MATTERS OF URGENCY
US president-elect Joe Biden laid out his vision for what he called a more inclusive America in his victory speech on Saturday.
He described the core priorities for a nation facing different crises. “The battle to control the virus, the battle to build prosperity, the battle to secure your family’s health care, the battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country, the battle to save our planet by getting climate under control, the battle to restore decency, defend democracy and give everybody in this country a fair shot.”
What might we expect in the next four years?
Climate change
While not embracing the $10 trillion Green New Deal championed by Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mr Biden will make renewables a centrepiece of energy policy.
Calling the Green New Deal a crucial framework, Mr Biden pledged to invest $1.7tn in renewables, hoping to increase this to $5tn in public and private investment to make the US carbon neutral by 2050.
Some of this will be funded by ending President Donald Trump’s corporate tax cuts.
Coronavirus and the economy
“Our work begins with getting Covid under control,” Mr Biden said.
“We cannot repair the economy, restore our vitality, or relish life’s most precious moments until we get this virus under control.”
The virus has killed more than 243,000 Americans, wiped out 20 million jobs and threatens to destroy at least $16tn in economic value in the coming years, according to a report by former US Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers.
A top priority for Mr Biden will be putting in place a task force to ensure the virus is under control by the time he is inaugurated in January.
Daily cases continue to break records: on Saturday, the US confirmed 134,377 more, the highest single-day figure since the pandemic began.
Mr Biden will unveil his 12-person coronavirus team today, but he has already appointed former US surgeon general Vivek Murthy, Yale University’s Dr Marcella Nunez-Smith and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler.
Racial justice
This year some of the most intense protests in the US since the 1992 LA riots took place.
The death of George Floyd energised the Black Lives Matter movement and laid bare endemic racial injustice and deep social divisions.
According to Mr Biden’s campaign website, “racial equity is a distinct pillar of his Build Back Better plan, as well as incorporated in each of the other pillars”.
One step Mr Biden will take is to fund retraining of police officers, many of whom have been accused of having a “warrior cop” mentality, rather than a community focus.
“I’ve been a firm believer in getting cops out of their cruisers and building relationships with people and the communities,” Mr Biden wrote in USA Today in June.
“That’s why I’m proposing an additional $300 million to reinvigorate community policing,” he said.