A few days ago, I wrote about Promises to the People, a platform for Democrats to run on in November. It came from an Yglesias column. In his mailbag, a reader asked for his ten planks. It's not terrible:
A national ban on gerrymandering.
Age limits for members of Congress.
Medicare negotiation of prescription drug prices.
An “all of the above” strategy for national energy dominance.
A federal cap on credit card interest rates.
Free school lunch for everyone.
A federal abortion rights floor; no first trimester bans, there must be meaningful health/life of the mother protections for after that.
A federal crackdown on interstate gun smuggling.
Something like Val Demings’ national initiative to solve more murders.
Enact meaningful barriers to underage kids’ ability to access internet porn — if porn sites cannot logistically come up with a way to do age real verification then they going to be shut down.
The better parts here are the age limits as opposed to term limits. I think that's a reform that's long overdue. The framers of the Constitution put a minimum age for federal office, because they valued maturity, but they also didn't really think people would live much over 70, because they didn't. Point 4 is something I agree with Yglesias on, which really becomes important after the West Virginia ruling by the Supreme Court. If the EPA can't regulate greenhouse gasses, then simply replace fossil fuels with more and more renewables and nuclear. That can be done via reconciliation.
Number 5 is...interesting. Kind of left field, but maybe it could be combined with some form of reform of interest in student debt. It would also be interesting to combine student debt relief with community service work. Number 6 is a good way to address childhood poverty in a non-stigmatizing way that is not inflationary. Number 10 is...ok, good idea, but maybe combine that with something about monopolistic tech platforms. I remain convinced that Facebook and Twitter's algorithms are one reason we are disintegrating as a body politic. Outrage drives clicks.
His plan doesn't address the filibuster, which is the main impediment for much of the rest of this agenda. The ban on gerrymandering - as opposed to a broader national voting rights law - has the advantage of focus, but it might not be equal to the moment. The GOP seems intent on destroying democratic accountability and stronger laws are needed than simply ending the filibuster.
The gun trafficking plank also seem unequal to the task, but combined with the murder plank, I suppose it's "popular." Medicare prescription drug negotiation is a good one, but I'm not 100% sure that moves votes. Democrats are largely trusted more on health care issues, so I suppose that helps shape the terrain in Democrats favor some.
All of this is somewhat moot, as platforms and policy don't move many votes. Narratives do, and more protection of women and voting rights is a good narrative for the moment. Some elements to help those who are struggling is, too, but inflation is a global phenomenon.
It's a start, though. The 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections were distressingly "issue free" as the main "issue" was Trump. That might still be true in 2022 to an extent, but crafting a policy agenda - when the GOP offers nothing - could be helpful.
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