What percent of Biden's promises can be kept with a Republican Senate?

Are all Republican Senators against everything Biden may want? What about the House of Representatives? It’s hard to pick a percentage of something if all the variables are not in place.

@kritiper I realize the uncertainties. Therefore, I am not expecting an answer correct to one decimal point.

After the Dems pick up two seats in Georgia in January, the Dems will control the Senate.

Read @zenvelo ‘s answer and remember that Harris will
Be the tie breaker on even decisions. The answer of course is that we must wait and see.

Here’s the college plan: Biden’s plan would make public colleges and universities, as well as private Historically Black Colleges and Universities, tuition-free for students coming from families making less than $125,000 annually. Additionally, he would make community colleges tuition-free for all students, regardless of income.

@crazyguy I think you best be expecting an answer to far more than a single decimal point! Remember: You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

@zenvelo

Even though my only income is from Social Security, I plan to contribute to the campaigns of Raphael Warnock & Jon Ossoff.

@crazyguy Biden might be limited to executive orders for two years. Until the Senate is won or a compromise is made. I believe the term is “Lame Duck” office.

In the words of the president-elect: “Nohing will fundamentally change”.

If the Repubs. don’t stop playing partisan politics they will be looking for new jobs in 2 years. People are sick of their behavior.
It is time to start doing what is best for the country, not just their party or pocketbooks.

^With all due respect. 70 million voters, weren’t sick enough of Trump.
A lot of Biden’s proposals, would benefit ALL Americans. However. That hasn’t stopped the GOP, from hampering such things before. I see little reasons why that would change.
I foresee Biden’s every move, as going uphill through a shower of arrows.
Example.
Trump will fight Biden’s legitimacy at even winning.
It’s likely that the GOP, will fight against every single matter, that Joe pursues.

That’s the state of American politics….

He won’t be able to do everything. Some of his plans he might get through, some he will have to compromise, and some things he wants may not happen at all. That’s with every president.

Here down in the sunshine state Trump won, but also raising minimum wage to $15 also won. A few years ago my red county voted to continue to have taxes go to a fund that pays for people who need hospital care who don’t have the means to pay. Our Republican mayors in the southeast counties have had mask orders and curfews since practically the beginning. I hope lines get blurred between the parties the next two years among the citizenry and our politicians.

I hope Republicans in the senate will feel more free to cooperate. I don’t mean they should just go along, I think it’s good for them to challenge ideas they think are flawed, but I’m tired of saying no just to say the opposite of the other side.

@hmmmmmm It may not fundamentally change for you but I truly believe it will fundamentally change for minorities such as the Dreamers and children in cages. That’s a big win for me.

^ Please don’t lecture me about cages that were built by Obama (“Deporter-in-chief”) and Biden.

Unchanged fundamentals? Perhaps not, but too often the difference between life and death can be measured in increments. If you’re looking for the ideal in THIS country you are guaranteed to die disappointed. I see no way out but little steps amid proliferation of the narrative on what EXACTLY is going on. There MUST come a general recognition of the reality of those fundamentals and the fact that those promulgating them will fight to the death to maintain them.

At the very least, I expect Biden to undo much of what Trump did.

1. Defund that stupid wall
2. Rejoin climate control countries
3. Rejoin WHO
4. Allow Dreamers to stay in country
5. Reinstate previous pollution regulation of car companies
6. Increase funding for developing renewable energy sources

Hopefully none of it.
The Trump tax cuts will remain.
No green new deal.
No packing the Supreme Court.

@gondwanalon

Trump and Moscow Mitch “PACKED” the Supreme Court. duh DUH !

I like fresh air and water, apparently you don’t like them.

Trump’s tax cut make me pay more next year (not a tax cut for the Middle Class only the top 1%).

All, thanks for your answers. I am glad that most of you realize that governance is a far cry from election promises.

@LostInParadise Let me take your points one by one.

1. “Defund that stupid wall” and let the illegals pour in. Keep in mind that once an illegal gets his/her foot on American soil, s/he can insist on a court date. How will that square with a higher minimum wage?

2. “Rejoin climate control countries” I am not sure any of the so-called ‘climate control countries’ have accomplished any more than the US. Remember it takes a lot of pain to actually produce and implement an NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution). “China’s CO2 emissions are estimated to have risen 2.3% in 2018 and 2.6% in 2019 due to increased fossil fuel combustion and cement production…” This is taken from

https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/china/current-policy-projections/

Try to distinguish between empty promises and concrete actions.

3. “Rejoin WHO”. Let us join the world and be beaten into submission all over again. The Who, which has parroted China’s line on covid-19, and did not recognize aerial transmission of the virus until forced to do so by a letter from over 240 scientists (see
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/505936-hundreds-of-scientists-write-letter-to-who-arguing-coronavirus-is-airborne), even though The Who knew or should have known the airborne nature of coronavirus from a Guangzhou restaurant study published in April:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/health/airflow-coronavirus-restaurants.html

Please do NOT just repeat Democratic lines – it is good to perform some independent research.

4. “Allow Dreamers to stay in country”. I do not believe anybody including Trump disagree with that notion. However, before you grant dreamers permission to stay, you owe it to America to make certain that you are not adding to the problem with open borders.

5. “Reinstate previous pollution regulation of car companies” Mandate environmental standards instead of letting relative economics dictate. Mandate no more fossil fuels. Mandate no gasoline cars after 2035 in California. Typical Democrat bullshit.

6. “Increase funding for developing renewable energy sources”. Just pay attention to what Tesla has been able to accomplish.

@gondwanalon I agree with you. Without the Senate, anything that requires legislative action will not get done. Thank goodness.

@janbb There are no more children in cages. With open borders, dreamers are welcome to go and stay as they please!

@JLeslie Democratic aspirations took a blow in the Election. Without the Senate, the power of the Presidency is severely limited. Even judicial nominations can be blocked. So Biden is going to be even more handicapped than Trump was (by the Democratic House). Raising minimum wage without stopping illegal immigrants is akin to mandating no fossil fuels without a defined alternative. I agree with the need for more co-operation; but the Dems have to stop playing to their voters before that can happen meaningfully.

@MrGrimm888 You said: “A lot of Biden’s proposals, would benefit ALL Americans.” Please define ALL and name one Biden proposal that will help ALL Americans.

@LuckyGuy I like the sentiment. However, there are more Democrats looking for new jobs right now than Republicans. I fully expect that trend to continue and probably accelerate.

@Brian1946 Good luck with that.

@kritiper Yet another mindless response from you. You are on thin ice, buddy.

@jca2 So now we’ll have kids who cannot graduate from high school going to college!

@zenvelo Dream on, buddy!

@LostInParadise I would like to see much of that too. The environment has become a major priority for me and it essentially has made me a single-issue voter since Biden differs from Trump mainly in personality and temperament. As for what will actually get done, I don’t know, I’m not expecting much. Our government is set up to ensure almost nothing can get done when the Senate majority and the President are of different parties.

@crazyguy: ”1. “Defund that stupid wall” and let the illegals pour in. Keep in mind that once an illegal gets his/her foot on American soil, s/he can insist on a court date. How will that square with a higher minimum wage?” Is everybody that’s on our soil eligible to get a job here?

@crazyguy: ”So now we’ll have kids who cannot graduate from high school going to college!” Are the colleges’ requirements for admission changing? No. Admission and payment are two different things.

@crazyguy , I am not going to argue these issues. We obviously differ politically, which is why you voted for Trump and I voted for Biden.

@Demosthenes and @crazyguy, The things I mentioned were altered by Trump. so I assume the president has the authority to undo them. Biden appears to be more or less at the same place on the political spectrum as Obama, so I would expect Biden to return these items to the way they were under Obama.

@crazyguy I would expect that response from a Trumper. No loss…

I would say we should hold him to 100% of his promises. Isn’t that what was done to Trump? That is the standard the left set, so let’s hold it. Of course, given the standard they set, he has already surpassed Trump in his lying and his racism.

@jca2 If you say college tuition is free, you are offering an entitlement to everyone…not just some. So if someone is rejected based on GPA or something like that, they will likely sue and win because the alternative is to say the law is only for the wealthy and racist. After all, isn’t the poor and the minorities that suffer from lower GPAs and have less chance at acceptance into college?

@LostInParadise “The things I mentioned were altered by Trump. so I assume the president has the authority to undo them.” You would think so, wouldn’t you? But Obama implemented DACA without authority from Congress so ideally the next president should be able to undo it with the stroke of a pen, right? But what happened when Trump tried it? The courts stepped in and stopped him saying he didn’t have the right. Maybe you can explain it to me but it makes no sense to me.

@seawulf575: You’re a legal expert now?

@crazyguy .
No. I have no intention of wasting my time, by defending some of these agendas.

How could having a better environment, a healthier population, and more educated population, be NOT beneficial for ALL?

@jca2 No, are you? It was your comment I was responding to.

@MrGrimm888 Motherhood and apple pie are awesome. However, I do no see anything in Biden’s proposals that will get us to the promised land.

1. Join the climate treaty. PLEASE DO SOME HOMEWORK.

2. Rejoin WHO. WHO still recommends wearing cloth masks _unless you are over 60 or have underlying health conditions. See

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks

3. Free college. Let unqualified people go to college instead of teaching them a skill they are capable of mastering.

@crazyguy: Payment for college has nothing to do with qualifications for admission.

@jca2 When money is in the offing, it is unbelievable how colleges can “find” extra places!

I understand the rationale behind free college. It used to be that only a small percentage of the population had a college degree. Now a degree from a good college is becoming a basic requirement to enter the workforce and costs of tuition have gone up exponentially. Clearly the current situation isn’t working. I don’t know if making it “free” is the answer (I like to think there’s a possibility of returning to the days when a degree wasn’t required for every freakin’ job) and I don’t know that Biden really promised free college? It seems to me that if college were free there might be less value placed on it by society. That could be a good thing.

Once again, college should be free for EXACTLY the same reason as grade & high school.

@Demosthenes: I put the college plan up above, cut and pasted from Forbes.

@crazyguy: Yeah but a college can only accommodate a certain number of students, due to class size, etc. If they take on too many, the college loses its ability to deliver the quality education that it prides itself on. 30 in a class, yes. 300 in a class, you’re lost. Then the people who will be paying (the rich kids with money who don’t qualify for free) will not choose that school.

@Demosthenes I think you have hit the nail on the head. If you cheapen a college degree, society will pay it less attention.

Most European countries, including the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands charge tuition fees at colleges. France and Germany don’t – Germany is unique in that it does not charge any tuition even to foreign students.

@jca2 You think a college that can get government money cares that a few rich kids choose to go elsewhere?

The problem with free college is that (a) not everyone needs to go to college, (b) not everyone SHOULD go to college, and© it allows slackers to waste tax dollars trying to go to college.

The same arguments apply to high school.

@seawulf575: Not everyone wants to go to college, either. Not everyone can get into college, even if it’s paid for. Not everyone has the desire to finish college. Not everyone wants to spend four years in school if they don’t intend to use it.

@stanleybmanly Possibly, but it depends on where you draw the line as to what a minimum education is. To me K-12 is minimum. So if someone isn’t trying in HS, they are definitely hurting themselves. But if you are offering free college, these same slackers are now able to waste more time and now tax dollars by going to college for free…something that will likely end up with them failing out. But what is the down side? It’s free, right? So what is the penalty for being a slacker?

@jca2 That is right now. In the right now, people actually have to pay for going to college. It is a great incentive for actually trying. If it is free, what’s the down side to going and wasting a few years chasing girls (or guys) and doing drugs?

@seawulf575 How many high school slackers do you believe crave a college education?

@stanleybmanly When they have to pay for it? Not many. If it is free? Probably quite a few.

Admission requirements @seawulf575 not everybody that can buy a high school diploma would be admitted to college !

Admission requirements

@Tropical_Willie So….free college is only for the rich? After all, the poor are already at a disadvantage when it comes to education. So what you are saying is that it is okay to be racist?

Did you get high marks on your SAT’s wulfie ? ? ?

Admission requirements like high scores on SAT’s and not how much money your daddy is making!

@Tropical_Willie Isn’t it funny that things like voter ID laws are claimed, by the left, to be racist since they claim the disadvantaged poor are more likely to not have an ID or be able to get one, yet when it comes to something like free college, they don’t see that those same disadvantaged poor are less likely to be able to benefit from it because of Admission requirements? Face it, you are arguing for a racist aspect.

Deflection much !

Where the F&%^K are you coming from ?

Your POV is borderline WS !

@seawulf575 so let me rephrase my question. How many high school slackers can be admitted to college (excluding Trump University)?

@Tropical_Willie Yes, I must be WS since I am arguing to support the poor and the blacks. Are you really that frantic? You are the one that is trying to find ways of keeping them poor and uneducated. I’m thinking that is borderline WS.

@stanleybmanly Interesting question. I guess it would depend on your definition of slacker. I have known many slackers that were mediocre in HS and went on to waste 4, 5, even 6 years going through college and never graduate. I have known some that failed out in a couple years because they were too busy screwing around to worry about actually getting educated. But then, people have to pay their own way into college now, so all that is on them. If you turn it into a government mandate that college is free, that means everyone’s tax dollars are paying for it. So those slackers that either can’t afford or currently drive up huge debt being a professional student and majoring in party life can now go and do the same thing…with YOUR money.

@seawulf575 but your description of what WOULD happen is actually happening NOW. And it happens with one missing but critical distinction. It happens now through the student loan program whereby the Federal government instead of financing college education allows the banks to lend money which the government guarantees. The banks are able to lend money and collect interest without risk, and the taxpayers soak up any and all losses. Once again, profit is privatized while losses are socialized. This system is insidious for several reasons. The primary evil being that it allows colleges to inflate prices to astronomical levels leaving attendees saddled with crippling debt. No genius is required to understand that there would be considerable savings if the Federal government lent the money DIRECTLY to students and collected the interest as opposed to the banks, but this is just another in the examples of wealth being transferred to the top.

@stanleybmanly The key word you are looking for is responsibility. If the student takes on a student loan, they are responsible to pay it back. It adds incentive to wanting to complete your work and attain your goals. Likewise, in HS you have more incentive for wanting to get good grades so you can get into a better school. But if you take away the incentives, remove the responsibility, you will encourage more waste.

I think that there are some very smart people, not understanding what college is really about.

It has more to do with critical thinking, than the actual major.

To me. That is what one gains, mostly, from college.

I can’t overestimate the value, in this case.

@MrGrimm888 I agree with what you said. But I cannot understand from your post whether you are for free college, or against it.

@crazyguy . I am ALL for,some type, of free college education.

I apologize if I didn’t clarify this.

@MrGrimm888 I gathered that. Some people gain from college, there is no doubt. The question is, does everybody? And should society pay to find the answer? I am certain that anybody deserving of college can get a scholarship and/or loan to pay for it. For the few who cannot, it does not seem worthwhile to burden the whole of society with large expenditures.

^IMO. You are missing the point.
It is not mandatory, that people go to college.
It’s by free will, that some people have a desire to better themselves.
However. Some, cannot take on the burden of being in huge debt, to do so….

Conservatives have been crying about others, needing more ambition. But. They seem disconnected from reality.

The reality is that many people, need to support themselves. and not increase their debt.

Sometimes, they can’t do both…

Our taxes pay for many different things, that benefit us all. Fire departments. Police. The military. To name a few.

I don’t see any difference, in education….

People who have a college degree, are proven to make more money. Money that is taxed, and helps the economy.

Think of free education, as an investment.

There was a time when it was recognized that the entire society benefits and is advanced through education. The United States was first in the world to adopt universal public education through high school. Sadly, this was in a time when the world could look to America for leadership. Now we are the joke regarding matters of intellect, with an idiot President and an electorate 50 percent of whom apparently can’t tell the difference. While college education is free in France, our scientific and technical industries—the fields at the forefront of future advancement must recruit talent from abroad to fulfill staffing requirements. This, while OUR college graduates are saddled with onerous crippling debt to accompany their degrees. In an age and society where a college education is all but mandatory to obtaining a shot at dwindling middle class existence, you might think people would recognize the realities confronting them and their children.

@MrGrimm888 I understand all your points, and they are good ones. Let me argue each one:

1. Some people cannot take on the debt incurred by going to college. So we either give such people financial aid; however, they lose the income they could have been earning. Or are you proposing that we should also pay for the opportunity cost which could be many times higher than the tuition at a state college.

2. People who have a college degree are proven to make more money. That is true. However, by enabling millions of added colleges graduates, all you would accomplish is a cheapening of the degree. And college graduates doing jobs that are well below the level they are qualified for.

There are so many myths floating in people’s minds. Here is a direct quote:

“5. France
In the past, students needed to speak French in order to attend university in France. This is no longer the case, however, as many programs of study at both public and private universities are offered in English. Students who attend public universities usually pay a few hundred dollars per year, depending on the degree level and program of study. Over the years, France has modified its free tuition model, and some EU students pay tuition based on family income.”

This is taken from
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/080616/6-countries-virtually-free-college-tuition.asp

Perhaps it might be worth asking: Is it the role of the government to invest in the well being and advancement of its citizens? Are we better off if our students must exit college with debt equivalent to a mortgage, while other nations allow their young people top notch educations unencumbered by debt? Which country’s practice foretells the better results down the line?

To answer @stanleybmanly :

”... promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution…”

One aspect of promoting the General Welfare is society investing in Human Capital. Human Capital is considered a huge portion of the economy and generally provides great returns to society.

“Free” college education has a long and noble history in this country. It was the idea behind the Land Grant colleges, that providing colleges in each state to promote agriculture and industry was good for society. ANd most of this e public universities were either free or very inexpensive.

It has only been since the Reagan administration that college education has been considered some “elitist” cabal.. and tuitions at state universities have exploded.

When my mother was an undergrad at the University of California during the war, there was no tuition, which is why the daughter of an immigrant carpenter and a domestic servant could afford to go to the world’s best public university.

When I attended the University of California at Santa Barbara in the 1970s, fees were $222.25 per quarter.

My son’s last semester at Cal Berkeley in 2018 was over $12,000. Anyone in the same position as my mother was in 1940 could not attend and pay that tuition.

This isn’t about sending everyone to college; it is about making college affordable for those that have earned their place at institutions of higher learning.

@zenvelo A state college is an enterprise that thrives and grows to satisfy the demand for its services. Current admission standards are not set in stone; if they were, I wouldn’t worry about free college. What I am afraid of is that supply of college places will grow because of an endless supply of students who can suddenly afford college.