How are Democrats Doing in Advancing Their Agenda?

Contributed by Alexis Chapman

An assessment of the Republican agenda was the subject of our recent Commentary. Because the Democrats control only the House, evaluating their effectiveness is challenging. While introducing legislation is essential, doing so with no Republican support accomplishes little. Nonetheless, let’s take a brief look at what has worked and what hasn’t.

The 2016 Democratic Platform has 13 sections focused on inclusivity, equality, and making things better. The last paragraph captures the overall tone: “Despite what some say, America is and has always been great—but not because it has been perfect. What makes America great is our unerring belief that we can make it better. We can and we will build a more just economy, a more equal society, and a more perfect union—because we are stronger together.”

Raise Incomes and Restore Economic Security for the Middle Class

Increasing the minimum wage is central to this goal and the House passed a bill to increase the Federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15. The Senate, however, has not responded. Protecting workers’ rights and improved parental leave are also here, and Democrats have made attempts at both. Their success in expanding parental leave for federal workers in the latest Defense bill was a significant victory.

Create Good-Paying Jobs

Job creation through infrastructure investments is here and is an area of agreement between the parties. A plan was agreed on last spring but has stalled over how to finance it. Other Democratic job creation bills have been introduced but without effect.

Fight for Economic Fairness and Against Inequality

Reducing income inequality, fixing financial systems, tax reform, and fair trade are in this section. Democrats have introduced legislation on some fronts, but nothing that has had bipartisan support. In contrast, Democrats were successful in strengthening the fair labor provisions of the new compromise on the USMCA.

Bring Americans Together and Remove Barriers to Opportunities

Women’s rights, racism, LGBT rights, immigration, rights for disabled Americans, and prison reform are all part of this section. Democrats have won some and lost some here; gay marriage remains intact but Democrats failed to stop the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military. The House passed a bill to give DREAMers a path to citizenship, but immigration reform generally has stalled. A compromise that has received almost universal approval, however, was the recent bi-partisan criminal justice reform legislation.

Protect Voting Rights, Fix Our Campaign Finance System, and Restore Our Democracy

A bill to address gerrymandering, campaign financing by businesses, and making voting easier passed the House last spring, but will not be heard by the Senate.

Combat Climate Change, Build a Clean Energy Economy, and Secure Environmental Justice

The Green New Deal is the Democratic plan for this section. It’s a non-binding resolution that has no chance of passing but it may serve as a framework for future legislation if Democrats win the Senate or Whitehouse in 2020. It has also served to energize the climate change discussion.

Provide Quality and Affordable Education

Tuition-free higher education has become a major talking point for Democratic candidates and bills have been introduced in the Senate but have not moved. Universal preschool and ending for-profit schools are areas where there has not been any noticeable effort.

Ensure the Health and Safety of All Americans

Democrats have benefited from fewer Republican efforts to repeal the ACA, but have not made an effort to expand or improve it. As discussed in a recent Commentary, reducing prescription drug costs has White House backing, but no agreement has been reached. Reducing gun violence is in this section and Democrats passed a significant expansion of background test requirements in early 2019, but the Senate has not moved on it. The bi-partisan Violence Against Women Act remains stalled at the moment, but some version will likely pass.

Support Our Troops and Keep Faith with Our Veterans

This is a goal that Democrats and Republicans share, and a bipartisan defense spending bill has been passed. However, the numbers of veteran suicides indicate that both sides are still failing here.

Confront Global Threats

Defeating global terrorism, cybersecurity, Afghanistan, Syria, and North Korea, are discussed here. Most of the effort here is symbolic, such as the Syria resolution rebuking President Trump, but they’ve also introduced real legislation to prevent the U.S. from being the first to launch nuclear weapons.

Protect Our Values

Being a leader in human rights is the general focus of this part. There has been some effort by Democrats in spreading these values, such as promoting reproductive rights internationally, supporting democracy in other countries.

In summary, while there has been some effort to advance the Democratic agenda despite their lack of control of the Senate and White House, the absence of nonpartisan debate and compromise means little progress in addressing our growing and pressing problems has been made. We must expect and advocate for more.