Move Fast and Fix Things

Biden has no time to waste

An iconic Silicon Valley saying is “move fast and break things”. Biden too needs to move fast but he needs to fix things not break them.

This will be difficult. The old fox, Mitch McConnell, is kicking the impeachment trial to the new Congress and it seems reasonable to surmise that he will use the trial and anything else he can to slow down Democratic legislative efforts. Democrats must keep their eyes on the prize, which is not convicting Trump (despite McConnell’s cagey remarks I am very skeptical this will actually happen) but rather organizing and accelerating vaccine distribution, containing the current COVID outbreaks and pushing out massive economic relief through checks, unemployment and family benefits and aid to state and local governments and small businesses. This is a very heavy lift and Democrats will need very ounce of unity and discipline they can muster to make it happen.

But if some combination of McConnell wiles and Democratic infighting slows this down so that people can’t quickly feel and see the results of Democratic efforts, the backlash could be severe. With or without Trump, a new surge of reactionary populism is virtually assured with dire consequences for the country and for the Democrats. Can you say “2010”? I think you can.

The good news here is that Biden’s plans for an initial stimulus if passed would accomplish all of the above objectives, so it seems like he understands the nature and scale of the task. Let’s hope Democrats can all row together on this one and for once put aside all their pet causes and projects. The fate of the country really does depend on it.