Activists Offer Tempered Praise And Criticism Of First 100 Days
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Max Moran, moran@therevolvingdoorproject.org
Today, the Revolving Door Project published a report card on President Joe Biden’s success at preventing corporate capture of his executive branch 100 days into his presidency. The watchdog group’s overall grade was a B-.
“Although the bar is low, Biden has proven to be the least captured and most public-oriented President of any of our lifetimes,” the Revolving Door Project wrote. “That said, Biden’s administration thus far is certainly not spotless.”
In a press conference, Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser was joined by Action Center on Race and the Economy’s Political Director Vasudha Desikan, and Demand Progress Education Fund Executive Director David Segal, to offer thoughts on Biden’s early personnel and executive branch policies.
“It’s really clear that we have to educate the White House on what racial capitalism is, and we as the Left have to keep disrupting this dynamic as it happens in real time,” said Desikan. She compared the recent announcement of John Morton as the Treasury Department’s climate czar to the administration’s continuing refusal to name a head of the Office of the Comptroller of Currency. “John Morton does not have any regulatory experience. How is he somehow more qualified than Mehrsa Baradaran to lead as the climate finreg czar, and she’s not good enough for OCC? These are the places where we have a lot of issue with this administration.”
“Jeff and I titled our recent Democracy Journal piece ‘Building Back Better (Than Expected),” and I think that sums up our thinking on personnel and policy so far,” said Segal. He said that a range of factors have created “an administration that’s generally exceeded our expectations,” but noted that “the national security realm will deserve ongoing scrutiny by activists, and members of Congress, and by journalists.”
The report card reflects only Revolving Door Project’s perspectives, and is not co-produced with Demand Progress or the Action Center on Race and the Economy.
The Revolving Door Project report grades Biden’s success at preventing capture by the following industries:
Wall Street: B/B+
Fossil Fuels: B
Big Tech: B
Big Pharma: INCONCLUSIVE
Military-Industrial Complex: D-
Influence Industry: D
It also assesses Biden’s relationship with public-interest minded actors:
Labor: B+
Civil Rights: B
Progressive Movement: B-
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PHOTO: “Build Back Better Press Conference On Economic Equity – Wilmington, DE – July 28, 2020” by Biden For President is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0