The main issue Biden and the new Dem majority controlled Senate will face is the issue of tax law. I really hope the first 100 days does not get bogged down in Republican propaganda about tax increases by the "Socialist" Dems. However with any structural bills that pass under Reconciliation, it might be nearly impossible to do so without repealing the Trump tax cut. If they can find a way to either avoid, or move super quick on tax law adjustment, all the other bills they need to pass should move through Congress at rocket speed. I think Biden should meet with Manchin, Romney, Collins, and Murkowski soon to discuss a set of bills that both sides agree to that they can move quick on. There's going to be soooo much blood letting on the Republican side, and Romney, Murkowski, and others will be the target of Trumplican attacks. Dems should use that to bring them in to do a ton of bills that have just been sitting there for years. Bernie and folks will want M4A right away. I dont think that's a smart strategy because it'll gum up Congress for the entire first YEAR because of the tax law implication which is even more daunting than the normal tax law reversal that'll need to happen otherwise. Go big on Healthcare after the 2022 mid terms (assuming you hold Congress.... paging Stacy Abrams...) and use the removal of the philibuster then to go to either a public option + or a M4A plan. If they want to hold Congress in 2022, they are going to need to win a hell of alot of those Suburban 2018 type swing districts. Getting a boat load of good popular bills through in his first year will be key, and having Romney, Manchin, Collins, etc. on your side will be key.
Maybe they will be smarter how they draft a bill to add a public option to Obamacare and prevent this from going back to the courts in the future. Ultimately, they need to foresee that insurance companies will do what you are saying and that they will need to budget for this bill accordingly.
Most companies are trying to cut costs. Most of them are self funded. They are going to switch to the public option.
Competely agree! Im perfectly fine with this option. I am fine with socializing medicine. Its going to be heavily flawed like most socialized solutions other countries provide. But dont force private companies to socialize the costs. Let it be premium insurance and real competition can be had. Currently there is marginal competition. If I get pissed off at UHC and switch to BCBS, there is little difference.
Oh, it'll reduce costs overall by simply creating more and healthier competition. I'm just pointing out how pubbies will kneecap it from the get-go.
I said should, not would. I have high confidence in democrats ability to take a huge win and turn it to ashes.
Why the hell would he switch parties now and not during the Obama years? His job is to vote for what his constituency wants not what everybody else in the party wants, politics is not a zero sum game that logic is what brought us Trump. Dem values are also not a black or white issue. It certainly seems that sum want democrats to be like republicans and be in lock step no matter what, thats not the party I want to be a member of.
Ossoff is running against Perdue and Perdue is a better candidate than Loeffler who alienated some voters strongly..... so there were likely a small number of Republicans that voted for Perdue but refused to vote for Loeffler. Make no mistake, this is Trump deciding that he would take everyone down with him if he isn't going to remain President.... and it may actually work for him if he runs again in four years......
It means Democrats who hand wave superficial socially liberal politics like whether the Secretary of Defense needs to be a transgender Muslim atheist black woman in order to talk less about sincere economic reform because they appreciate what the status quo has done for them and their campaign donations are dependent on bootlicking for insurance companies and banks along with their future employment in company board seats after leaving office for scratching the backs of the corporate lobbyists (revolving door).
This isn't a defense of Pelosi or Schumer or national democrats or anybody in particalur - but the circular firing squad of how the Democrats are always gonna screw stuff up ALWAYS obscures the fact that the entire system of government is broken from the un-amendable constitution, to the politicized judiciary, to the profoundly undemocratic senate and gerrymandered house. It's basically set up for things to be blocked, with a huge inertial bias for status quo. The multiple veto points reinforce each other and lots of them are basically impossible to be held to account via democratic processes. R-bias in the Senate makes it so that extremely unpopular Republicans and their policy views can hold the chamber. Same in a house, which is now greenlit to gerrymander forever, which was greenlit by unaccountable judges. Same at the state level that sets up a lot of this. State governments are similarly broken in many of the same ways. Look even the completely ruthless so-called senate mastermind McConnell had unblemished, unopposed control for 2 years and the willingness and ability to take losses and keep his majority with an utterly shameless base, due to senate pro Republican bias, and all he got were appointments, more blocking, and an idiotic, unpopular tax cut. Show me the leadership who overcomes all of this? Some sort of cynical cyber-Obama? The Rock? Bernie Sanders?
