On Thursday, Jacobin editor-at-large David Sirota published a piece in the magazine explaining a recent quote from a Joe Biden aide that he claims suggests the Democratic presidential nominee will not follow through on the promises he is making on the campaign trail. Sirota cites a $3.5 trillion economic plan proposed Biden's campaign that would make several investments, including in clean energy. However, former Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Biden's transition team's leader, was quoted as saying that "all the deficits that [President Trump] built with the incredible tax cuts" would limit them as to what they could propose. As Sirota goes on to explain:
"Economist Dean Baker goes over exactly how destructive and insane this ideology is. As he says: 'The idea that we would not address pressing needs, like climate change, child care, and health care because we are concerned about the debt burden is close to crazy. As long as the economy is not near its capacity, there is zero reason not to spend to address these priorities.'"
Despite Baker's objections to the idea that Kaufman is pushing, Sirota believes that the former senator's quote means that Biden would not follow through on his economic plan if elected. Additionally, despite signing the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge last year, some of Biden's campaign donations either contradict or potentially skirt around that pledge.
Several large individual contributions to Biden this election cycle have come from the oil and gas industry, as well as those associated with it. His top donor from ExxonMobil is senior advisor Steven Mann, who has contributed $2,800 to the former vice president. He has also taken $5,600 from ConocoPhillips COO Matt Fox. In addition, James Delaplane and John Galloway, executives for the Vanguard Group, ExxonMobil's top shareholder, have each contributed $2,800. Other top shareholders of ExxonMobil are BlackRock and State Street Corporation. Biden has taken $5,600 from BlackRock vice president Paras Bhayani, as well as money from other executives within the company, including $5,000 from Daniel MacEachron and $2,800 from Thomas Donilon. From State Street, he has accepted $2,800 from executive Jane Mancini Puliafico, $1,000 from chief risk officer Andrew Kuritzkes, and $1,000 from assistant vice president Adrienne Zak.
Also, the largest individual donation to Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC, has come from billionaire hedge fund manager Jim Simons, who contributed $3 million in March of this year. Simons has a history in owning stakes in fossil fuel companies, such as Magellan Midstream, Marathon Petroleum, and Pembina Pipeline.
Sirota's claims that Kaufman's quote is a sign that Biden will not follow through with his promises are not entirely unfounded; he references an instance from "less than a month ago [when] Biden explicitly promised his Wall Street donors that despite his public campaign promises, he will not be pushing new legislation to change corporate behavior."
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