Thank you for continuing to share these messages with your friends. If you are not already on our mailing list, please click here to be added to our list. You can also follow me on Facebook where you can read and share these messages. The more people we can reach, the more we contribute to this growing movement. We share these posts on our blog, A Path Forward to November 3, 2020, every two weeks, which means there will be a total of 100 missives before the Presidential election of 2020, in which our country will select a whole new course.
Find out below how to participate in our zoom session with swing district Congressional candidate Carolyn Long!
Braxton Bragg was a terrible Civil War general, much unloved both by his soldiers and his fellow officers. He was a slaveholding plantation owner. His temper was legendary, and he specialized in bitter and unwarranted criticism of people he barely knew. He was a bad strategist, so Jefferson Davis ultimately relieved him of his command. If ever a military installation begged for renaming, it is Fort Bragg in North Carolina. If ever there was a man who would refuse to do it in order to protect our “heritage,” it is Donald Trump.
Unfortunately, the truth is that shielding our eyes from much of our past IS part of our heritage. Thus, we have chosen this time in our history to own up to the inconvertible fact that we have not been the land of the free. We embrace what has always been the best of the American experiment, our huge aspirations, our love for the idea of freedom and self-determination. We are not even close to finished with the American experiment. With agonizing slowness, our nation has kindled dreams for all, not just the Protestant white male property owners that were by far the most privileged after our independence from England. There was a reason why the Statue of Liberty was always seen as a beacon. It is not extinguished and we will not let that happen.
That’s why resisters are already emphasizing what we can become and what we can accomplish during the four years of the Biden presidency, before he stands aside for a younger leader. (All of this depends of course on us keeping our focus and thus maintaining our lead between now and November 3.) We recognize that there is a necessary unfinished agenda from the Obama presidency. Not the least is the salvaging and grand expansion of the Affordable Care Act. The repairs of Trump’s misdeeds will be paramount and must be addressed daily. The pandemic must be ended and the next one prevented. Every day, we must show that our country remembers what happened to George Floyd.
And there is so much more to be done early in President Biden’s term: protection of a woman’s right to choose, constantly under fire. Undoing the executive orders that accelerated environmental degradation. Getting us back into the Climate Accords and improving them. Shielding Dreamers. Restoring our position in the world community. Renewing global friendships and distancing ourselves from dictators. Addressing the income inequality that otherwise will surely unravel us.
We feel the urgency to remake America, honoring what Barack Obama was able to achieve and going beyond it. We’re already mindful of the ways we will be constrained in January 2021 and beyond. Notable barriers will remain even after Trump takes his legendary misdeeds and untruths and starts to occupy his own rightful place in history, as the malevolent nativist divider of the American people.
As we take on the post-Trump restoration of the American presidency, we will face three major obstacles, each of which is already causing misery among those that want to accelerate the coming reforms. In all three cases, the constraints are meaningful but manageable, if we are well led, stay together and get at least a slim majority in the United State Senate.
First, we are hampered by the constitutionally ordained makeup of the United States Senate, in its award of two Senators for each state regardless of its population. This was a necessary condition to form the Union in 1789, and gives oversized power to often conservative voters in rural states. This condition has no chance of being changed, since any constitutional amendment process would have to be agreed to in those same rural states. There is no point in being heartsick over it. It is important to note that some of the rural states that are lumped as one by critics have some purple coloring, including Alaska, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, Maine, and New Hampshire, or are blue, like Vermont. Even South Dakota had a Democratic Senator up until 2018.
Second, we are constrained by Supreme Court, whose narrow conservative majority seems unlikely to shift in the next decade. We will live with the unnecessary arrival of Brett Kavanuagh and Neil Gorsuch into our lives for a generation or so. We will experience countless painful rulings from the Court during Joe Biden’s presidency. However, Roberts and Gorsuch recently played the key role in expanding employment protections to LGBTQ Americans under the Civil Rights Act. This is as consequential a ruling as there has been in years. Kavanagh helped Roberts block Trump’s continued attack on Dreamers. Splendidly, in a 5-4 decision Roberts treated certain protections for abortion clinics as settled law. This court will not necessarily erect major obstacles to a reform agenda led by Biden and Senate Democrats.
Third, we are constrained by the Senate’s own self-imposed rules, which in many cases require a supermajority (60 votes) to close off debate. It would take 50 votes to apply the “nuclear option” and eliminate this rule. Such Democratic Senators as Diane Feinstein and Joe Manchin are reluctant to do it, because it has worked in our favor to block Mitch McConnell, most notably in preventing the decimation of the Affordable Care Act through countless attacks, and in saving the Iran nuclear deal. Other Democrats believe now is the time to exercise the nuclear option, as they angle for major legislative action on climate change.
This is an issue to watch closely, not getting caught up in former Majority Leader Harry Reid’s rhetoric, beseeching us to use the option. Reid was smart enough to never do it while he was in power. Democrats like Delaware’s Chris Coons (close to Biden) have defended the rule in the past. In showing a new interest in changing the rules to close debate (perhaps short of the nuclear option) Coons is signaling that Democrats will not accept McConnell using his minority powers to block major legislation on gun control, immigration and climate change. If we get the new Senate majority, guaranteeing that we won’t use the nuclear option represents disarmament, since its threat can induce concessions by Republican leaders. Eventually having to use it is an awful choice, because we will want desperately for 45 votes to have sway sometime in the future.
So, it behooves us to embrace and build from all that we can do within the existing rules of the Senate:
--- As with Trump, Biden needs only 50 votes to confirm federal judges and presidential appointments. If we gain the majority it will give him the opportunity to name the successor to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
--- Biden and his Vice President, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor can immediately restore our standing in NATO, renew our friendship with France and Germany, rescind Trump’s departure from various international agreements, re-visit the six nation accord with Iran; and develop a coherent US trade policy.
--- It will take time, but Biden and his EPA administrator and Interior Secretary can reverse all of the executive actions that Trump and his minions took eliminating environmental regulation.
--- Biden can find means to use the budget reconciliation process (which is not subject to the 60-vote rule for closing debate) to advance major fiscally oriented policies as Republicans recently did with the tax bill. For instance, reconciliation could be used to battle climate change by creating a huge green infrastructure “bank,” or modifying tax policy that advantages fossil fuels. This is in addition to returning to the Paris accords and working to boost the efforts of the states.
--- Absent action from Congress (and under Supreme Court scrutiny) Biden can use executive orders to protect transgendered persons, shield Dreamers, sharply increase the federal role in reinventing policing, and advance gun regulation.
--- Importantly, many of the provisions of the greedy Trump/McConnell 2017 tax law will expire in 2025. That will give Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer leverage on tax policy from early on in the Biden administration. McConnell simply blocking tax reform (as he would otherwise do) rather than participating in bi-partisan discussions would mean he would have almost nothing left of his corporate tax approach by mid-decade.
Beyond all this, within his existing powers and within the rules of the Senate President Biden can usher in an era where we have a President who acts like a President. We can step away from daily division, and enter a world where we can have some pride in our government and get some protection from it.
Let’s do these three things to find that place:
| 1) Continue to Flip House Seats | |
 | The bigger the House majority we are able to build, the more likely we are to sustain a House majority over time. Flipping additional House seats requires us to pay attention to key races and to not let ourselves be fully distracted by Senate races. This missive is sponsoring three zoom sessions over the next six weeks featuring and hosting swing district candidates who have already demonstrated their excellent potential for flipping a seat. The first is Carolyn Long, running in Washington State’s 3rd Congressional District, centered in Vancouver, Washington, which is just north of Portland. Carolyn’s fresh and exciting candidacy gained her 48% of the vote in 2018. In 2020 we will put her over the top. Would you like to join us at 4 pm Pacific time on Monday, July 20? Register here and we will spend an hour with Carolyn.  |
2) Warm Yourself in November by Winning Florida | |
 | Donald Trump and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis are boosting our already good chances in Florida. Unfortunately for those over 65, they have done so by demonstrating early on that opening up businesses quickly is a priority over the health of older Floridians. Understandably, this virus mismanagement is sending older voters toward Biden. Of course the new hullaballoo will be Trump’s upcoming efforts to unmask Jacksonville during his convention speech. Lenny Curry, the Republican mayor of Jacksonville has indicated the health of the public is his primary concern. It is a great time to email him and remind him that the nation is watching and hoping he will stand up for what is right: MayorLennyCurry@coj.net. |
3) Make Certain Voters Can Vote | |
 | Voter suppression efforts are underway in several states, not least of which are Donald Trump’s efforts to misrepresent the safety and security of mail ballots. One way to prevent suppression is to guarantee voters can overcome obstacles in their path, including often confusing voter ID requirements. Vote Riders is the inventive national assistance program on voter ID, and it partners with voter registration and turnout organizations in multiple states. It is a good idea to make sure they have the resources to do their job. |
If election day were today, that would be a very good thing. The polls look excellent, the Biden campaign seems well managed, and Donald Trump is insulting NASCAR. Four more months to continue our intensity of effort and end this nightmare.
David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington
No comments:
Post a Comment