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Eight members of Congress, including prominent progressive Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, are backing the program. A handful of likely incoming House freshmen, along with the Service Employees International Union, Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives and climate advocacy group Sunrise Movement, are also on board.

"There is no doubt we need to evict Donald Trump and immediately begin the work of repairing and rebuilding stronger, said Pressley. Our country is facing overlapping crises of public health, economic inequality and systemic racism. The People's Charter offers a pathway to work together toward healing and justice for everyone.

Biden supports some of the planks of the proposal, such as free Covid-19 testing and a ban on evictions and foreclosures during the pandemic. But he has already come out against other items, such as implementing single-payer health care and reducing police funding.

Its putting a stake in the ground that we believe Joe Biden can become a New Deal 2.0 president, said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), another member of Congress who has signed onto the plan. He has talked about the crisis that Roosevelt faced. He has talked about wanting to have a new New Deal for the 21st century. That should be the direction he goes instead of the incrementalism of the 90s.

Philadelphia City Councilwoman Kendra Brooks, one of several local and state officials who are supporting the plan, added that its something that gives voters some enthusiasm.

Maurice Moe Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, said the organization will promote the agenda as part of its campaign to persuade progressive voters to cast a ballot for Biden.

We endorsed Elizabeth Warren and then we endorsed Bernie Sanders, so its not surprising that our party and our base have some policy differences with Joe Biden, said Mitchell. People, in order to be enthusiastic about voting, need to vote for something and the Peoples Charter provides folks with something that is outside of candidates politics to vote for. It also sets up conditions postelection to articulate that this election was a referendum on this agenda.

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Progressives unveil 2021 agenda to pressure Biden - POLITICO

White House chief of staff Ron Klain held private meetings with progressive lawmakers including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Jamaal Bowman, and Andy Levin this week, which many believe signals the Biden administration's willingness to have a good working relationship with more outspoken Democrats.

According to a scoop by Axios, this closed-door, in-person meeting touched on the filibuster and minimum wage.

Axios reported that Klain did not make promises to oppose or abolish the current filibuster rules. However, he did re-confirm Biden's commitment to upping the hourly minimum wage to $15.

These private meetings establish a basis for dialogue with progressive Democrats, even when the strategies on how best to approach issues and push matters forward may differ.

The meetings follow a Politico report last week that said Klain had met with leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including its chair, Pramila Jayapal.

Axios noted that the formation of a backchannel between the Biden White House and progressive Democrats could be helpful to the president, particularly ahead of his request to Congress to fork out $3 trillion for healthcare and infrastructure next week.

Biden has also been seen in recent weeks to lean toward a more progressive position on the Senate filibuster, saying on Thursday that he might be "open to doing more" besides incremental reforms.

"If there's complete lockdown and chaos as a consequence of the filibuster, then we'll have to go beyond what I'm talking about," Biden said on Thursday.

The filibuster has been a huge obstacle for Senate Democrats who want to pass gun bills through the Senate. Two gun bills have already made it through the House, but they are unlikely to get the 60 votes needed in the Senate, which is currently split 50-50.

However, Democrats have been discussing the removal of the filibuster to make it possible to pass legislation at a simple 51-vote majority. Much opposition stands in the way, particularly as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has cautioned that the Senate would enter "a sort of nuclear winter" if Democrats were to scrap the filibuster.

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AOC, other progressives met with White House chief of staff privately - Business Insider

Sam Hernandez PO 24 argues that progressives should not call themselves democratic socialists if they still support capitalism. (Courtesy: Spencer Platt via Getty Images)

Over the course of the past few years, progressive politicians like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members of Congress The Squad have increasingly adopted the label of democratic socialist as a way to differentiate themselves from their more moderate counterparts. However, their policies have little to do with the actual political thought of socialism, and this misapplied label does nothing but hinder political discourse for everyone involved.

For the purposes of this article, I will be using the term progressives for those who label themselves as democratic socialists, though I understand that not all progressives identify that way.

Although there is a wide array of socialist thought regarding the precise definitions of socialism, the basics generally agreed upon include the abolition of capitalism, private property, the profit-motive and commodity production. Socialism is inherently anti-capitalist, and involves worker ownership of means of production land, factories, stores, etc. The term also entails an overhaul of how and why we produce things; under socialism, workers produce for the common good of the community rather than to generate profit for capitalists.

At its core, socialism strives to turn control of the means of production over to the workers and society as a whole.

For Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives, democratic socialism is the implementation of the welfare programs and social safety nets common in Western European and Scandinavian countries. I have no qualm with these policies, and in fact support pretty much all of them, but labeling them as socialist is a detriment not only to these politicians but also to actual socialists.

While the policies of progressive so-called socialists are admirable, they are distinctly not anti-capitalist, instead aligning with an ideology called social democracy. At most, these policies can mitigate some of the structural harms of capitalism such as perpetual poverty of a subset of the population, which is often disproportionately made up of already marginalized groups, rampant climate destruction and the abuse of human life in the name of profit and make the system more bearable; however, they do not undermine the system itself.

Even if progressives were able to accomplish all of their policy objectives, and we had universal health care, free college and a higher minimum wage, capitalism would still reign supreme. Private property would still exist, as would commodity production in the name of profit generation.

Sure, the outcomes for many people would be far more positive than they are now, but the workers would still lack ownership of the means of production, and the fundamental capitalist-worker dynamic central to capitalism would remain unchanged.

Theres still work to be done on educating Americans on what socialism entails, but theres fortunately a myriad of resources such as YouTube videos and podcasts actively dispelling the American misunderstanding.

Part of the reason for the adoption of the label of democratic socialist was because right-wing media and political opponents were going to call them socialist anyways, so by embracing it, progressives sought to disarm political opponents. However, as a result of the decades of McCarthyism and Red Scare propaganda in the United States, the term socialism is tremendously loaded in mainstream political discourse, evoking imagery of the USSR, Cuba and bread lines.

While much of this fear was and is manufactured by Western media and the U.S. State Department as an outcome of the Cold War, it nonetheless poses a challenge to progressives who now have to constantly clarify their ideological position, repudiate these associations and distance themselves from how much of the American public sees socialism.

Moreover, political opponents have an even easier time fear-mongering about how within the far left, radical socialists of the Democratic party are trying to take over America.

Furthermore, for those of us who embrace actual socialist politics, progressives are excluding socialist politics from the political conversation. Because these progressives are seen as the far left by many Americans, they impose a left-most limit on acceptable political positions, to the exclusion of anti-capitalist strands of thought like Marxism and anarchism.

By making socialism simply about giving people health care and expanding safety nets, socialism is stripped of its anti-capitalist message in popular perception, making the propagation of anti-capitalist ideas more difficult than it already is. Capitalist media and political parties both of them already ingrain the structures of capitalism within the fabric of our institutions and our collective thought, such that questioning capitalism is seen by many as inconceivable, and progressives co-opting revolutionary language and labels entrenches capitals power even further.

To make our politics less confusing, and expand the horizons of political discourse beyond capitalism as a whole, progressives should identify as the social democrats they are. In doing so, they stop obfuscating the crux of real leftist politics and make room for more solutions to the issues facing our society.

Sam Hernandez PO 24 is from San Antonio, Texas. He would love it if you would give this podcast a listen or this set of pamphlets a read.

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OPINION: Progressives should stop co-opting the label of socialism - The Student Life

Progressives are increasing pressure on President BidenJoe BidenSupreme Court will hear Boston bomber's death case if the Biden administration lets it The Hill's Morning Report - Biden tasks Harris on border; news conference today Democrats face questions over agenda MORE to support a waiver for COVID-19 vaccine patent protections at the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing the move is crucial for helping lower-income countries fight the coronavirus.

The push features leading Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups calling on Biden to take action, but the White House has not made clear its position.

The Biden administration has an obligation to reverse the damage done by the Trump administration and reestablish our nations global reputation as a public health leader, said Rep. Rosa DeLauroRosa DeLauroOvernight Health Care: Senate confirms Levine for HHS, first openly transgender official | Progressives up pressure on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver | Former Operation Warp Speed chief fired over sexual harassment allegations Conservative group escalates earmarks war by infiltrating trainings Progressives up pressure on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver MORE (D-Conn.), head of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersOvernight Health Care: Senate confirms Levine for HHS, first openly transgender official | Progressives up pressure on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver | Former Operation Warp Speed chief fired over sexual harassment allegations Briahna Joy Gray: Progressives 'covering for the failures of the Biden administration' on minimum wage The Hill's Morning Report - Biden leans heavily into gun control MORE (I-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, released a video calling on Biden to support the proposal.

We need a peoples vaccine, not a profit vaccine, Sanders says in the video.

The effort is fiercely opposed by the pharmaceutical industry, including key vaccine makers like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

At issue is a proposal before the WTO, led by India and South Africa and backed by more than 50 other countries, to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. Proponents argue it would enable lower-income countries to ramp up their own manufacturing and help address severe shortages outside of the richest countries and benefit every country by cutting down on the ability of new variants to develop as the virus spreads.

Opponents argue patent protections are needed to incentivize innovations, like the record turnaround time in developing COVID-19 vaccines. More broadly, they say the waiver wouldnt solve existing problems given that vaccines are complex to make and there are already voluntary efforts to take advantage of manufacturing capacity in other countries, without resorting to stripping patents.

A spokesman for the U.S. trade representative said the administration is exploring every avenue to coordinate with our global partners and are evaluating the efficacy of this specific proposal by its true potential to save lives.

But the Biden administration is facing pressure from some of its major allies, making the push hard to ignore.

In the House, DeLauro is leading the effort along with Democratic Reps. Jan SchakowskyJanice (Jan) Danoff SchakowskyHillicon Valley: House lawmakers fired up for hearing with tech CEOs | Zuckerberg proposes conditional Section 230 reforms | Lawmakers reintroduce bill to secure internet-connected devices Progressives up pressure on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver House lawmakers fired up for hearing with tech CEOs MORE (Ill.), Earl BlumenauerEarl BlumenauerProgressives up pressure on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver Bottom line White House defends marijuana policy after report of staffers targeted for past use MORE (Ore.) and Lloyd DoggettLloyd Alton DoggettProgressives up pressure on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver House passes bills providing citizenship path for Dreamers, farmworkers House Republican takes part in hearing while driving car MORE (Texas).

They are working on a letter to the administration in support of the waiver, with more than 60 lawmakers signing on so far.

Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiThe Hill's Morning Report - Biden tasks Harris on border; news conference today Senators to unveil bill banning permanent Capitol fence GOP lawmakers blast 'morally reprehensible' Democratic probe of House race MORE (D-Calif.) has also privately expressed support for the waiver, Schakowsky said.

I dont usually speak for the Speaker, thats for sure, but she has said so many times now that she has talked to the administration and she is fully in support of this waiver, Schakowsky said during a press conference at the end of February. There are so many voices now getting to the president that I still feel optimistic that the right thing can be done by the United States.

Pelosis office declined to comment.

The effort is also backed by a wide array of outside groups, including Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, also backed the idea in a Guardian op-ed this month.

Of the 225m vaccine doses that have been administered so far, the vast majority have been in a handful of rich and vaccine-producing countries, while most low- and middle-income countries watch and wait, he wrote.

Experts say Americans are at danger, too, if the virus continues to spread in other parts of the world, given that new, dangerous variants can develop.

Mindful of COVID variants from Brazil and South Africa, to stop this deadly virus, we need widespread immunization everywhere around the globe, not just in the wealthiest countries, Doggett said.

Others, however, argue that while the waiver effort may be well-intentioned, it would not be effective.

Because of the technical complexity of manufacturing coronavirus vaccines, waiving intellectual-property rights, by itself, would have little effect, Rachel Silverman, a policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed last week. It could even backfire, with companies using the move as an excuse to disengage from global access efforts.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America wrote a letter to Biden this month opposing the waiver, arguing it would not speed up production of vaccines.

Intellectual property is the foundation for both the development and sharing of new technologies, the group wrote. Perhaps more than any other time in history, society is seeing and benefiting from the innovation supported by intellectual property.

Instead, the industry points to voluntary licensing agreements that companies have entered into to share vaccines, such as AstraZeneca partnering with the Serum Institute of India to produce 1 billion vaccine doses for low- and middle-income countries.

The Biden administration has highlighted steps already taken by the U.S. to increase global vaccine access, like funding for Covax, the World Health Organizations vaccine initiative, and an agreement announced with Quad countries the U.S., Australia, Japan and India to provide funding to help produce 1 billion vaccine doses.

While emphasizing those efforts, Adam Hodge, a U.S trade representative spokesman, also left the door open to supporting the waiver.

The top priority of the United States is saving lives and ending the pandemic in the United States and around the world, he said. This includes investing in COVAX and working with partners, as we announced with the Quad, to surge vaccine production and delivery. As part of rebuilding our alliances, we are exploring every avenue to coordinate with our global partners and are evaluating the efficacy of this specific proposal by its true potential to save lives.

The administration is engaged in detailed technical discussions about the merits of the proposal with both developed and developing countries, an administration official said.

The members of Congress pushing for the waiver say they have not received a clear response from the White House. Part of the issue is that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine TaiKatherine TaiWhite House defends Asian American representation Progressives up pressure on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver Duckworth, Hirono vow to oppose Biden picks over diversity concerns MORE was only confirmed last week.

We have not gotten like a flat no, Schakowsky said in an interview. But, she added, we have not seen any movement.

Blumenauer said he plans to speak with Tai about the issue.

I think theyre being cautious, he said. There are lots of moving pieces and they need cooperation with the industry, with the various companies.

But backers say theyre not giving up.

Were going to keep at it and keep at it and keep at it, DeLauro said.

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Progressives up pressure on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver | TheHill - The Hill

Briahna Joy Gray, the former press secretary for Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersOvernight Health Care: Senate confirms Levine for HHS, first openly transgender official | Progressives up pressure on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver | Former Operation Warp Speed chief fired over sexual harassment allegations Briahna Joy Gray: Progressives 'covering for the failures of the Biden administration' on minimum wage The Hill's Morning Report - Biden leans heavily into gun control MOREs (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, called out progressive lawmakers on Wednesday saying they have essentially been covering for the failures of President BidenJoe BidenSupreme Court will hear Boston bomber's death case if the Biden administration lets it The Hill's Morning Report - Biden tasks Harris on border; news conference today Democrats face questions over agenda MOREs administration on the $15 minimum wage effort.

Gray told Hill.TVs Rising that she wants more transparency from progressive lawmakers about why the $15 minimum wage did not make it in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, saying Democrats treated the Senate parliamentarian ruling as an insurmountable obstacle.

If I had my druthers, I would like the progressives in Congress to be a lot more clear and honest about whats going on there,Gray said. Because as it is, they are effectively, whether or not they are intending to, covering for the failures of the Biden administration and maintaining the fiction of Oh, we can try again down the line.

Without getting rid of the filibuster, theres really nothing thats going to change, she added. And this was really the best shot at getting a much-needed, sorely, sorely needed policy that really could have helped the long-term standing of the Democratic Party and made the prospect of the upcoming midterms a lot less dire.

The minimum wage provision was ultimately not included in the American Rescue Plan after the Senate parliamentarian ruled thatthat such a move would not work under special budget rules to prevent a filibuster.

After the ruling, the White House said Biden was disappointed but vowed to respect the ruling, despite progressive calls for the administration to overrule it.

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Briahna Joy Gray: Progressives 'covering for the failures of the Biden administration' on minimum wage | TheHill - The Hill