As much as the two time popular vote loser has angered me along with millions of other Texans by pardoning his cronies and potential witnesses against him I thought that given we’re about to start a new year I should write about something positive instead so here are a few things that our incoming president, Joe Biden, can and should do even if Georgia fails to elect two Democrats to the U.S. Senate.
Biden has promised to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by
immediately appointing a “national supply chain commander” and establishing a
“pandemic testing board” upon assuming office. Incoming White House chief of
staff Ron Klain coordinated the federal government’s response to the 2014 Ebola
outbreak.
For the last four years the Department of Justice was not interested
in fighting voter suppression. That’s likely to change quickly regardless of
who Biden nominates to head the agency. Strict voter ID laws have been the main
tool in the Republican voter suppression toolbox. One powerful step that Biden
could take is giving people the option to add a photo to their Social Security
card, since most people already have one, and that would ensure that they can’t
be barred from voting in the red states like Texas where concealed carry licenses are fine, but
student IDs are not accepted. It’s a simple administrative rule fix requiring
no congressional approval.
The president-elect has already stated he will bring the
U.S. back into the Paris Climate Accord as one of the first orders of business.
This pact is an agreement among nations to reduce emissions. Biden does not need
the Senate to do so, because the Accord is an executive agreement; Biden just
needs to send a letter to the United Nations stating his intent to rejoin.
Furthermore, Biden can reverse the more than 125 environmental rules that
Donald Trump overturned by fiat, such as rules on energy efficiency, oil exploration,
and use of biofuels.
To help our low income citizens keep more of the money they
earn the new administration could institute postal banking. Unlike the other 49 states North Dakota has a
very popular public bank that competes with private banking. President-elect
Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders convened a task force to look into the
creation of a public banking option. Such a public bank would be set up through
the U.S. Postal Service and the Federal Reserve to provide low-income and
middle-income families with low cost widely available banking services where
they could cash payroll checks and get small short term loans are reasonable
rates unlike at commercial pay-day lenders. Biden can do some of that work
without any legislation, such as USPS offering their own refillable, prepaid
debit cards.
Student loan debt is the only debt that you can’t discharge
through bankruptcy, thanks to a 2005 law. President Biden can undo this debt the
first day he takes office with the stroke of his pen. Over 90% of the student
debt in this nation is owed to the federal government. Student loan debt is a huge
burden to millions of people who are currently paying at 10% or more of their
income every month, and will for at least a decade. Forgiving it can provide
much-needed relief during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as spur economic recovery.
There are many other actions Biden can take upon assuming
office that don’t require a single vote in Congress such as rewriting rules on
who is eligible for overtime, extending the enrollment period for the
Affordable Care Act, restoring government unions, breaking up monopolies,
rescheduling marijuana and more.
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