We still don’t know and likely will not for at least a week until all the votes are counted, the mail-in votes, and the military votes that are still to be received, provided they can sort out the issues in Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona. As Major Daily of Chicago, my old home town, was fond of saying, “Vote early and vote often.”
There are some conclusions we can reach, even without knowing who our President will be. The Senate likely will remain in Republican control, and the House surprisingly has gained a few more Republican seats as it stands now (199D 188R) but not controlling power. A divided Legislative and Executive Branch makes for a stalemate government with few changes in our future and is actually preferred by Wall Street because no major legislation will go through.
Biden/Harris, without the Senate, do not have the power to institute the most radical changes, the Green New Deal, changes in taxation, changes in the Constitution, namely the 1st and 2nd Amendment, or Medicare for All. The Senate also controls the funnel of new Supreme Court appointments. The “hypocritical” replacement of RBG turns out to be the potential savior of the Supreme Court. No “court-packing” is possible now, nor is the statehood for Washington D.C. or Puerto Rico. The Constitution is silent about immigration, but historically the Legislative Branch has most of the control of who comes into the country and who can become a citizen. Nevertheless, the Executive Branch obviously can enact regulations through executive orders, such as building (or tearing down) the wall that impacts immigration. Biden and Harris are for open borders with no restrictions on immigration. We may see changes there if Biden eventually gets to 270 electoral votes. Biden has committed to reuniting the “caged children” with their parents. Most of the parents have been located but have refused to take their children back (a human tragedy), and as we know, possession is 9/10th of the law. It will be interesting to see how Biden can force the parents to repatriate their offspring. Speaking of offspring, with a Biden victory, Hunter will get back to the undertaking of making his bank accounts grow. All of China’s activities are likely to go back to business as usual. With Biden/ Harris, we are not assured strict enforcement of law and order, so there may be continued unrest in the large cities with uncontrolled riots, looting, and arson. We may need those 2nd Amendment rights, after all. Biden has promised to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. However, none of the member countries have so far lived up to their promises to cut carbon emissions, except for Gambia, and likely will not.
The Green New Deal will have to wait at least to the next mid-term election on November 8, 2022, if they can flip the Senate. Hopefully, more real “climate science” will be elucidated in the next two years before we embark on radical changes in our energy policy. If there is a change in attitude toward nuclear energy, it may make the debate on fossil fuels immaterial. Building nuclear power plants will nevertheless take time.
Until our election is resolved, keep biting your nails!