What should a second Democratic term and trifecta do by 2026?

[GettyRoad]

The last two second term Democratic eras (1997-2001) and (2013-2017) did not produce a lot of legislation that made voters want to stay with Democrats in 2000 and 2016, unlike Reagan's second term (1985-1989) that helped George Bush's term (1989-1993), which really was Reagan's third term.

If Biden or whoever the Democrats pick this year win, and Dems keep the Senate and win back the House, what should they accomplish?

Me Personally:
1. Police Reform
2. Reparations for Black Americans
3. Single Payer Health Care
4. Immigration Reform

They have from January 2025 to July 2026 technically, they can't waste this, because Dr. Umar and the Left will revolt in 2028....

 

[Zorba]

1. A Shit ton of worker's rights, including banning non-competes by law, stronger punishment for wage theft, make non-exempt only for real managers
2. Pass new anti-trust legislation so we can undo the damage of all the terrible court rulings from the 80 and 90s
3. Expand the Supreme Court
4. Expand the House
5. Pass anti-gerrymandering laws
6. Pass a new voting rights act
7. Do something to address the structural issues with raising costs of college, and make student loans less of a trap.

 

[ivwshane]

1. A Shit ton of worker's rights, including banning non-competes by law, stronger punishment for wage theft, make non-exempt only for real managers
2. Pass new anti-trust legislation so we can undo the damage of all the terrible court rulings from the 80 and 90s
3. Expand the Supreme Court
4. Expand the House
5. Pass anti-gerrymandering laws
6. Pass a new voting rights act
7. Do something to address the structural issues with raising costs of college, and make student loans less of a trap.

Interestingly you didn’t have anything about abortion.

 

[Moonbeam]

Interestingly you didn’t have anything about abortion.

That comes under expand the Supreme Court.

 

[trenchfoot]

Get old business out of the way by indicting every single person who was involved with Trump's treasonous effort to remain in office past his expiration date. Finish up arresting and convicting the insurrectionists, get Trump behind bars and fer heaven's sake try to get every single person Trump pardoned arrested again on some other offense so they can join him because misery loves company and we wouldn't want to deny Trump that now wouldn't we?

 

[Fenixgoon]

Going for things not mentioned yet

End Citizens United

Codify ISPs as Title 1 communications providers

Get rid of the electoral college

Ban personal firearm ownership with few exceptions (yeah..in my dreams)

Laws protecting LGBTQ people and their access to healthcare

End the USPS retirement pre-funding, kick Louis DeJoy out, and allow USPS offices to provide banking services.

Statehood for DC, Puerto Rico, and any non-independent territories.

Simplify the taxation process so people receive a "bill" directly from the IRS indicating a refund or additional payment required.

Increase taxes on the rich including the Uber rich. Tax income as income, regardless of the source. Adjust tax brackets and rates (400k in the 1940s is about $10M today, and the max marginal tax rate was 90+%!).

Ban Bitcoin. (Admittedly a low priority)

Protect "gig economy" workers by providing clearer definitions on when someone is an independent contractor vs an employee (not sure if that's purely state-level purview though)

Codify that executive agencies have powers to create new regulations under broad congressional mandates without Congress explicitly naming the exact thing being regulated (OSHA/COVID, anything that would violate the clean air and water act)

That's all I got on my mind for the moment

 

[Greenman]

1. A Shit ton of worker's rights, including banning non-competes by law, stronger punishment for wage theft, make non-exempt only for real managers
2. Pass new anti-trust legislation so we can undo the damage of all the terrible court rulings from the 80 and 90s
3. Expand the Supreme Court
4. Expand the House
5. Pass anti-gerrymandering laws
6. Pass a new voting rights act
7. Do something to address the structural issues with raising costs of college, and make student loans less of a trap.

The answer to 7 is to make all new student loans dischargeable.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

The last two second term Democratic eras (1997-2001) and (2013-2017) did not produce a lot of legislation that made voters want to stay with Democrats in 2000 and 2016, unlike Reagan's second term (1985-1989) that helped George Bush's term (1989-1993), which really was Reagan's third term.

If Biden or whoever the Democrats pick this year win, and Dems keep the Senate and win back the House, what should they accomplish?

Me Personally:
1. Police Reform
2. Reparations for Black Americans
3. Single Payer Health Care
4. Immigration Reform

They have from January 2025 to July 2026 technically, they can't waste this, because Dr. Umar and the Left will revolt in 2028....

1. Depends on what you mean. At the very least, I want a national database of complaints and discipline against officers and a way to bar a bad cop from moving to another department. Make them pay any lawsuit settlements personally rather than load down the taxpayers of the department they worked for at the time of the incident. Also a way to strip them of their pensions.


2. No. If there were any that were personally enslaved, or their immediate offspring, maybe.

3. Yes, if properly managed.

4. Again, depends on how.

The answer to 7 is to make all new student loans dischargeable.

No. You take out a loan, you pay as agreed. The answer is to control costs initially so tuition isn't so high.

Second step is the state pays. Question then becomes, which state, the student's home state or wherever the school is located?

Third step is the employer pays ... hires for certain fields get agreements for the employer to pay for any advanced classes or degrees. Then you have to guard against any notion of 'indentured servitude' while still allowing a company to protect their investment.

 

[Zorba]

Interestingly you didn’t have anything about abortion.

Yeah, I realized that as I was getting ready for bed. I would also include making all abortions a decision between the doctor and patient. Since that probably wouldn't fly, I'd at least codify Roe and federally protect birth control.

 

[eelw]

If Clinton or Obama had Reagan level congress majorities, or just at the minimum Biden didn’t have Sinechin obstruction, imagine how much more could be done?

 

[Zorba]

The answer to 7 is to make all new student loans dischargeable.

That, and preventing how many loans can be taken on to start with. But the most important thing is to decrease the cost of college, of which there are many small things that need to be done. A big one is stop tearing down dorms for luxury apartments on campus, and stop tearing down off campus housing for sports facilities. But there is a lot more than just housing issues.

 

[Greenman]

1. Depends on what you mean. At the very least, I want a national database of complaints and discipline against officers and a way to bar a bad cop from moving to another department. Make them pay any lawsuit settlements personally rather than load down the taxpayers of the department they worked for at the time of the incident. Also a way to strip them of their pensions.


2. No. If there were any that were personally enslaved, or their immediate offspring, maybe.

3. Yes, if properly managed.

4. Again, depends on how.


No. You take out a loan, you pay as agreed. The answer is to control costs initially so tuition isn't so high.

Second step is the state pays. Question then becomes, which state, the student's home state or wherever the school is located?

Third step is the employer pays ... hires for certain fields get agreements for the employer to pay for any advanced classes or degrees. Then you have to guard against any notion of 'indentured servitude' while still allowing a company to protect their investment.

The point is that making the new loans dischargeable would end the student loan program, and shut down the fire hose of money flowing into the collage system.
The state suppling free education is problematical in that some states would have students from all over the nation flocking to them.
I don't see how an employer could pay for education without a requirement for years of employment and performance.

Why not have collage federally funded with an entrance exam and a performance requirement? You get a free education if you're sharp enough for your chosen field, and you maintain a minimum GPA?

 

[Dave_5k]

The problem is getting anything non-budget related passed currently requires 60 votes in the Senate, not just a majority.

So unless get 60+ Democrats in the Senate (which is not remotely feasible), every single idea listed is impossible. Or instead get ~53 Democrats in the Senate with the spine to finally end the filibuster. (Anticipating once again 2-3 holdouts).

 

[HomerJS]

1. A Shit ton of worker's rights, including banning non-competes by law, stronger punishment for wage theft, make non-exempt only for real managers
2. Pass new anti-trust legislation so we can undo the damage of all the terrible court rulings from the 80 and 90s
3. Expand the Supreme Court
4. Expand the House
5. Pass anti-gerrymandering laws
6. Pass a new voting rights act
7. Do something to address the structural issues with raising costs of college, and make student loans less of a trap.

This is a good list

However until Biden is willing to do something about the fillibuster most of it won’t see the light of day.

Fix the fillibuster problem and then get to work on this list.

I also want the Feds to pick specific cases for reparations. Example: The survivors and their families from The Tulsa Race Massacre should be compensated.

Fix the immigration problem. We need to build up the asylum infrastructure in countries of origin and people need to apply there.

 

[HomerJS]

..

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

If you do Tulsa, there was a thing in South Carolina, was it? Supposedly the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Then the kids from Selma.

But then what about the American Indians? Removal, Sand Creek were just a couple.

That's a slippery slope we might want to get into.

 

[Zorba]

This is a good list

However until Biden is willing to do something about the fillibuster most of it won’t see the light of day.

Fix the fillibuster problem and then get to work on this list.

I also want the Feds to pick specific cases for reparations. Example: The survivors and their families from The Tulsa Race Massacre should be compensated.

Fix the immigration problem. We need to build up the asylum infrastructure in countries of origin and people need to apply there.

Biden has no say over the filibuster, but I agree it needs to be killed day 1 of a democratic majority.

 

[GettyRoad]

If Clinton or Obama had Reagan level congress majorities, or just at the minimum Biden didn’t have Sinechin obstruction, imagine how much more could be done?

Gore might have won. Bill Bradley probably should have been the nominee, he was ahead of his time on the police brutality issue regarding Amadou Diallo, etc. America checked out after Rodney King on police brutality, so it wasn't until Michael Brown and Eric Garner when national attention resurfaced on police brutality.

Clinton should have been censured, resigned and let President Gore fill the remainder of Clinton's term and run on his record...would have spared the nation Bush, Obama and Trump.

Biden should have been the nominee in 2016, it would have been a good feeling and a sympathy prize....

 

[GettyRoad]

If you do Tulsa, there was a thing in South Carolina, was it? Supposedly the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Then the kids from Selma.

But then what about the American Indians? Removal, Sand Creek were just a couple.

That's a slippery slope we might want to get into.

Should have happened decades/centuries ago, Dems are under pressure by Black voters, any dropoff in Black vote turnout can tip the scales in Georgia, Wisconsin, etc.

Charlamange the God is gonna be on Dems' neck this year.

 

[ondma]

Biden has no say over the filibuster, but I agree it needs to be killed day 1 of a democratic majority.

Of course, getting rid of the filibuster is a double edged sword. If the Reps get a trifecta, there will be no way of stopping the batshit crazy legislation they will push through.

 

[Zorba]

Of course, getting rid of the filibuster is a double edged sword. If the Reps get a trifecta, there will be no way of stopping the batshit crazy legislation they will push through.

They already ignore the filibuster for anything they want. The filibuster only prevents things Democrats want, tax cuts, military funding, and cuts to things they don't like aren't subject to the filibuster.

@fskimospy puts it better than I will, but if people vote in a Republican trifecta let them do the damage so people can actually understand what they voted for.

 

[eelw]

Of course, getting rid of the filibuster is a double edged sword. If the Reps get a trifecta, there will be no way of stopping the batshit crazy legislation they will push through.

But once Dems fix most things broken by Repugicans, doubt would see change of power ever again.

 

[GettyRoad]

Dare I say this, but Biden needs to work with Kim Kardashian and Ian Bick, etc. on criminal justice reform. Young voters, especially young Black people don't like him....

Criminal justice reform needs to be Priority Number 1.

Or else the six-year itch that presidents get in their 2nd midterm will be brutal for him, and 2028 will see a rare Republican victory.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

That krazy KK Bitch needs to go to Mars with the Big Giant Twit.

 

[GettyRoad]

That krazy KK Bitch needs to go to Mars with the Big Giant Twit.

KK is needed for bipartisan criminal justice reform, it's the best Biden can do, he's losing young Black and Latino voters who will stay home or vote for Trump.....Charlamagne is on his neck on that.