by With just a month to go until the Democratic Convention, the joint task forces of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders supporters released a 110-page document outlining policy recommendations for the presidential election campaign and beyond.
The statement was submitted to the Democratic National Committee’s Platform Committee and will be reviewed by Biden before the nominating convention.
The task force recommendations do not include the disruptive policy changes Sanders had called for during his campaign during the primaries which had made him a beloved candidate among the more radical Democratic voters. Those voters will be disappointed to see that single-payer health care, a “Green New Deal”, radical environmental policy changes, and dissolving the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency are not mentioned in the document.
The recommendations more closely resemble Biden’s priorities as he declared them during the primaries, such as enlarging the Affordable Care Act, reaching ambitious goals for environmental issues like completely eliminating carbon emissions from power plants and reaching net-zero greenhouse gas benchmarks for new construction.
Criminal justice reform is also included, especially addressing issues that have come up after the death of George Floyd.
Biden and Sanders established their six unity task forces in May, about one month after Sanders left the race and endorsed Biden for president. The six task forces include developing policies on climate change, criminal justice reform, the economy, education, health care, and immigration. The groups included members and co-chairs who were picked by both men.
The joint task force on climate change was notably co-chaired by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) who is a rising star in the left-leaning side of the Democratic party.
Biden thanked the members of the task forces:
“I commend the task forces for their service and helping build a bold, transformative platform for our party and for our country. And I am deeply grateful to Senator Sanders for working together to unite our party, and deliver real, lasting change for generations to come.”
Sanders added his own message:
“Though the end result is not what I or my supporters would have written alone, the task forces have created a good policy blueprint that will move this country in a much-needed progressive direction and substantially improve the lives of working families throughout our country,” he said in a statement.
