Okay, Democrats, You've Got Two Years
You did it. Congratulations. You've got full control of both Houses of Congress and the White House. But, you need to keep aware of one thing: you've got two years.
Come the midterms in 2022, all House Representatives and a third of the sitting Senators will be up for reelection, and this circus of political tomfoolery will restart. You, the Democrats, have got slim majorities in both houses, plus the White House, and that means, for the next two years, you could make some real progress to help this country move forward. Let's just quickly run through the problems we're facing.
1) The Pandemic
This is your number one priority: getting this pandemic under control. We've got the vaccines, but not everyone is getting them because the current lame duck administration isn't doing its job. The American people want their normal lives back. Children need to be able to go to school in person. Parents and other working adults need to get back to their regular jobs. So, the first thing you need to do is make sure everyone gets it. Also, until the numbers start to fall, keep insisting people wear masks.
While you're at it, consider slipping in some attention toward pushing this country closer to that idea of Universal Healthcare. If there's one thing people don't need to worry about when their lives are under threat, its being able to get proper care from medical professionals.
2) The Economy
Trump's big mistake was trying to fix the economy before dealing with the virus. That cost him and the Republicans their positions of leadership. Once the pandemic is under control though, the American people are going to need help.
Two stimulus checks was not enough, and many people are now facing the prospect of being kicked out of their homes come the end of the moratorium. Small businesses--real one, not large companies who qualify as "small businesses" due to tax code definitions--are on the brink and the Student Loan crisis is crippling the next Generation of Americans. You've got some stopgap measures in place for now, but you're going to need some serious legislation to give people the wiggle room they need to bounce back.
If you want the economy to kick back up, you need to help the people who keep it moving. Increase the minimum wage at the federal level. Build upon the ACA, or institute Medicare for All, so that health benefits don't become a Sword of Damocles hanging over people's heads to freeze social mobility. Start giving more tax breaks to small businesses, not multi-million or multi-billon dollar corporations. And do what you can to reverse that horse-shit Tax Cuts and Jobs Act so the middle class can start to grow again.
Within Biden's first flurry of Executive Orders, several were of consequence in this arena, but none more so than his extension of the Student Loan Payment freeze and the continuation of the Eviction Moratorium. It's a starting line though, not a finish line.
3) Systemic Racism & Social Justice for All
I know the other two objectives are more immediate, but you cannot forget about the events of the Summer of 2020. Too often, when nation-wide events (like the Depression in the 1930s) draw attention, Communities of Color and their issues get forgotten. FDR refused to publicly back an anti-lynching bill during the Depression for fear his Southern Democratic Caucus wouldn't support the New Deal programs.
Don't make the same mistake.
Something must be done to stop this, and supporters of the BLM movement will remember whether or not you helped BIPOC the right way or not. Don't take their vote for granted; take action and stop unjust atrocities, like the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Anthony Huber, and Michael Brown, from happening again. Put through legislation enforcing true Officer Accountability. Make the Justice System that works for everyone. The only way this will change is if you, the people we've entrusted with our country, take the risk and change it.
Our movement towards this again is positive from Biden's first day in office. When he signed an executive order bolstering protections for LGBTQIA+ people from workplace discrimination, it was a good start on the Social Justice front. But, more--much, much more--needs to be done.
Get those kids out of cages. Abolish ICE. Improve nation-wide police accountability. And while you're at it, tell the Nazis and Confederate-wannabes to fuck off somehow.
4) Improved National Cyber Security
The Mueller Report uncovered that Russia had indeed attempted to influence the 2016 election that gave Trump his victory. Additionally, Robert Mueller uncovered evidence that this was far from a one-time thing. In his own words, Mueller said, when the Congress grilled him, "They're doing it as we speak."
And he was right.
In the waning days of Trump's presidency, there was a massive cyber attack at the Pentagon that Russia carried out. What was the now-Former President's reaction to it? He pushed the blame off on China, despite knowing full well that Russia did it.
National Boarder no longer are a matter of Geography. With the new frontier of the Internet, which is younger than a lot of Millennials, we have to start taking the issue of Cyber security even more seriously. We need to invest, perhaps, in a new federal agency to bolster America's National Cyber infrastructure. We need coders and white-hat hackers who can keep information of a national security interest safe from foreign powers who might well try to use it to influence our national and international policies. Possibly, this also means we need to consider imposing regulations on Big Tech companies, demanding that their products, particularly regarding software, adhere to certain innate security standards.
The cyber world is part of the true new normal, and we need to take it more seriously.
5) Global Matters
Beneath this banner, I'd put both our International Relationships with our Allies, the major issue of Climate Change, and let's throw in the unified human front against COVID-19 here as well for good measure. Trump and his enablers pulled the United States out of so many Global Organizations and Global Agreements, it seems like they were going for some kind of record.
We must prioritize reestablishing our NATO partnerships and bring those diplomatic relationships back to what they once were. The whole point of that organization was to prevent a Global Nuclear Conflict, and WE started it. We must rebuild.
We've already made great strides on the international front though. On his first day in office, Joe Biden signed a flurry of Executive Orders. Among them, three were of consequential note in this domain: we rejoined the World Health Organization, we rejoined the Paris Climate Accords, and the Keystone Pipeline has, finally, been canceled. It's a good start, but it's not enough.
We must begin to move the country towards an economically viable means sustaining our planet. Maybe that means giving a tax credit to Car Manufacturers like Ford, GM, and Chrysler to encourage them to invest more into hybrid technology, or better yet, electronic car technology. Perhaps we should encourage other energy companies to invest in clean or renewable energy methods, like solar and wind, and put research into making them both profitable and sustainable. More importantly, we should encourage the manufacturing of such produces on the domestic front rather than trading with other countries to bring jobs back to America.
The point is, we need to consider implementing the Green New Deal into some form here at home because the future of the American people depends on it.
I'm not sure how much of this intimidating agenda you'll be able to get done in two years, but I urge you, Democrats, to move forward with as much of it as possible. The far-right and the Republicans will do everything in their power to flip the Senate and the House to derail this agenda over the next two years. So, you must get as much of this done as you possibly can. The logistics are up to you; that's why we put you there. But, you have to get some of it done. I'm not sure how much longer the US, and the World, can go without these changes.
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