The Chattanooga area may have received a blueprint of what a potential Joe Biden presidential administration would look like Wednesday when a local democratic socialist group released a list of “demands” for city, county and business leaders.
The “demands” are wrapped in the package of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they are little different from some of the suggestions the former two-dozen-plus Democratic presidential candidates put forth before the nominating race wound down to the aging, lifetime politician who was vice president under President Barack Obama.
Biden, who was laughably touted as a moderate during the campaign but whose presidential campaign is more liberal than he ever was as a senator, will have to slide even further left in the general election to encourage those who favored Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, to vote.
But the Chattanooga chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America wants to get an early start.
Its demands include:
* That the city suspend evictions and rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis so no Chattanooga or Hamilton County resident would be permanently harmed by the financial ramifications of the stay-at-home orders for public safety.
The city and county governments, of course, have no say-so in private rent payments, and local business leaders have no sway with national lending institutions. However, local landlords – some of whom make their living from rental properties – are free to make their own decisions about renters during the crisis.
* That public utilities, including internet companies, extend their services to all Chattanooga and Hamilton County families regardless of their ability to pay to ensure public safety and continue public education.
In other words, not only would be power, water, gas, phone and internet services be free – who’s to say what one’s ability to pay is, after all – but these suddenly nonprofit utilities also would need to extend their services to anyone who wants them.
* That city and county governments release all who are jailed and house all who are homeless to prevent humanitarian disasters.
A COVID-19 outbreak in the county jail or Silverdale correctional facility would be devastating, to be sure, but violent offenders can’t be turned loose because of such a possibility. If an outbreak were to happen, those who were sickened would be isolated and additional steps would be taken for those with whom they had come in contact. As to housing the homeless, a plan to do so by Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke has been in the works for more than a year, but progress in doing so moves slowly because locations must be secured and individuals vetted. In addition, property for such housing cannot be seized from private owners, and homeless individuals who prefer to stay on the streets cannot be forced into a home.
* That all illegal immigrants, not just citizens, benefit from these demands and that city leaders declare Chattanooga a sanctuary city to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from local raids of illegal immigrants.
While many in the city have sympathy for the plight of some illegal immigrants, most also believe the law should be obeyed. Local organizations and individuals are free to support these individuals in any way they choose, but local governments should not be in the business of supporting those whose very presence in the area means they already have broken federal laws.
* That local and county elections be postponed and consolidated into the Nov. 3 national election and that the entire process be converted to mail-in balloting.
City and county leaders and local business officials have no say in state and federal election laws, so this suggestion is a complete non-starter. Even if it weren’t, the “demand” makes no provision for primary elections, thus disenfranchising entire groups of voters, nor suggests how the primaries might be consolidated in a general election. And it overlooks the fact a 2005 bipartisan commission that included former Democratic President Jimmy Carter declared that mail-in ballots are the form of voting most vulnerable to fraud.
* That sick leave, hazard pay and personal protective equipment (PPE) be given to all workers deemed essential in the city and county.
We hope governments and business leaders do help essential employees, wherever possible, with personal protective equipment. And governments may determine for themselves whether to grant hazard pay, but private businesses cannot be compelled to grant sick leave, hazard pay or PPE. In order to retain better and more loyal employees, they may find it expedient to do so, but that is correctly determined by what the market will bear.
Biden and other former Democratic candidates have talked about freeing people from jail, extending more rights to illegal immigrants, and allowing the government to pay for the likes of housing, health and utilities, so the local chapter’s “demands” are hardly out of line for them.
But while the chapter’s “demands” are not going anywhere locally, similar proposals – and worse – certainly would be among ideas considered by a potential Democratic administration.