Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

People are complicated. Love is not.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Where tasty lettuce and good mustard aren’t elitist.

False Scribes! False Scribes!

This fight is for everything.

Let there be snark.

Naturally gregarious and alpha

Saul Alinsky is my co-pilot.

What fresh hell is this?

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

It’s not even safe to go out and pick up 2 days worth of poop anymore.

We need fewer warriors in public service and more gardeners.

Wetsuit optional.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Everybody saw this coming.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

I’m going back to the respite thread.

They are all Michael Cohen now.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Yes we did.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Looking Forward

Looking Forward

by | 110 Comments

This post is in: 

There’s going to be a lot more ugly in the upcoming weeks, but I would like to try to focus on moving forward, because that is all we can control, really. I’d like to hear your thoughts, and starting on the 18th and through Inauguration, we’re going to be posting guest submissions from you all.

What I would like for you to do is pretend you are a front pager, and take some time to describe what the past four years have meant or been like for you, what a new administration and congress means to you, and what legislative priorities you would like the incoming congress and administration to focus on, and why. Don’t just list them- pick a priority that is important to you, explain why, and explain you think it can be achieved. Mail them to Watergirl and she is going to collate them all.

Let’s look forward.

ALSO WELCOME BACK TIMF, I HAVE MISSED YOU AND THAT SWEET BEAUTIFUL DOBERMAN WITH THAT SPECTACULAR NOSE.

Update:  For easy reference, there is a link to this post in the BLUE BOX that’s under the balloon man at the top, for computers and tablets.  It’s the top item in the hamburger menu on mobile.

Reader Interactions

110Comments

  1. 1.

    Old School

    To clarify:  You’d like front page posts posted in the comments to this post?  Or emailed?

    Edit:  email to Watergirl.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    Definitely voting rights reform.  House Dems agree. HR 1 is the bill number.

    Since we do control Congress, immigration reform.  IIRC, it was the GOP house that was the main roadblock last time.  Until there is reform, the GOP will continue to use the possibility of what we might do as a wedge issue for the deplorables.

    Obviously, COVID and stimulus are the most urgent matters.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    What I would like for you to do is pretend you are a front pager,

    So many of you would be banned.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    Mail them to Watergirl and she is going to collate them all.

    Wait, what?  Why not just post them here?  And you mean like, USPS mail?

  8. 8.

    Subsole

    @Baud: What if we followed your glorious example and went sans pantalones?

  11. 11.

    randy khan

    @Baud:

    Apparently the idea is to impose some order on what gets posted.

    I dunno – doesn’t seem very Jackal-like.

  16. 16.

    Subsole

    Voting rights, and it isn’t even close.

    The cons get away with half this shit because they can lose 3 to 1 and still squeak a victory. Make our votes worth as much as theirs and see how things shake out.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    @randy khan: I thought John’s idea was that people could compose their thoughts for the guest post, and that’s pretty hard to do when you’re composing in the comment window.

    but of course people can give shorter answers in the comments.

  19. 19.

    Almost Retired

    This is an awesome assignment, and I totally intend to participate in the spirit in which John intends.  But just not quite yet. I still need a few more days of being angry and vengeful, because it’s good for the soul.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    @WaterGirl: I skipped over the guest posts part, in keeping with my habit of not really reading John Cole posts.

    I don’t know.  Seems like an attempt at soliciting more free labor to me.

    j/k.  Looking forward to the submissions.

  23. 23.

    Mike in NC

    Been out for much of the afternoon, but before catching up on the news, it appears that Fat Bastard is trying light a bunch of “little fires everywhere” (to steal the name of a popular book/TV show).

    All of his ridiculous Executive Orders need to be stricken on Day One. Blast “Space Farce” into the sun where it belongs.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud:

    I skipped over the guest posts part, in keeping with my habit of not really reading John Cole posts.

    Only losers read to the very end.  (Yes, I am a loser.)

  27. 27.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    I don’t know how I would respond to this assignment, which means it’s a good one.  I’m  looking forward to what folks come up with.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    For easy reference:

    A link to this post is in the BLUE BOX that’s under the balloon man at the top, for computers and tablets.

    It’s the top item in the hamburger menu on mobile.

  33. 33.

    Walker

    I know this is such a minor thing, but…

    My wife works in cybersecurity research on a lot of DOD and DHS grants.  The past four years (and potentially longer) have been “this grant that is funding my division is on hold because Congress refuses to pass a budget.” I don’t mean grants denied (that happens and is understandable).  I mean grants awarded and budgeted, but money withheld.

    Even with Manchin playing emperor, my hope is that we have left the world of budget hostage negotiations behind for a while.

  34. 34.

    Roger Moore

    I think it’s also important to separate executive priorities from legislative priorities.  For example, a huge amount of the executive appointees’ time is going to be taken up undoing Trump’s sabotage and rooting out Trumpists embedded in the executive departments, while Congress needs to work on legislation.  Even within Congress, a lot of the early heavy lifting will have to be taken up by the House, since the Senate needs to focus on confirming Biden’s appointees as quickly as possible so they can start doing the jobs I mentioned above.

    As far as legislative priorities, I would say:

    1. COVID relief and funding for vaccinations. This is an immediate crisis and can’t be postponed
    2. Voting rights and gerrymander reform.  This may also include expanding the House in the new apportionment; there’s no reason to stick with 435 members.
    3. Converting the old “norms” that Trump’s people violated with impunity with laws that have real teeth.
    4. Rebuilding the regulatory state. The Republicans have gutted our government’s ability to function by underfunding the parts of our government involved in enforcing the laws. We need to undo that.  The IRS needs to be at or near the top of the list.
    5. Court expansion. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get the votes to expand the Supreme Court, but the district and appeals courts need more judges to be able to do their jobs properly.
    6. Patch problems with Obamacare.
  39. 39.

    JPL

    I’m hoping that Tamara has a post this weekend with suggestions for  the perfect Inauguration Day brunch.

  40. 40.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @WaterGirl: I HAVE been working on a manifesto about prostate massagers. Let me see if I can fit it into something appropriate for John.

  42. 42.

    mrmoshpotato

    @JPL:

    I’m hoping that Tamara has a post this weekend with suggestions for  the perfect Inauguration Day brunch. 

    Only criteria – goes good with tons of champagne.

  44. 44.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I am sure there is some sort of catch.  Is this a cattle call for new FP people?  Is there going to be a purge?  So many questions….

  46. 46.

    Aleta

    Whenever the FP is written by commenters, the FP writers should be required to contribute the complex and stimulating fabric backing of comments … interweaving the incisive with the irrelevant along with jokes, misinterpretations, broken links, interesting trains of thought, questions about home repairs, car talk/pet talk, and greetings/condolences  to their fellow FPers.  Perhaps they will come to realize this easily overlooked community improv art form is not as easy as it looks.  : ) jk

  48. 48.

    Woodrow/asim

    Ha! I already have a doc with much of this sitting around! I’ll look to update/extend it, and send it along in next day or two.

    Is there a deadline for this?

  50. 50.

    Salty Sam

    So, the assignment is to slow down, reflect on current events, and write a meaningful essay on my personal experience?

    In other words, the exact opposite of a normal comment…

    OK then!

  53. 53.

    Inventor

    The helicopters above Pence’s house are probably just routine. Whenever the President’s lawyer tells the President’s Nazi followers to kill the Vice President, they do that. Just S.O.P., right?

  54. 54.

    No One of Consequence

    Imagine, if you will, my surprise when revisiting the site later in my work-morning, being called out by Tim F on the Front Page of Balloon-Juice.

    *GASP!*

    Quickly scanning the text, I realized what I had written, and that it wasn’t offensive, and that the posting wasn’t about any unfortunate law-enforcement encounters or drunken photobombing, much to my great relief.

    Seeing as how there are so many literate and well-spoken Jackals, I look forward to slightly-longer-form prose about narrow-ish topics from the Assembled. Doubtless there is much wisdom to be found here, once one sorts through the pet hair, dandruff, dust and the misplaced bottles of Dijon…

    Peace,

    NOoC

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    1) Threaded comments.
    2) Flashing HTML text.
    3) Audio embeds.

    1) John Lewis Voting Rights Act
    2) Approving all of Biden’s agency and judicial nominations post-haste. Recommendations within 90 days for reforming the federal courts, the federal drug laws, etc.
    3) $3T+ COVID Relief
    4) Ending the remnants of the Sequester and moving to 2 year budgeting (if it makes sense). Perpetual CRs are damaging the country.
    5) National Infrastructure Bank (and similar banks for long-term investments like Climate Change)
    6) Demanding accountability from corporations. Enforce bylaws about having to operate in the public interest in exchange for their liability protections, etc. Corporate dissolution for those breaking the rules.
    etc.

    Easy peasy.

    What about the week after that??!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    @Woodrow/asim: John didn’t include a deadline, but when he talked with me about this earlier today he said something about 3 or 4 days.

    So let’s say end of day on Friday, which is Jan 15.  So basically anything that’s in my inbox by the time I get up on Saturday morning.

  70. 70.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: Only losers read to the very end.

    Clearly you never had to take that trick quiz, where the first instruction is “Read all instructions before starting,” the last is “Only follow the first and last instructions,” and everything in between is time-wasting nonsense.

  72. 72.

    H.E.Wolf

    I would be deeply appreciative to read the thoughts of non-white (and/or non-straight) (and/or non-Protestant/Catholic) commenters, for whom this hasn’t just been a horrible 4 years, it’s been a lot longer… and perhaps a lot worse.

  73. 73.

    RandomMonster

    @Inventor: Pence arrived at the White House just a little bit ago. He hasn’t talked to Trump since last Wednesday.

    I’m just hoping it means that Trump is resigning or 25A is in motion.

  76. 76.

    Michael Cain

    @Another Scott:  If the HR1 introduced this year is the same HR1 introduced the last two years, it may still have trouble when it gets to the Senate. The last section of the bills have spelled out details about how elections are to be conducted. To my reading — possibly wrong, but at least in my opinion — some of the western states’ vote by mail systems won’t pass muster. I will not be surprised if one or more of the several Democratic Senators from those states says, “We’ve had our system for years. We win the awards for ease of use, security, and accuracy. We’ll be damned if we’ll change.”

  78. 78.

    Another Scott

    SCOOP –> Schumer is exploring whether to invoke an obscure power — allowing Senate leaders to reconvene the Senate in times of emergency — to hold an impeachment trial immediately after the House impeaches Trump https://t.co/JrlSRTBezy

    — Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) January 11, 2021

    Interesting…

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  84. 84.

    PJ

    @Jerzy Russian: I know I shouldn’t be shocked that people who buy into nonsensical conspiracy theories would be gullible enough to upload their SSN and driver’s licenses to a private website, but I am legit shocked at how gullible they are.

  85. 85.

    debbie

    Not worthy of a front page post, but I still feel like whining. In addition to all the shit rained down on the country by Trump et al., I’ve lost my family — my brothers, nieces, and nephews. Even now, I would rip off my brothers’ and sisters-in-laws’ faces for what their votes have wreaked on this country. I don’t forgive them and they don’t forgive me for refusing to deal with them. Even worse, I can’t walk anything back. I would want to solely because my 23-year-old nephew (my favorite) was diagnosed with cancer and has been in the hospital for months with chemo and surgeries involved. God, I hate Trump.

  86. 86.

    UncleEbeneezer

    In no particular order:

    • Covid,

    • Voting Rights/DC Statehood/Cybersecurity of our Govt/elections

    • Serious Investigations into Trump/GOP (family separation, Covid, Post Office, Russia etc.)

    • Action on Global Warming

    I would also LOVE to see a post like this for the local angle (City, County, State) too.  So much of say, policing, to take just the obvious and most current example, have to mostly be addressed below the Federal level.

  88. 88.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @PJ: I had to do it when FB banned me because they thought I was a fake account. I took a photo of it, then sharpie’d everything out that was identifying except my last name and scrawled on it “Here ya go, dbags.”

    I was reinstated a day later.

  92. 92.

    JustRuss

    I suppose “launch the Electoral College into the sun” is a bridge too far, and “give James Comey a kick in the nuts” won’t really solve anything, so I’ll try to come up with something between the two.

  95. 95.

    zhena gogolia

    @debbie:

    That’s not whining, that’s pretty damn serious. I’m so grateful that of my remaining close family (very small #), everyone is of the same mind as me. Same goes for the vast majority of my friends. Some of them are susceptible to NPR and NYT, but that’s about it.

  96. 96.

    Jerzy Russian

    @JustRuss:   My two items were very similar to yours, except they were “Reform the Electoral College” and “kick every Republican in the nuts”.

  97. 97.

    Michael Cain

    @Another Scott: I didn’t dislike HR1.  That didn’t mean that there weren’t details that I would have liked to see changed.  Senators who cosponsor bills aren’t saying they agree with every detail.  They expect it to be changed as it goes through committees.  That’s what committees are for.

    For example, I live in a vote by mail state and drop boxes for returning ballots are popular (IIRC, more popular than mail return — we are, to be accurate, a ballot distribution by mail state).  As I recall, HR1 didn’t allow the use of drop boxes.  Neither of my state’s Democratic Senators are likely to vote for a bill that forbids drop boxes.  Somewhere in a committee drop boxes would get added.

    I read too many “amateurs” who seem to think that slim majorities in both chambers mean bills are suddenly going to bypass the usual committee process, that Pelosi and Schumer will just drop them on the floor and they’ll be adopted without committees or hearings or debate or changes.  Not. Going. To. Happen.

  98. 98.

    Michael Cain

    Very quickly I want a paragraph/section added to the Clean Air Act to take care of regulating greenhouse gases.  Given the current lineup of the Supreme Court, I have zero faith that they won’t reverse Massachusetts v. EPA and forbid the EPA from regulating CO2.

  100. 100.

    Martin

    Today I’m writing to my state legislators to immediately expand the state’s firearm laws to prohibit ‘anyone who participated in, organized, or gave aid and comfort to the attack on Congress on Jan 6, 2021’ from owning a gun, including the seizure of any weapons for persons with registered firearms.

    This might only work in CA where we have strong red flag laws, and where seizing weapons is not some kind of ultimate sin.

    But if there is going to be any kind of constraint on the second amendment, any kind of notion that ‘hey, maybe we shouldn’t give everyone a gun they can carry around whenever’ it’s going to come from an attempted insurrection.

    I’m still reading through them and trying to figure out what other restrictions should be imposed – serve in law enforcement, etc. and whether red flag laws should be involved as they’re focused on the right of someone to be protected by someone else who is armed, not the right of that other person  to be armed in the first place. But it’s the red flag laws that give the most fleshed out  process fo removing a gun.

    I’m also asking for a 15 day moratorium on ammunition sales in the state.

    After this I’m going to return to the my senators and congresswoman to request something similar in a gun control bill by explicitly requesting a check for participation in or support for the insurrection during an NICS check. At least in California, that would also prohibit these individuals buying ammunition.

  102. 102.

    J R in WV

    I think a voting rights act is #1 for us ~ ! ~  Make gerrymandering as illegal as insurrection, all the other ways white supremacists deny voting rights to people of color should be hate crimes. Adding House numbers to give everyone the same representation as Wyoming has would also work for me.

    Fixing the ACA to cover more people, and add cost control to the system as well. I’m hating it that people who don’t treat the ill make more money than the doctors who save lives. Management should be low cost!

    Education needs to be fixed — critical thinking should be taught in every grade in every school. Private schools should be closely regulated to be sure they provide at least as good an education as public schools. Charter schools should be regulated and not receive a nickel of taxpayer funding.

    College should be interest free loans, no one should make money from loaning students money. No one should receive loans for profit-making colleges or trade schools.

    [my brother’s kids went to college. One of them did well in a field he loved. The other would have been better off learning electrical or even plumbing — some trade from a union education program. This should be available everywhere and kids should learn early on that these skilled trades make much more money than many college educated professions. One of the most well off families in my home town owned the biggest plumbing company in town — big house, nice cars, travel anywhere on vacations…]

  103. 103.

    frosty

    @Aleta: Perhaps they will come to realize this easily overlooked community improv art form is not as easy as it looks.

    Your whole comment was an comedic masterpiece. Thanks for the laugh! And yes, the description of B-J comments was spot on.

  104. 104.

    frosty

    @debbie: I’m so sorry. I’m fortunate that my family all appears to be in the same political circle that I am. And the ones I’m a little skeptical about, including my sister, well, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

  105. 105.

    hells littlest angel

    I knew it would be bad, but not this fucking bad. I will rejoice when it’s over — and it will be over when Trump is dead, preferably lying on a bunk in a prison cell.

  106. 106.

    PaulWartenberg

    I’ve got a fcking blog that’s got 4 years of me screaming into the trumpian void. If you want me to post my 4-year-review and hopes for the future, I’ll do it over there.

    Give me a day or three, though. I’m busy at work trying to learn how to edit video in the next 8 hours.

  107. 107.

    Bobby Thomson

    Priority One is fixing the COVID collapse, but there are numerous steps to that and it is interrelated with other issues.

    1. Restore gutted public health agencies with qualified people and get rid of incompetent no-shows.
    2. Fix the logistics of supplying and tracking vaccines.  This can be done if people who know and care can provide consistent guidance.  Some states are saying they can test or they can vaccinate but they can’t do both.  Testing without vaccination is pointless in a world with substantial noncompliance with distancing measures, and a high level of vaccination is critical for herd immunity.  Also infuse cash so that states don’t have to make Hobson’s choices.
    3. Get cash out to everyone ASAP.  It’s already too late for millions of people, but every week things get worse for someone.  The masses will spend money because they have to.
    4. Change the narrative.  Promote the use of masks as a no-brainer.  Get some actual nurses and doctors to address the nation in PSAs, and maybe at a press conference.  Also get some people with curmudgeon cred.
    5. Save our hospitals.  Far from being a “get rich quick” scheme for providers, COVID cases are imposing massive costs and depriving hospitals of the ability to perform more profitable procedures.  Hospitals everywhere are making difficult choices as their revenues crater.  Part of the solution is truly flattening the curve.  Another part is encouraging parents to maintain vaccination schedules for their children, because otherwise we are likely to face nation-wide “anti-vaxxing” by default and numerous other dangerous diseases can make a comeback.  Treating diseases is low-margin at best.  Selective surgeries are where hospitals make the money that keeps everything running.  Bottom line: we need to get to a point where people don’t feel they have to postpone their health care for fear of COVID infection.
    6. Reverse the Trump tax cuts.  We will need a lot of revenue to do what needs to be done.
    7. Prosecute big businesses who took advantage of PPP. These people are worse than war profiteers and they need to be made examples.  Once you start pursuing this thread it’s going to lead to all kinds of other corruption.
    8. Help teachers to get living wages, and pay them for the unpaid extra hours they already work.  The sad truth is that teachers are unpaid child care for a lot of working people who otherwise would have to stay home from work.  While not as dire as the situation in health care, there are some headcount losses both directly from COVID and from individuals deciding that teaching has become too high risk.  Change the risk-benefit equation.

    Once you start getting into the weeds, it’s clear there are several different things that need to be done JUST to fix the problems caused by COVID.  There are all sorts of things, like election protection, that I would like to have a higher priority, but until risk can be contained it’s irresponsible not to continue to make COVID the first among many priorities.

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    COVID COVID COVID
    Voting Rights
    Police Reform
    Civil Rights
    More fair tax system
    Save the Post Office
    Expand the Judiciary
    Find the missing kids
    Expand Obama care
    Climate change

    Statehood for DC and Puerto Rico

  109. 109.

    citizen dave (aka mad citizen)

    Flood the zone: Do EVERYTHING.  Reach for the skies.  I was going to go with EC elimination, but now a co-equal has got to be DC statehood.  We can’t have 700 citizens disenfranchised.

    #2 Is to talk nonstop about elimination of the Electoral College and all the crap that goes with it.  It’s a relic.  President is a populist position, not one the “small” states need an advantage with.  All citizens’ votes are equal.  So much flows from this, since the R’s captured the prize 2 times out of 5 without winning the popular vote.

    #3 is bring in any territory that wants to be a state.

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