Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Republicans do not trust women.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Bark louder, little dog.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Setting Priorities for After November

Open Thread: Setting Priorities for After November

by | 214 Comments

This post is in: 

Maybe this is a good time for the post that Omnes requested awhile back:

FWIW I am in favor of a few posts around here talking about what priorities we should be setting after a win in November.  No counting chickens is one thing, but not being ready to push for and support good things when we have a chance is dangerous too. Setting priorities has value; we can’t fix everything at once.

Scenario:  You can only have 5 top priorities.

No doubles.  No two-parters.  Top 5 for the country when we win.

What are yours?

Reader Interactions

214Comments

  2. 2.

    Patricia Kayden

    Restoration of the Voting Rights Act, reforming the police, reforming the ACA and DACA.

  4. 4.

    Cheryl Rofer

    1. Get the pandemic under control
    2. Get the pandemic under control
    3. Get the pandemic under control
    4. Get the pandemic under control
    5. Get the pandemic under control
  5. 5.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: I just can’t, these fucking thieves will stop at nothing. I’m not trying to say other people shouldn’t dream or plan.

  8. 8.

    scott (the other one)

    1. deep six the filibuster
    2. pack the court/double the number of justices nationwide
    3. institute an infrastructure policy that’s like the New Deal meets the Marshall Plan times the Manhattan Project: we pour gobs and gobs and gobs of money into bridges and tunnels, schools and post offices and fire stations, and internet for all.
    4. pass an AMT for corporations. We cap how much money individuals can have: one billion, say, and the rest is gobbled up for the public interest.
    5. make damn sure voting is safe and easy and free by, among other things, going with paper ballots, early and extended voting, and making election day a national holiday (maybe a two-day holiday, with the previous Monday also being a holiday, so everyone can be [almost] guaranteed one of the days off)
  9. 9.

    CaseyL

    1. Virus

    2. Voting rights

    3. Rescind tax cuts

    4. Climate change

    5. Reform the courts

  10. 10.

    Wag

    Arrest, try, and convict Trump

    Arrest, try, and convict Barr

    Restore funding for the CDC and EPA

    Appoint Fauci as surgeon general

    Mandate masks nationwide until COVID is under control.

  11. 11.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: My zoom yesterday was split, three thought for sure two of us we’re not so sure. Apparently there are plenty of wingers at the Esquire.

  12. 12.

    Alison Rose

    1. A coordinated, science-based, aggressive national plan to combat COVID, equip everyone with PPE, provide funds to those who need it, ramp up work on a vaccine, etc etc. Basically everything that should have been happening at the federal level since fucking January.
    2. Reinvolve the US in everything Trump has or wants to withdraw from–Paris climate accords, WHO, the Iran deal, etc.
    3. Restaff all the government agencies he’s decimated, with–GASP–qualified, competent, non-evil people.
    4. Reinvigorate the VRA and voting rights in general–election day should be a holiday, mail-in voting should be nationwide, voter suppression efforts shot the fuck down, etc.
    5. Take what the ACA started and run with it–every damn person in this country gets affordable, accessible health care, no matter what.

    And if I can please have a non-policy 6th priority, make Trump do the Cersei walk to the helicopter on Inauguration Day. No one wants to see that man naked, but it’ll be worth it.

  14. 14.

    cain

    No more bringing in Republicans to show we are open minded. (eg what the fuck is Joe thinking about bringing Kasich to speak at the DNC) – unity time is over.

    Get the damn COVID-19 under control – seriously – make it a national security issue – start bleeping in every area – ads whatever that it is a patriotic duty – and not wearing masks means you’re un-american. Let them scream – but we gotta push back on the b.s. that is out there.

    ETA – everyone else has weighed in – and I support that – also debt and rent forgiveness and making sure it is equal access to all.

  17. 17.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    1. Institute the DL rule for the National League

    2. Install 15 second pitch clock

    3. Eliminate the shift

    4. Replace extra innings with home run derby

    5. Limit trades to a single day.

  18. 18.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: We’d win

     

    eta It was unanimous, and these were all old school activists,  that “defund the police” was the stupidest fucking slogan anyone could have come up with.

  19. 19.

    Thaddeu

    Pack. the. Court.  to.  Thirteen.

    Cut the knees off  the Racist-in-Chief Roberts’  attack on voting rights.

  21. 21.

    Chetan Murthy

    1.  squash the bug
    2. voting rights
    3. pack the courts
    4. dc & pr statehood
    5. rollback every one of Phallus Boletus’ executive orders and laws.  Every.  One.
  24. 24.

    Kropacetic

    Protect voting rights, climate change, access to housing, better education for people of all ages, break up them monopolies

  26. 26.

    Narya

    1 test & trace

    2 infrastructure

    3 jobs (see 2)

    4 repeal tax cuts

    5 reform defund police

    and, throughout, fight racism, with every step above

    edit: voting rights as 6

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    @NotMax: That’s a terrible hateful thing to say.  Was that directed at me?

    edit: Hall monitors do not joke about the rules!

    edit 2: Raven pointed out the smiley face, which I had missed.

  28. 28.

    randy khan

    1. Pandemic (got to be #1, barring a miracle)
    2. Economic rebuilding package (really should be part of #1, but I’m playing entirely fair here)
    3. Voter protection package
    4. Courts
    5. Fix the tax code
  31. 31.

    Citizen Alan

    1. Restore the VRA in a manner that also ends gerrymandering in all forms.
    2. Amend and update the ACA to add a robust public option. 2.a. Tie it in with Covid-19 relief and made the availability of help to the states dependent on expanding Medicaid.
    3. Save the damned Post Office!
    4.  Restore tax rates to the 1994 Clinton levels but include aggressive if not confiscatory estate taxes and wealth taxes. As part of it, increase the budget of the IRS and direct them to pursue rich tax cheats.
    5. Nationwide police reform.
  32. 32.

    debbie

    Get rid of all the trickery in Congress (every bill gets voted on, no secret holds, etc.); campaign finance reform; lobbying reform; prison reform; banish executive orders forever.

  33. 33.

    Tom Hamill

    1. Widespread governmental reform, e.g., mail-in voting, requiring tax returns of political candidates, and basically anything Elizabeth Warren thinks we need to do to make sure we’re transparent and not getting screwed.

    2.  Legislation for accelerating transition to green economy, including wind, solar, modernized electrical grid.

    3.  Straighten up the Covid mess.

    4.  Straighten up the rest of the health care mess.

    5.  Soak the rich with new taxes.

  34. 34.

    Chyron HR

    1) Pandemic control

    2) Propaganda control

    3) Public option

    4) Public execution of the entire Trump family (and complicit spouses/mistresses)

    5) Oops

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: On Pod Save America they talked about some sort of poll where they asked people what they thought Defund the Police meant.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that a substantial % of people understood that it didn’t mean take every dime away from the police.

  39. 39.

    hrprogressive

    I’m with Cheryl, nothing really “matters” to me until COVID19 is eradicated/controlled/vaccine’d/treatable

    So it could theoretically be 1-5.

    But if I were going ti fill out 2-4

    2) Tax the fuck out of the wealthy to help rebuild social safety nets
    3) Voting Rights Act
    4) Police Reform
    5) Medicare For All / Public Option / Some additional robustness of healthcare

  40. 40.

    Kent

    Legislative Objectives

    (1) Voting rights, anti-gerrymandering, etc.; (2) Environmental climate change green new deal; (3) Health care; (4)  Criminal justice reform; (5) Education:  K12 and college funding.

    Executive Branch Regulatory Objectives

    I’m a former Federal regulator so a bit of inside knowledge here.   But we need a badass comprehensive effort to de-Trumpify the Federal goverment top to bottom.  This would be my VPs number one job.  Needs to be done in every agency.  Take the EPA just for example.  The Trump folks have jammed a bazillion regulatory changes through to benefit polluters and in most cases they were done without proper analysis or procedures.  Biden needs to roll all that shit back in the most speedy manner possible.  We don’t need 5 years worth of “stakeholder” meetings and then come to a negotiated agreement with industry to get back 50% to where we were in 2016.  This shit just needs to be rooted out using every maneuver possible.  If there were procedural flaws then leak them to environmental groups who can sue and then settle in court with an agreement to roll them back.  There are a lot of procedural ways to toss out Trump garbage that was improperly done in the first place.  And most of it was improperly done.

    Multiply that 100-times across every Federal agency.  There are good people all across government who know where the bodies are buried and what needs to be done.  But it will take top-down pressure to make it happen.  And there will be a shitload of squealing from the affected industries who thought they had a good thing going on with Trump.  Fuck them.  They didn’t negotiate half-way with the public when their lobbyists rammed their shit through without adequate analysis or comment.

    Judicial

    Pack the fucking courts without mercy

    Foreign Affairs

    Restore our standing in the world by taking the lead once again on climate change and human rights.  And fucking squash the Russian oligarchs who brought us this disaster.  Take every damn dime they have hidden in every bank and property across the globe until no country much less Russia ever dares fuck with our elections again.

  41. 41.

    debbie

    @raven:

    I so wish people would stop out-clevering themselves with snappy slogans and instead just say what they mean.

  42. 42.

    Shrillhouse

    Pack the courts/dump filibuster.

    Prosecute Trump crime family, and their accomplices.

    Repeal 2nd ammendment/pass voting rights ammendment.

    Medicare for all.

    National green infrastructure and pandemic recovery plan that is so fucking massive, it makes the New Deal look like small-ball incrementalism…

  43. 43.

    Villago Delenda Est

    1. Aggressively attack COVID-19 and its fallout

    2. Work hard to mend fences with our former allies around the world.

    3. Sic AG Harris on the Trump Crime Family.

    4. Make voting rights a thing again.

    5. Repeal every mother fucking Donald executive order.

    There’s more of course, but I think these are top priority.

  44. 44.

    Narya

    @WaterGirl: I also want to send folks to jail for their malfeasance but I think helping everyday folks, and fighting structural racism while we do it, is way more pressing. Also too: health care.

  45. 45.

    Patricia Kayden

    @WaterGirl: Of course.  I forgot that Biden also needs to repeal every executive order enacted by Trump. There’s so much for him to do.

  46. 46.

    Kropacetic

    From the NYT regarding new pandemic assistance:

    The White House and top congressional Republicans met to try to smooth over their differences and are said to have coalesced around a $1 trillion bill

    I feel like there’s another relevant party to the decision making that aren’t mentioned here, but I can’t put my finger on Dem.

  50. 50.

    Chip Daniels

    My first inclination is a truth and reconciliation commission, with prosecutions.

    But I think focusing on voting rights at the state level is a better long term strategy, to ensure that Republicans cannot ever get in power again.

    If we can flip and hold states like Texas then control redistricting, we can build a Democratic power base from county commissioner to governor.

  53. 53.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    1. real, sceince- based pandemic plan
    2. Some kind of commission/committee to look at the conduct of the Justice Department for the last four years, and to follow all leads from that inquiry
    3. Voting Rights Act
    4. Rejoin the Paris Climate Accords (a first step toward rebuilding our international standing)
    5. Health Care Reform

    (all assumes Dems take the White House and Senate, keeps the House)

  54. 54.

    Brachiator

    FWIW I am in favor of a few posts around here talking about what priorities we should be setting after a win in November.

    Much will depend on the composition of the Congress. Still, my priorities would be

    1. Dealing with the pandemic

    2. Dealing with the economic consequences of the pandemic. This includes looking at the needs of corporations, small business, individuals and the possible need to provide aid to state and local governments.

    3. Expand the ACA to make sure that more people are covered and that people do not lose medical coverage if they need to be isolated or quarantined if the pandemic is still an issue.

    4. Everything else comes after this. There is so much that needs to be done, reviewed or reversed that I cannot say what should come next. But I note that a new administration will have its hands full.

    ETA: Things that I do not think are priorities: infrastructure, climate change, free college, mass transit, not the way that we thought about any of these things before the pandemic.

  55. 55.

    Salty Sam

    1- immediate rollout of comprehensive plan to bring virus under control.

    2- Truth & Reconcilation Commission with full subpoena and prosecutorial power to rid government of Trump and his lickspittles.

    3- Abolish the filibuster in the Senate.

    4- VOTING RIGHTS!
    5- Announcement that US will work to become global leader in fighting climate change.

    Since Joe Biden will have these knocked out by Friday after his inauguration, he can save for the weekend the surprise announcement of a free pony for every boy and girl.

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: I’m not saying it was a good choice.  I’m just saying that a majority of the people surveyed understood that it didn’t LITERALLY mean DEFUND.

    I found that somewhat reassuring.

    Plus they have done so very many things right, that I don’t want to slag them for one thing they got pretty wrong.

  58. 58.

    West of the Cascades

    @Citizen Alan: 

    Restore tax rates to the 1994 Clinton levels but include aggressive if not confiscatory estate taxes and wealth taxes. As part of it, increase the budget of the IRS and direct them to pursue rich tax cheats.

    Include some mechanism that makes it attractive for Ivanka, Uday, and Qusay to deep-six daddy before the end of 2021.

  60. 60.

    stinger

    Even with my free Perp Walk, I need 10. But here are 5:

    1. Free the children from their cages and stop splitting up families at the border. Act as Lady Liberty would have us act (Give me your tired, your poor…).

    2. Restore and strengthen the VRA.

    3. Raise the minimum wage.

    4. Remove the SS cap.

    5. Abolish the Electoral College.

  61. 61.

    Wag

    @Chip Daniels:

    My first inclination is a truth and reconciliation conviction commission.

    Fixed it for you.  Reconciliation means letting them walk after we learn the truth.  Not what I want to see happen.  

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    @Kropacetic:

    From the NYT regarding new pandemic assistance:

    The White House and top congressional Republicans met to try to smooth over their differences and are said to have coalesced around a $1 trillion bill

    So, again, the White House and the GOP leadership are drafting their bill and then expect the Democrats to simply go along with it or be blasted as being obstructionist and not caring about the American people.

    This has been the standard GOP operating procedure. They will not change, no matter what.

    And remember, there is a short time to get anything done before Congress goes on another recess.

    And they are still all in for Trump, despite his screw-ups and decline in the polls.

    More of a reason to vote them all out.

  65. 65.

    mrmoshpotato

    1. Get the pandemic under control (stolen from Cheryl)
    2. Drowning the Russthuglican party in the oceans.
    3. Drowning the Russthuglican party in the oceans.
    4. Drowning the Russthuglican party in the oceans.
    5. Throwing their remains to an active volcano.
  66. 66.

    Jeffro

    @CaseyL:  this is perfect…just adding a little detail here…

    1) Get the pandemic under control (national ‘flatten the curve into the fucking ground’ plan, to include massive amounts of PPE, testing, and eventually a free vaccine)

    2) Multi-part voting rights initiative: restore the VRA, automatic voter registration, vote-by-mail in every state, end/curb gerrymandering, and more

    3) Nothing to add here except roll back every last “cut” (ie, giveaway) that happened under trumpov and W. If they’re so concerned about the blessed deficit we can talk about tax increases on those most able to pay instead of budget cuts that hit the least able to bear it.

    4) Multi-part climate change plan a la the Green New Deal. My kids still don’t understand why every building in America doesn’t have solar panels, why every car isn’t an electric car, etc.

    5) OMG absolutely. Add at least 2 seats to SCOTUS to make up for Garland and Kavanaugh and double the size of the federal judiciary. Either start rotating SCOTUS judges out to other federal courts after their ‘term’ of 18 years is up, or just flat-out amend the Constitution so that they’re out at that point.

    Great list!

  68. 68.

    Kropacetic

    @WaterGirl: I wasn’t initially sold on “defund the police.” Though, the more I’ve listened to people advocating this approach, it’s pretty clear they mostly have a more nuanced take on what needs to be done.

    Could still use a more PR friendly slogan, but the jist of what needs to be done isn’t wrong.  Of course this is going to mean a lot of local decisions about community safety. Our federal approach should be to give localities better tools to take a constructive approach to reform, should they choose to.

  69. 69.

    Narya

    @Brachiator: I see “infrastructure “ as a way to address economic pandemic effects while also fixing bridges, increasing solar/wind, etc.; a twofer essentially.

  70. 70.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    1. Covid.
    2. Climate Change
    3. Ending elite impunity <- this is a biggie and will require much jail time for many leeches
    4. Democratic reform <- voting rights, fixing your horribly broken electoral system, electoral standards, etc, and so on.
    5. Economic reform <- it’s time to pull a Robin Hood, old school Roman land reform, etc etc etc. You are going to have to straight up take a lot of wealthy people’s money away from them and give it to other people. This is the only way you can save your economy; poor and working people will actually spend the money instead of piling it up like orc skulls to keep score.
  71. 71.

    Kropacetic

    @WaterGirl: I hope Nancy Pelosi gives them a good lesson in how this two-party thing works when Dems have the House.

    Yeah, like that will ever happen…

  72. 72.

    Jeffro

    @Kropacetic: Yeah and did you see what the Repubs “coalesced” about?  Tying school funding to whether or not they re-open in-person and also a blessed payroll tax cut.

    Hey GOP: thanks for all the free campaign ad material, seriously!  I think we were already good, you didn’t need to load up an aid bill with this horseshit.

  73. 73.

    lamh36

    Sorry to go OT, but I just wanted to update ya’ll on my interview results so far.

    I got to the next and last level of interviews (I believe it’s the last one since you can’t get any higher up than the Regional Manager!). The next Skype interview is set for this Wednesday at 4pm.

    I don’t know if I mentioned it here, but I really wasn’t sure if I made a good impression in the last Skype interview. I had the appearance and stuff down, but I wasn’t in love with some of my answers and they didn’t seem terribly impressed with them either. But I didn’t actually see them, I had my camera on, but they did not.

    So, either I did better than I thought, well enough, or not “that bad” in that last interview, or they just REALLY need someone to take the position (I mean that’s how my current supervisor got to replace our last supervisor). So I gotta make a good impression via Skype!

    The next interview is with the BIG BOSSES: Dir, Lab Operations, Dir Satellite Operations and the HR manager, so now I’ve got to prep for what the types of questions the regional manager might ask!

    I’m guessing the prep should be different than for the last panel interview I had with the other lab supervisors.

    Since this job is with my current employer, just in a different lab (going from managed hosp lab to reference lab). Should I prep more on the company? Or is the prep the same as before. If I do well in this interview, I suspect the job will be mine!

    So I want to do put my best foot forward.

    Thanks to COVID, I’ve never stepped foot in the dang lab…I’d guess the final step would be a walk through

    Also, I’ve reached out to both my current Mgr and my immediate supervisor.  Since this position is considered an internal transfer, they are aware of it, but may not be aware of where I am in the process.  I’m sure they may get contacted and if so, I don’t want either to be surprised by an inquiry (I also might ask them if they have any advice for the upper mgmt interview)

    It’s been only be a little over a month since I submitted my application, and a little less than a 3 weeks since my first phone interview!  So they may not actually be aware of just how fast it’s going.

    Anyhoo…at least this time I don’t have to work so I can do interview prep tomorrow and most of Wednesday before the interview at 4pm!

  75. 75.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @raven: I only caught some snatches of it, some good, some made me cringe. Why he felt the need to go into such meandering detail about the Veep search is beyond me. “We have a lot of great candidates, and it’s hard work to decide who’s the best, but you can be confident I’ll pick somebody who’s ready to the job whatever happens, and you’ll be one of the first to know when we’ve made a choice, Joy!”

  76. 76.

    Salty Sam

    @Kent:
    . And there will be a shitload of squealing from the affected industries who thought they had a good thing going on with Trump. Fuck them. They didn’t negotiate half-way with the public when their lobbyists rammed their shit through without adequate analysis or comment.

    I’m getting to like you more and more…

  78. 78.

    Kropacetic

    @Jeffro: Yeah and did you see what the Repubs “coalesced” about?  Tying school funding to whether or not they re-open in-person and also a blessed payroll tax cut.

    A tax cut and defunding schools, must’ve been hard for them to reach that compromise.

  79. 79.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    Jumping in without reading the lists:

    1. Beat C-19 by any means necessary (b/c without this, none of the rest will mean shit).
    2. Supercharge the VRA. Vote by mail, absentee ballot on request, permanent absentee ballots, the whole nine yards. Massive federal penalties for any forms of suppression including voter caging, shorting machines in minority (or ANY) precinct, poll taxes, voter intimidation, etc.
    3. SCOTUS. Get back the seat Mitch the Bitch stole, yank Kavanagh, then add so many seats they have to build another building to hold them all.
    4. Federal courts. EVERY SINGLE UNQUALIFIED JUDGE that Dollar Tree Don Coreleone nominated and Mitch the Bitch confirmed gets kicked, period. Put the Talivangelicals on notice now – you hitched your star to a TRAITOR, and you will not benefit from the fruit of a poisoned tree. We’re going to have to leave this fight; let’s get on with it.
    5. Reverse the tax cuts. They had no business being given in the first place, and we’ll need that money back to fix the clusterfuck that has been the Cletus Administration.
  80. 80.

    Jeffro

    @Citizen Alan:

     

    @West of the Cascades:

    It’s the key to almost all of the other initiatives…it HAS to be part of the top 5.  So much of what we could be doing right in this country, but aren’t, revolves around the fact that there’s no money to pay for it, while rich Randians use the proceeds to fund their insane Rep-puppets’ and Senator-puppets’ campaigns.

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh36: That’s awful.  They get to see you but you only get disembodied voices?

    Will you see video for the other peeps on this interview on Wednesday?

    I agree that regional managers are going to have a perspective that is different from the last interview.  I will have to give this some thought.

  82. 82.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WaterGirl:

    On Pod Save America they talked about some sort of poll where they asked people what they thought Defund the Police meant. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a substantial % of people understood that it didn’t mean take every dime away from the police.

    It’s still a dumb-as-shit slogan.

    In other news, has anyone else seen people on the street asking for donations for anti-Trump protests, and they call him Satan.  I saw this earlier today outside one of my supermarkets, and I remember something similar from months ago.  Feels like a grift.

  84. 84.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Kent: Polluters are excluded from the ranks of stakeholders.  In the immortal words of efgoldman, fuck ’em.

  85. 85.

    Ken

    @Jeffro: Tying school funding to whether or not they re-open in-person and also a blessed payroll tax cut.

    They may think of it as a negotiating position – something to “give up” when negotiating with the House.

    This is why my top-5 list would begin with “Fill the Reflecting Pool with the blood of traitors and build a pile of their skulls on the National Mall”. Then we can negotiate that down to “prison for life”.  As Lord Veternari said, “No man can say I’m unreasonable.”

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @mrmoshpotato: certain parts of the left are addicted to emo sloganeering. Sometimes they have to explain that what they really mean is something quite different, (Defund the Police!), and sometimes we have to explain to them that just because a slogan is popular, doesn’t mean the details of the plan are (Medicare for All!)

  87. 87.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    1 Get COVID-19 under control

    2 Indict, try, and convict Donald Trump and as many of his ghoulish accomplices as possible

    3 Overturn every goddamn measure taken by the Rethuglican Party to suppress the right to vote

    4 Restore Net Neutrality

    5 Solve the climate change crisis

    6 Rename military bases named for Confederate generals and remove Confederate statues currently standing in the US Capitol Rotunda

  88. 88.

    dexwood

    Haven’t read all the comments, but so many good ones from what I’ve seen.

    1. Covid.

    2. Abolish Homeland Security.

    3. Education funding like it’s a moon shot.

    4. Healthcare.

    5. Demolish the Republican party.

  89. 89.

    Jeffro

    @Kropacetic: I’m sure there were intense discussions about this within the GOP…LOL…never mind.

    Even in the face of a pandemic and potentially epic economic collapse, the trumpublicans never fail to stay in character.  I hope Nancy Smash beats them over the head publicly with their stupid demands.

  90. 90.

    Jeffro

    @Ken:This is why my top-5 list would begin with “Fill the Reflecting Pool with the blood of traitors and build a pile of their skulls on the National Mall”. Then we can negotiate that down to “prison for life”.

    I’m dying.  I thought I was a big-picture kind of guy but wow, this is great.  =)

  91. 91.

    mad citizen

    1. Eliminate the Electoral College
    2. Paper ballots/trail mandatory; federal election standards if they don’t exist; mail voting.
    3. Expand the House to 4,000 members or weight the 435 votes accordingly to represent the population properly
    4. Free guitars, drums and microphones for all children who want them with music lessons
    5. Massive cultural, math and science curricula in schools; longer hours/more days in school, significant pay increases for teachers.
  92. 92.

    randy khan

    @randy khan: 

    I have to amend my list.

    1. Pandemic
    2. Economic rebuilding package
    3. Voter protection package
    4. Courts
    5. Green New Deal/climate change

    Taxes aren’t nearly as important at climate change.

  93. 93.

    PsiFighter37

    1) Prosecute every single instance of malfeasance by this administration

    2) Use the CRA to stop every Trump regulation in flight

    3) Pass every single wish list item on any topic, attached to a reconciliation bill

    4) get COVID under control with a national coordinated response

    5) add DC and Puerto Rico as states

  94. 94.

    zhena gogolia

    @Citizen Alan:

    Those look good to me.

    But although I’m not raven, I subscribe to the kina hora (or in Russian, не сглазить) theory, so this whole discussion makes me itch.

  97. 97.

    Brachiator

    A hat tip to Ben Cisco, whose priorities inspired this response:

     

    • SCOTUS. Get back the seat Mitch the Bitch stole, yank Kavanagh, then add so many seats they have to build another building to hold them all.

    Can the president simply add more justices without Congressional approval? I don’t think a president can “yank” Kavanaugh or any other justice. Realistically, the new president may be looking at the possible retirements of RBG, Roberts (wondering about his health issues) and Thomas.

    • Federal courts. EVERY SINGLE UNQUALIFIED JUDGE that Dollar Tree Don Coreleone nominated and Mitch the Bitch confirmed gets kicked, period. Put the Talivangelicals on notice now – you hitched your star to a TRAITOR, and you will not benefit from the fruit of a poisoned tree. We’re going to have to leave this fight; let’s get on with it.

    Again, can a president ask sitting judges to step down?

    • Reverse the tax cuts. They had no business being given in the first place, and we’ll need that money back to fix the clusterfuck that has been the Cletus Administration.

    Tax cuts, and restoring them is not your problem. The GOP re-wrote every significant area of the tax code, individual, corporation, estate and trust, to benefit the plutocrats. The Democrats need to fix this mess and they will need some good staff and good committee members who know what the fuck they are doing.

    Some of the tax cuts, for small business and for individuals, need to be retained, or even expanded.

  102. 102.

    Brachiator

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    #6: The Vichy Times needs to be purged of all collaborationist scum. Start with Baquet.

    Ha! That’s a good suggestion. Unfortunately, the federal government does not (or should not) own the news media.

  107. 107.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @zhena gogolia:

    God, are we doing 2016 all over again?

    Good lord. I made a passing comment about an interview that was seen by a few hundred thousand people and none of them will remember. On a blog read by a few hundred people, few or none of whom are persuadable or unlikely voters

    ETA: We are in a fight to the death.

    I know. That’s why I want Joe Biden to be the strongest candidate possible, and I want someone to tell him to stop being so thin-skinned, because he’s easily rattled when challenged and it doesn’t look good.

  109. 109.

    Ksmiami

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    1. pandemic under control
    2. rebuild America’s institutions

    3. sue Fox News and the right wing propaganda network out of existence.

    4. Investigation of everything

    5. Show trials & punishment

  110. 110.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Brachiator: Federal judges can only be impeached and removed by two-thirds vote of the Senate. “Packing the courts” is a longshot. Getting rid of Kavanaugh, or Noemi Rao, or any of the other atrocities installed by McConnell is a fantasy

  113. 113.

    Librarian

    Things like abolishing the electoral college and DC statehood are long term goals which will take a long time to happen. They should not be in a list of things that need to happen immediately.

  114. 114.

    Auntie Anne

    @lamh36: i’m with WaterGirl and want to give this some thought.  But I do think you’d be wise to prep on the company.

  115. 115.

    Joe Falco

    1. Institute national mask mandate
    2. Provide whatever PPE or other medical equipment that Healthcare professionals need to combat the spread of the virus
    3. Institute rent/mortgage/debt freeze during the pandemic
    4. Provide UBI to everyone so no one is forced to put themselves at risk without increased compensation if they provide an essential service
    5. Empower a Truth and Reconciliation Commission with responsibilities to investigate all crimes committed by Trump, his family, and all his associates, both domestic and foreign, to be tried and punished if found guilty.

    There’s so much to choose from, but my concerns lie squarely with the pandemic and how it affects every part of our lives. I saved Trump for last because as much he deserves his comeuppance, the country needs saving first.

  116. 116.

    namekarB

    1. Get cracking on climate change Day 1
    2. Use the full force of the Federal Government to get the pandemic under control
    3. Election reform including updating the VRA, National Vote By Mail, get around the Electoral College and Campaign Finance Reform
    4. Universal Single Coverage Health Care that includes dental, eye care, hearing care and elder care
    5. Rejigger the economy by massive infrastructure spending, tax reform and universal basic income

     

    I think we can pay for quite a bit of this by trimming the Defense Budget. We don’t need to have twice as much aircraft carrier deck space than all other countries combined. A few less flying Swiss Army Knives would save a lot too.

  118. 118.

    Kropacetic

    @zhena gogolia: That made you cringe?

    The horror of him elaborating on a big important decision he has to make causes a history of promoting the drug war and civil forfeiture to look quaint in comparison.

  120. 120.

    Benw

    1. pandemic (obvs)
    2. CLIMATE CHANGE
    3. fuck the police
    4. voting rights/un-gerrymander
    5. I get a working X-wing starfighter
  122. 122.

    Omnes Omnibus

    1. Covid
    2. Begin to rejoin international community
    3. Voting Rights
    4. Immigration
    5. Reverse every trump EO

    Honestly though, if we fix 1 and 3, everything else will take care of itself.

    Also, while hope is not a strategy and we shouldn’t count out chickens, etc., we want to win for good reasons. There are things that we can do in this country if only we put our minds to it. I want to win partly because I am sick and tired of asshole Republicans being the face of the United States. It’s my fucking country and I want to see people thriving. I want to see taco trucks on corners, I want people to be able to envision a good future for their kids, I want to have weird neighbors whose sex, gender, and orientation I can’t even begin to guess at because it’s really none of my concern, and this is our opportunity start back down that road.

  123. 123.

    lamh36

    @WaterGirl: 

    Yeah it was weird. I wasn’t sure if their videos were on or not. I assume the mgmt videos will be one ??‍♀️. I still treated it like they could see me.

    if you think of something send it to my email, I’m off to bed soon and my not be back to check this thread again.

    Thx

  124. 124.

    Gvg

    Get the kids back to their parents. Also every one of them should get automatic us citizenship as reparations, so they can grow up and vote against fascists.

    all voting rights are a priority so radical minorities never again threaten Us unfairly.

    Defeat virus and anti Vaxers.

    infrastructure

    social net rebuilding

  125. 125.

    Danielx

    All the above, which have given me much food for thought, but step #1 must be:

    Keep the scum from stealing it.

  126. 126.

    Desargues

    I’d like to urge people to think long to very long term, for the sake of our kids and their kids.

     

    1.  Abolish the electoral college.
    2. Dilute the Supreme Court — make it 35 judges or something like that.
    3. Make Washington DC a state.
    4. Raise taxes on the rich.
    5. Restore the VRA/make voting mandatory.

    Most of these would be hard to roll back, when Republicans are in power; and they’d pay off big for our side over the years.

  127. 127.

    Carlo

    (1) At a minimum, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to look at Trump administration damage to US governance. Obama’s “Look forwards, not back” resulted in normalization and institutionalization of the worst excesses of the GWB administration. We are a torture nation to this day, because we never disabled the ability of DOJ lawyers to authorize torture in the future simply by writing a memo. This time we need real institutional brakes to prevent a future hypothetical Trump-with-a-working-brain from turning the country into a true Fascist authoritarian dictatorship, Hungary style. Only a full accounting can do that. If measuring that SOB for an orange jumpsuit is too hard, a TRC might at least accomplish the required accounting and acknowledgements.

    (2) Court packing is a historically-fraught endeavor.How about abolishing Federal judicial tenure instead? Tenure is the truly obnoxious feature of our judicial politics. Instead, let’s say every judge gets 10 years on a court, and needs another nomination and confirmation for reappointment. This way we get permanent turnover, every party in power gets plenty of appointments, and nobody gets to install a political fifth column to sap the opposition for 20 years. It’s not as if the US is undersupplied with legal talent…

  128. 128.

    WaterGirl

    I arbitrarily picked the #5 for the number of priorities to focus on should we win (we better win!) in November.

    What’s an actual realistic number for how many top priorities we can reasonably hope to focus on?  5?  7?  10?

  131. 131.

    Jeffro

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

     

    @Brachiator:

     

    @Librarian: Removing them via impeachment (whether the 2 SCOTUS imposters or the ‘unqualified’ federal judges that were appointed) is next to impossible.  Just add two SCOTUS seats – unapologetically – and double the federal judiciary to dilute the impact of the rest of the appointments and speed up a clogged system.

  132. 132.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: Part of our  job as citizens is to reach out to our representatives and tell them what we want.  I want more than just the end of trump.  I want positive goals that we can work for and pressure our government to take action on.  Thinking about those isn’t just dreaming.  This should go hand in hand with working our asses off win the election by enough that they can’t even try to steal it.  I am tired of being told to act like we are behind.  Let’s work for a landslide and then do something with it.

  138. 138.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    @Carlo:

     (2) Court packing is a historically-fraught endeavor.How about abolishing Federal judicial tenure instead? Tenure is the truly obnoxious feature of our judicial politics. Instead, let’s say every judge gets 10 years on a court, and needs another nomination and confirmation for reappointment. This way we get permanent turnover, every party in power gets plenty of appointments, and nobody gets to install a political fifth column to sap the opposition for 20 years. It’s not as if the US is undersupplied with legal talent…

    Great statement!

  140. 140.

    The Moar You Know

    1. Corona control/vaccine.
    2. Dismantling with a permanent ban on rehire for government and law enforcement jobs for every single employee of DHS. Yes, it’s draconian. So is fighting a war against your own citizens.
    3. Restore as best as we are able, realizing the damage done is permanent, our ties with other nations.

    I could add a slew of other things but will forbear. I think just these three are a moonshot-level effort. Number one must succeed.

  142. 142.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): I’m all for it, but people should remember that the Senate is still probably a fifty-fifty bet, optimistically sixty-forty, (ed:) and that Senate would include Joe Manchin and Tom Carper, and I get nervous when I see people call for the unlikely (to say the least) as a starting point, to talk about the Biden presidency as if we’re installing a benign dictator, arguably with magical powers, cause that why lies repeats of “Obama didn’t even try!” and “He didn’t even put any banksters in jail!”

    Presidents don’t put people in jail. Neither do attorneys general. Juries put people in jail.

  145. 145.

    Bobby Thomson

    1. Virus.  Nothing substantive can be done until it is under control.  In addition to implementing a realistic public health strategy, this will require massive changes to the tax code and a real safety net.  And if that’s more than one choice, fuck you.
    2. Root out and replace corrupt and unqualified appointees.  This may be necessary for #1 to succeed.
    3. Protect the vote.
    4. Protect the people losing jobs and homes with the largest public works effort since WWII.  Green tech is a no-brainer.  Again, if this is “cheating,” fuck you.
    5. Repair the international order.
  149. 149.

    Fraud Guy

    1 Corona response correct (kind of two parter, but health and economic response)
    2 Voting Rights Redux (repass or amendment)
    3 Root out Trump actions to the furthest branch
    4 Undo the plutocratic tax changes since Reagan
    5 Restore international democracy

  150. 150.

    James E Powell

    1. Get pandemic under control
    2. Put money into the hands of people out of work
    3. Extend & expand ACA
    4. Investigate & expose every dirty corner of the Trump maladministration
    5. Work very hard to win the 2022 midterms
  152. 152.

    Fair Economist

    Honestly, I don’t think you can cut it to five. I see eight that are absolutely essential:

    1. Control the epidemic
    2. End the filibuster
    3. Add judges to the courts to undo McConnell’s packing
    4. Voting Rights act
    5. Statehood for DC and Puerto Rico
    6. Address Climate Change
    7. Prosecution for criminal actions by the Trump administration and their Russian allies
    8. *Quick* path to citizenship for undocumented long-term immigrants

    I don’t think any of these can be skipped without disaster. In addition there’s a raft of policies list above that need to be done, but which are not essential to saving the country.

  154. 154.

    Kay

    Howard Mortman
    @HowardMortman
    · 5h
    House clerk chokes up and pauses while emotionally reading resolution on John Lewis funeral.

    She was ok until she got to reading his name.

  155. 155.

    Fair Economist

    @Carlo:

    Court packing is a historically-fraught endeavor.How about abolishing Federal judicial tenure instead?

    Abolishing tenure requires a Constitutional Amendment, which needs 67 Senators and 38 state legislatures. Unfortunately it’s not an option.

  157. 157.

    Yutsano

    @Kay:  Link no work. Please to fix.

    My answers? I don’t know if I can limit to five. But getting the virus under control is first thing. Until the pandemic is controlled, little else is going to matter.

  160. 160.

    Mai naem mobile

    I don’t think we need to prioritize this crap. Biden and the Dems are capable of running and chewing gum at the same time.

    1. Scrap the filibuster because you damn well know the GOP will abuse it.

    2. COVID and solidify voting rights legislation.

    3. Purge all fed departments of Trumpers. The whole lot.

    4. Pack the USSC with an extra two justices. Add one circuit court for sure. Maybe two. Organize so that you obviously limit the cases going to the crazier RW courts(I think one is the 5th.)

    5. Legislate POTUS requirements – none of this soft norm stuff. Taxes, financial statements, no handing out security clearances like candy. Strict nepotism laws. None of this I am not getting paid for the job crap. None of this acting positions except for very limited periods of time. No leaving the FEC positions open.

    6. Borrow money and fix whatever the hell that needs to be fixed. Money is cheap right now.

    7. Over fund the IRS especially the division that goes after high income complicated tax returns.

    8. Soak the rich. If they want to leave then leave. They’ve been getting rich at the expense of this country’s infrastructure and its time to pay up.

    9. Go after every goddamned Trumper crook. Every single one of them. No deals unless they’re turning on folks up higher. Otherwise prison time. This is the only chance you have of this crap not happening again.

    10. High speed rail. If COVID taught us one thing it’s that planes don’t cut it alone for long distances.

    11. Anti trust work on Facebook for sure. Possibly Google and Amazon. Some regulation for sure.

  161. 161.

    TomatoQueen

    1. Virus under control

    2. Reunite the kids with the parents

    3. Rollback/pause all new Federal rules and procedures since 2016

    4. Rename the bridge.

    5. Hang John Yoo

  162. 162.

    Jay Noble

    1. Return USPS to being full governmental agency without that silly 75 year pension funding clause
    2. Bring back Post Office Banking
    3. Attach a sub-agency or make it part of the USPS mission to bring broadband to every Address
    4. Reverse ALL relevant parts of Trumps Execuitive Orders – that covers sooo much in itself from immigratration to you name it
    5. Repeal the Patriot Act, which gets rid of DHS. The Patriot Act actually makes ALL government agencies subserviant to DHS in making all of their #1 priorities to be combating terroism.
  163. 163.

    dww44

    @raven: Yep, talk about handing one’s opposition a sledge hammer.  My mostly independent spouse ( voted for Obama twice, Bush before that, and hates Trump) said that and this immediate push to rename everything pronto  was just handing Trump and his follower endless campaign ads.  Which are playing on my local news several times a day.  And there isn’t any counter messaging from Democrats.  Abrams notwithstanding, Perdue will crush Ossof.  The latter has run one ad which does not address Perdue directly and is just about etheral sort of issues.  A candidate cannot beat the GOP here by being timid and polite.

  165. 165.

    Mike in DC

    1, end the filibuster

    2. New Voting Rights Act

    3. Prosecution, Truth and Reconciliation, Crackdown on Right Wing Extremism

    4. Immigration Rights

    5. Realign policy on Russia and China

  166. 166.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Carlo:

    Court packing is a historically-fraught endeavor.

    That may be true, but it’s also a legislative endeavor, changing judicial tenure is a constitutional endeavor(pass both houses AND get 3/4 of state legislatures to agree).

  168. 168.

    moonbat

    1. Get the virus response right

    2. End the filibuster (SO much will follow after this hurdle is removed)

    3. Restore VRA

    4. Pack the Supreme Court

    5. Pass the Green New Deal

  169. 169.

    West of the Rockies

    Deal with COVID like adult scientists.

    Address climate change with similar fervor.

    Make life miserable for Nazis, racists, homophobes.

    Tax churches and the uber wealthy.

    Rebuild our education infrastructure, scrap everything DeVos created, deal with student debt.

    Expand the ACA.

    Dismantle rightwing courts.

    End gerrymandering and voter suppression.

    Fund the arts.

    Send Trump, Barr, and Kushner to prison.

    And then on Day 2…

  170. 170.

    Kropacetic

    This is all a moot exercise anyway.  As the media will helpfully point out, Dems shouldn’t overreach.  True mandates only come from narrow electoral college wins, not the voters.

  172. 172.

    Another Scott

    By “priorities” I assume that means legislation (as opposed to national commissions to investigate and recommend actions, etc.).

    1. Strong national voting rights legislation to ease registration and to ease the act of voting itself.
    2. Strong national standards for police, prosecutors, and trials.
    3. Strengthen Obamacare.
    4. Strengthen the safety net for the bottom 50%.  Higher minimum wages, negative income tax, better unemployment benefits (ending non-compete contracts, higher payments, including gig-workers, those who “aren’t full time”, etc.).
    5. Restore postal banking, reinstate usury laws, tax investment income like wages.

    I might have a different list tomorrow, but I think that’s my list for the moment.

    Now to read everyone else’s list…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  173. 173.

    dww44

    @lamh36:  I’m impressed.  You deserve the new job.  I’m retired and I never had to work that hard for a job or a promotion, which is not to say that I ever had that many.

  174. 174.

    dww44

    @Citizen Alan: Reference # 3.  What if the GOP goes along with Trump’s effort to dismantle and defund the USPS.  How in God’s name will the election even come off?

  176. 176.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: There are hundreds of things that need to be done.  It’s a good thing that many of them can be done in parallel.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (“Who obviously thinks that fighting COVID-19 is Step 0.”)

  177. 177.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Jacquelyn Abad @JacquelynAbadTV 22m
    Hundreds of protesters are outside the Justice Center. I haven’t seen this many protesters at this time of night in weeks.

    @WallOfMoms handed out sunflowers to moms in the crowd.

    “I’m very disappointed in you” is the best sign I’ve seen in a while

  179. 179.

    Yutsano

    @Kelly:  The Coast Guard fit just fine in the Department of Defense until the Homeland Security department was created. I don’t see any reason why that branch of the DHS also qualifies for Veteran Administration benefits while no other agency there does. They also do support other military branches in joint operations (or they did, not sure if that is true now) so I don’t see any reason not to reintegrate them back.

    Oh and abolish the Department of Homeland Security and all the agencies within it. After you reassign the CG.

  180. 180.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Yutsano: It was part of the Department of the Treasury until 1967 and then it moved to Transportation until DHS was created.

  181. 181.

    PJ

    1. Rooting out corruption in government (investigating and prosecuting all crimes committed by elected officials and civil servants over the last 20 year), and passing legislation to prevent similar corruption from happening in the future.
    2. Tax reform to redistribute wealth downwards and make sure the 1% contribute proportionate to the benefits they receive from this country.  In addition to raising taxes on the wealthy, this means closing loopholes, punishing use of tax havens, making sure corporations pay taxes, etc.
    3. A comprehensive plan to deal with climate change, not just in terms of rejoining the Paris Accords and reducing and eliminating greenhouse gas emissions here, but preparing for coastal portions of this country to be permanently underwater, food shortages as crop patterns change, and the immigration of upwards of a billion people from the global south to the global north (not just in this hemisphere.)
    4.  A comprehensive immigration plan that provides for paths to documentation and/or citizenship for undocumented residents here and plans for the eventual immigration of tens (or hundreds) of millions of more people to this country in this century.
    5. Reimplementation of the Voting Rights Act and working to prevent voter suppression and secure the right to vote for every citizen in the decades to come.
    6. Universal Health Care, however soonest and at the lowest cost to individuals.
  183. 183.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @The Moar You Know: In wartime (as in the last actual declared war, WWII) they’re under DoD.  My dad was a coastie but skippered a landing craft in the Pacific.

    In peacetime, they were under DoT, then the deserting coward moved them to the Heimatsicherheitshauptamt in the creation process of that most despicable of cabinet departments.

  184. 184.

    Quaker in a Basement

    I’ll give my list over to Alison Rose up at comment #12. Ditto that.

  185. 185.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Omnes Omnibus: Treasury because one of their duties was customs enforcement.  Before that became part of DHS’ mandate, as you indicated.  Then, of course, Transportation, as their mission shifted to be more in the nature of search and rescue in peacetime.

  187. 187.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @PJ: “Will you commit to naming a black woman as your running mate?” may be a cheap attempt at a gotcha question (I think it is) but it’s hardly an attack on him, his family or the Democratic Party. And it won’t be the last cheap gotcha question. And it rattled him.

    Nobody’s looking for more than genial, avuncular platitudes from Uncle Joe. That’s all he has to do.

  188. 188.

    piratedan

    well for me… the top 5 would be…

    1. bring the pandemic under control, by that I mean, testing, contact tracing, manufacturing of PPE, manufacturing of ventilators, manufacturing of instrumentation to run the tests….standardization of information gathering and reporting.  This also means printing money to get people to stay at home.  No one gets evicted, if we have to buy a laptop and a router for every kid to go to school, then that’s what we do.
    2. prosecute the illegal shit that went on.  I mean not just the shit that the perpetrators performed, but those who violated their public oaths of office to allow actual wrongdoing not to be punished.  They’re removed from being able to hold public office ever again and any public pension.  examples must be made, wealth stripped, jail time for the subverting of the law.
    3.  tax the rich, use it to move us into green jobs, infrastructure, small business loans, civic projects, those folks who profited from this reign of corruption, sorry, that’s nationalized to serve the debt.
    4. disband the propaganda arms, make it illegal to present untruths as news  and disguise it as differences of opinions. Lies are lies, no one gets to go around spouting racism and ignorance and call it the truth.  Our entire social discourse and both the mainstream media and social media are polluted with this shit.  Prosecute those that knowingly perpetuated lies.
    5. VRA and ERA are ratified, gerrymandered districts are subject to independent commissions redrawing boundaries that make sense geographically with equal representation.
  190. 190.

    Yutsano

    @Villago Delenda Est:  It’s interesting because even though they’re not technically under DoD they’re still performing military style operations and deployments. After reading this, I can’t see a reason for them to not be under DoD jurisdiction.

  191. 191.

    artem1s

    1. new VRA that has preclearance for all 50 states
    2. election funding reform laws that will effectively end Citizen’s United – too much money coming from who knows where – CU is directly responsible for the MSM interference in elections just so they get more ad money
    3. increase representatives equal to increase in population of US. This will weaken the Senate and allow for smaller districts that are manageable
    4. nationwide initiative to enact community policing and demilitarization of police
    5. prison reform, including minimum wage and abolition of prison slave labor

  192. 192.

    burnspbesq

    @The Moar You Know:

    Dismantling with a permanent ban on rehire for government and law enforcement jobs for every single employee of DHS. Yes, it’s draconian.

    ‘Including the Coast Guard? Those folks are kinda handy to have around.

    I’d take a more surgical approach to DHS. Indict and try the leadership of ICE. Transfer its functions to DOJ (after Barr’s malign influence has been rooted out). Put CBP back in Treasury, and add an ombudsman with the power to really fix shit (on the order of the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service). Put the Coast Guard back in DOT. Conduct a serious review of whether the DNI infrastructure and NCTC really add value, and eliminate them if they don’t.

  193. 193.

    burnspbesq

    These may not be top five, but they need to happen sooner than later.

    — Join the International Criminal Court.

    — Modify the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and fund the Federal Public Defenders, so that the idea of fair trials is more than just aspirational.

    — Give the SEC, CFTC, CFPB, OSHA, EEOC, NLRB, FTC, PBGC, and IRS Criminal Investigation Division the resources they need to do their jobs, and instill a new take-no-prisoners culture.

    — Change the tax laws and accounting rules to incentivize employers to offer truly portable defined-benefit pension plans to all employees.

  194. 194.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @PsiFighter37: 5) add DC and Puerto Rico as states

    This should be top of everybody’s list. Mitch McConnell has shown just how much can be done with 51+ Senate seats in the way of corrupting the process of government and the judiciary.

    Unless Democrats can achieve and keep a Senate majority everything else is moot. The Democrats need those 4 Senate seats that PR and DC provide or else the built-in Republican bias in the Senate will keep locking Democratic priorities out.

  195. 195.

    CaseyL

    Anyone still around? I’m watching the Portland protest on Twitter. Veteran4Peace has a live feed.  He’s right up front, by the courthouse, where the protestors are massed.

    2000 tonight.  More every night.

    Moms are there.  So are Dads (in orange, to the Moms’ yellow).  There is also an umbrella brigade: the protestors using tactics pioneered by the Hong Kong protestors.  I wonder if they’re prepared to stick it out as long as the Hong Kong groups did… I wonder if they’ll have to.

  196. 196.

    Martin

    1. Covid
    2. Voting Rights Amendment
    3. Green New Deal
    4. Anti-Corruption Legislation
    5. Public Financing of Elections

    Fix voting, fix the pandemic, green new deal is also a jobs program and tackles the next major threat. Lots of things flow once voting is unfucked.

  197. 197.

    Sloane Ranger

    @WaterGirl: To be fair, after an initial period of confusion, CNN, which is the only US news channel I get here in the UK, had people on who explained what it meant and their presenters have been reminding viewers of that every time it comes up.

    BTW – I read your email and will do as instructed re screen captures in the next couple of hours (once I’m washed and dressed). Thanks for looking into it.

  198. 198.

    Xenos

    Revenge.

    Sorry to be petty, but I am done waiting for Karma to do our work for us.

    Also, perhaps that greatest reform of all, lay out the infrastructure for a modern democracy>

    • national ID
    • universal vote by mail and de-privatize the Post office.

    Let the fundies who don’t like if fuck off to Antarctica or wherever.  Good riddance to them all.

  199. 199.

    Xenos

    Also, for the next constitutional convention>

    Amendment XXVIII – any state that has less than 1% of the US population for two consecutive censuses is dissolved and incorporated into the next larger contiguous state.

  201. 201.

    rikyrah

    VOTING RIGHTS

    WHATEVER IS NEEDED FOR COVID

    ROLLING BACK THE TOP TAX SCAM

    PUNISHING RUSSIA

     

    FIRING EVERYBODY WHO WENT ALONG WITH DOLT45

  205. 205.

    steppy

    1. Kill the filibuster.
    2. At least 4 new Supreme Court seats.
    These two are absolutely crucial, foundational steps. NOTHING happens without these.
    3. Declare national emergency on COVID-19 (invoke Defense Procurement, ramp up R&D, etc).
    4. Crime Commission/Special Prosecutor (including overturning corrupt pardons).
    5. Fix healthcare (expand ACA, Medicare for All, whatever else).

    I have a list as long as my arm, but you asked for five and I’ll stick to the rules.

  206. 206.

    lowtechcyclist

    At the beginning of the year, my bucket list for 2021 had three things:

    1. Climate change
    2. Voting rights
    3. Just do a shitload of things that make people’s lives tangibly better – because (a) it’s the right thing to do, and (b) so we don’t get blown out in 2022

    Now I’d add two obvious things:

    4. Beat the coronavirus
    5. Law enforcement reform/reduction of roles – top to bottom, Federal, state, local

  207. 207.

    J R in WV

    @Patricia Kayden:

    I forgot  that Biden also needs to repeal every executive order enacted by Trump. There’s so much for him to do.

    Actually, Joe only needs one executive order that declares that all executive orders from Jan 20, 2017 til Jan 20, 2021 are hereby rescinded; all those conditions revert to their status as of Jan 19, 2017. Sweep it in one fell swoop, no nickel and diming it, all at once.

    Page two can start undoing immigration abuses and start prosecution of everyone who ever touched a child seized from their family. If they confess and surrender any children in their custody, they might not go to jail for life — if they don’t confess, they face prosecution for kidnapping.

    Ya’ll have good ideas for January 23rd forward. Don’t forget in infrastructure upgrading, water and sewer systems all need replaced but for the newest isntallations. There’s still lead pipe in there for dog’s sake!!!

  208. 208.

    J R in WV

    @Brachiator:

    • Federal courts. EVERY SINGLE UNQUALIFIED JUDGE that Dollar Tree Don Coreleone nominated and Mitch the Bitch confirmed gets kicked, period. Put the Talivangelicals on notice now – you hitched your star to a TRAITOR, and you will not benefit from the fruit of a poisoned tree. We’re going to have to leave this fight; let’s get on with it.

    Again, can a president ask sitting judges to step down?

    A president can ask politely, and a prosecutor can subpoena for long complicated interviews regarding answers during confirmation. If they lied, distorted, that’s a felony. Hard to be a judge from a cell.

    Kavanaugh in particular is vulnerable there. Plus he never revealed where his huge debts came from, nor how they were paid off, funny business there, some kind of unethical behavior.

    He is so used to being on top he forgot being a Justice means being in the public eye, and he needs a subpoena in the worst way, in several different jurisdictions. That boy needs to be in jail for rape! And would be a large step toward repairing the Supremes.

  209. 209.

    KBS

    I’m blown away by the number of people who didn’t have addressing the climate crisis on their list.  Climate change is already here, and it’s going to kill many, many more people than Covid.  We can use the Green New Deal to address climate, racial injustice, and economic inequality all in one go, and we should throw everything we’ve got into passing the strongest GND we possibly can.

  210. 210.

    Richard Guhl

    1. Restore the rule of law.

    2. Enact Green New Deal.

    3. Restore Voting Rights (with provision that courts cannot review).

    4. Empower workers (union organizing/minimum wage increase)

    5. Immigration reform.

  211. 211.

    Kosh III

    1.  Climate Change, the situation is dire and calls for immediate and effective action.
    2. Switch to the Metric System and actually do it this time.
    3. Medicare for All
    4. Immigration Reform
    5. Tax reform including a SALES TAX on stocks, bonds and any other transaction.  If you buy 1000 shares, pay sales tax. Each and every fraking time! I don’t care if a computer sells a million shares per minute-Pay it!   If a hedge fund vulture has to pay a billion or so-boohooboohoo…..
      I pay 5% on food and 9.25 on everything else. Charge at least 1% on stock sales.
  212. 212.

    Mo MacArbie

    I’m not sure we actually get five, so I’m just going to say Protect the Vote. Everything else comes from that. Protect the Vote.

  213. 213.

    Skybird

    1. Get the Pandemic under control (using whatever techniques or powers are required)

    2. Secure Voting Rights and methods that are comprehensive and Constitutional

    3. Rescind tax cuts

    4. Climate change

    5. Congressional and Executive appointment of a Special Prosecutor to examine all Trump Administration actions and efforts for legality and Constitutionality with prosecution of all questionable behaviours

  214. 214.

    Chris

    1) Add 4 seats to SCOTUS
    2) Enable the Wyoming Rule (expand Congress to represent urban voters, adds about 100 Reps)
    3) End Citizens United
    4) New John Lewis voting Right Act (mail-in ballots are legal everywhere, national holiday to vote)
    5) Medicare 4 All

Comments are closed.