Why Are We Even Responding to John Delaney?
John Delaney is completely insignificant. But he’s echoing common talking points about the Green New Deal. They’re all lies.
Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney smiles during the 2020 Public Service Forum hosted by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) on August 3, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
John Delaney is not a fan of the Green New Deal. He’s said it’s about as realistic as “Mexico paying for the wall.” When he was asked about this statement at the last Democratic Debate, he argued that the Green New Deal proposal goes wrong by including too many nonenvironmental reforms.
“It ties its progress to other things that are completely unrelated to climate. Like universal healthcare, guaranteed government jobs, and universal basic income. So that only makes it harder.”
Why Delaney Is Wrong
There are at least three problems with Delaney’s analysis. First, while it’s true that a summary of the Green New Deal that appeared at one point on a congressional website included language that seemed to indicate support for a universal basic income, no such proposal made it into the text of the resolution itself.
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