What Is Biden's Agenda?

The Party conventions are over. Any comment from me about the RNC would be rude, so I’ll just swallow hard and move on. If I am disappointed by what Biden and the Democratic Party failed to do, it is in a hesitance to announce a clear progressive agenda. I think that is what the American people want to hear. The healing of America may be at the top of a winning political strategy.

While Trump’s failure to harness the pandemic, even as he continues to shred the nation’s unity, a clearly put progressive agenda must now become the primary focus. Several weeks ago I suggested what I believed to be a winning set of policies. While much of what I suggested was already in the Democratic platform, that document’s verbosity failed to deliver a succinct list of specifics. So here I will offer a slightly revised listing of what I hope the Biden/Harris administration might deliver.


A NATIONAL PLAN TO RECOVER FROM THE FROM THE PANDEMIC.
The only path to deal with the pandemic must involve the cooperation of every American. Mask wearing, social distancing, and carefully keeping closed our beaches, resorts, bars, schools and other gathering places is vital. The elimination of massive rallies and other large assemblies, including by churches, is critical to America’s healing. That is how other nations have won control. Political pressure caused the early opening of the nation’s economic, religious and social, powerhouses. Now we are paying the price in the mounting number of our dead.

HEALTH INSURANCE FOR EVERY AMERICAN
It is long past time for America to produce what every other industrialized nation now takes for granted. Bernie insisted that “Medicare for all” was the answer, but he never produced a plan to pay for it, nor did it allow for including hard-won private plans. Clearly, a single-payer option open to every person is what most Americans seem ready to endorse.
A MORE EQUITABLE SHARING OF THE NATION’S WEALTH
This would not necessarily mean an increase in taxes on the middle class, but a just sharing of what we must all contribute. Major tax reductions to the already rich have further distorted the nation’s commitment to produce a modest level of economic parity.

OVERCOMING OUR RACIAL DIVIDE
It will take all of us to heal the racial divide recently most evident in the murder of George Floyd. Racism must be attacked not just by personal conduct but also as a systemic reality. Looting and burning have no place, and the anger that produces them must finally be addressed by police reform, education, economic justice, ethnic equality and a government that really cares, all backed by the peaceful demonstrations that stand at the center of the people’s constitutional rights.

A MORATORIUM ON A POLITICS OF DIVISION
Every speech Trump makes is fixated on his enemies list, beginning not just with his political opponents but also with America’s press and anyone else who dares raise a responsible challenge. This now includes many of America’s military leaders and an increasing number of solid Republicans.

RECLAIMING OUR ROLE AS LEADERS IN HEALING THE NATURAL WORLD
Climate change is not a hoax. Failure to take it seriously invites an unbelievable calamity. Essential to America’s healing is our rejoining the Paris Accord and revisiting regulations and legislation involving the sanctity of the natural world, including the generation of renewable energy resources.

RECONNECTION WITH OUR INTERNATIONAL ALLIES
This involves renewed support of The United Nations, NATO, the World Court and the World Health Organization. This would also include examining our immigration policies, and building bridges of understanding instead of walls.

ECONOMIC RECOVERY
A healthy economy depends on the defeat of the virus, and the defeat of the virus depends on following the guidelines outlined above. We will not heal our battered economy and THEN defeat the pandemic. In the meantime, supporting individuals and small businesses must be a national priority.

RENEWING OUR BRIDGES, HIGHWAYS AND EVEN OUR SEWERS
America’s infrastructure has grown increasingly fragile and dangerous. It is long past the time for a necessary safe refurbishing of our common facilities.

Trump has engaged in a campaign centered on “divide and conquer.” Even while he continues to divide us, every attack has resulted in his continued loss of credibility and support. In the weeks before the election I believe the Biden/Harris team must lay out a clear distinct set of doable policies aimed at healing America. Perhaps the path to victory must begin with that critical articulation