The Democratic Platform Feels the Bern

[portlander23]

The Democratic Platform Feels the Bern
Sarah Anderson
US News

On the subject of Wall Street reform, the draft platform released by the Democratic Party reads much more like a Bernie Sanders stadium speech than a Hillary Clinton policy memo. "Democrats will fight against the greed and recklessness of Wall Street," they pledge.

The platform draft shows Democrats are willing to bite the hand that feeds them – or at least to say they will. The difference is particularly stark if you compare the Wall Street language in the current draft to the 2012 platform. Back then, the Dems did little more than pat themselves on the back for having passed the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation.

Declaring that "no bank can be too big to fail," they vow to push through a 21st century version of the Glass-Steagall Act. This Depression-era law separated investment and commercial banking activities so that banks couldn't use depositors' savings to gamble in the financial casino. The Bill Clinton administration repealed this protection in 1999.

The draft also expresses support for "a financial transactions tax on Wall Street to curb excessive speculation and high-frequency trading, which has threatened financial markets." This innovative idea was absent from the 2012 platform, and in fact Obama Treasury officials have sided with the industry in opposing it.

[840high]

1. Kick with love for Bernie

[MaggieD]

2. Well that's a bullshit opinion piece

Get a Bernie supporter to write a piece implying Clinton hasn't ALWAYS been on board with those issues and policy positions? When does this bullshit end?

[BobbyDrake]

4. And our party was progressive long before Sanders woke from his 26 year nap.

I'm tired of the whole "I'm the savior" routine.

[pandr32]

7. Got that right!

Not to mention Hillary Clinton has already accomplished so much. Not just talk.

[MaggieD]

8. It is beyond offensive at this point

Especially coming from a guy who has no real progressive achievements.

[Qutzupalotl]

12. Does Clinton support the transaction tax on Wall Street?

[JTFrog]

13. Yes.

All three Democratic presidential hopefuls, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, and Bernie Sanders, proposed financial transactions taxes.

[tonyt53]

3. I like that these things have been added, but a platform is nothing but a policy statement.

Nothing is set in stone and everything HAS to go through Congress to get implemented. That in itself dooms much of it.

[arcane1]

5. Hillary is "A progressive who gets things done" so she'll get it through Congress easily n/t

[NCTraveler]

6. "Democrats will fight against the greed and recklessness of Wall Street"

Clinton has said that on the trail and even gone beyond where Sanders was willing to. Very odd opinion piece that attaches both Sanders and Clintons language to Sanders only. Hmmm.

[Lord Magus]

14. It seems that the writer was bitter at the primary outcome & wanted to make this a Bernie "win"

Even though that required manufacturing a nonexistent dispute between Bernie and Hillary on this issue for him to have "won."

[MineralMan]

9. It is the Democratic Party platform, not the Bernie Sanders platform.

That is what too many people are not understanding. Unless we work together toward November, it will be a useless document that leads to nothing.

The Democratic Party has a platform. It is the product of Democrats, not just of one candidate.

[lapucelle]

10. Any shift should be attributed to Democrats who listened to Democrats.

The credit grab is frankly disgusting.

[Qutzupalotl]

11. The financial transaction tax on Wall Street is BRILLIANT.

Not for the revenue, but because high-frequency trading employed by the biggest firms tilts the playing field in their favor, at the expense of the small investor. These firms can manipulate stock prices many times a second before placing their "real" orders. Taxing each transaction will bring this practice to a halt. The amount of taxation is very small, so honest trades are not hurt much.

Ideally, funds from this tax should go into a designated Wall Street bailout fund so taxpayers aren't on the hook again. The only thing I didn't like about Bernie's proposal is that he was spending the revenue collected from Wall Street on an unrelated thing: public college tuition.

Implementing the tax will diminish the revenue raised because behavior will change (trades will slow down and volume will decrease). As the behavior changes, the need for a bailout fund will hopefully also diminish.

Better to have this revenue go into a bailout fund rather than to leave college students in the lurch.