Politico President Biden and Prime Minister Merkel
With the recent inauguration of President Biden, the United States has seen many changes implemented very quickly. President Biden has been prioritizing a change in U. S. international relations. One way President Biden has shown this is through his appointment of the new U. S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin. Since Austin has taken office, he has been communicating with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and trying to strengthen the U.S. bond with the organization.
A significant shift with NATO left behind from the Trump administration was the removal of U.S. military personnel from Germany. President Trump wanted to pull out over ten thousand troops from Germany. The U.S. has twenty-one bases in Germany including ones in Ansbach, Bamberg, and Grafenwoehr. The U.S. also has the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center which is the largest American hospital outside of the country. Two elements of President Trump’s motivation for this decision to remove U.S. personnel were his frustration with NATO countries, including Germany, not applying their agreed upon 2% of GNP to defense spending and his disagreements with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During his time in office, President Trump was very vocal about his dispute with NATO and made claims that NATO countries were not giving the amount of money to military spending that was previously agreed upon.
President Biden has recently stopped the withdrawal of nearly twelve thousand troops from various bases in Germany. This essentially reverses President Trump’s plans for action against NATO. Presidents Biden’s actions demonstrate his plans to improve the U.S.’s relationship with NATO. It looks as though he is using his actions with the military to back up the communication he has had with NATO. It also shows that he is making an effort to stay true to the goals of his campaign, such as enhancing relationships with traditional allies.
Now that U.S. troops will be staying in Germany, the U.S. will be able to watch as the country moves out of a semi-isolated position and potentially has more communication and agreements internationally, especially with long-term allies.
As of last Thursday, chaos has consumed Wall Street in what seems to be a war between multi-million dollar hedge fund holders and retail stock holders. If you lack an account with the popular social media platforms, TikTok or Reddit, this ongoing battle may appear nonexistent. Essentially, the hedge funds of Wall Street planned to short sell a few companies who were estimated to go bankrupt by the end of the year including companies such as GameStop, AMC and Nokia. A series of redditors on the subreddit entitled “r/WallStreetBets” had advised regular retail holders (normal people who invest in stock through apps such as Robinhood or Cash App), to buy shares of these companies Wall Street has been betting on going bankrupt, thus, skyrocketing the price of the shares, specifically starting with company GameStop ($GME). $GME, a stock Wall Street has profited off by betting on its bankruptcy, displayed share prices in early January that stopped at $17 a share. A share of $GME was $347 as of last Wednesday. With the average person and a collaboration of redditors forcing a phenomenon on the capitalists of Wall Street referred to as “short squeezing,” the apps that support the investments in these companies for the common people have suspiciously stopped working.
Robinhood, one of the biggest platforms for retail stock trading, faced a suspicious technical difficulty amongst stock prices of GameStop rising, further preventing investors to buy shares of companies such as GameStop, Nokia and AMC since last Thursday when prices were beginning to soar. This has sparked lawsuits against Robinhood by retail shareholders, claiming these actions prevented users of potential profits they could have made by investing in these stocks. Besides uniting people all over the country to overturn hedge fund holders, it is possibly introducing some bipartisanship to tackle the suspicions introduced around investing apps.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has commented on the suspicions surrounding platforms such as Robinhood from blocking investors from getting in on overthrowing Wall Street. AOC issued a tweet last Thursday describing the situation as “unacceptable,” and implied that she would be open to an investigation of Robinhood’s “decision to block retail investors from purchasing stock while hedge funds are freely able to trade the stock as they see fit.” Although this reaction may be viewed as typical from AOC considering her progressive politics, what was not anticipated was Senator Ted Cruz’s support of AOC’s tweet, replying “fully agree.” Her colleague’s reply did not sit well with her, considering Senator Cruz’s involvement in recent events which AOC claims has posed a threat to her life. AOC responded to Senator Cruz’s reply by saying, “I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there’s common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out. Happy to work w/ almost any other GOP that aren’t trying to get me killed. In the meantime if you want to help, you can resign’.’
Other politicians have commented on the situation including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Sanders, who has famously had a complicated relationship with the “billionaires on Wall Street,” issued a tweet last Friday regarding hedge fund owners such as Leon Letterman’s complaints about the situation. Sanders said, “Oh look, another billionaire is mad that he might have to pay more taxes while children in America go hungry and veterans sleep on the street. Cry me a river”. Sanders has highlighted the need to ensure that capitalists on Wall Street pay their fair share in taxes throughout his campaigns, but especially during this historic economic event. Warren has also pushed this agenda, questioning as to why the Robinhood app had stopped retail holders from trading stocks such as GameStop, AMC and others in a pivotal moment. Like Sanders, Warren has run her political campaigns highlighting how this is not random on Wall Street, but a result of long periods of corruption. Warren is quoted as saying, “Understand: What’s happening with GameStop is just a reminder of what’s been going on on Wall Street now for years, and years and years. It’s a rigged game… we need a market that is transparent, that is level and open to individual investors. It’s time for the SEC to get off their duffs and do their jobs.”
The billionaires of Wall Street, however, have commented on the situation, suggesting that stocks will drop, and, according to Fox Business commentator Stuart Varney, “end in tears.” The real “Wolf of Wall Street” himself, Jordan Belfort, has put his own two cents into the situation. Belfort, in an interview with CNN, insinuated that the redditors colluded to create an economic phenomenon with repercussions, furthermore defending platforms such as Robinhood from protecting their best interests legally rather than siding with the billionaire hedge fund holders against retail stockholders. Belfort echoes the cries of other billionaires, stating “when this is over, and it will end, and all these stocks come crashing back down to their fundamental values, there are going to be lawsuits flying aimed at Robinhood, Ameritrade, all the platforms that did the trades…”. In response to a post sent out by r/WallStreetBets which essentially stated they did not have the resources to bail themselves out of bankruptcy if all goes wrong, unlike the hedge funds of Wall Street, Belfort stated “I love you guys, but it is laughable because what you will do it to hire a class action attorney and sue everybody on your behalf.”
With an economic battle occurring between retail stockholders and billion dollar hedge fund holders, politicians and economic commentators are taking sides. What side certain public figures fall on may go on to shape the future of the stock market in America and the way Wall Street is operated well into the future.
Politico Biden’s Secretary of Defense is four-star general Austin J. Lloyd III.
After a year of quarantine, masks and working from home, people are looking for big changes in 2021. Government officials have been busy since the election in November 2020. One notable difference since the change in administrations, is the strengthening of the United States’ relationship with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Former President Donald Trump pushed towards an isolationist approach when it came to international communications. A common theme President Trump mentioned, which can be particularly seen within his Republican National Convention speech in August 2020, where he voiced his disappointment in the size of NATO spending. President Trump believed that the United States’ partners in NATO were behind on their payments. President Trump and his administration wanted to distance the U.S. from NATO until its members were able to increase the amount of money put towards their national defense. With the Biden administration this could be changing.
President Joe Biden, inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021, quickly went to work appointing a new Secretary of Defense. On Jan. 22, Lloyd J. Austin was sworn in as the 28th Secretary of Defense. Prior to his cabinet position, Austin attended West Point and served in the Army for 41 years before retiring as a four-star General.
Austin’s first call as Secretary of Defense was to NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg. Austin discussed wanting to keep the NATO alliance strong and the current missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Austin wants to continue a strong defense position in NATO as a method to deter potential and known threats. Austin also told Stoltenberg that he wanted to re-strengthen the U.S.’s relationship with Europe. Stoltenberg congratulated Biden after his inauguration and told Austin that he feels positive about President Biden’s policy goals mentioned during his campaign.
This sequence of events could be indicative of a change in U.S. foreign relations over the next four years. Whereas the Trump administration focused on isolationism and taking a stern approach with foreign relations, one can assume President Biden is planning for a return to normalcy in American foreign policy. The call to Secretary General Stoltenberg, change in US Secretary of Defense and the policy plans President Biden has mentioned are showing a focus on increasing international communications for some upcoming potential changes.
NBC Democratic impeachment managers delivering the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
Last week, new House Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the articles of impeachment against former President Donald Trump would be delivered to the Senate floor early in the week. This comes two weeks after the House pushed the articles through, making the impeachment official. In total, 232 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted yes to impeach, 197 Republicans voted no and 4 Republicans did not vote. Former President Donald Trump has made US history with this trial, becoming the first president ever to be impeached twice.
The beginning stages of the trial are set to start almost three weeks after the deadly insurrection on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, in which many people wearing Trump gear and carrying pro-Trump signs broke into the building to stop the certification of the 2020 election due to voter fraud claims. None of the claims made by anyone on the Trump legal team or claims made by his supporters about the election rigging have been proven true. Many Democrats blamed then President Trump for inciting the riot, and the official reason for this impeachment trial is incitement of an insurrection. Senator Benie Sanders said that President Donald Trump was directly responsible for what happened at the Capitol. At the same time, Senator Elizabeth Warren called on the Senate to impeach and convict Trump on her Instagram page.
Just like the first impeachment trial, there have been few Republicans to speak out against the former president. Senator Marco Rubio called the trial stupid and counterproductive, while South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds told Meet the Press, “There are other things we’d rather be working on instead.” One Republican figure who is in favor of the impeachment trial is Senator Mitt Romney of Utah. Romney, who appeared on CNN on Sunday, said that the trial is constitutional, contrary to what some of his Republican colleagues have said. The Republican candidate in the 2012 election was the only Republican to vote yes to impeach the first time around.
If found guilty, Trump would risk the chance of never being able to run for public office again and would also lose presidents perks, such as travel expenses of $1 million and a pension. The Democrats are fighting an up-hill battle at the moment. There must be a two thirds majority yes for a guilty verdict and with the senate split 50-50; this seems unlikely to happen.
There is also a question about whether this trial is worth it. The trial is set to take place while the Biden administration is starting up, potentially delaying the hearings of candidates for important cabinet positions and the passing of COVID relief packages. With Schumer and McConnell disagreeing on what to do with the filibuster, this trial could potentially take a long time.
Pictured above is Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The seemingly unending election season of 2020 has not only resulted in Joe Biden assuming the presidency, but also in a unique situation not seen in the Senate since 2001. With Kamala Harris’ tie breaking vote, the Democrats have achieved a narrow majority in the Senate, split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. Despite President Biden’s calls for unity and bipartisanship in the country’s time of crisis, things have begun with a rocky start. Between the Capitol insurrection, claims of election fraud, social media censorship, the pandemic and the partisan divide on major issues, the Senate is already facing major problems. Despite this massive divide, the Senate is currently debating some major issues that will affect the political landscape of America forever.
The new majority leader, moderate democrat Chuck Schumer, is dealing with a logistical nightmare with the progressive wing’s desire to abolish filibuster. Former President Barack Obama and Representative Cortez have called on majority leader Schumer and President Biden to abolish the filibuster. Over forty progressive groups have already begun running ads throughout the state of New York and national media outlets to push this unprecedented legislation, claiming that the filibuster is the largest detriment to passing landmark bills such as: Medicare for all, reform for ex-convicts’ voting rights, COVID relief bills and more. Schumer is also aware of the fact that, if he does not placate the desire of progressives, he is at risk of becoming primaried in his upcoming 2022 re-election. Representative Cortez has refused to make a statement on whether or not she plans to run for his seat, which she would be significantly more likely to attain if Schumer does not answer to progressives within the next two years. As progressives pressure Schumer to abolish the filibuster, minority leader McConnell pressures democrats to stop in the name of bipartisanship. McConnell is currently demanding Schumer to shut down the filibuster issue if he wants a peaceful transition of power within the Senate. The divide between the two parties in the Senate has already resulted in gridlock despite the fact the issue is not even on the floor, since McConnell is refusing to accept the transition until the issue is resolved. This situation has resulted in a very bizarre turn of events where all committees in the senate are currently being led by Republicans, despite the Democratic majority. Of course, it is unlikely for the filibuster to even be abolished since president Biden has actively stated it must remain in place for the sake of bipartisanship, which likely means Vice President Harris will vote against abolishing it, and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has stated he will not abolish it unless it is absolutely necessary.
As the transition is halted by filibuster talks, former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is resulting in even more chaos within the Senate. According to the Constitution, the Chief Justice only presides over currentpresident’s impeachment trials and senators preside over all other impeachment trials; thus, since Trump is no longer president, President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy will preside over the trial, not Chief Justice John Roberts. The time frame for the trial is currently unknown, but many believe it will not take as long as the previous trial, twenty-one days, to reach a verdict. The trial officially begins Monday, Feb. 8. Ten house republicans voted for impeachment; it is likely Republicans in the Senate will as well. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is currently filing seven counter-complaints to the ethics committee against Democratic Senators who requested investigations into Hawley and Cruz’s conduct surrounding the capitol insurrection. Senators Portman (R-OH) and Toomey (R-PA) have also both stated they would not run again in 2022, adding even more discord and discontent among Senate Republicans during this time of struggle for their party. The impeachment trial is just one of the many current issues that demonstrate the collapse of cooperation within the Senate.
Despite the various issues within the senate surrounding procedure, impeachment, ethics and resignation, Majority Leader Schumer and President Biden want a new COVID-19 relief bill by March. With McConnell and other Republicans against the $1.9 trillion bill, it is unlikely it will get the 60-person support necessary for it to pass. If this occurs, Senator Sanders may invoke a rule allowed by the chair of the budget committee to pass fiscal bills with only a 51 person majority. However, he will still need support from across the aisle if he invokes the rule because Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Angus King (I-ME) have already pledged to vote against the $1.9 trillion bill because of the cost and certain statutes within it.
Despite Biden’s inaugural address’ focus on unity among the nation and its two parties, it looks as though the United States will continue to grapple with its polarization and partisanship within the Senate.
Morning Brew Pictured above are Biden’s economic nominations and appointments.
Soon after being sworn into office, President Joe Biden began appointing his cabinet members and various other positions. Some of these appointments may need to be approved by the Senate, while others have been approved or do not require approval. La Salle Alum William Burns has been appointed to be the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Burns is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He had a 33-year career in the foreign service, including serving as ambassador to Russia and earlier to Jordan. “Bill Burns is an exemplary diplomat with decades of experience on the world stage keeping our people and our country safe and secure,” Biden said. Burns was a member of La Salle’s Honors Program and studied history, which he says “gives you perspective.” Antony Blinken was approved to serve as Biden’s secretary of state. The two worked together closely during Biden’s vice-presidency as Biden worked on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while Blinken served as deputy national security adviser. In addition, Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin has been appointed and approved to be the secretary of defense. Austin is a retired U.S. Army four-star general who served in the military for 41 years. He is the first African American to fill this position. Biden’s administration continues to have “firsts” in the appointment of Rachel Lavine as assistant health secretary. If confirmed by the Senate, Levine, a pediatrician by trade, would become the first openly transgender federal officer in the United States. According to Biden, “She is a historic and deeply qualified choice to help lead our administration’s health efforts.” Janet Yellen seeks Senate approval to be secretary of the treasury. Yellen was the first female to run the Federal Reserve, and, if confirmed, would be the first woman to run the Treasury Department. Ron Klain will serve as Biden’s chief of staff. Klain was a longtime aide to Biden during the Obama administration and oversaw the White House response to the Ebola epidemic in 2014. Pete Buttigieg, who endorsed Biden after dropping out of the presidential race, will serve as secretary of transportation. Buttigieg makes a jump from local politics in South Bend, IN to national-level politics with his appointment to this position. Jen Psaki will serve as press secretary. In the past, she served under the Obama administration as communications director and as the spokesperson for the State Department. There are various other positions that Joe Biden has appointed to fill his staff and some of these appointments make history.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images President Biden pictured with a stack of executive orders on his desk within hours of his inauguration.
As the 46th President of the United States was inaugurated this past Wednesday, Jan. 20, former President Trump’s legacy — already quite controversial — began to crumble, not only throughout the Oval Office, but also through executive orders overturning previous ones conducted under the Trump administration. As of Jan. 27, President Biden has instituted thirty-three executive orders, ten of which directly reverse the executive orders instituted by the Trump administration. The executive orders cover topics from environmental issues, immigration, and the economy, to the ongoing pandemic. It is important, not only to review these orders, but to understand what they command in their power as well.
Environmentally,President Biden has reentered the United States into the Paris Climate Accord, which the Trump Administration considered too costly . Furthermore, the President has halted construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which posed a clear environmental threat to the Antarctic.
Immigration wise, President Biden has lifted the “Muslism-ban” which has restricted the traveling of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. Furthermore, President Biden has undone former President Trump’s expansion of immigration enforcement through programs such as 297 (g) and universal victim techniques employed by ICE. President Biden has also ended the national emergency financial funding used to construct the southern border wall and has extended deferrals for Liberian-immigrants threatened with deportation and work permits until June of next year. Finally, he has reinstated DACA as a program undocummented citizens can now re-apply to.
Economically, the president has enforced a pause on the payments of student loans and the accruing interest for said loans, implemented holds on bill collectors from enforcing evictions foreclosures until at least March 31 supported food banks and the unemployed, and finally has officially laid the foundation for a $15 minimum wage as well as protecting federal workers.
Related to the pandemic, President Biden has signed orders to create federally-supported community vaccination centers, established the Pandemic-testing board, put into place a preclinical program to boost the development of therapeutics, expanded the federal financial support for states to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine, accelerated the distribution of vaccines through manufacturing and development, reentered the U.S into the World Health Organization, enhanced the communication of data of COVID-19, and most notably, enforced a mask mandate on federal property. President Biden has already set goals to accomplish within his first 100 days related to the pandemic, such as administering 100 million vaccines. This goal seems plausible to the CDC considering vaccinations have increased to over 1.3 million per day compared to a 900,000 a day average under the Trump administration.
There are many more executive orders to be included in this long list such as: making the national census inclusive of undoccumented Americans, enforcing prevention of workplace discrimination, requiring appointees of the executive branch to sign an ethics pledge and even overturning the Trump administration’s ban on transgender Americans enlisting in the military.
With most of these executive orders put in place within the first 48 hours of Biden’s inauguration, in overturning the last 48 months, the future of the Biden administration seems to hold a lot of potential. Addressing the economy, the pandemic, crucial environmental issues, racial injustice issues and overall Biden’s plan for “healing this country” are the main priorities set by the Biden administration, which it has already started to act on. This list of executive orders is only expected to increase within the upcoming days. The Biden administration will have plenty of trials and tribulations to overcome in its path with the looming global pandemic, and now with the second impeachment trial of former President Trump consuming the Senate. Nevertheless, it seems the administration will tackle these issues with a fast pace as exemplified through President Biden’s first 48 hours, hinting to an underlying theme of getting right to work within the new administration.
Business Insider A car driving over cracked pavement, one of many examples of infrastructure that needs repairs.
America has had a long history of transportation and public works projects implemented by the government in an attempt to take the United States from good to great. One of the earliest major partisan political policies was Henry Clay’s American System, which supported internal improvements and federally-funded roads and canals to help the agricultural market. Stephen Douglas and Lincoln orchestrated the creation of the transcontinental railroad, one of the world’s most remarkable engineering achievements in its time. Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt responded to the Great Depression by funding infrastructural improvements to provide jobs to those who lost them in the major economic downturn. In the 1950s Dwight Eisenhower passed the Interstate Highway Act, which created over 41,000 miles of highways and made transportation across the United States easier than ever. Despite all of these great achievements for modern infrastructure throughout American history, throughout recent years, things have not been going as well. In 2017, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) published its quadrennial grade for the infrastructure of the U.S. The United States scored the same as it had in 2013, a D+. According to the ASCE, the United States would need to spend about $4.5 trillion over the course of the next five years to improve the state of American roads, bridges, dams, airports, schools etc. The report has sixteen different categories that discuss the grading for each individual aspect of infrastructure and shows the reasoning why it has such a poor grade, ranging from just under 100-year-old pipe systems that desperately need repairs to the poor conditions of urban and rural roads throughout the country.
Unlike most issues circulating in Washington, this is not a partisan issue. President Trump has stated numerous times in his 2020 State of the Union address that he wants to increase federal spending on infrastructure. He even claimed to be in support of creating a two-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan as a part of phase four of the stimulus package. In 2019, the house passed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that would follow the instructions and recommendations of the engineers who warned us of the dangers of the current state of infrastructure. However, both of these plans were shot down in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Senate Minority Leader McCarthy both said they would like to wait and see the state of things as the pandemic continued before they passed Trump’s initiative. McConnell also publicly stated that the House’s infrastructure bill would never see the light of day as he stated it was a “pure fantasy” that would die in the Senate. Trump also claimed he would veto the bill if it made it to his desk since it contained too many clean energy initiatives.
President-elect Biden has claimed that a large part of his economic revival plan for the country will focus around an infrastructure plan based on FDR’s works progress administration, sending numerous construction workers, engineers and tradesmen back to work. The focal point of his infrastructure initiative is the idea of bringing clean energy into public works and having the government entirely run on clean energy by 2050. His reasoning behind pushing such a plan is not only bringing America infrastructure back to the top of the world’s number national rankings, which it is currently 13th, it is also to reduce unemployment and poverty. His plan is estimated to cost $2 trillion. It is incredibly likely that he will face the same issues as the House and President Trump with this sweeping proposal as McConnell will likely block this proposal from ever being voted on. However, Biden does hope to reach bipartisan agreement on the bill through its initiative to provide jobs to those who are now unemployed because of the Coronavirus.
FairVote A visual explanation of rank choice voting, election reform that promotes third parties.
The electoral college was established in 1788 by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. It was engineered to replicate the British government’s original two party system. Madison even stated that he built the system so it would always have two factions run against each other. Thus, third parties were never meant to win elections, but instead to replace one of the established parties and then participate in elections. Every election between three individuals has also resulted in extreme civil distress, an example being the election of 1912.
The Republicans replaced the Whigs not because of their strong abilities as a third party but instead because they planned to replace the Whigs as the then liberal party. The Progressives (The Bull-Moose party) could’ve replaced the Republicans, if they didn’t immediately disband after their first failure and if modern technology didn’t work in favor of the establishment. The rise of technology led to the failure of all other third party candidates throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Third party candidates cannot win elections, not because of their bizarre political views, but because of the established aristocracy of the party system. Third parties cannot win because they have to replace one of the two established parties, which they can’t because of the rise of mass broadcasting in the modern world. Republicans and Democrats run journalism. They have unrelenting power because the average American doesn’t have the time nor ability to fully educate themselves on the political institution they reside in. Politicians are aware of their stranglehold on the uneducated public and know that even if a new party attempted to replace a party, whether that’s the Green Party with the Democrats or the Libertarians with the Republicans, they could not because of the lower class’ lack of awareness of the “revolution” needed to change things and the upper-class’ desire to keep the system in check through the manipulation of the masses.
This system has led to most candidates who have beliefs coinciding with third parties to run on Democrat or Republican tickets and modify their views to fit the public. Bernie Sanders, an independent, has become a star of the Democratic primary in both elections he participated in. Gallup polls suggest Republicans support Libertarian views more than their own, as many of us saw during the Tea Party Movement. Third parties should not be viewed as their own platform running alongside Democrats and Republicans but instead as replacements for major parties because that’s what the architects of the constitution intended. It is not the faults of the establishment that third party candidates that lack a voice, it is the fault of the system itself. Do not blame the DNC or the RNC for the failures of third party and anti-establishment candidates, blame James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton.
This situation does not necessarily mean the United States is doomed to pick between a lesser of two evils forever. This system can be changed, and numerous states like Georgia and Maine have instituted election laws that challenge the founders’ system. Rank choice voting, open primaries and runoff elections are all viable solutions to fixing this problem and providing people a larger voice in our democracy. Rank choice voting is a system that allows people to vote for third party candidates, and if the third party candidate does not get enough votes for things to matter, the vote shifts to the second favorite candidate voted for and so on and so forth until the race ends with a majority. This would allow people to actually be able to vote independent and still have their vote matter if the candidate gets barely any votes. It would also allow large third parties, like Libertarians and Greens, to stand a chance in state and national elections. Another solution is open primaries which would allow people registered independent to vote in primaries anyways. With more people having a voice during primaries, the radicalism of parties is bound to collapse as a new wave of moderates will have a say in primary elections, thus leading to less radicals in government and less gridlock in government. Georgia’s solution to the problem is not anywhere close to as efficient as these, however, it does serve as a start. This state uses a runoff election system where, if no one receives a majority in the election, the two candidates with the largest percentage are allowed a second election which determines who holds office. This way of conducting elections does provide reform to the system. However, it still works against third party systems as the “throwing your vote away” problem remains. While these are by far the most efficient ways of reducing radicals and restoring the people’s voice in government, establishment politicians have fought these in the state legislature by complaining it will lead to fraud and corruption, which is simply not true as it would allow escape from the corrupt party system we currently live under. The biggest battle in ratifying election laws that will lead to a government that we can have a say is the current establishment and system, thus it is important to be an activist and work hard to actually change the system, as our current representatives certainly will not.
Marketplace Rudy Giuliania announces the election is not over.
Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City and Trump’s personal lawyer, berated people celebrating and lamenting the outcome of the election pre-maturely by saying, “networks don’t get to decide elections, courts do.” Immediately after this remark, many dismissed Giuliani’s statements as false on the premise that courts do not decide elections, voters do, and the voters have chosen Biden. With a projected 306 votes, Biden has won. While ignoring the states that networks have refused to call such as Georgia, Alaska and Arizona, Biden still leads with 279 votes. Despite this, Trump supporters still have faith in the President by believing that voter fraud is rampant in the election and will be stopped once the court steps in.
Trump has made three major claims surrounding voter fraud that have all been called to national attention. The first was a video circling social media of a man burning ballots in a plastic bag. Election officials, however, have proven that the ballots burned in the video were not actual ballots, but actually sample ballots. The absence of bar codes on the ballots shows the viewers that they were not actually real ballots. In response, the Trump camp claimed that you cannot trust election officials. The second major claim was from a picture that went viral of Michigan’s count for Biden’s drastic increase by 138,000 votes. This too has been deemed false, as it was apparently a clerical error from the Shiawassee, MI county of presidential data. Once the error was identified, it was replaced by the correct information. The election officials then proved that there was an error, and quickly fixed it. Despite this, Donald Trump has reposted the picture onto his Twitter account and claims that it serves as evidence that the establishment and the election officials are out to get him. The final major claim of the Trump camp is that a large amount of votes received for Biden were actually by people who died before election day. This is the only concrete argument he makes, so is it enough to derail Biden’s trip to the White House? According to Axios, even if the Trump camp managed to delegitimize numerous votes, it would take a miracle for over 12,000 to be thrown out in each swing state. According to Deutsche Welle, the Trump administration’s argument is that 14,000 votes cast in Michigan were actually by the deceased. This has subsequently been proven false. The only example given for this statement was that William Bradley, a man who died in 1984, voted for Biden. This was a clerical error as the ballot was supposed to be registered for William Bradley Jr. who voted for Biden. This means no extra vote occurred, in this case at least.
Many supporters of Trump believe that a similar outcome to Bush v. Gore is possible after the election. However, things are not the same twenty years after this famous court decision. While the Supreme Court remains conservative and a presidential candidate is demanding a recount, the situations are quite different. While Gore’s failed attempt at winning a recount was over 600 votes in Florida, Donald Trump hopes to win a recount by flipping 12,000 votes at the minimum in numerous states. David Boies, Gore’s lead election lawyer, has stated, “There’s no legal avenue for the Trump campaign to plausibly dispute the results in any one state.” Gore’s recount also began because all major news outlets claimed Florida was too close to call, while Georgia and Arizona remain too close to call, despite Biden’s 13,000 and 14,000 vote lead. Trump does not have this luxury either as, even with Arizona and Georgia switching sides and voting red, he still lacks the majority needed to win. Finally, the butterfly ballot issue was the primary argument for Gore. Butterfly ballots were the method of counting votes in Florida, where a hole puncher would stamp out who your vote would go to. This system was flawed, however, as many votes were not fully stamped out, thus a recount was a logical move since many of the ballots were thrown away despite being filled out. Mail-in votes also do not have this issue, as they were all filled out via coloring in a hole on the ballot. Thus, the precedent set by Bush v. Gore does not necessarily apply to this election as the circumstances were widely different. Gore argued over 500 votes because of ballots he believed were counted incorrectly. Trump is arguing that numerous states have committed fraud and election officials have formed a kabal to take him out of office.
Despite this, Trump continues to claim the Supreme Court will settle this. Trump has hired lawyers nationwide to run these lawsuits in each swing state. Some of these lawyers include outgoing congressman Doug Collins, former counsel to the president Kory Langhofer and Ron Hicks. Trump is also launching a new campaign in each swing state that voted for Biden in an attempt to garner more support for his crusade against the election results. Trump has also founded a political action committee (PAC) to help fund changing the outcome of the election in his favor. The PAC, known as Save America, is known as a leadership PAC. The PAC is allowed infinite people to donate to it with a max donation budget per person of $5,000. The goal for Save America is to help Donald Trump maintain his power over the presidency as well as the Republican party after he leaves office. 60% of donations to the Trump campaign and the RNC will now be put into Save America. The PAC is said to have been in the making, win, lose or draw. Despite Trump’s belief that the election is far from over, prominent Republicans have congratulated Biden on his victory and denounced Trump for his actions. The 43rd President, George W. Bush, has congratulated Biden and stated that the election was fair and the outcome was clear. Republican senators Ben Sasse (NE), Pat Toomey (PA), Mitt Romney (UT), Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) have all openly stated they believe Biden has won and all believe Trump should cooperate with the transition.
The La Salle Collegian 