Sorry, Howard Schultz - America doesn't want another billionaire president

[Celerity]

Schultz opposes Medicare for All and raising the top tax rate – his middle-of-the-road vision is not what America needs

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/30/howard-schultz-starbucks-president-white-house

Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO, has a bold plan to rescue America, and it involves putting another billionaire in the White House to put a stop to dangerous ideas like universal healthcare and higher taxes on the wealthy. Schultz told CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday that he is “seriously thinking” about making a run for the Oval Office as a “centrist independent”. Why? Because, according to Schultz, “we see extremes on both sides … we are sitting with approximately $21.5tn of debt, which is a reckless example, not only of Republicans, but of Democrats. I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, independent, Libertarian, Republican. Bring me your ideas. And I will be an independent person, who will embrace those ideas. Because I am not, in any way, in bed with a party.”

As a remedy, the billionaire CEO is pitching an utterly unremarkable combination of middle-of-the-road policies and a language of moderation that would fall safely within the corporatist mainstream of the Democratic party. He believes popular, desperately-needed policies like Medicare For All are unaffordable and un-American, and is opposed to raising the top marginal rate of income tax lest people like him be taxed at levels unseen since that heyday of American communism otherwise known as the Nixon era.

He expresses concern that so many have so little money in the bank but doesn’t think low-earning workers deserve a raise, a union, free health insurance, or the opportunity to get an education without drowning in debt courtesy of sky-high tuition.

Whatever his superficial gestures towards moderation and inclusivity, Schultz is pledging to be a tribune for the billionaire class to which he himself belongs, over and against the growing current of popular, social democratic policies continuing to gather momentum within the Democratic party and among the wider US electorate. Given that the 2020 Democratic primaries are certain to include several Wall Street-friendly candidates, it’s unclear what exactly he hopes to accomplish beyond giving a voice to a handful of plutocrats who somehow find figures like Joe Biden and Cory Booker too extreme.

But perhaps that’s precisely the point.

snip

[guillaumeb]

1. Recommended.

Schultz is GOP-lite.

Yes, he talks about caring, but his positions indicate that he cares about his money.

[suffragette]

11. Yes, and at the expense of the rest of us. He wants to "go after entitlements." And he has brought

up this atrocious idea many times over the years. It’s at the core of what he wants to do.

[guillaumeb]

13. Yes, the "entitlements" issue.

The rich are entitled to everything, and we are entitled to work for them.

[suffragette]

14. Yes, that sums up him and his platform. There's also something really ugly going on with the way

he oddly emphasized that he plans to “run as an American” and called policy plans from Harris and Ocasio “not American” and “un-American.”

[guillaumeb]

15. Very similar to the racist meme that Obama was not a "real American".

The racism is more subdued, more nuanced, but it is still there.

Nice observation.

[suffragette]

19. Yes, very similar to that racist meme. Looks like he's trying to backtrack on some of that now,

just as he is backtracking on beginning his campaign. But these were his knee jerk responses about Harris and Ocasio-Cortez and his definition of himself as a candidate and I think that speaks volumes about his views.

[guillaumeb]

21. Agreed. He now moves to the "qualifying" phase

where he explains all of his troubling statements.

[C_U_L8R]

2. Experience counts.

Nothing against billionaires. But electing someone with zero public service experience or record put us in this mess.

[oasis]

3. Egomaniacs need not apply. Take a hike.

[marlakay]

4. Its obvious by how many are upset he is running

That he doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning so if he stays it will only be to help Trump.

Thats how i felt about Nadar, I will never forget the Bill Maher episode where both him and Michael Moore got on their knees and begged him to drop out. He just laughed at them.

People like that sicken me.

[world wide wally]

5. Much ado about nothing?

I don't think he'll get more than 1% and half of those will be Trumpers.

[Garrett78]

10. That's more likely than the predictions that he'll steal 5% from our nominee.

Ultimately, I'm not even sure he'll run.

[world wide wally]

12. Who the fuck would vote for him anyway?

[Johnyawl]

18. he would get 3-5%...

half of that would be never trump republicans and the other half bernie bros pissing on the dems. I really don't see him as a threat.

What is the centrist position on gun control? Abortion? LGBTQ rights? Health care? Prescription drug costs? The border wall? He starts answering those questions and he won't be viewed as "centrist" by either side.

[Trumpocalypse]

6. K&R

[Baltimike]

7. Another? Oh, he'd be the first...believe that. MF45 ain't no billionaire. nt

[JI7]

8. I wouldn't even vote for him for city council

[uponit7771]

9. Hmmm, is Steve Schmidt really working ... FOR ... Shultz ?! Sounds like Schultz's roll out is

... a 100% disaster.

100% opposite of Harris's

[Haggis for Breakfast]

16. Call Shultz' candidacy exactly what it is:

Another vanity project.

[dlk]

17. Schultz Would Be Republican Lite

[dalton99a]

20. Howard Schultz is about more money and free publicity for Howard Schultz