BIDEN’S DOMESTIC POLICIES NEWLETTER #2,

 

OMNI

BIDEN’S DOMESTIC POLICIES NEWLETTER #2,

FEBRUARY 18, 2022

Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology

Omnicenter.org/donate/

 

 

BIDEN FAILS TO CANCEL STUDENT DEBT

AOC warns failure to cancel student debt has ‘demoralized’ critical voters.     Editor.  Mronline.org (2-18-22).

"This really isn't a conversation about providing relief to a small, niche group of people," said the congresswoman. "It's very much a keystone action politically." –AOC    

 

BIDEN PART OF THE ANTI-REFUGEE PARTY

The 700,000 Club: Joe Biden’s Deportation Frenzy

Editor.  Mronline.org (1-22-22). 

In under a year, the Biden regime has detained and deported more asylum seekers than his predecessor, demonstrating that there is an alignment among the U.S. political elites–of both parties–when it comes to creating and enforcing racist, inhumane laws.    

 

Pressure Grows On Biden To Shut Down Trump-Era Medicare Privatization Scheme By Jake Johnson, Commondreams. Popular Resistance.org (1-1-21).    Calls are mounting for President Joe Biden to terminate an under-the-radar Trump-era pilot program that—if allowed to run its course—could result in the complete privatization of traditional Medicare by the end of the decade. A petition recently launched by Physicians for a National Program (PNHP) has garnered more than 10,000 signatures as doctors and other advocates work to raise public awareness of the Medicare Direct Contracting program, which the Trump administration rolled out during its final months in power. -more-   Retail Workers Are Organizing And Speaking Out By Sydney Pereira, Prism. In a petition Indianapolis Target employee Andrew Stacy drafted, one of the key demands is for a minimum $17 per hour, but when Stacy and their coworker were posting the flyers in the break room and distributing them, they were caught. Management confiscated the flyers and human resources held one-on-one meetings with workers about working conditions and higher-ups at the location—a move that Stacy saw as an illegal effort to shut down organizing and find out more about the union activity. In response, they filed a National Labor Review Board complaint on Dec. 15.  -more- As an independent media source free of advertising, we rely on your support.

 

 

 

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Ten contradictions that plague Biden’s ‘Democracy Summit’

Medea Benjamin.  Mronline.org (12-14-21).  

Biden hopes to secure his place at the head of the “Free World” table by coming out as a champion for human rights and democratic practices worldwide.    

 

 

FIRST 100 DAYS JANUARY 20 TO APRIL 29

Right-wing Democrats gut social program budget after Biden refuses to fight

Editor.  Mronline.org (11-2-21).

After spending weeks conducting backroom negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin, Sen. Krysten Sinema and other right-wing Democrats in Congress over the social program budget, the Biden administration announced yesterday a “framework” that abandons some of the most important elements of the original proposal.

 

 

 

 

MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

 

 Heads roll as Biden policies move to the Right

Editor.  Mronline.org (9-26-21).

 

The Washington Post has a piece on the current deportation of Haitian migrants from the U.S. and how it is charged with racism.     

 

More

Haven't been listening or reading   8-31-21 Bob Billig via uark.onmicrosoft.com  10:22 AM (4 hours ago) to the news the past week - call it a fast - but this title caught my eye.  All considerations of political reform, social justice and environmental catastrophe are meaningless if ultimate control of our lives (literally) and the future of the planet are in the hands of a very few astronomically wealthy individuals.    The urgent need to tax billionaires out of existence https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/the-urgent-need-to-tax-billionaires-out-of-existen

 

 

Join us | Wednesday, July 28 @ 3pm ET | CVE Series Pt. 3: Fighting Against the Stalker StatE

Sue at Defending Rights & Dissent info@rightsanddissent.org via salsalabs.org  7-26-21	4:00 PM (19 minutes ago)
to me
Dick, For a decade, activists from the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition have fought on the front lines to oppose further expansion of what they term the “stalker state.” Members of the Coalition join us to deconstruct national security mythology and reappraise the CVE model as a mechanism of social control instead of safety. On Wednesday, July 28 at 3pm ET/12 PST, join us for the third event in our #LunchtimeLive series focused on the “new” Biden counterterror strategy and what it means for dissent in America. Moderator Cody Bloomfield will be joined by members of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition to discuss how we came to have counterinsurgency tactics in schools, and why no amount of surveillance can eradicate terrorism and violence. A far cry from remedying white supremacist violence, CVE deepens structural racism and eviscerates community resources. The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition is a collective of diverse community members dedicated to dismantling the surveillance state. Since 2011, the coalition has resisted LAPD’s efforts to surveil communities and sow suspicion. The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition maps the architecture of surveillance, debunks deceptive counterterror narratives, and engages in policy advocacy against the national security state’s characterization of community members as criminals in the making. In 2016, Stop LAPD Spying banded together with the United Teachers of Los Angeles to fight back against implementation of CVE in schools. Since then, they’ve created activist toolkits and educational materials contextualizing CVE within broader national security state abuses and history of white supremacy. RSVP Today! Subscribe   Donate   Our Work Defending Rights & Dissent 1325 G St. NW Suite 500  | Washington, District of Columbia 20005 202.552.7408 | info@rightsanddissent.org

 

 

American Rescue Plan created incentives for the 14 states to join the rest of the country and expand Medicaid immediately,

 

 

Sign if you agree: We need a Green New Deal for Public Schools

Inbox

Rashida Tlaib  7-22-21	11:40 AM (6 minutes ago)
to me
Dick, Due to infrastructure collapses and lots of rain, residents in my majority-Black and low-income district have faced massive flooding multiple times in the past few weeks. For decades, right-wing attacks on our public resources have drained funding for the public infrastructure that our communities desperately need. In Detroit for example, many public schools have had to turn off their water because it was contaminated with lead and unsafe for students to drink. Over half of the country’s school districts need major building repairs, just to create safe learning environments for students, teachers, and staff. The time is NOW to fix our funding crisis. And Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s new bill, the Green New Deal for Public Schools, would do just that. It would make a transformative federal investment to fund green retrofits at every K-12 public school facility in America, provide clean water in schools, hire and train more teachers, increase funding for low-income and disability-focused federal programs, and so much more. Our communities can’t wait: Please add your name to co-sign the Green New Deal for Public Schools, so our young people can have the resources they need to thrive. ADD YOUR NAME Right now in Congress, we’re working on legislation to fund our country’s infrastructure for the next 10 years. So this is the perfect time to show your support for the Green New Deal for Public Schools. The bill would provide new grant programs for upgrades to every public school building in the country to create safe, healthy, zero-carbon, and accessible learning environments for students and staff. New funding would prioritize the highest-need districts, like mine, and it would address historic school funding inequities. Plus, the bill would fund 1.3 million jobs a year and eliminate 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. We urgently need bold bills like this one. In a time of great challenges that intersect with one another—including the pandemic, the climate crisis, systemic racism, and extreme inequities—our communities are tired of the bandaids and incremental change. It’s time to pass bold, meaningful legislation that invests directly in our communities and meets the scale of our problems now. Especially while we have the majority in our federal government! Can you help push to hold our leaders accountable? Please add your name now to co-sign the Green New Deal for Public Schools, so our communities can have the resources we need to thrive. Thank you, Rashida Tlaib   DONATE NOW https://rashidaforcongress.com/

 

 

This is a really long email about Biden’s work on infrastructure

McKenzie Wilson, Data for Progress <seanm@dataforprogress.org> Unsubscribe 5-2-2`	11:16 AM (3 hours ago)
to me
This week, Data for Progress is publishing a series that takes a deep dive into what our country needs, what we expected based on President Biden’s Senate record, and President Biden’s actual governance in the first 100 days. It’s long―but we think there’s real value in taking deep dives like this to show just how much we can achieve over the next 4 years. If you appreciate this kind of thing, why not make a monthly donation to Data for Progress today? It’s no secret that physical infrastructure in the United States is in dire straits. Years of neglect from policy-makers means the wealthiest country on Earth is plagued by decaying roads, dilapidated bridges, and crumbling buildings. And there’s the obvious issues of equity present in U.S. infrastructure, which has both been influenced by and upheld social inequalities. The climate crisis and its looming consequences for physical infrastructure make the cause of rebuilding America all the more important. We took a look at what our country needs for infrastructure, where Biden has previously been, and what he’s done so far in the first 100 days. It’s a long email, but stick with us! And if you can pitch in $5 to help keep pushing Biden for his next 1,350 days in office, it would mean a lot to our work. What we need from Biden on sustainable infrastructure: To meet the scale of the infrastructure crisis, it’s crucial that the United States makes a historic investment in sustainable physical infrastructure. This means constructing new, environmentally-friendly infrastructure in addition to investing in hazard mitigation efforts to safeguard already-existing infrastructure at particular risk of being harmed by climate change. According to a 2019 report, more than 47,000 “structurally deficient” bridges currently exist in the United States, an obviously untenable situation that warrants immediate intervention. In order to secure a just transition, the federal government should take initiative to invest in rail transportation, which lags far behind that of many other developed countries. The U.S. must also work to improve existing infrastructure that presents an environmental risk, such as dangerous lead pipes. One ambitious proposal for a federal sustainable infrastructure program is laid out in THRIVE Agenda,1 a series of progress initiatives aiming to secure a just recovery from the coronavirus-induced economic crisis. The proposed federal program would create millions of jobs upgrading America’s water, energy, and transportation infrastructure. Proposed initiatives include a plan to retrofit existing buildings en masse in the interest of costs and pollution and removing dangerous lead pipes. Our polling series on THRIVE Agenda found that the provisions are popular among the voters, with a majority of swing state voters polled indicating their support for each plank.2 Going forward, the Biden Administration should pursue a bold program to revamp American infrastructure on the scale of the THRIVE Agenda. Can you chip in $5 to help us keep polling on ambitious policies like creating a sustainable infrastructure? Where Biden has stood on sustainable infrastructure: Biden has long been interested in infrastructure policy. As Vice President, Biden would regularly appear publicly to promote the Obama Administration’s push for high-speed rail, among other infrastructure initiatives. So it’s not surprising that reinvigorating American infrastructure was among the key planks of his 2020 platform, especially given that Trump’s inability to make good on his infrastructure promises was one of the most visible failures of his Administration.3 Then-candidate Biden released a comprehensive plan to Build Back Better, by “build[ing] a more resilient, sustainable economy” through improving American infrastructure at the federal level. Biden’s program called for the creation of one million jobs in the American automobile industry, a massive investment in zero-emissions public transit options to serve major cities, and the upgrading of four million buildings for resilience purposes. There’s a lot of work to do in order to build a sustainable infrastructure. Can you donate to help us keep pushing Biden’s infrastructure plans to the left? How Biden has governed on sustainable infrastructure: As President, Biden has pushed the historic American Jobs Plan, which encompasses a wide array of initiatives traditionally included in the realm of infrastructure (roads, buildings, and other physical structures) and other issue areas that affect working people.   In the realm of automobile transportation, Biden has pushed for $174 billion to be invested in the American electric vehicle (EV) market. In doing so, the Biden Administration intends to spur the growth of the domestic EV industry, which will create well-paying factory jobs and play a part in transitioning to a clean energy economy. The Biden Administration also seeks an investment of $115 billion to rebuild roads and bridges that have decayed due to lack of maintenance. Biden’s American Jobs Plan further allocates $50 billion in the interest of improving resilience among already-existing infrastructure, a much-needed effort, particularly in frontline communities. The American Jobs Plan also includes provisions to replace 100% of lead pipes in the United States and end the release of dangerous levels of methane from so-called “orphan wells.” All in all, the American Jobs Plan has proven remarkably popular among voters. Our polling found widespread support across partisan lines for the American Jobs Plan, with the provisions to upgrade America’s physical infrastructure proving most popular.4 The American Jobs Plan still has a long way to go. Can you chip in $5 so that we can keep tabs on this popular plan and push it across Biden’s desk? Thanks, Dick. McKenzie Wilson Data for Progress 1 https://www.thriveagenda.com/ 2 https://www.filesforprogress.org/memos/voters-support-thrive-agenda.pdf 3 https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/10/18/trump-biden-infrastructure-2020/ 4 https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/american-jobs-plan-go-big   Data for Progress is doing some of the most critical public policy work for the progressive movement today, and it’s all possible because of grassroots donors like you. Your support helps Data for Progress keep pushing progressives on issues like Student Debt Cancellation, the Green New Deal, and Automatic Voter Registration. Can you chip in today to help fund our work? DONATE NOW

 

Tell Congress: Pass President Biden’s plan to make Corporate America pay its fair share in taxes

Inbox

Frank Clemente <info@americansfortaxfairness.org>  4-22-21	10:33 AM (3 hours ago)
to me
Tell Congress: “President Biden has proposed to make the largest investment in U.S. jobs, workers and communities in generations. And he pays for it by making corporations pay their fair share. Pass the president’s $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan and his Made in America Tax Plan to create millions of jobs for working families, rebuild our communities and invest in our country’s future.” ADD YOUR NAME Dick, It’s time for a massive investment in our communities and in an equitable pandemic recovery. But every time Democrats propose investments to create jobs, rebuild infrastructure, secure a green energy future, make housing more affordable and more―like President Biden just did in his American Jobs Plan―Republicans (and some moderate Democrats) ask, “how are you going to pay for it?” Biden’s historic $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan will create 2.7 million more jobs, rebuild our communities and begin to create an economy that works for all of us.[1] To make these investments, President Biden’s Made in America Tax Plan would raise $2.5 trillion by making America’s corporations begin to pay their fair share.[2] Join Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund in calling on Congress to pass President Biden’s American Jobs Plan and his Made in America Tax Plan to create millions of jobs for working families, rebuild our communities, and invest in our country’s future. Biden’s Made in America Tax Plan raises $2.5 trillion by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, closing loopholes that have incentivized multinational corporations to outsource jobs and shift profits to offshore tax havens, placing a 15% minimum tax on corporations so they can’t get away with paying $0 in taxes, ending fossil fuel tax subsidies and more. In order to create an equitable recovery from this pandemic and build an economy that works for all of us, it’s time for corporations to pay their fair share in taxes. Sign the petition demanding Congress invest in our country’s future―paid for by making Corporate America pay its fair share. Consider these corporate tax horror stories: · In 2020, 55 major U.S. corporations paid ZERO dollars in federal income taxes, even though they collectively enjoyed almost $40.5 billion in pre-tax profits.[3] · In 2018 over 1,500 U.S.-based multinational corporations paid an average U.S. tax rate of just 7.8% (even though the corporate tax rate is 21%)―a rate much lower than most middle-class families pay.[4] · American corporations dodge an estimated $60 billion a year in U.S. taxes by shifting profits and production offshore.[5] Thank you for fighting for a tax system and economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few. Frank Clemente Executive Director Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund [1] “Biden’s pitch that the economy ‘will create 19 million jobs’ if infrastructure is passed,” The Washington Post, Apr. 6, 2021 [2] “Biden’s Tax Plan Aims to Raise $2.5 Trillion and End Profit-Shifting,” The New York Times, Apr. 7, 2021 [3] “55 Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Taxes on 2020 Profits,” Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Apr. 2, 2021 [4] “Average corporate tax rate plunged by more than half after GOP overhaul,” Politico, Mar. 22, 2021 [5] “The Made in America Tax Plan,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Apr. 2021

 

 

 

BIDEN AND CLIMATE
John Kerry needs to challenge Wall Street — not partner with it

Stop the Money Pipeline info@stopthemoneypipeline.com via mcc.mcsv.net  4-2-21	11:04 AM (4 hours ago)
to me
On Wednesday, 145 groups ― including many members of Stop the Money Pipeline ― sent a letter to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry. Together, the organizations are demanding that John Kerry use his power to end the money pipeline from Wall Street to the companies responsible for the climate crisis. Unfortunately, in response, the State Department, which houses Kerry’s office, spoke only of needing “engagement” with Wall Street ― and failed to even mention the fact that Wall Street is a major part of the problem, providing more than $1.2 trillion to the fossil fuel industry since the Paris Agreement. Can you click here to Tweet at John Kerry and tell him we need climate leaders who are willing to take on Wall Street? In one of his first days in office, President Biden issued an executive order directing Kerry and Treasury-Secretary, Janet Yellen, to develop a U.S climate finance plan. We were excited when Kerry stated that the plan would include ending public financing of fossil fuel projects abroad. Since then however, Kerry has spoken only of his desire to “partner” with Wall Street. He’s even said that private companies, not governments will lead the fight against climate change. Even worse, Kerry has begun to appoint Wall Street tycoons to his top climate team. Mark Gallogly is a billionaire who spent sixteen years at Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm and a major investor in fossil fuels. Gallogly also co-founded Centerbridge Partners, a private equity firm that pushed austerity in Puerto Rico and made massive profits off the first climate change bankruptcy, the collapse of PG&E in California. He’s now heading up “business engagement” for Kerry’s climate team. Click here to make sure that John Kerry gets the message: we need to regulate Wall Street, not partner with it. One of the most meaningful things that Kerry could do as Climate Envoy is fight to end the money pipeline to climate chaos. But it looks like we’re going to have to push him to do what is necessary ― you can help us start by sending Kerry a message on Twitter here. In solidarity - Stop the Money Pipeline P.S. If you want to dive deeper, the full text of the letter is here, and Bloomberg and The Hill reported on the letter earlier this week.

 

 

BIDEN AND EDUCATION

 

A NEW ADMINISTRATION Higher Ed Under Biden-Harris: White House Orders Review of Title IX Regulations.  Academe Today (3-9-21).   The Chronicle is tracking developments under the new administration and analyzing what they mean for higher education.

 

 

BIDEN AND WHISTLEBLOWERS (sub-category of Biden and National Security)

Joe Biden Wanted To Lock Up My Father, CIA Whistleblower Philip Agee—Just Like He Wants To Lock Up Edward Snowden And Julian Assange

CovertAction Magazine via gmail.mcsv.net	Mar 3, 2021, 9:05 PM (19 hours ago)
to me
Joe Biden Wanted To Lock Up My Father, CIA Whistleblower Philip Agee—Just Like He Wants To Lock Up Edward Snowden And Julian Assange By Chris Agee and Jeremy Kuzmarov on Mar 03, 2021 Part 6 in our Biden Series: A Company Man? - On May 9, 1981, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism was debating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (S. 391). Their goal: criminalize the unauthorized identification of U.S. intelligence agents. Then-Senator Joe Biden rose to his feet to denounce my father, Philip Agee, the CIA whistleblower whose 1975 book, Inside the Company, identified some 250 officers, front companies and foreign agents working for the United States.  Biden stated: “I do not think anybody has any doubt about Mr. Agee. We should lock him away in my opinion.” ... The post Joe Biden Wanted To Lock Up My Father, CIA Whistleblower Philip Agee—Just Like He Wants To Lock Up Edward Snowden And Julian Assange appeared first on CovertAction Magazine. Read in browser »

 

 

DRUG WAR
Justice Reform Coalition Urges Biden to Pardon All Non-Violent Marijuana Convictions by Andrea Germanos, staff writer.  Common Dreams (2-16-21).
"It is past time for the harm to stop."

Extracting Punishment from Our Civil Systems: Drug Policy Alliance Launches New Initiative With Series of Reports Illustrating How the Drug War Has Contaminated Six Critical Systems.  Common Dreams (2-16-21).

 

DEATH PENALTY
Sister Helen Prejean Says Federal Executions Speak To ...

https://www.wbur.org › trump-death-penalty-abolish

Jan 11, 2021 — Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun and anti-death-penalty activist, ... on federal executions is just one facet of the president's violent agenda. ... If Biden's term began eight days earlier, Montgomery would live, Prejean says, ...
President Biden Is Our Chance to End the Federal Death ...

https://www.thenation.com › article › death-penalty-biden

6 days ago — By Sister Helen Prejean ... In those days, it seemed almost everyone in Louisiana thought the death penalty was a just and appropriate punishment for murder. ... me that when Lisa learned her death date had been postponed from December to January, she paused and barely whispered, “Just eight days…

Forget Trump: Biden is undoing harmful rules that have been in place since Reagan

Ian Reifowitz for Community Contributors Team

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Saturday January 30, 2021 · 8:59 AM CST

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President Biden working for the people, not the powerful.

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“It has the potential to be the most significant action Biden took on day one.” That’s what Senior Policy Analyst James Goodwin of the Center for Progressive Reform said about the executive order called Modernizing Regulatory Review (MRR)—although he recognized such a statement might sound “absurd” given everything else the new president did on that day. Goodwin was talking about an executive order (EO) that got little attention from mainstream journalists other than the HuffPost reporter who interviewed him. I initially heard about it thanks to Tim Corrimal’s show, but the Brookings Institute’s in-depth analysis of the MRR also generally tracks with the optimistic assessment from Goodwin. Cass Sunstein, who ran the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) during President Obama’s first term, also strongly praised the change in a post at Bloomberg.

The memo directs the OIRA, which is housed in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to take a new approach when doing its job—namely reviewing regulations proposed by the executive branch. I know that the previous sentence may have left some of you nodding off into a dream about drowning in alphabet soup. (There are worse ways to go.) But trust me, if you breathe air, drink water, or buy, well, anything, there’s a pretty decent chance that what Biden just did will help you and yours stay safer and healthier—or maybe even just stay alive.

The key section of the document calls for the appropriate offices to “provide concrete suggestions on how the regulatory review process can promote public health and safety, economic growth, social welfare, racial justice, environmental stewardship, human dignity, equity, and the interests of future generations.”

In addition to those important priorities, this Biden-Harris EO mandates that the review of regulations “promotes policies that reflect new developments in scientific and economic understanding, fully accounts for regulatory benefits that are difficult or impossible to quantify, and does not have harmful anti-regulatory or deregulatory effects.”

Finally, the memo requires that any such review “ensure[s] that regulatory initiatives appropriately benefit and do not inappropriately burden disadvantaged, vulnerable, or marginalized communities.”

One might think all this would be obvious to anyone with a sense of fairness, an interest in actually getting things right based on the best available information, and a concern for justice. One who harbors such illusions clearly hasn’t dealt with Republicans.

Biden’s MRR differs from most of the other executive actions he has taken thus far in that it doesn’t target rules created by his immediate predecessor. Instead, the 46th president is going after a structure created by the godfather of modern conservatism in all its forms (including virulent race-baiting, although that’s not the topic of this post): Ronald Reagan.

With EO 12291 on Feb. 17, 1981, Reagan created the OIRA. Its goal was simple: Find ways to block regulations. The guts of the EO are contained in this section: “(R)egulatory action shall not be undertaken unless the potential benefits to society from the regulation outweigh the potential costs to society.” Sounds reasonable ... until it’s time to define benefits and costs to society. Those definitions have rested solely on the basis of dollars and cents. If saving lives costs too much money, well, to paraphrase Col. Jessup from A Few Good Men, “people die.”

At the time, progressives knew what Reagan’s order would mean. Richard Ayres, a leading environmental activist who co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council, called this approach to assessing the value of regulations “basically fraudulent.” Going further, he noted: “They are trying to put into numbers something that doesn't fit into numbers, like the value of clean air to our grandchildren. Cost benefit analysis discounts the future. It allows costs to flow to small groups and benefits to large groups and vice versa. It is concerned with efficiency but not with equity. It is deceivingly precise and ignores ethical and moral choices.''

How’s that for a slogan that sums up an entire movement: “Conservatism: We’ve been ignoring ethical and moral choices for more than 40 years!”

California Rep. Henry Waxman, a long-time progressive champion, added: “It is very dangerous to think we can quantify the way we make policy judgments. We don't know how to measure the true cost of health or disease.” Waxman was very clear about why this EO was one of the first actions taken during the Reagan presidency: It would enable Republicans to “use cost-benefit analysis to reach decisions that will favor business and industry in this country rather than the public.” Waxman couldn’t have been more right, either about this specific action Reagan took or about Republican priorities across the board.

President Bill Clinton issued a change in 1993 that reduced OIRA’s scope, but unfortunately left the basic framework relatively intact. Other tweaks have been made, including in 2011 under the Obama-Biden administration. But the order issued by the new Biden-Harris administration will, hopefully, usher in a new era for OIRA, one that differs not just by degree, but by kind.

By broadening the definition of costs and benefits beyond what can be calculated on a balance sheet, Biden’s MMR makes enactment possible for far-reaching protections likely to be blocked under the old system. Stuart Shapiro, a public policy professor at Rutgers University who used to work at OMB, explained that the previous approach to regulatory review stifled necessary measures: “Because the benefits are harder to measure, cost-benefit analysis always puts regulation at a disadvantage.” It’s more concrete to say that a specific environmental rule will cost businesses X dollars. However, what is the exact benefit in dollars to a life saved—or a life improved, for that matter? Those benefits are very real to actual people but were not given the proper weight because of the way the costs and benefits had been defined—until Biden came along, that is.

Don’t just take the word of progressives on how much of an impact this new policy will have; listen to how much conservatives despise it. The so-called Competitive Enterprise Institute is a libertarian think tank that, for all intents and purposes, never met a regulation it didn’t hate—especially on the environment. They published a post by Clyde Wayne Crews, a senior fellow and vice president for policy, which squealed that Biden’s MMR would end up “gutting the restraint of the past four years” and “effectively do away with cost-benefit analysis altogether.” Based on how that analysis operated, I’d say good riddance.

As for the last four years, the core of the twice-impeached president’s regulatory review policy was typical of the thoughtlessness of his administration in general. Rather than establish some kind of objective standards to measure the effectiveness of regulations—standards that would certainly favor corporate fat cats—the disgraced despot just said, “If there’s a new regulation, they have to knock out two.” That’s a direct quote—I’m not kidding. In a nutshell, that really was his new rule.

More broadly, The Man Who Tried To Overturn An Election He Lost seriously weakened environmental protections and totally hamstrung our country’s efforts to combat climate change. Hana V. Vizcarra, who researches environmental policy at Harvard, characterized what Trump did over four years as a “very aggressive attempt to rewrite our laws and reinterpret the meaning of environmental protections.” Trump’s anti-regulation regime went beyond the environment, including attacks on labor protections, health protections, education-related protections, and more.

The one wide-ranging piece of legislation enacted by the Republicans under Trump was the Rich Man’s Tax Cut, and Biden certainly needs to undo that giveaway to millionaires and billionaires as quickly as possible. But the other major policy “accomplishments” that need to be undone are in the area of regulation, where Trump had more room to operate by executive order and other executive branch actions. Now President Biden has that same authority, and his new MMR makes clear he knows how to use it.

We’ll likely be seeing one example of the impact of Biden’s executive order when he issues regulations—which we expect to see very soon—on so-called “forever chemicals.” The real name for them is per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but their nickname derives from the fact that they “never break down in the environment,” as the Environmental Working Group explained. That’s not all:

Very small doses of PFAS have been linked to cancer, reproductive and immune system harm, and other diseases.

For decades, chemical companies covered up evidence of PFAS’ health hazards. Today nearly all Americans, including newborn babies, have PFAS in their blood, and up to 110 million people may be drinking PFAS-tainted water. What began as a “miracle of modern chemistry” is now a national crisis.

During his 2020 campaign, Biden promised to take action on PFAS as part of a wide-ranging plan to “secure environmental justice and equitable economic opportunity.” This is the first step among what will be many, but much of his agenda would likely have been neutered or even blocked under the old regulatory review rules. His new MMR was thus a vital first step in clearing the path for the specific changes he will carry out to protect all Americans’ health, safety, and much more.

It’s very important to remember that what Trump did was no different than what other Republicans have done going back four decades. Conservatives, over and over, wrongly decry as “red tape” the very rules that prevent a relatively small number of immoral, greedy sharks from causing real injury in the blind pursuit of profit—not to mention making it that much harder for the honest business owners who act morally to successfully compete.

Since long before the Orange Menace moved into the White House, his party has been in thrall to corporate interests, and hostile to the interests of consumers—also known as the American people. Even if Republicans purge Trumpism and the Trumpists from their party—something they absolutely must do for the sake of our democracy—the conflict between the parties on regulatory issues will not go away.

When it comes to regulations, one party favors the powerful and the wealthy, and the other works for all of us. It really is as simple as that.

Ian Reifowitz is the author of  The Tribalization of Politics: How Rush Limbaugh's Race-Baiting Rhetoric on the Obama Presidency Paved the Way for Trump (Foreword by Markos Moulitsas)

 

Bill McKibbon, paragraphs 5 & 6 Inbox Louise Mann Jan 30, 2021, 8:23 AM (1 day ago) to LMann2@earthlink.net ---Forwarded Message-----  From: Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American Sent: Jan 30, 2021 3:22 AM To: LMann2@earthlink.net Subject: January 29, 2021 January 29, 2021 Heather Cox Richardson Jan 30 While the anti-democracy crusaders in the Republican Party are drawing headlines, President Biden has resolutely refused to engage with the craziness and has instead continued to move forward at a pace that feels remarkable after years of what seemed to be governmental inaction on matters ordinary people care about. Pressed again today to speak about Republican congress members who are in the news for their antisocial behavior, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki refused to comment. “We don’t want to elevate conspiracy theories further in the briefing room, so I’m going to leave it at that,” she said. The White House has also declined to comment on Congress, taking the constitutional position that the president should stay in the executive branch’s lane and let the legislative branch handle its own affairs. Instead, Biden is moving his agenda forward quickly. He has signed at least 33 executive actions that direct the members of the executive branch on how they should implement laws. In addition to the military, the executive branch has more than 4 million people in it, and it includes the State Department, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Interior Department, and so on—a lot of people in a lot of positions. The breadth of the executive branch is enabling Biden to turn the direction of the government by coordinating changes across a number of departments. So, for example, in an article in the New Yorker, environmentalist Bill McKibben called out Wednesday, January 27, as “the most remarkable day in the history of America’s official response to the climate crisis…. The Biden Administration took a series of coordinated actions that, considered together, may well mark the official beginning of the end of the fossil-fuel era.” McKibben notes that Biden adjusted rules in the Justice Department, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency, and involved the Pentagon by making climate change a national-security priority. He also asked the Secretary of Agriculture to confer with farmers and ranchers on how to encourage adoption of “climate-smart” agricultural practices. Anticipating the usual accusations that ending the fossil-fuel industry will cost jobs, he explicitly tied jobs to the new measures, ordering new, American-made, electric vehicles for the government and promising “good-paying” union jobs in construction, manufacturing, engineering and the skilled-trades as the nation switches to clean energy. Biden is using executive orders to undercut the partisanship that has ground Congress to a halt for the past several years. While Biden’s predecessor tended to use executive actions to implement quite unpopular policies, Biden is using them to implement policies that most Americans actually like but which could never make it through Congress, where Republicans hold power disproportionate to their actual popularity. According to a roundup by polling site FiveThirtyEight, Biden’s executive actions cover issues that people want to see addressed. Eighty-three percent of Americans—including 64% of Republicans—support a prohibition on workplace discrimination over sexual identification, 77% (including 52% of Republicans) want the government to focus on racial equity, 75% want the government to require masks on federal property, and 68% like the continued suspension of federal student loan repayments. A majority of Americans also favor rejoining the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accords, and so on. Republicans are insisting that Biden is not practicing the unity he promised in his campaign, but here’s the interesting thing: work by political scientists Dr. Shana Gadarian and Dr. Bethany Albertson shows that most Americans actually agree on problems and solutions so long as politicians do not take on those issues as partisan ones. But as soon as politicians adopt a partisan stance on an issue, voters polarize over it. So it is possible that by keeping these issues out of the current partisanship in Congress and handling them from the White House, Biden is doing exactly what he promised: creating unity. He is also making Americans feel like the government is doing something for them again. This attempt to avoid partisan polarization will be tested by his determination to pass a new, $1.9 trillion economic aid package through Congress. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, the former chair of the Federal Reserve and the chair of President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors, has urged a fast injection of stimulus into the economy after it slowed down significantly at the end of 2020. Republicans have expressed concern at the passage of another large spending bill, but some are willing to negotiate, especially since the Democrats can pass a bill without them through a process called reconciliation (it will almost certainly be significantly pared down from this first version). Today, as he went to the Walter Reed hospital to visit wounded soldiers, Biden said, "I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it…. But the COVID relief has to pass. No ifs, ands or buts." Psaki said that the White House would not agree to breaking the package up and passing only the parts the Republicans like. "But the size and the scope of the package – this is the legislative process, this is democracy at work now." The Democrats’ hand has likely been strengthened this week by the media frenzy over the so-called “GameStop short squeeze,” in which hedge fund managers got squeezed by ordinary investors driving up the price of the stock of a video game retailer so that the hedge funds could not cover short sales. Investment firms promptly cried foul, only to be greeted with derision, since it is not at all clear that their own stock purchases have a better effect on the markets than those of the smaller investors, and since they made huge money betting on the Covid-19 crisis. Observers see the short squeeze as a populist attack on unscrupulous Wall Street types. While the entire story behind the short squeeze is not yet clear, it does already have a political meaning. The GameStop story reinforced the growing sense that the system has been rigged for the wealthy. People from across the political spectrum are demanding more thorough regulation of the stock market, a dramatic cultural change. It didn’t help that Leon Cooperman, a hedge fund trader worth $2.5 billion, took to CNBC to vent his fury. “The reason the market is doing what it’s doing is, people are sitting at home, getting their checks from the government, basically trading for no commissions and no interest rates,” he said, referring to relief for people thrown out of work by the pandemic. With calls for unity in the air, Cooperman offered his own definition. Democrats’ suggestion that the rich should pay their “fair share” of taxes is “bullsh*t,” he said. “It’s just a way of attacking wealthy people, and you know I think it’s inappropriate…. We all got to work together and pull together.” —- Notes: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/536473-psaki-wont-comment-on-taylor-greene-saying-it-would-elevate https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/64-oppose-trumps-move-build-wall-asylum-30/story?id=62702683 https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/bidens-initial-batch-of-executive-actions-is-popular/ https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-biden-administrations-landmark-day-in-the-fight-for-the-climate https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/27/fact-sheet-president-biden-takes-executive-actions-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad-create-jobs-and-restore-scientific-integrity-across-federal-government/ Shana Kushner Gadarian and Bethany Albertson, “Anxiety, Immigration, and the Search for Information,” Political Psychology 35 (April 2014): 133-164. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/business/gdp-report-2020.html https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-01-29/democrats-hope-for-compromise-plan-for-action-on-coronavirus-relief-bill https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/01/leon-cooperman-gamestop-rant https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/01/29/leon-cooperman-gamestop/ Share

Bulletin Special Issue: Expert advice for the new US president Inbox Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Unsubscribe 8:07 AM (3 hours ago) to me Read a shareable version of this newsletter in your browser.  Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to stay current.     January 13, 2021     JOHN MECKLIN Introduction: Advice for a new administration facing difficult times For this issue, which publishes just ahead of the Biden inauguration, Bulletin editor-in-chief John Mecklin asked top experts to offer their pinpoint-focus suggestions to the president at shorter-than-usual, memo-like length. The advice deals with the most important issues that America and the world face, the existential threats of nuclear weapons, climate change, and other disruptive technologies. Read free in our premium magazine. PRANAY VADDI How Biden can advance nuclear arms control and stability with Russia and China The Biden administration will need to decide how to stabilize the deterrence relationships with Russia and China. Two pragmatic, achievable steps could enhance US and allied security through arms control policy. Read in our premium magazine. SHARON SQUASSONI Why Biden should abandon the great power competition narrative Aside from a quick extension of the New START treaty, one important step the Biden administration should consider in the realm of nuclear policy is to jettison the “great power competition” narrative that Trump officials and supporters have popularized. Read free in our premium magazine. RUPAL N. MEHTA How Biden can say goodbye to “America First” on nuclear issues Efforts to renew international engagement with a deep bench of experts, intergovernmental organizations, and policy makers will be critical over the next four years to return to the core tenets of historical American foreign policy. Read in our premium magazine. JAMES E. GOODBY & DAVID A. KOPLOW An ambitious arms control agenda requires a new organization equal to the task An exceedingly challenging agenda of urgent, important, and diverse arms control issues awaits the incoming Biden administration. To address it, the administration should consider the creation of a new agency to focus on cooperative threat reduction. Read in our premium magazine. TOGZHAN KASSENOVA Why Biden should push for ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty  President-elect Joe Biden has long supported the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. But three important factors have shifted the context in recent years, making US participation more important than ever. Read in our premium magazine. DAVID N. ZIKUSOKA Biden should rethink US policy on low-yield nuclear weapons The process of assessing the usefulness of the low-yield warhead could present an opportunity for Biden to rebalance the US portfolio of non-strategic nuclear weapons and, in turn, alter nuclear competition with Russia and China. Read in our premium magazine.         Subscribe today to read the full issue! Subscribe now to get this special issue with expert advice for the new US president on nuclear risks, climate change, and disruptive technologies.  As a Bulletin magazine subscriber, you’ll get 6 digital issues a year plus access to 75 years of archives. Subscribe now! ​​​​​​   BILL MCKIBBEN Okay, he’s finally in the Oval Office. But what should Joe Biden do first? In 2020, the world saw record hurricanes, record fires, record temperatures. The overarching question is not “Do we have to act now?” It’s “Have we already waited too long?” But the pragmatic question is: What is to be done right this minute? Read in our premium magazine. MICHAEL E. MANN The president needs to hit the ground running on climate The first 100 days of the presidency could help determine the state of our planet’s climate for the next 10,000 years. The president will have to win over potential allies in the middle, yet remain unafraid to play hardball with the Congress people who are captured by the fossil fuel industry. Read in our premium magazine. PETER H. GLEICK Water recommendation for the new administration As the new administration strives to recover from a devastating pandemic and economic downturn, it will have an opportunity to rebuild our public water system, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, support our agricultural communities, strengthen our diplomatic standing and national security, and improve health and quality of life. Read in our premium magazine.       MATT FIELD What Joe Biden can do to reduce racial health disparities: A conversation with Juliette Blount As a nurse practitioner in New York City, Juliette Blount worked not only to care for patients but also to confront racism where and when she encountered it. She talked with associate editor Matt Field about racial health disparities and what the new presidential administration can do to address them. Read in our premium magazine. ERIC GOLDMAN Dear President Biden: You should save, not revoke, Section 230 Politicians from both major US parties want to reform a more than 20-year-old law that gives internet companies broad protection from liability over third-party content. In a “memo” to the president-elect, law professor Eric Goldman asks Joe Biden to work to understand Section 230 and ensure future reforms don’t diminish the society-wide benefits the law has had. Read in our premium magazine. MATT FIELD How can the Biden administration reduce scientific disinformation? Slow the high-pressure pace of scientific publishing. To tamp down on the flow of flawed science seen during the pandemic, computer scientist and disinformation researcher Walter Scheirer believes the Biden administration can make changes to how the National Institutes of Health awards grants, reducing the importance of prolific publishing. Read in our premium magazine. DANIEL M. GERSTEIN Memo to the president: Reimagining public health preparedness and response  During the COVID-19 crisis, the federal government was not the backstop many expected it would when states were desperately competing with each other for emergency supplies. The Biden administration must re-establish the emergency response doctrine that proved so fragile during the pandemic. Read in our premium magazine.

 

END BIDEN’S DOMESTIC POLICIES NEWSLETTER # 2