Profile picture
, 19 tweets, 5 min read
My Authors
Read all threads
1/So, I'm really liking what I'm seeing of Biden's plans so far.

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
2/His tax plan is solid.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
3/His housing plan is solid but narrow; it will need more parts for housing construction, homeownership, and so on.

vox.com/2020/7/9/21316…
4/I like his industrial policy plan too, though the "Buy American" part could be problematic.

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
5/And now Biden has come out with a big climate plan. And I really really like it!

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
6/The plan's centerpiece is a rapid transition to 100% clean electricity by 2035.

Biden will start out by spending $2 trillion over 4 years. That's a lot of money!
7/The first reason this is a good plan is that the technology is in the right place. Solar power has become insanely cheap, to the point where it can replace a substantial fraction of coal and gas immediately.

rameznaam.com/2020/05/14/sol…
8/To get 100% replacement, of course, you need storage technology. Storage isn't quite there yet. But the more energy storage we build, the more the technology improves! So Biden's plan will hopefully get us all the way there in 15 years.

rameznaam.com/2015/10/14/how…
9/Biden would also replace the entire U.S. auto fleet with electric, fuel-cell, or hybrid cars. This would probably take a decade. That's fast! And that's a big deal!

cleantechnica.com/2020/07/15/bid…
10/So all the technology is in place for a huge spending push.

The second reason Biden's plan is good is because it's focused on INVESTMENT.
11/With interest rates low, deficit spending isn't a problem right now. So we can easily afford to borrow to build the green energy future, right now.

Biden's plan focuses on temporary spending rather than permanent new entitlements that could lead to more structural deficits.
12/Because it would provide abundant cheap energy, Biden's plan would also partially (though of course not entirely) pay for itself, by stimulating economic activity. This also happened with the interstate highway system.
13/Finally, Biden's plan focuses on JOBS. He would create a Climate Conservation Corps, bringing back a key New Deal program (with the same acronym!).

With millions of Americans out of work, this CCC will help us get back on our feet quickly.
14/Biden's climate plan most closely resembles that of Washington governor Jay Inslee. It might not be called a "Green New Deal", but it's a green version of the original New Deal.

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
15/One question is whether this is enough to win over progressive voters, who care about climate change a lot.

Signs point to Yes.

nytimes.com/2020/07/08/ups…
16/And remember, Bernie is now working WITH Biden, helping to make his plans bigger, bolder, more transformational.

cnn.com/2020/07/08/pol…
17/Six months ago, no one thought this elderly centrist would be a bold transformational progressive leader -- a 21st century FDR.

But it's starting to look like against all odds, he might be able to pull it off.
18/Biden is basically combining the best parts of his primary rivals' campaigns -- the social justice focus of Harris/Castro, the economic progressivism of Sanders/Warren, and the climate activism of Inslee.

The Dems might be creating a Voltron FDR.
19/I wasn't optimistic about Biden as the person to revitalize and renew America, and I'm still cautious, but I'm getting a little more optimistic.

(end)

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Keep Current with "Rabbit = good friend" Smith 🐇

Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Noahpinion see all

Profile picture
"Rabbit = good friend" Smith 🐇
@Noahpinion
This is a twofer for Trump and the Right. They get to eviscerate funding for universities (which they view as engines of leftist indoctrination), while also keeping out large numbers of nonwhite people. Huge victory for the bad guys.
And even though we need to elect Biden, don't think that electing Biden will make things just snap back to the way they were.

This is a long-term thing.

Essentially, Trump and his movement are on the way out, and are smashing up the place on their way out. Doing a damn good job of it, too.
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
"Rabbit = good friend" Smith 🐇
@Noahpinion
In 2013 I wrote a blog post about how unequal social status in America is, and saying that we needed a way to redistribute respect.

In retrospect, I see elite/institutional wokeness as the movement that arose in answer to that social need.

noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/redist…
I think this is one reason that wokeness generates so much more revolutionary passion among young Americans than socialism does. Young Americans would *like* a wealth tax, but they're not willing to get their eyeballs popped by rubber bullets in order to get it.
My biggest complaint about American culture is the general lack of respect. Much of our culture centers around finding reasons to tell each other that we suck. Now, that toxic put-down culture is coming back to bite us in a big way.
Read 4 tweets
Profile picture
"Rabbit = good friend" Smith 🐇
@Noahpinion
This is a deeply flawed op-ed, and repeats some of the erroneous arguments I addressed in this earlier column:
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Briefly:

1. The lower the poverty threshold, the more important it is. Reducing $1.90/day poverty is more important than reducing $3.10/day poverty, which is more important than reducing $5.50/day poverty, etc. etc.

Dismissing the $1.90 threshold is therefore ridiculous...
2. The article's author dismisses the idea that growth reduces poverty. Growth reduces poverty far more than anything else.
Read 6 tweets

Embed code for your website

×
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!