The Expected Uptick
Fauci versus Trump versus Biden
Hopefully in January, Joe Biden will take over as President of the United States. In the mean time COVID relief is badly needed for millions of people who are unemployed as a result of measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. The relief package, long stuck in Congress can not wait until January.
Trump wishes to ignore the pandemic. Fauci has provided steps such as mask wearing which will help mitigate the spread. Biden will side more closely with Fauci and a recommendation for a national mask mandate is in the offing.
If Trump had advocated a mask mandate in April and May, would the election results be different? The election results are in my opinion from several key area.
Reasons Trump Lost the Election
I believe Trump lost the election and not that Biden won. The following Trump positions over the last four years activated the Democratic Base.
- His lack of leadership on the pandemic.
- Trump’s law and order stance and a refusal to even recognize the legitimate concerns of the Black Lives Matter movement.
- His dictatorial tendencies and attacks on the constitutional checks and balance systems.
These broad based items created a coalition of Democrats, Independents, and disenfranchised Republicans which led to the result so far. While he mobilized his base, he also created the coalition which subtracted from his support 4 years ago.
Despite his claims of a landslide in 2016, his margins were small. The people who held their nose’s 4 years ago and voted for Trump, voted for Biden this time. Those Democrats who sat out the election in 2016, voted in great number this year.
The marginal victory, went from Trump to Biden…
So the next step is a COVID Recovery Package.
What will the recovery package look like?
Certainly it will be larger than the package currently purposed by the Senate. Probably larger than the package Trump and Pelosi were negotiating, but it will be smaller than the Hero’s Act passed by the House.
The First 100 Days…
With a likely Republican Senate, Biden will have a difficult time getting anything done. The country needs bipartisan cooperation. Now is the time to begin. There are some many laws which need to be revisited.Health Care will need to be placed on a back burner.
Health care is too difficult to pass at this time and Biden will need to put it on the back burner.
Infrastructure to rebuild our crumbling road system is probably the most doable and the area where we can create the most jobs quickly. This is would put people to work. Road construction jobs would impact major part of the country.
Social Justice
The first thing Joe Biden needs to work on is Social Justice. I would not expect this to be a first 100 day legislative priority. This should be a long term issue. The dialog starts on day 1, and should continue through out his presidency.
Yes, long term legislation should be proposed and negotiated. Short term by executive order, he should ban certain police practices such as choke holds. Early on he should propose increasing social programs.
His cabinet should be diverse and include individuals from all races, sexual orientation, religions.
Immigration Reform…
The big issue I would hit next is immigration reform. It is my belief that there is much more agreement on this than there is differences. This is an area where Biden might get bipartisan support and agreement, which could lead to real reform.
Health Care
Health care is too emotionally charged. It will lead no where and will just lead to division between the parties.
Changing the political discourse
Biden’s biggest task is to avoid confrontation and lead us into a new era of cooperation between parties. His choice of priorities should reflect those things where agreement is possible and avoid things which are likely to cause division. No easy task.
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