6 big recommendations from the Biden-Sanders unity task force
The Biden-Sanders Unity Task force, a team of supporters of former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) campaigns, issued recommendations for the Democratic Party platform in a 110-page document Wednesday. Here are six of their most notable recommendations on the topics of climate change, criminal justice reform, the economy, education, health care, and immigration.
1. Carbon-free electricity generation by 2035. The climate change committee led by former Secretary of State John Kerry and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) recommends "Democrats commit to eliminating carbon pollution from power plants by 2035."
2. Decriminalizing marijuana. The criminal justice task force stops short of recommending federal legalization of recreational marijuana, but leaves that decision up to individual states. "All past criminal convictions for cannabis use should be automatically expunged," the committee continues.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
3. Black unemployment and homeownership. The economy committee, headed by potential Biden running mate Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), recommends a broad re-evaluation of how slavery and Jim Crow segregation "continues to impact the economic prospects of Black Americans today." That includes a focus on the "extreme gap in household wealth" between white people and people of color.
4. Student loan relief. Democrats would pause payments and interest accrual on federal student loans when a person is making less than $25,000 a year. "After 20 years, remaining federal student loan debt should be automatically forgiven," the education committee recommends.
5. A COVID-19 health insurance plan. "A platinum-level, federally administered health insurance option with low fees and no deductibles" should be available on the marketplace until the pandemic ends and unemployment significantly falls, the health care committee said.
6. Protect TPS and DED immigrants from deportation. "Law-abiding" recipients of Temporary Protective Status and Deferred Enforced Departure — programs President Trump has sought to shrink — should not be "sent back to countries where they cannot live safely," the immigration committee suggests.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Is a Reform-Tory pact becoming more likely?Today’s Big Question Nigel Farage’s party is ahead in the polls but still falls well short of a Commons majority, while Conservatives are still losing MPs to Reform
-
West Africa’s ‘coup cascade’The Explainer Guinea-Bissau takeover is the latest in the Sahel region, which has quietly become global epicentre of terrorism
-
Daddy Pig: an unlikely flashpoint in the gender warsTalking Point David Gandy calls out Peppa Pig’s dad as an example of how TV portrays men as ‘useless’ fools
-
Canada joins EU’s $170B SAFE defense fundspeed read This makes it the first non-European Union country in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative
-
Appeals court disqualifies US Attorney Alina HabbaSpeed Read The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump has been unlawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey, the ruling says
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crimeSpeed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
