By: Kevin Mensah

What can I say? I can confidently say this election has surely been one of the most stressful events in American history. Don’t we all remember the highlights of our election? I mean watching Nevada count the votes was like watching paint dry. And don’t we all remember Joe’s adorable little run to the stage? To me, it shows that 78-year-old “Sleepy Joe” is really “Active Joe”. He is ready to serve our nation. Thankfully, the people voted and it has been decided. Congratulations to President-Elect Joseph Robinette Biden Jr! We are all yet to see the great things you will do for our nation starting from when you take office on January 20, 2021.

    The Lawsuits:

The Trump campaign has filed more than a dozen lawsuits across five states and has requested ballot recounts over the 2020 election. Regardless of what Trump does or if he decides to concede or not, the American Constitution doesn’t actually require the current president to do anything. According to the 20th Amendment of the Constitution, the candidate with the most electoral votes becomes president at noon on Jan. 20. The current president’s term is therefore over on that day, just before noon. Unless the electoral college is in favor of Trump, it is officially over. 

Just like Hillary said in a 2016 interview that is resurfacing on the internet.“Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is rigged against him.” This has been proven to be true countless times in the last 4 years. Trump may have ordered extra Big Mac sauce on his burger last month. During the course of the election, Trump’s butterfingers sent out tweets that were flagged by Twitter for “misinformation.” He has stated false allegations of “illegal votes”and “vote fraud” and continues to sue in states like  Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia. Will Trump resolve to a peaceful transfer of power? Trump has already authorized his administration to work with Biden on this transition. Aside from the controversy we should thank President Donal Trump for serving America as its 46th president. We will see how it will play on from there. Afterall, a bumpy road is still a road.

Well, what will he do as President then? Here are the highlights:

Covid-19:

Click here to view Joe Biden’s Important Plan to Combat COVID-19:   https://joebiden.com/covid-plan/

               Jobs/Economy

Joe wants to focus on the “backbone” of our nation, the middle class. Joe will increase the federal minimum wage to $15. The Title I funding will be tripled to eliminate the funding gap between high and low-income school districts. He plans to fund community colleges and training to improve student success and the growth of the middle class. He will pay for investments in working Americans by ensuring the super-wealthy and corporations pay their share. Joe will begin by strengthening unions and helping workers bargain successfully for what they deserve. The abuse of corporate power will be favored over labor. Corporate executives will be held personally accountable for violations of labor laws. 

Joe Biden encourages incentivize unionization and collective bargaining. He will ensure that workers are treated with dignity and receive the pay, benefits, and workplace protections they deserve. This includes standing up against wage suppression through non-compete clauses, and stopping companies from identifying low wage workers as managers to prevent them from paying the overtime they’ve earned. Finally, Joe will make social security a route towards debt paying, protect widows from deep social security benefit cuts, provide higher social security benefits for the eldest of Americans, and protect Medicare to make sure its beneficiaries can approach home and community long-term care as desired.

                                                           Climate Change

The Green New Deal serves as a blueprint to help fight climate change. The two components are, (1) the United States urgently needs to embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge, and (2) our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected. In matters of climate change.  Joe Biden will guarantee that low-income minority groups affected by climate change and pollution will be the first to benefit from his plan. The United States will inhabit a 100% clean energy economy that by 2050, net-zero emissions will be reached. The 10 million good-paying jobs Joe hopes to create will ensure that pollutes take accountability and will encourage other countries to expand on the measures taken to reduce climate change. Joe will make every effort to provide clean drinking water, clean air, and an environment free from pollutants to every American.

           Healthcare

Joe Biden will expand coverage and lower health care costs through Obama Care. He believes every American should have the choice of public health insurance. He will increase the value of tax credits resulting in lower premiums and expand coverage to low-income Americans. Joe will stop unnecessary drug prices and the excess profit of the drug industry.

                               Taxes

Biden will undo Trump’s tax cuts for the rich and raise taxes on corporations. We’ve all heard Trump’s accusations. Will Biden really raise taxes? Biden will raise taxes, but only on Americans with income over $400,000, which includes individual income, capital gains, and payroll taxes.

                                                             Immigration

Joe will comprise a reform to give 11 million undocumented immigrants a way to earn citizenship. He will invest in smart technology around the border and improve the asylum system. Biden will hire more immigration judges to give United States refugees a fair hearing and the dignity and respect they deserve. TPS (Temporary Protected Status) will be extended to Venezuelans seeking relief from humanitarian crises. Also, every TPS decision made by the Trump Administration that does not relate to the plan will be terminated.

                                                             Racial Justice

Racial equity is the pillar of Joe Biden’s plan. He also has a housing plan and will make investments in homeownership and access to affordable housing for black, brown, and native families. Joe will mostly support racial minorities through financial issues. 

                                                            Gun Control

I feel like this topic needs to be addressed especially with the impact guns have on our country. We’ve all heard about very unfortunate school shootings like Sandy Hook and Stoneman Douglas. My respects to all those who have lost their loved ones in these tragic incidents. It is not guaranteed for there to be a few school shootings or just a few shootings in general in the next 4 years, so we must see the action the future president will take. Biden will diminish unnecessary loopholes, hold gun manufacturers accountable, and will attempt to get weapons off of our streets. He will also ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, manage possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act, purchase back the assault weapons and high-capacity magazines already in our communities, reduce stockpiling of weapons, and make background checks mandatory for all gun sales.

                                                               Education

Joe will give our hard-working educators the pay and dignity they have earned and deserved. He will implement certain resources into our schools so students grow into physically and emotionally healthy adults, and educators can focus on teaching. Joe will ensure that no child’s future is determined by where they came from, or their race. He wants to provide every middle schooler and high schooler a path to success. He suggests that we start investing in our children at birth.

      Religious Views

Joe is a proud Catholic. “I’m a practicing Catholic. I believe faith is a gift. And the first obligation we all have is, ‘Love your God,’ the second one is, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ … ‘Treat people with dignity.’ Everyone’s entitled to dignity, that’s a basic tenet in my household.” – Vice President Joe Biden His motto is “Keep the Faith.” Let’s keep the faith that Joe Biden will serve us well. 

You did it, you did it Joe! You are the next president of the United States.