Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made head-scratching remarks during a CBS Miami interview on Monday night, suggesting that the United States needed more “economic intercourse around the world.”
“I would get much more engaged in the world, we can’t step back,” Biden said. “If in fact, for example, we solve the problem in the United States of America and you don’t solve it in other parts of the world, you know what’s going to happen?”
“You’re going to have travel bans, you’re going to not be able to do, have economic intercourse around the world,” Biden continued.
WATCH:
.@JoeBiden: What we need is more “economic intercourse” pic.twitter.com/zLa8hqspC0
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 28, 2020
The Daily Wire highlighted some of Biden’s leftist policy views in a profile piece last year:
On The Issues: Although Biden now presents himself as a moderate, centrist figure, the totality of his political career, overall, suggests that he is a firm leftist. Biden has dabbled at times in moderation, including previous support for tough-on-crime legislation and his longstanding stance that he is “personally pro-life” despite his support of legalized abortion. However, he has long been a progressive on legal issues, economic issues, and foreign policy issues, and even preempted President Obama’s “evolution” when, in 2012, he confirmed that he was “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriage.
Constitution: As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1987–1995, Biden oversaw two of the most contentious U.S. Supreme Court nominations in recent memory: Those of Reagan nominee Robert Bork and Bush nominee Clarence Thomas. Along with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Biden helped orchestrate and lead the personally nasty, full-frontal assault that ultimately resulted in the Bork nomination’s failure. Biden’s legislative posture has indicated an expansive view of congressional regulatory power: He helped lead the passing of the Violence Against Women Act, which was partially invalidated on constitutional grounds by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000.
Economy: Biden is best described as a Keynesian who believes in the purported economic benefits of large-scale government investments and deficit spending. Along with then-President Obama, Biden shepherded through a massive fiscal stimulus package in the duo’s first year in office, oversaw the passing of the regulation-heavy Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, dramatically expanded the national debt, and hiked income taxes on the wealthy. Biden has long been supportive of a greater federal role in infrastructure spending. On the issue of trade, Biden voted for NAFTA in 1993. Biden has opposed the privatization of Social Security.
Health Care: Along with Obama, Biden helped oversee the 2010 passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare. Obamacare radically reshaped the individual market for health insurance, infamously included a tax/mandate to purchase health insurance, and generally dramatically expanded the role of government in the regulation and provision of health care. There is likely no Obama/Biden agenda item that conservatives have more consistently opposed than Obamacare. Biden has never indicated any willingness to structurally reform fiscally ruinous health care-related entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. As part of his 2020 presidential nomination platform, Biden has claimed opposition to “Medicare for All.”
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