AFTER THE ELECTION

 It is the Friday morning following the election. I now feel confident calling Joe Biden our next President, notwithstanding the frivolous legal challenges. America was on the ballot, and we won. Citizens have voted in greater numbers than at any time in our history despite the pandemic   It is time to consider our brighter prospects under a Joe Biden presidency.

The post-election slogan after the inauguration in January will quickly morph from “Make America Great Again” to “With All Americans Pulling Together, We Can Accomplish Anything.”  Regarding the pandemic there will be a national mask mandate under the new Biden administration backed by a media campaign asking all of us to buy in. Notwithstanding the inevitable lawsuits and complaints from libertarian-minded citizens that will follow, new infection numbers will drastically drop and many lives will be saved.

Americans will discover that with most of us abiding by this simple mandate and wearing masks that we can work, attend school and otherwise attain a new level of normalcy until a vaccine is perfected and disseminated.  We will wonder what took so long.

The Biden presidency will not begin its term by pandering to the progressive left of the Democratic Party. The new president’s agenda will be practical and not ideological, organized to repair the damage to our institutions. The immediate focus will be on undoing the politicization and dismantling of the federal bureaucracy.  The State Department, intelligence network, Justice Department and other agencies will encourage irreplaceable career civil servants who were fired or who left in disgust under Trump, to return to their posts.

Several progressives will find a place in the Biden administration.  So will several Republicans as President Biden seeks to bring a sense of nonpartisanship to his cabinet. Unfortunately, the transition of government will be hampered by an uncooperative Trump administration who will “burn the files” and overturn the furniture on the way out the door.

There will be important policy initiatives in the first 100 days, unfortunately hampered by a razor thin Republican Senate.  First, assuming no stimulus relief during the lame duck Congress, Biden will negotiate a sizeable package with the Senate. Second, Biden will use an executive order to protect the millions of Mexican/Latin American “dreamers” from deportation. Third, the new president will roll back most of the offensive Trump executive orders.

Several major policy positions rolled out by Biden during the campaign will be placed on hold.  These include efforts to improve on Obama Care by giving Americans a new choice in the form of a public health insurance option, similar to Medicare.  In addition, revisions to the ill-advised Trump tax cuts for the wealthy will be postponed and the “green new deal” is off the table.  Hopefully these initiatives will be renewed after the mid-terms when the Senate can be turned Democratic.   

Several presidential commissions on the most pressing issues of the post Trump era will be empaneled to advise Biden on future policy.  These will include collaborative policing methods between urban communities and law enforcement; the composition and jurisdiction of the federal courts; as well as America’s response to climate change.

President Biden has learned that Trump supporters have legitimate concerns that must be addressed. He will minimize regulations that hamper small businesses struggling to return after the pandemic.  He will seek to lower unemployment in the rust belt by tying new jobs in these areas to new infrastructure projects.  He will remain tough on China trade policy until fair balances are achieved. 

President Biden’s most important cabinet choice will be Secretary of State. Our foreign policy is in shambles.  Both friend and foe have been left with misunderstandings and uncertainties concerning the international role of the most powerful nation in the world.

At the top of the list to repair relations will be the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Latin America. Back door channels will be open with North Korea and Iran to make clear the policy of the new administration.  Other illiberal and authoritarian regimes will receive the message that liberal democracy is alive and well in Washington and that human rights abuses will not be tolerated.

Globalization will make a comeback with respect to the United States participation in international forums, but much less so in connection with supply chains and trade. President Trump’s efforts to end participation in international institutions will be reversed. President Biden will renew ties with those international organizations governing climate, health and human rights. He will also revisit canceled multination agreements and arms control with Russia. 

On the other hand, the pandemic has taught Biden a valuable lesson regarding international supply chains.  He will implement policies that will never again leave America short of valuable supplies and medicines. He will insure that national stockpiles are kept full and that manufacturing essential to national security is either domestic or close to home.

The days of the ill-advised, out-of-date border wall are over. Security at the border will be enhanced through new technologies that provide the border patrol with real time information.  Moreover, Biden’s foreign policy team is aware that improving the economic and social conditions in Central America will reduce the flow of immigrants seeking asylum.

The greatest impediment to all of the above is the Republican Senate, and Donald Trump hangover as he profusely tweets angry rants from Southern Florida.  The Biden administration should be prepared to shut out the noise and get to work.