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The Democratic Party’s rallying cry for years has been steady: Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy. And with the de facto occupation of U.S. cities by the National Guard, we hear a whole lot from the party about “defending democracy” against Trump. A proper defense of democracy, however, requires acknowledging how moderate and right-wing Democrats have undermined it themselves.
When Senate Democrats caved to their Republican counterparts over the most recent government shutdown, they did so at the expense of subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, which will make health care even more unaffordable for millions. The capitulation came despite the fact that most voters want to extend the subsidies, and a large majority of Democrats wanted their elected officials to hold the line and refuse to approve a budget that didn’t include the subsidies.
The shutdown is but one example of the lack of resolve from the party’s moderate and right wings in defending the interests of the majority. From the neglect of Democratic voters’ desire to end the genocide in Gaza, to the virtual coronation of Kamala Harris as the successor to Biden as the Democratic candidate for 2024 election, Democrats have hardly been a paragon for democracy or reflected the will of the people in national politics. The Democratic Party’s role in undermining democracy doesn’t just happen at the national level though: In Philadelphia, my hometown, and the birthplace of American democracy, moderate democrats are ruling through closed-door negotiations and shortened public engagement opportunities, outright ignoring community demands while entertaining business interests.
The most publicized instance of “democracy” by Democrats involved a proposed arena for the Sixers, Philly’s basketball team, in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood. In part, these negotiations focused on how much the team would pay as a part of a Community Benefits Agreement, which would fund a variety of initiatives to attempt to mitigate the negative impacts of the stadium on the neighborhood, instead of real estate taxes. (Real estate taxes would cost more for the Sixers but generate more revenue for the city.) The Sixers initially proposed paying $50 million. After a proposal from some councilmembers of $300 million, collaboratively developed with the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation and Asian Chamber of Commerce, was rejected, the city council and the mayor’s office officially countered with a price tag of $100 million. Nevertheless, after closed door negotiations, the Sixers, council, and the mayoral administration agreed to a $60 million figure paid over 30 years (a measly $2 million per year). Throughout the process, Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration refused meetings with Chinatown residents. The legislation passed Council, but the arena project was ultimately abandoned by the Sixers, and, despite Parker’s claims that no city tax dollars would be spent on the stadium, the harebrained idea wasted at least $469,095 in tax revenue.
However,