If Biden wins, what should his priorities be?

[Monkey Uncle]

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Biden wins the presidential election, and the Democrats take a slim majority in the Senate and hold their majority in the House.  Let's further assume that, consistent with historical precedent, the Democrats will be vulnerable to losing their Senate majority in the 2022 mid-terms.  What should their priorities be?  Here's what I think.

Highest priorities (require passage of legislation and therefore a Senate majority).  Listed in no particular order, but numbered for the sake of convenience.

1. Structural reforms to stop the Republicans from using dirty tricks to hold onto and consolidate power, even though they represent a minority of Americans.
A. Eliminate the filibuster (necessary for passing any non-appropriation-related legislation).
B. Outlaw gerrymandering.
C. Neutralize the Electoral College.  May not be possible to do this in a way that passes constitutional muster, but worth a try.
D. Impose term limits on Supreme Court justices and federal judges. (I think packing the Supreme Court is a bad idea that would create too much voter backlash.)
E. Mandate that the Senate take an up-or-down vote on all presidential nominees (judicial and executive branch) within 45 days of their nomination.
F. Legislatively overturn the Supreme Court decision that declared corporations to be people and money to be speech.  Then pass campaign finance reform.

2. Fix health care.  The current Biden plan to shore up the ACA is probably the most practical way.  Regardless of the merits, I don't think a full-on government takeover has enough voter support.

3. Address climate change, with the goal of making the economy carbon-neutral no later than 2050.  The current Biden plan is probably a good start.

4. Repeal the Bush/Trump tax cuts for the wealthy.

5. Fix Social Security and Medicare by taxing all earned income and reducing benefits for high earners.

6. Fill all vacancies in the federal judiciary promptly.

7. Fill all sub-cabinet level vacancies promptly.  The 'deputy undersecretaries of whatever' are the ones who do the real work of steering the bureaucracy in the direction of the president's policies.

Important priorities, but not quite as urgent because they don't require a Senate majority

8. Re-join the Paris Climate Accord.

9. Attempt to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.

10. Un-do all of the Trump administration's bad regulatory actions, with particular emphasis on restoring all of the environmental regulations that they gutted.

That's what I've got off the top of my head.  What did I miss?

[bacchi]

Make the FDA more resistant to Presidential influence.

There's some DOJ restructuring that needs to be done. While it's an executive department, it gives too much power to the President.

[Linea_Norway]

Focus on climate by minimizing America's big carbon footprint and stimulating green technology. The rest of the world will be greatful.
Making a reasonable level of healthcare affordable for everyone.
Making a good efford to stop the violence that is building up in the US. Not sure what the best method is to stop this.
Stop dicrimination of the blacks by the police force (those officers that do this, but maybe it is ingrained in the system in general).
Forbid wapons in schools and universities.
Limit google/facebook/amazon and the likes in logging and storing so much data about every user in the world.

Indeed, limit the president's influence.

[Monkey Uncle]

Make the FDA more resistant to Presidential influence.

There's some DOJ restructuring that needs to be done. While it's an executive department, it gives too much power to the President.

Yes, the Bill Barr DOJ is downright frightening.

[Monkey Uncle]

And how could I forget - fixing the immigration policy mess.  This would need to be done legislatively to be most effective and to minimize the amount of un-doing that the next Republican administration could do.  And to have the support of the public, it would need to be something short of the open borders policy that some on the left advocate.

[ctuser1]

High level (in order of priority):
1. Restore democracy (many great ideas posted above).
2. Reform Supreme Court. This will mostly be driven by what is feasible. Jurisdiction stripping to eliminate the possibility of legislating from the bench (can the legislature eliminate the "originalist" bs without touching the "textual" legal philosophy?!!). Any other reform as it is feasible.
3. Immigration. Increase legal immigration to at least Canada levels (if not AUS) to meet economic needs and index immigration levels to economic needs as determined by data and with zero political inputs. At the same time, eliminate illegal immigration by streamlining e-verify and other measures that the non-xenophobic right-wing advocate. Basically, make it simple for a Mexican/Chinese/Indian teenager to immigrate legally, while increasing the penalty for trying to do so illegally - changing the cost benefit equation.

Everything else will follow from restoring democracy and demographic viability of the country.

[GuitarStv]

He should appoint as many good people into advisory positions as he can, and then listen to whatever the hell they tell him to do.

[Fishindude]

Term limits for all elected officials.
An age limit for supreme court judges, 75ish.
Hold elected officials to the same insider trading regs as private business people.
Reduce federal spending or simply freeze the federal budget.
Extend Trumps tax cuts and take them further.
Donate his entire salary to a good cause.
Open up opportunity for more nuke power plants.

[OzzieandHarriet]

No pardons for the current gang in charge.

[sui generis]

I agree with OP generally and like the order - it needs to be structural stuff first, then substantive stuff.

I'd add open the doors to statehood for DC and Puerto Rico ASAP, just for moral reasons, not primarily because it could correct rural bias/partisan bias in the Senate.  In fact, I think it's unfair and not smart to assume Puerto Rico would be a democratic stronghold in perpetuity (or anywhere really, but there's some evidence that some Latinx populations are increasingly conservative over time/generations).

[Monkey Uncle]

I agree with OP generally and like the order - it needs to be structural stuff first, then substantive stuff.

I'd add open the doors to statehood for DC and Puerto Rico ASAP, just for moral reasons, not primarily because it could correct rural bias/partisan bias in the Senate.  In fact, I think it's unfair and not smart to assume Puerto Rico would be a democratic stronghold in perpetuity (or anywhere really, but there's some evidence that some Latinx populations are increasingly conservative over time/generations).

I agree that Puerto Rico should be offered statehood (if they want it).  Three million US citizens live there, which is more than the populations of 17 existing states.  It is the right thing to do.

I disagree with DC statehood, however.  It is one medium-sized city (a little over 700k people).  I think a better plan for DC is to shrink it to just the core of the city where all the government buildings, parks, and monuments are located.  Then give the rest of it (where all the people live) back to Maryland.  That way the citizens have some representation in the federal government.

[MilesTeg]

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Biden wins the presidential election, and the Democrats take a slim majority in the Senate and hold their majority in the House.  Let's further assume that, consistent with historical precedent, the Democrats will be vulnerable to losing their Senate majority in the 2022 mid-terms.  What should their priorities be?  Here's what I think.

Highest priorities (require passage of legislation and therefore a Senate majority).  Listed in no particular order, but numbered for the sake of convenience.

1. Structural reforms to stop the Republicans from using dirty tricks to hold onto and consolidate power, even though they represent a minority of Americans.
A. Eliminate the filibuster (necessary for passing any non-appropriation-related legislation).
B. Outlaw gerrymandering.
C. Neutralize the Electoral College.  May not be possible to do this in a way that passes constitutional muster, but worth a try.
D. Impose term limits on Supreme Court justices and federal judges. (I think packing the Supreme Court is a bad idea that would create too much voter backlash.)
E. Mandate that the Senate take an up-or-down vote on all presidential nominees (judicial and executive branch) within 45 days of their nomination.
F. Legislatively overturn the Supreme Court decision that declared corporations to be people and money to be speech.  Then pass campaign finance reform.

2. Fix health care.  The current Biden plan to shore up the ACA is probably the most practical way.  Regardless of the merits, I don't think a full-on government takeover has enough voter support.

3. Address climate change, with the goal of making the economy carbon-neutral no later than 2050.  The current Biden plan is probably a good start.

4. Repeal the Bush/Trump tax cuts for the wealthy.

5. Fix Social Security and Medicare by taxing all earned income and reducing benefits for high earners.

6. Fill all vacancies in the federal judiciary promptly.

7. Fill all sub-cabinet level vacancies promptly.  The 'deputy undersecretaries of whatever' are the ones who do the real work of steering the bureaucracy in the direction of the president's policies.

Important priorities, but not quite as urgent because they don't require a Senate majority

8. Re-join the Paris Climate Accord.

9. Attempt to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.

10. Un-do all of the Trump administration's bad regulatory actions, with particular emphasis on restoring all of the environmental regulations that they gutted.

That's what I've got off the top of my head.  What did I miss?

#1 Priority: Fully restore and extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965. States making changes to their voting laws and procedures that are designed to suppress votes should be something that the federal government investigates and prosecutes with vigor.

Looking at you Texas and Ohio (but they aren't the only ones)

[sui generis]

I agree with OP generally and like the order - it needs to be structural stuff first, then substantive stuff.

I'd add open the doors to statehood for DC and Puerto Rico ASAP, just for moral reasons, not primarily because it could correct rural bias/partisan bias in the Senate.  In fact, I think it's unfair and not smart to assume Puerto Rico would be a democratic stronghold in perpetuity (or anywhere really, but there's some evidence that some Latinx populations are increasingly conservative over time/generations).

I agree that Puerto Rico should be offered statehood (if they want it).  Three million US citizens live there, which is more than the populations of 17 existing states.  It is the right thing to do.

I disagree with DC statehood, however.  It is one medium-sized city (a little over 700k people).  I think a better plan for DC is to shrink it to just the core of the city where all the government buildings, parks, and monuments are located.  Then give the rest of it (where all the people live) back to Maryland.  That way the citizens have some representation in the federal government.

I'm not opposed to exploring any ideas for representation for the people that live in DC. But why does the land mass matter? It's people that are getting representation, not acreage. And DC is bigger than Wyoming and on par with Alaska.

And couldn't agree more on the voting rights act.

[Monkey Uncle]

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Biden wins the presidential election, and the Democrats take a slim majority in the Senate and hold their majority in the House.  Let's further assume that, consistent with historical precedent, the Democrats will be vulnerable to losing their Senate majority in the 2022 mid-terms.  What should their priorities be?  Here's what I think.

Highest priorities (require passage of legislation and therefore a Senate majority).  Listed in no particular order, but numbered for the sake of convenience.

1. Structural reforms to stop the Republicans from using dirty tricks to hold onto and consolidate power, even though they represent a minority of Americans.
A. Eliminate the filibuster (necessary for passing any non-appropriation-related legislation).
B. Outlaw gerrymandering.
C. Neutralize the Electoral College.  May not be possible to do this in a way that passes constitutional muster, but worth a try.
D. Impose term limits on Supreme Court justices and federal judges. (I think packing the Supreme Court is a bad idea that would create too much voter backlash.)
E. Mandate that the Senate take an up-or-down vote on all presidential nominees (judicial and executive branch) within 45 days of their nomination.
F. Legislatively overturn the Supreme Court decision that declared corporations to be people and money to be speech.  Then pass campaign finance reform.

2. Fix health care.  The current Biden plan to shore up the ACA is probably the most practical way.  Regardless of the merits, I don't think a full-on government takeover has enough voter support.

3. Address climate change, with the goal of making the economy carbon-neutral no later than 2050.  The current Biden plan is probably a good start.

4. Repeal the Bush/Trump tax cuts for the wealthy.

5. Fix Social Security and Medicare by taxing all earned income and reducing benefits for high earners.

6. Fill all vacancies in the federal judiciary promptly.

7. Fill all sub-cabinet level vacancies promptly.  The 'deputy undersecretaries of whatever' are the ones who do the real work of steering the bureaucracy in the direction of the president's policies.

Important priorities, but not quite as urgent because they don't require a Senate majority

8. Re-join the Paris Climate Accord.

9. Attempt to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.

10. Un-do all of the Trump administration's bad regulatory actions, with particular emphasis on restoring all of the environmental regulations that they gutted.

That's what I've got off the top of my head.  What did I miss?

#1 Priority: Fully restore and extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965. States making changes to their voting laws and procedures that are designed to suppress votes should be something that the federal government investigates and prosecutes with vigor.

Looking at you Texas and Ohio (but they aren't the only ones)

Yes, that's a good one.

[Monkey Uncle]

I agree with OP generally and like the order - it needs to be structural stuff first, then substantive stuff.

I'd add open the doors to statehood for DC and Puerto Rico ASAP, just for moral reasons, not primarily because it could correct rural bias/partisan bias in the Senate.  In fact, I think it's unfair and not smart to assume Puerto Rico would be a democratic stronghold in perpetuity (or anywhere really, but there's some evidence that some Latinx populations are increasingly conservative over time/generations).

I agree that Puerto Rico should be offered statehood (if they want it).  Three million US citizens live there, which is more than the populations of 17 existing states.  It is the right thing to do.

I disagree with DC statehood, however.  It is one medium-sized city (a little over 700k people).  I think a better plan for DC is to shrink it to just the core of the city where all the government buildings, parks, and monuments are located.  Then give the rest of it (where all the people live) back to Maryland.  That way the citizens have some representation in the federal government.

I'm not opposed to exploring any ideas for representation for the people that live in DC. But why does the land mass matter? It's people that are getting representation, not acreage. And DC is bigger than Wyoming and on par with Alaska.

And couldn't agree more on the voting rights act.

DC used to be part of Maryland.  I think it makes more sense just to give it back, rather than creating yet another micro-population state that gets two Senators.  It probably would also be viewed by the Republicans as less of a political middle finger.  I'd like to see us resolve injustices without resorting to more political escalations. 

If I were king for a day and could do anything I want, I'd demote Alaska back to territory status; combine Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho into one state; merge Utah into either Arizona or Colorado; combine the Dakotas; combine Kansas and Nebraska; combine Arkansas and Louisiana; merge West Virginia back into Virginia; combine Delaware with Maryland; combine Rhode Island and Connecticut; and combine Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine into one state.  But that's just pure fantasy.

[bacchi]

There's some talk about an infrastructure plan being implemented. It's long overdue and hopefully will be done in conjunction with addressing climate change.

[LetItGrow]

I agree with OP generally and like the order - it needs to be structural stuff first, then substantive stuff.

I'd add open the doors to statehood for DC and Puerto Rico ASAP, just for moral reasons, not primarily because it could correct rural bias/partisan bias in the Senate.  In fact, I think it's unfair and not smart to assume Puerto Rico would be a democratic stronghold in perpetuity (or anywhere really, but there's some evidence that some Latinx populations are increasingly conservative over time/generations).

I agree that Puerto Rico should be offered statehood (if they want it).  Three million US citizens live there, which is more than the populations of 17 existing states.  It is the right thing to do.

I disagree with DC statehood, however.  It is one medium-sized city (a little over 700k people).  I think a better plan for DC is to shrink it to just the core of the city where all the government buildings, parks, and monuments are located.  Then give the rest of it (where all the people live) back to Maryland.  That way the citizens have some representation in the federal government.

I'm not opposed to exploring any ideas for representation for the people that live in DC. But why does the land mass matter? It's people that are getting representation, not acreage. And DC is bigger than Wyoming and on par with Alaska.

And couldn't agree more on the voting rights act.

DC used to be part of Maryland.  I think it makes more sense just to give it back, rather than creating yet another micro-population state that gets two Senators.  It probably would also be viewed by the Republicans as less of a political middle finger.  I'd like to see us resolve injustices without resorting to more political escalations. 

If I were king for a day and could do anything I want, I'd demote Alaska back to territory status; combine Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho into one state; merge Utah into either Arizona or Colorado; combine the Dakotas; combine Kansas and Nebraska; combine Arkansas and Louisiana; merge West Virginia back into Virginia; combine Delaware with Maryland; combine Rhode Island and Connecticut; and combine Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine into one state.  But that's just pure fantasy.

Shhhh, this type of logic will not be tolerated.  What about splitting California?  Does that make any sense in your kingdom? I don’t think so. I do like your general concept. If you are pretty similar to your neighbor merge together. Prob need a whole new thread for the naming nominations though.

[Monkey Uncle]

I agree with OP generally and like the order - it needs to be structural stuff first, then substantive stuff.

I'd add open the doors to statehood for DC and Puerto Rico ASAP, just for moral reasons, not primarily because it could correct rural bias/partisan bias in the Senate.  In fact, I think it's unfair and not smart to assume Puerto Rico would be a democratic stronghold in perpetuity (or anywhere really, but there's some evidence that some Latinx populations are increasingly conservative over time/generations).

I agree that Puerto Rico should be offered statehood (if they want it).  Three million US citizens live there, which is more than the populations of 17 existing states.  It is the right thing to do.

I disagree with DC statehood, however.  It is one medium-sized city (a little over 700k people).  I think a better plan for DC is to shrink it to just the core of the city where all the government buildings, parks, and monuments are located.  Then give the rest of it (where all the people live) back to Maryland.  That way the citizens have some representation in the federal government.

I'm not opposed to exploring any ideas for representation for the people that live in DC. But why does the land mass matter? It's people that are getting representation, not acreage. And DC is bigger than Wyoming and on par with Alaska.

And couldn't agree more on the voting rights act.

DC used to be part of Maryland.  I think it makes more sense just to give it back, rather than creating yet another micro-population state that gets two Senators.  It probably would also be viewed by the Republicans as less of a political middle finger.  I'd like to see us resolve injustices without resorting to more political escalations. 

If I were king for a day and could do anything I want, I'd demote Alaska back to territory status; combine Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho into one state; merge Utah into either Arizona or Colorado; combine the Dakotas; combine Kansas and Nebraska; combine Arkansas and Louisiana; merge West Virginia back into Virginia; combine Delaware with Maryland; combine Rhode Island and Connecticut; and combine Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine into one state.  But that's just pure fantasy.

Shhhh, this type of logic will not be tolerated.  What about splitting California?  Does that make any sense in your kingdom? I don’t think so. I do like your general concept. If you are pretty similar to your neighbor merge together. Prob need a whole new thread for the naming nominations though.

Of course the simpler way to deal with this problem is just to get rid of the Senate so that all these micro-states and thinly populated states stop wielding political power that is way out of proportion to their populations.  The Senate made sense in 1789 when the US was a collection of quasi-independent states formed from colonies that had been mostly going their separate ways for almost 200 years.  But it ceased to make sense the moment westward expansion started adding new states, and it really didn't make any sense once the Civil War settled the state sovereignty vs. federal primacy question.

But that's seriously way off-topic, fantasyland stuff.

[LennStar]

He should appoint as many good people into advisory positions as he can, and then listen to whatever the hell they tell him to do.

So you want him having an "accident" half a year into office? ;)

[Travis]

Filling his cabinet and other SES positions with Senate-approved personnel who aren't incompetent sycophants as soon as possible would be a nice start.  Some election reforms would be appreciated to keep this summer's mess from becoming the new standard.  Trump and his team made an art form out of small-scale violations of the law (Pompeo blatantly using his position for campaigning being a big one) and I'm not sure what the solution is since neither Congress nor the Court are reliable checks on those actions.  Government should be in the business of encouraging fair elections that aren't a burden on the voter rather than finding excuses for making it more difficult, or outright unapologetically attempting fraud.  I'd love to see infrastructure investments in our power and water systems, but realistically he's going to spend most of his term putting the country back together with regards to COVID. Economic relief is going to cost trillions, and it's going to take time for businesses to recover, rebuild, or start back up assuming we have a vaccine implemented in the not too-distant future.

[GuitarStv]

He should appoint as many good people into advisory positions as he can, and then listen to whatever the hell they tell him to do.

So you want him having an "accident" half a year into office? ;)

No, not at all.

But we have to be honest about electing a geriatric president.  Studies have shown that 40-50% of the people in Biden's age group suffer from cognitive decline (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK316202/#:~:text=Similarly%2C%20a%209%2Dyear%20study,in%20delayed%20recall%2C%20and%2021).  It's very likely that his judgement will be impaired during his time in office.  As long as he has people who can keep government running properly while he has lost it, this isn't an issue.  Regan did just fine in office while showing the early onset of dementia during his second term.

[JGS1980]

How about increasing the federal minimum wage to $15/hr for the HCOL states, and perhaps $12 for LCOL states by some formula, and then pegging it to inflation. I would also eliminate the server $2.13/hour exemption and increase that to $12 forever more.  If a business can only survive by paying it's employees peanuts, then the business should not survive.

Puerto Rico should be a state. Consider US Virgin Islands as well. Colonialism was a long time ago and we've hopefully learned better.  If Rhode Island and Wyoming can be a state, than DC should be a state too.

Big shout out for police and justice reform nationwide. Tricky subject though.

[bacchi]

Yes, minimum wage should be increased.

The government already sets per diem for each city/MSA. It can set a minimum wage the same way based on cost of living.

[Bloop Bloop]

Legalise abortion absolutely and institute heavy incentives (say coverage of all medical bills, all time off work and all counselling for a year) for women to have abortions.

Promote stem cell research as much as possible.

Don't really care about all the other stuff.

Realise that none of the above will ever happen in the States.

[Abe]

I second the replacing untrained idiots with people who actually know how to run their organizations is a good start. Another step would be promoting renewable energy and battery technology as much as possible through a combination of continuing tax incentives for installation, stopping tariffs on imported solar panels, updating our infrastructure and reducing pointless regulations that utilities are using to heel-drag into the 21st century.

[RetiredAt63]

He has a lot of fence-mending to do with allies alienated by Trump.  What is his foreign policy?

[ketchup]

He has a lot of fence-mending to do with allies alienated by Trump.  What is his foreign policy?

I think right now his foreign policy is "Hi, I'm Joe Biden, not that other guy."  That's probably about 80% of what he needs to get started.

[Abe]

He has a lot of fence-mending to do with allies alienated by Trump.  What is his foreign policy?

From what he's saying (and US Presidents have a poor track record at keeping foreign policy plans, so take with a grain of salt)

1. Stay in the WHO and fund efforts to handle COVID.
2. Do nothing new on China because our economy can't afford it.
3. Rejoin the Paris agreement and try to slow down carbon emissions
4. Move away from justifying the use of nuclear weapons for retaliating against non-nuclear strikes and keep the New START treaty going.
5. Undo the mess Trump made with reneging on the Iran treaty and leaving Europe to clean it up.
6. Pull away from Saudi Arabia and petro-wars like the Yemen disaster (which his former boss kind of got us into, so we'll see).
7. Continue to muddle around in Afghanistan until it implodes, then abandon it.
8. Same for Iraq, Syria, etc.
9. Sigh and roll eyes when N Korea launches a new missile.

That's a pretty full plate. We haven't even gotten to Africa or the Americas yet. Honestly, if he has a foreign policy anything similar to the 11 presidents before Trump most countries would be happy.

[LennStar]

Get rid of the stupid zoning laws that cause so many problems.

[Monkey Uncle]

Get rid of the stupid zoning laws that cause so many problems.

What laws are you referring to?  In the US, zoning laws exist at the local level (city and county), not at the federal level.

[GuitarStv]

He has a lot of fence-mending to do with allies alienated by Trump.  What is his foreign policy?

I dunno, it's going to be difficult.  Trump was pretty big on building fences (that Mexico pays for).

[Greystache]

The most important thing is campaign finance reform. Nothing else will get fixed until this is fixed. As long as it is legal to bribe elected officials and there is no limit to the size of the bribe, our government will remain broken. The Citizens United court decision has done more to destroy democracy in the US than anything else in my lifetime.

[GuitarStv]

The most important thing is campaign finance reform. Nothing else will get fixed until this is fixed. As long as it is legal to bribe elected officials and there is no limit to the size of the bribe, our government will remain broken. The Citizens United court decision has done more to destroy democracy in the US than anything else in my lifetime.

There's pretty close to a zero percent chance of that being repealed in your lifetime with the current supreme court makeup.

[turketron]

I know it's probably something that needs to be implemented on the individual state level, but advocacy from the top down to pass Ranked Choice Voting would be great to see.

[sui generis]

The most important thing is campaign finance reform. Nothing else will get fixed until this is fixed. As long as it is legal to bribe elected officials and there is no limit to the size of the bribe, our government will remain broken. The Citizens United court decision has done more to destroy democracy in the US than anything else in my lifetime.

There's pretty close to a zero percent chance of that being repealed in your lifetime with the current supreme court makeup.

Theoretically a bill could be passed that strips jurisdiction. But unfortunately, I also believe there's about zero chance of that happening through basically any Congress.

[talltexan]

He has a lot of fence-mending to do with allies alienated by Trump.  What is his foreign policy?

From what he's saying (and US Presidents have a poor track record at keeping foreign policy plans, so take with a grain of salt)

1. Stay in the WHO and fund efforts to handle COVID.

Spoken by another head of state. You've GOT to get the virus under control.

[LennStar]

Get rid of the stupid zoning laws that cause so many problems.

What laws are you referring to?  In the US, zoning laws exist at the local level (city and county), not at the federal level.

That doesn't mean you can't do anything about it.

[Monkey Uncle]

Get rid of the stupid zoning laws that cause so many problems.

What laws are you referring to?  In the US, zoning laws exist at the local level (city and county), not at the federal level.

That doesn't mean you can't do anything about it.

Yes, but this is a thread about what Biden and a Democratic Congress should do if they get elected.  Presidents and Congress don't make local policy.

[Turkey Leg]

Years 1-2: undo the horrors of the current administration
Year 3: do whatever it takes to ensure that kind of power is never wielded again (I have no idea what that would entail.)
Year 4: campaign for Kamala

[WhiteTrashCash]

He'll be spending at least the first few months undoing every single executive order signed over the past four years. That will take a while because Trump has signed probably thousands of them.

[Monkey Uncle]

Years 1-2: undo the horrors of the current administration
Year 3: do whatever it takes to ensure that kind of power is never wielded again (I have no idea what that would entail.)
Year 4: campaign for Kamala

Year 3 may be too late for structural reforms.  If the Democrats do take the Senate, historical precedent says they are at risk of losing it in the 2022 mid-terms.

[wenchsenior]

Years 1-2: undo the horrors of the current administration
Year 3: do whatever it takes to ensure that kind of power is never wielded again (I have no idea what that would entail.)
Year 4: campaign for Kamala

Year 3 may be too late for structural reforms.  If the Democrats do take the Senate, historical precedent says they are at risk of losing it in the 2022 mid-terms.

Absolutely.  Dems will very likely only hold all three branches for 2 years, assuming they get that scenario.  Dems are almost always underdogs to win the Senate b/c of the way it is structured.  This year is actually super-favorable for the Dems because of what seats are up for re-election AND the current political landscape, and they still only have about a 70% chance of taking it (which is a considerable increase from earlier in year).

[Freedom2016]

Get rid of the stupid zoning laws that cause so many problems.

What laws are you referring to?  In the US, zoning laws exist at the local level (city and county), not at the federal level.

That doesn't mean you can't do anything about it.

Elaborate please. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Speaking as someone on the master planning steering committee of my town where it is OUR TOWN who decides on its zoning bylaws.

[LennStar]

Get rid of the stupid zoning laws that cause so many problems.

What laws are you referring to?  In the US, zoning laws exist at the local level (city and county), not at the federal level.

That doesn't mean you can't do anything about it.

Elaborate please. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Speaking as someone on the master planning steering committee of my town where it is OUR TOWN who decides on its zoning bylaws.

Instead of explaining I will point you to a bit of material.

First this video about good neighborhoods:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnKIVX968PQ (the others from the channel are also interesting about biking infrastructure)

and then those two posts about a compaison US/Japan:
https://urbankchoze.blogspot.com/2014/04/euclidian-zoning.html (you may know this stuff in your position though)
https://urbankchoze.blogspot.com/2014/04/japanese-zoning.html

[Laserjet3051]

#1. Bringing the nation together.

Ignoring the incremental polarization isnt going to work for much longer.

[Travis]

Get rid of the stupid zoning laws that cause so many problems.

What laws are you referring to?  In the US, zoning laws exist at the local level (city and county), not at the federal level.

That doesn't mean you can't do anything about it.

Elaborate please. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Speaking as someone on the master planning steering committee of my town where it is OUR TOWN who decides on its zoning bylaws.

Instead of explaining I will point you to a bit of material.

First this video about good neighborhoods:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnKIVX968PQ (the others from the channel are also interesting about biking infrastructure)

and then those two posts about a compaison US/Japan:
https://urbankchoze.blogspot.com/2014/04/euclidian-zoning.html (you may know this stuff in your position though)
https://urbankchoze.blogspot.com/2014/04/japanese-zoning.html

LennStar, it's unconstitutional for the federal government to tell local governments what to do with their land unless it violates other existing federal laws. The only times the federal government got involved was when certain state-level zoning laws were considered civil rights violations and went to the Supreme Court. 

The Hoover administration wrote a law in the 1920s that said "here's how you could do it." It was not a directive. Besides that, the President and Congress don't get involved.

[Loretta]

Early on, he needs to get the COVID craziness under control somehow.  If that means more states go into hardcore lockdown or more businesses become deemed "nonessential", then that will also take some $ to compensate the people who wouldn't be working. 

Somehow he needs to repair the division within the country of the haves and the have nots, Whites and non-Whites, etc. 

Here's hoping he wins and that he surrounds himself with brilliant people who already have a plan to do these things. 

[LennStar]

LennStar, it's unconstitutional for the federal government to tell local governments what to do

There are always several ways to do things.

For example in Germany the school system is state stuff. The schools themselves (buildings etc.) are city stuff. And still the federal government gives money for e.g. renovating.

I don't know the how in case of the US, but that is not my job, right? ;)

[NaN]

Absolutely.  Dems will very likely only hold all three branches for 2 years, assuming they get that scenario.  Dems are almost always underdogs to win the Senate b/c of the way it is structured.  This year is actually super-favorable for the Dems because of what seats are up for re-election AND the current political landscape, and they still only have about a 70% chance of taking it (which is a considerable increase from earlier in year).

Exactly why DC statehood at the least is a must. In a perfect world we could correct all the issues with the Dakotas, split California, etc. but those take enormous efforts. I think DC statehood is feasible and not a pipe dream. Puerto Rico would be great, harder to implement, and definitely not guaranteed to be two Democratic senators (though likely at least at the beginning).

[sui generis]

The 2022 senate map is not as bad for Dems as you might think. Mostly they all lost in 2016. That said, it all depends on how big any majority Dems might win in the senate is this year. 1 vote margin makes even an ok map an emergency.

I heard someone today say that there's an idea of trying to make a state of of the Navajo nation. I wonder if some really out there ideas will be floated for the sole purpose of allowing biden to shoot them down and feel like he's being moderate? Honestly I still expect him to shoot most things down except a covid relief package and some kind of voting rights package. Then they'll try to do something big that they try to negotiate in good faith on with the Republicans and we can just start the clock over from 2010, because Democrats do not learn.