Trump era policies have been rolled back like Title 42, The “Remain in Mexico” policy remains. [3] As well as support for credits to build the wall, border barrier, increase surveillance through electronic means, and continue the deportations.
With regard to the threats from the far right, especially around election results legitimacy, Democrats have done symbolic action, and have not mobilized the masses to stop the fascists and far-right. Biden’s “Green Capitalism” deal is great for “Green” Corporations, but is not on track to stop climate change.
As one can see, at best, Democrats have done nothing to stop the Republicans, and at worst have joined the Republican stance on many issues(immigration, sanctions on China, etc). This is because the Democratic Party is the party of capital, and provides a “left wing” cover for it. This is why we call on workers to support neither the Democratic not the Republican Party.
Neither Democratic nor Republican Party!
For an Open Doors immigration policy – no borders!
Defend right to abortion! For a green socialist plan to tackle climate change!
Endnotes:
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/31/tech/us-sanctions-chips-china-xi-tech-ambitions-intl-hnk/index.html
[2] https://time.com/6176375/bidens-abortion-catholic-democrats/
[3] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/6/as-title-42-winds-down-aid-groups-prepare-for-shift-at-us-border