Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Economic Pitch: Private Sector Solutions, Working Class Benefits

Democratic presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is launching his economic proposals for the country in a run-up to Labor Day, focusing on using the private sector to produce an economy that benefits the working class.

That combination of policies might seem odd, after two elections in which “working class” policies became almost synonymous with the socialism of Sen. Bernie Sandes (I-VT). But while Kennedy is focused on the same group of Americans — those outside the “knowledge” economy — he turns to the small business sector, rather than the state, to provide prosperity, though he adds guardrails like a $15 minimum wage and protections for labor unions.

Michael Bernick of Forbes notes:

Kennedy’s ideas are rooted in private enterprise. He rejects various forms of collectivism as well as corporatism. He repeatedly attacks what he sees as collaborations between big government and big corporations to stifle market competition. What is needed is a market-based system, but one that differs in several important ways from the current system.

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At its center, Kennedy’s capitalism is a capitalism that enables blue collar, direct service and direct care workers—workers outside of the knowledge economy—to achieve middle class lifestyles if they work steadily.

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Kennedy’s initial job policies are a mix of approaches: reshoring of jobs, unionization, minimum wage hikes, reigning in healthcare costs, immigration controls. Kennedy also emphasizes the rebuilding of the small business economy, decimated due to the too-lengthy economic shutdowns of the pandemic So far, these policies have been introduced to frame campaign themes, and presented at a high level of generality. But Kennedy has more directly taken on some of the contentious job issues, regarding immigration controls, minimum wage and unionization.

Kennedy lags far behind President Joe Biden in most polls of Democratic Party primary voters. But a recent poll in South Carolina showed Kennedy surging to 24% support (behind 55% for Biden) in a key early primary state.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.