Biden / Harris Focused Discussion

[Felya]

AOC's campaign is ONLY small donor funded, ie. you send direct donations or donate through buying merch. Joe Biden's campaign has corporate donors, he doesn't need to schlock merch. And I'm sorry but "inaugural merch" is fucking weird, why are we giving money to a guy we just elected who just won? What is he fundraising for, what is he going to do with the money?

No, the fact that AOC isn’t running and generating funds, which you approve... but, Biden doing the same is bad... kinda means something.

The money is going to DNC, to support democrat candidates, like AOC... :\

Fucking reactionaries... the second largest donor to AOC is a small donor called Alphabet:

https://www.opensecrets.org/members-...le=2020&type=C

[Masark]

Would really love to hear the reasoning from someone blaming dems given that they passed the 2k bill in the house. They passed it, but somehow are to blame for it not passing?

Failure to go Simpsons Mr. Smith on McConnell?

[Cthulhu 2020]

AOC's campaign is ONLY small donor funded, ie. you send direct donations or donate through buying merch. Joe Biden's campaign has corporate donors, he doesn't need to schlock merch. And I'm sorry but "inaugural merch" is fucking weird, why are we giving money to a guy we just elected who just won? What is he fundraising for, what is he going to do with the money?

If you don't want to give him money then don't. That's the beauty of merch, you buy it if you want it, and you don't if you don't. Simple.

[Omega10]

The next two years, here is my wish list for democrats in general and Biden and Harris specifically.

First of all, Harris should be groomed to become the next President. With her breaking a lot of ties in the Senate, she will have lots of chances to show off her leadership capabilities. I dream of a Harris / Abrams ticket

Democrats really need to keep an eye out for the 2022 and 2024 elections. This is a MUST.

Obviously the first thing to do would be to get a $2k stimulus bill passed (for a total of $2600, not just an additional $1400).

Secondly, getting the vaccine stuff taken care of, making masks cool, and shaming people that go maskless and do not social distance will take up a LOT of their time. There is a good chance of more stimulus checks being needed, especially since the virus is expected to get MUCH worse between now and April. WITH LUCK the vaccines will start leveling off cases and deaths at a really high level in about April before the virus slowly at first starts to taper off.

This means that the US is in for a REALLY REALLY rough winter and spring. And this means having speeches in January and February preparing the country for these expected realities.

Replace Trump's corrupted appointees with people that are just plain competent. That is already set to happen. Everyone will get confirmed now that democrats have that 51st vote in Harris.

None of this should upset the Senator from West Virginia, so all of this should be very doable. Even additional stimulus checks should pass.

Undoing the worst of the Trump EOs should be done, but not necessarily all at once on day 1. This can be phased in enough time for agencies to adjust to changing the rules back. Getting it right the first or second time is better than getting it all done at once.

He has to do at last one good significant lefty thing. Student debt forgiveness would be one possibility. With a 50-50 split and the West Virginian Senator being a big obstacle, this is about all that will be able to be passed until after 2022.

*** ON A PRACTICAL NOTE *** Implementing, say the public option, will require a lot of work, and will be rough even in the absence of the virus. With the virus, it may not be very possible to make this happen. Failing miserably at such a high profile event would be really really bad.

BLM issues need to be addressed in some way. The messaging may be bad, but defunding cops that kill blacks just for giggles (which basically means firing them) is just one of many tools to be used, and is already happening a little. BLM ended up getting crushed by events - for one protesting while a virus is raging just does not work - but they need to have some progress made. Especially since black turnout is why Biden is President, and why democrats have control of the Senate.

Biden and Harris need to spend a LOT of time in Georgia in 2022 to make sure Abrams wins the governor race in Georgia with as much margin of victory as possible. This would be the Abrams Celebration Race. She has earned it.

With the virus expected to rage pretty much all year, a lot of stuff that would normally be no brainers become not practical to pull off. So build up for a 2023 roll out. I hate delaying these things further, but under the circumstances I think this is the best way forward.

[Belize]

We should also hope for "Add 2 stars to the American Flag" to get done, however much of a longshot that is.

[jonnysensible]

We should also hope for "Add 2 stars to the American Flag" to get done, however much of a longshot that is.

shoudlnt the us virgin islands get a senator too?

[Belize]

shoudlnt the us virgin islands get a senator too?

I don't believe Virgin Islands + other islands have enough population to become a state

[infinitemeridian]

So if the Dems control every lever of power in the government, are they going to act on this opportunity to face down the intense crisis facing this country and the world?

Even forgetting COVID, this was going to be the case anyways - we have to contend with severe economic disparities, criminal justice / gun control reform, climate change, health care, etc.

If the Dems can't buckle down and pass
-M4A
-Green New Deal
-Severe tax increases on the wealthy and corporations
-College Loan forgiveness
-De-escalation of US military presence around the world
-Rent Freeze
-More than just $2000 for covid relief
-pack the courts
-DC / PR statehood

If they can't get any of these or a handful done when they have NO EXCUSE this time, then they are going to lose a generation of voters, not to mention set this country (and the world) back even further than just four years.

The time to act is now. So many of them pay lip service to their progressive bona fides, but now is the time to put their money where their mouths are. Things are ONLY going to get worse for them from here on out. They will not get an opportunity like this again for another 8-12 years, which are 8-12 years we CANNOT lose to hand-wringing about Trump, means-testing, or introducing more austerity measures.

[Vegas82]

I don't believe Virgin Islands + other islands have enough population to become a state

I don't think there's a population requirement to become a state.

[jonnysensible]

I don't believe Virgin Islands + other islands have enough population to become a state

i think its like 60000 people without representation iirc

[Belize]

I don't think there's a population requirement to become a state.

There isn't, but there's been a general consensus over the years that population under the smallest current state would be DOA if voted in for statehood.

PR has 3+ million and DC has damn near 700K. U.S. Virgin Islands + Guam + Northern Mariana + whatever other outlying islands have barely 350K and they're all so far apart that you can't really lump them all into one "State".

You could lump Virgin Islands with PR, but then you cut 1/3 of the population from the second block.

[IamTheJesusMonk]

If the Dems can't buckle down and pass
-M4A
-Green New Deal
-Severe tax increases on the wealthy and corporations
-College Loan forgiveness
-De-escalation of US military presence around the world
-Rent Freeze
-More than just $2000 for covid relief
-pack the courts
-DC / PR statehood

If Democrats can hold control of Congress through Biden's entire tenure (be it 1 or 2 terms) then this is all a very good possibility. With only a guaranteed 2 years of control, all of that is going to be tough.

-Rent Freeze, real COVID relief, and DC/PR statehood I'd say are almost guaranteed to happen.
-College loan forgiveness will largely depend on where Warren ends up (as she's been the most vocal supporter of this). If she gets a cabinet position or even Senate Majority Leader, she will be able to push harder for this.
-Severe tax increases on the wealthy and corporations is not likely to happen. Trump's $1.5T tax cuts for the rich will almost likely be rolled back, and some small additional tax increases on the wealthy will accompany that, but it will not be anywhere near as severe as it needs to be.
-M4A is sadly not going to happen. Biden just wants to expand Obamacare and go with the "public option". It's better than nothing (aka the Republican plan), but still a far cry from what we truly need.
-Biden's version of the Green New Deal is going to take some debating and modifying but has a good chance in passing, at least in part.
-I don't think we'll see any significant de-escalation of US military presence. The Dems love that just as much as the Republicans
-Biden has been pretty slippery at committing to packing the courts. My hope is that his silence is just to not give his opponents any ammo and he fully plans to re-balance our courts...but I'm also not holding my breath on this one because procedurally this is going to be the toughest sell of them all.

2 things you didn't mention that I think are also extremely high priority items: passing HR1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Those will both go a long way into fixing some of the fundamental flaws in our system. If those are not passed (or other bills similar to them) then this current Democrat win will mean literally nothing.

[Shadowferal]

If Democrats can hold control of Congress through Biden's entire tenure (be it 1 or 2 terms) then this is all a very good possibility. With only a guaranteed 2 years of control, all of that is going to be tough. .

If you don't keep the bar low you'll be disappointed. The moderates are running things.

[infinitemeridian]

If Democrats can hold control of Congress through Biden's entire tenure (be it 1 or 2 terms) then this is all a very good possibility. With only a guaranteed 2 years of control, all of that is going to be tough.

-Rent Freeze, real COVID relief, and DC/PR statehood I'd say are almost guaranteed to happen.
-College loan forgiveness will largely depend on where Warren ends up (as she's been the most vocal supporter of this). If she gets a cabinet position or even Senate Majority Leader, she will be able to push harder for this.
-Severe tax increases on the wealthy and corporations is not likely to happen. Trump's $1.5T tax cuts for the rich will almost likely be rolled back, and some small additional tax increases on the wealthy will accompany that, but it will not be anywhere near as severe as it needs to be.
-M4A is sadly not going to happen. Biden just wants to expand Obamacare and go with the "public option". It's better than nothing (aka the Republican plan), but still a far cry from what we truly need.
-Biden's version of the Green New Deal is going to take some debating and modifying but has a good chance in passing, at least in part.
-I don't think we'll see any significant de-escalation of US military presence. The Dems love that just as much as the Republicans
-Biden has been pretty slippery at committing to packing the courts. My hope is that his silence is just to not give his opponents any ammo and he fully plans to re-balance our courts...but I'm also not holding my breath on this one because procedurally this is going to be the toughest sell of them all.

2 things you didn't mention that I think are also extremely high priority items: passing HR1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Those will both go a long way into fixing some of the fundamental flaws in our system. If those are not passed (or other bills similar to them) then this current Democrat win will mean literally nothing.

I recognize that all of the above proposals are pretty sweeping - I'd be happy with even one of them getting passed, but I'm just not confident the party as it is right now can look beyond anything Trump related or making large sweeping changes that aren't boggled down by wonkery in such a way that they are rendered completely watered down from their original goal or making concessions to republicans that don't need to happen.

[Omega10]

So if the Dems control every lever of power in the government, are they going to act on this opportunity to face down the intense crisis facing this country and the world?

Even forgetting COVID, this was going to be the case anyways - we have to contend with severe economic disparities, criminal justice / gun control reform, climate change, health care, etc.

If the Dems can't buckle down and pass
-M4A
-Green New Deal
-Severe tax increases on the wealthy and corporations
-College Loan forgiveness
-De-escalation of US military presence around the world
-Rent Freeze
-More than just $2000 for covid relief
-pack the courts
-DC / PR statehood

If they can't get any of these or a handful done when they have NO EXCUSE this time, then they are going to lose a generation of voters, not to mention set this country (and the world) back even further than just four years.

The time to act is now. So many of them pay lip service to their progressive bona fides, but now is the time to put their money where their mouths are. Things are ONLY going to get worse for them from here on out. They will not get an opportunity like this again for another 8-12 years, which are 8-12 years we CANNOT lose to hand-wringing about Trump, means-testing, or introducing more austerity measures.

In order of priority:

More than just $2k for covid relief. I am thinking $2k relief packages in early February, April, June, and September. The virus will be raging at least that long, and people will need the money for just flat out survival.

Severe tax increases on the wealthy and corporations: As soon as republicans complain about a relief package being unaffordable (who's going to pay for it), roll out what Biden campaigned on: cancelling the Trump tax cuts for people making over $400k. This would likely happen in February.

Student Loan forgiveness: He already talked about doing this in his campaign. Absolute minimum is $10k relief, but $30-$50k relief would be preferable. This needs to be paired up with an investigation into how to reduce the cost of college in general, as has been discussed in other threads. Free 2 year college throughout the country might be sufficient.

Green New Deal - coordinate with AOC. She screams about Green New Deal in say May. In June and July Biden FORCEFULLY and BRAVELY stands up to her and shows who is in command - and then uses executive orders and bills to make modest moves in the direction of the Green New Deal

On a practical note, Biden can make a lot of progress on the Green New Deal by reversing a lot of the executive orders that Trump put into place and enforcing existing laws. Cleaning up super fund sites would be a part of this. "Advising" federal agencies to use green energies for federal contracts would also be quite helpful. There is a lot that can be done here with our existing but intentionally decayed infrastructure, and in fact these kinds of changes are really what needs to happen anyways.

By infrastructure I mean a lot more than our highway and mass transit systems. This includes all the environmental regulatory agencies that have been stripped of most of their powers. This includes actively searching out places where companies are massively polluting our waterways and land areas and completely getting away with it.

M4A - coordinate with Bernie. He screams about M4A in say September. In October and November Biden FORCEFULLY and BRAVELY stands up to him and shows who is in command - and then works to get the public option going, works to reestablish government negotiating for lower drug prices, etc.

On a practical note, I would recommend doing Green New Deal in smaller chunks, with the big effort towards improving our health care system. Many many small wins moving towards a Green New Deal and a medium sized win moving towards M4A would be nice.

De-escalation of our military around the world - this is very ambitious. I would love to see it happen. If we keep sending bombs to other countries while China is sending food and industrial supplies, then China will crush us on the world stage. This is already starting to happen.

So much of our infrastructure is broken beyond belief that the first steps towards accomplishing just about anything would be to evaluate what we have and fix what is easily fixable. The good news is that would be quite a big list, and the real problem would be turning these accomplishments into PR bonanzas that democrats get credit for fixing rather than getting blamed for just throwing money down a rabbit hole.

Doing good work is important. So is selling it and advertising what was done (and explaining why it was not done in the past).

[UnifiedDivide]

The new administration is going to be spending a lot of time just cleaning things up, never mind whatever shopping lists you guys come up with.

[infinitemeridian]

The new administration is going to be spending a lot of time just cleaning things up, never mind whatever shopping lists you guys come up with.

It cannot be just that because that's how every administration is going to be.

[UnifiedDivide]

It cannot be just that because that's how every administration is going to be.

I'm not saying that's all it will be for 4 years, just that they're going to be cleaning things up for a good while. I'd argue that the cleanup after Trump is going to be a bit bigger compared to other presidents, personally.

[Edge-]

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden...8af3167b253481

Garland likely to be the AG nominee.

[Shadowferal]

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden...8af3167b253481
Garland likely to be the AG nominee.

Unless some of the dems have an issue, then he's the new AG.