Friday’s Democrat debate stage held contestants ready to solve yesterday’s problems.  A time-capsule of topics – reminding voters that Democrats haven’t accomplished much in the last 50 years. Childhood poverty, race relations, and healthcare — Debate 2020 highlights decades of Democrat failures. 

Campaigning on Yesterday’s Problems

For decades the Democrats have been vowing to solve childhood poverty, race relations, and healthcare. In 2020, they are still vowing to fix the problems.

Bernie Sanders said,

…we are going to create millions of jobs for low-income kids so they’re not hanging out on street corners ….We’re going to make sure that those kids stay in school or are able get a college education. So I think that when you give low-income kids, African-American, white, Latino kids, the opportunities to get their lives together, they are not going to end up in jail. They’re going to end up in the productive economy, which is where we want them.”

The above quote was from a 2016 primary debate. Four years ago!! What has he done between presidential primaries to fix these problems? According to his official senate website – nothing. He has not authored a single bill addressing this issue.

Then again, his ineptitude enacting legislation for what sounds suspiciously close to Communist “worker camps” for children is probably a good thing.

It’s Bad to Be Brown in Mayor Pete’s Town

Frontrunner Mayor Pete took a beating from moderator Linsey Davis. She asked,

Mayor Buttigieg, under your leadership as mayor, a black resident in South Bend, Indiana was four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white resident … And that disparity increased in South Bend after you took office. When talking about the problem in national terms, you’ve called it ‘evidence of systemic racism.’ But you were mayor for eight years, so weren’t you, in effect, the head of the system. and how do you explain that increase in black arrests under your leadership?” 

Mayor Pete’s non-answer took the prize for “most words used to impart least amount of information.”

That’s one of the reasons why I am calling for us as a country to take up reforms that end incarceration as a response to possession … And when we do it, do it retroactively with expungements to correct the harm done in so many cases of incarceration disproportionately of black and brown Americans where the incarceration did far more harm than the offense it was intended to deal with.”

Pete, Pete, Pete… the appropriate response when confronted with your “obviously racist” history as mayor is not words. It’s self-flagellation and a vow to hire a “racial equity” coach to eradicate every trace of your white-privilege. You may want to reconsider your answer. When “Lies When Lips Move” Liz calls you out on your non-answer, you got problems. This one ain’t going away. And frankly, you had eight years to implement your plan to expunge the records of Black and Brown Americans, why didn’t you do it then?

Give Us Your Healthcare! Again.

If there is one thing I can’t wrap my head around, it’s the Democrats desire to “fix healthcare!”, and my shock that people believe them. Didn’t they address this issue by pushing through the Affordable Healthcare Act? The bill famously known for coining Pelosi’s  “…we have to pass the [health care] bill so that you can find out what’s in it….”

The cornerstone on the Obama legacy path is broken? Democrats finally accomplish something they promise for decades, and it sucks so badly that they need a re-do. One that effectively kills the competition. The Democrats Iowa kerfuffle is looking more like a feature and not a bug.

When asked the following question by the Kaiser Family Foundation, “As you may know, a health reform bill was signed into law in 2010. Given what you know about the health reform law, do you have a generally favorable or generally unfavorable opinion of it?”, 53% of adults responded in the affirmative. Numbers further break out by race, age, and income.

While 53% isn’t a high number, it’s good enough for government work. So why are the Democrats entertaining the idea of Medicare for All? Is it because despite being the cornerstone of his legacy, Obama’s name isn’t enough to keep people happy with a key piece of Democrat legislation? 2019 enrollment is down by 10%. Reuters reports that,

decrease was due to increased employment, which typically means more people had employer-based health insurance, and that about 100,000 people with Obamacare insurance in Virginia became eligible for the expanded Medicaid program there.”

Let’s get this straight. People get jobs, and opt to exit the Obamacare plan. Is it related to the poll showing that 71% of Americans rate their private coverage as “excellent” or “good”?

Political Promises Made… Are Best Forgotten After the Election

If you are interested in tracking election trends and topics: 270towin has wonderful interactive maps tracking the top issues for every major presidential election since 1789. If you open every election, I bet there will be a Democrat platform addressing the problems they are still vowing to solve in 2020.

Thanks Sarah Hoyt, and welcome to our Instapundit readers!

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