Is Biden's Incrementalism a Slow Motion Disaster?

Episode 4 Sneak Peak with Nina Turner

A new president is set to take office tomorrow. Checking in with mainstream media, you’d expect that the simple fact of Team Blue replacing Team Red in the White House would be enough to undo the vast societal and global harms enacted by the Trump admin in the past four years. Last week, Thomas Frank gave us a sense of why “order and decency” is the core liberal appeal against the far right: it suggests that installing experts, technocrats, and more sophisticated war criminals in the country’s highest offices will allow business to resume as usual, and with a more harmless Twitter presence. Of course, that seems fine if neoliberal “business” — pushing austerity for social programs, terrorizing and incarcerating the undocumented, gutting healthcare providers, and undermining organized labor — works for you. But it doesn’t work for millions of people who have lost wages and work, faced workplace exploitation, been evicted, or lost a loved one to the cost-prohibitive healthcare system, either during or before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has exposed decades of failed neoliberal leadership alongside the cruelty of far-right governmental control. We need something else.

This week, we’re going to talk about what that “something else” looks like — progressive leadership for the people — with one of its greatest and most tireless champions. Former Ohio State Senator, national co-chair of the Bernie 2020 campaign, and host of the delightful podcast Hello Somebody, Nina Turner is now running for Congress in Ohio’s 11th congressional district, seeking to bring her vision of justice to the House of Representatives. We’ll sit down with her to discuss her campaign, her advocacy for Medicare for All, and her past work. To watch our conversation on Friday, become a paid subscriber by clicking the button below:

And to hear the audio when it drops this Saturday, head to major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts, or wait for the Saturday Substack post. Until then, to give you a sense of what Sen. Turner is fighting for and what she plans to accomplish in Congress, take a look at her recent interview with Rising on 12/28 or read excerpts transcribed below.

On running for Congress

I’ll be unapologetically for the people. That’s not going to change. I’m not going to change who I am [...] I am going to Congress to continue to amplify universal health care —  a must, not a luxury — to make sure people have good paying jobs, a $15 minimum wage. If wages had kept up with inflation, we would be well over the $20 an hour mark. 

We have got to do a new thing. There is a demand for a paradigm shift. I am going to Congress to amplify that, without apology.

On the core struggle for Medicare for All, and how the pandemic has magnified the fight

The pain is so deep —  the pandemic has definitely revealed the fissures in a system that was not working before the pandemic. And it is especially not working now. As you know, I have been a staunch supporter of universal healthcare. We are the only industrialized nation on the face of the earth that does not have it. 

The pandemic has also revealed that the commodification of health care does not work. It is absolutely immoral to have so may people suffering, and adding to the list because of the pandemic, and not have the type of leadership that is ready, willing, and able to throw all conventions —  everything they may have believed before the pandemic — out the window, because of the level of suffering. 

On her approach to leadership

I used to have a boss who would say, “If your hair is on fire, you ought to act like your hair is on fire.” Well, I act like my hair is on fire most of the time because I understand and feel the pain that people are feeling. Through Congress and the presidency, you have the biggest stick in the federal level of government. How is it that we can bail out Wall Street but we can’t make a down payment on Main Street? Something is wrong with that.

Like what you’ve read? Get ready for more on this week’s episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends. We’re so honored to be joined by Senator Turner, and we think this is a conversation you’ll want to look forward to!