And Then There Was One...

We've all known since March 17 that Biden is the Democratic nominee for 2020. With Bernie Sanders leaving the race today (April 8, 2020), Biden clinched the Democrat nomination. Joe Biden is not my first choice from the 24 candidates running for President. My top choice was, and still is, Senator Kamala Harris. She has what it takes to run our country, expertly. My reservations about Vice-President Biden are not from his age, but from this well-researched Mother Jones article about how he strengthened banks at the expense of the rest of us. My other concern with Biden is that he'll continue Obama's economic policies that didn't really help the little guy: you and me. It's why I didn't vote for Clinton in the 2016 primary and why I didn't vote for Biden this year. Millions of homeowners lost their homes when everything crashed in 2008. While Obama created the Home Affordable Program (HAMP) to help people avoid foreclosure, it was not a success. Less than one million received assistance. Around six million lost their homes to short sale or foreclosure. As a progressive, I found HAMP to completely ineffective for homeowners. Why? Because the banks won't play ball. They want their money, and they don't care who they hurt in the process. Bank of America was the worst of the worst. IMO, of course. In 2008 and 2009, in Florida, millions of homes went on the market at the same. People lost up to half the value of their home, which made their mortgages unsustainable, especially if they had ARM loans. HAMP didn't help them. Also, people who had paid off homes were subject to foreclosure. It was ugly, very ugly. I know that Obama, and by extension, Biden, walked into the ugliest financial mess this country experienced since the Great Depression. Obama did a lot to improve the economy. However, it wasn't enough. Can Biden do better? Let's hope so.

I can only hope that Biden, as POTUS, will work for the poor and middle class, improving our stagnant wages and raising our standard of living. Will he work with corporations and Wall Street to raise salaries? Will he get manufacturing started again with liveable wages? What about infrastructure? Can he get money from a possible Republican Congress (heaven forbid!)? I sincerely hope he can. While Biden might not be our ideal candidate, those on the left say to Vote Blue, No Matter Who. Yes, I'll vote for Biden come November. He'll be a welcome relief to the menace that currently resides in the White House.