Biden’s Plans Will Push America Forward. Trump Has No Plan.

Throughout the past 18 months, America has witnessed a divisive and, in many ways, deeply disturbing presidential election campaign, with no previous incumbent president having created such a chaotic and disruptive environment that’s characterized by lies and misinformation. In a few days (maybe weeks), the outcome will be known. America will have voted and, if the polls are correct, the voters will have called time on the Trump presidency, handing him the title of ‘one-term president’ and electing Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States of America. So, if Biden successfully defeats Trump, what will be his vision for America and how will his presidency develop, compared to the chaos that people have witnessed since 2016?

The first and, arguably, the most important issue that Biden will face on the first day of his presidency is tackling the coronavirus pandemic that has so far claimed over 230,000 lives in America. While Donald Trump has proudly bragged about playing down the threat of the virus for political gain, attacked scientists and even, at a rally this week in Michigan, accused doctors of profiting from the tragic deaths of people from coronavirus, Biden has presented a plan to combat the contagion.

A Biden/Harris administration knows three things are key to tackling the virus: listening to the scientists; ensuring public health decisions are informed by public health professionals; and restoring trust, transparency, common purpose, and accountability to the government. After years of an ill-informed and ill-tempered individual leading the country, America will be glad to have someone who follows guidance from experts, rather than pretending they know everything despite really knowing nothing. On top of that, Moody’s Analytics has found Biden’s plans will create 7.4 million more jobs than Trump’s will, which is exactly what America needs post-coronavirus.

In a country that’s been ravaged by a virus that has already infected up to 9 million people, potentially leaving many of them with pre-existing conditions, Trump has spent his time pushing damaging policies for political gain, whilst callously trying to strip healthcare away from millions of people in the middle of a global pandemic. Despite having had control of both chambers of Congress from 2014-2018, adding control of the White House in 2016, the Republican Party has still not presented even an inkling of a healthcare plan to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Biden won’t just tackle Covid-19 and help get the country back to normal, he will also protect and expand healthcare, providing a plan that delivers health insurance for more than 97% of Americans. It might not be the Medicare for All plan that progressives have demanded, but it is a very significant step forward. Building on the ACA, Biden will give Americans more choice, reduce healthcare costs, and make the system less complex to navigate. Importantly, instead of allowing pharmaceutical companies to continue to exploit the healthcare industry for their own profit, Biden’s administration will stand up to drug corporations that have abused their power to price-gouge people who desperately need medicine.

Despite trying to claim that he’s a protector of America’s air and water, calling himself the “great environmentalist”, Trump has undermined environmental policies, allowing more drilling, logging and pollution, while putting many different species at risk. In his quest to rollback every sensible initiative implemented during the Obama administration, Trump has weakened or eliminated 125 solutions and is already working on dismantling another 40 initiatives. If he’s re-elected, he will almost certainly continue this destructive work, with damaging and irreversible consequences.

Even though Biden hasn’t signed up to the Green New Deal, he has presented a comprehensive clean energy plan that will put the United States on the path to having a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. Biden recognizes that, while it’s going to be a challenge, it’s crucial to launch a national effort that will create good, unionized jobs to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure, thus creating a modern, sustainable infrastructure. That’s why he has pledged to implement a $2 trillion plan, providing resources during his first term to meet the ambitious targets that scientists have made clear are crucial and long-overdue.

After the tragic murder of George Floyd, at the hands of officers from the Minneapolis Police Department, Americans, and others around the world, were outraged and poured onto the streets, as state after state and country after country declared that’ Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) and called for racial equality. Did Trump seize the moment and support this movement, showing leadership and connecting with the black community, as he’s claimed he does? Of course not. He stoked racial tensions, made false accusations about controversial chants at rallies, and tried to whip up opposition to BLM.

Biden recognizes that the President of the United States needs to work with communities across the country to address systemic discrimination that has created barriers for individuals at all levels and from all walks of life. The Democratic nominee has laid out a plan to ‘build back better by advancing racial equity across the American economy’, creating bold investments in clean energy, education, housing, federal procurement, infrastructure, innovation, manufacturing, and small businesses. With Harris by his side, who would not just be the first female vice president, but also the first black person to hold the post, it’s clear Biden’s administration understands the challenges people face and will work to address them. All Americans, and indeed people throughout the world, can look forward with hope and enthusiasm to the Biden/Harris administration.

In 2016, Trump showed how easily he can be corrupted by special interests and lobbyists, as his campaign accepted more than $30 million from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and then did their bidding during his time in office, working with Republicans to stall any efforts to implement sensible gun control measures to protect America from the gun control pandemic that’s ravaged it and claimed the lives of too many innocent individuals. Despite promising he would support “meaningful background checks”, it turned out to be all talk and no action. American families can’t wait any longer for Trump to find the courage he’s been lacking. Almost 40,000 people die every year in the US from firearm incidents. One death is too many but 40,000 is a national tragedy

Biden’s presidency would address that issue head-on by presenting a plan to end the gun violence pandemic, so more lives aren’t torn apart by it, and fixing campaign finance, so politicians are no longer beholden to lobby groups that block crucial progress. Biden has taken on the NRA in the past and beaten them twice, helping pass the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and working to secure the assault weapons ban he can do it again when he’s in the White House. He’ll hold fun manufacturers accountable, get weapons of war off the streets, and regulate the possession of existing assault weapons. This isn’t in violation of the Second Amendment, as Republicans will claim. This is sensible, necessary steps to make American safer, and Biden has shown he has the spine to do it.

If there’s one word to describe Biden, it’s ‘prepared’, which, after 4 years of Trump’s disastrous, off-the-cuff presidency, will be a sigh of relief. He has a whole host of plans on his website to deal with the issues that Americans have been facing and crying out for support on. The Biden/Harris ticket has made it abundantly clear that they aren’t working for Democrats, they aren’t taking a partisan approach, they are working for all of America. Their first four years in office would focus on bridging the divisions in the country, uniting people and restoring the soul of the nation. Electing Biden and Harris isn’t a vote for a party or pair of politicians. It’s a vote for a positive future for America. Every decent citizen should be able to get behind that rallying cry.