No more years: Amer The case for Biden The Tornado Times is endorsing former Vice President Joseph R. Biden for president of the United States. While the best argument for a Biden presidency is that he simply isn’t Trump, there are some more reasons to vote for the Democratic nominee in this election. One of the biggest long term threats to our planet is the climate disaster. Biden has promised to listen to scientists and commit to working on a solution for the problem. During his time as vice president, President Barack Obama’s administration rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline, raised fuel efficiency standards in automobiles, released the Clean Power Plan and joined the Paris climate agreement. Many of these actions have been undone by President Trump. Somewhat ironically, the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters endorse Biden despite his vow to block further development of the Keystone pipeline. Biden’s plan for the environment has the U.S. reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Later than we’d like, but it’s better than having no such plan like Trump. He also plans on investing over $1 trillion over 10 years into domestic green energy, combating climate change while creating high skilled and well paying jobs in the U.S. Biden’s approach to climate change, recognizing that the environment and the economy are not necessary antago-
nists, comes from his centrist ideology, which will help unify the country in this period of hyper-polarization, and his relative civility and decorum is something the country desperately needs in its leader. A Biden administration would also be more likely to restore order and calm the civil unrest in the United States. As district attorney of San Francisco and attorney general of California, vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris has the experience needed to effectively crack down on crime. Meanwhile, Biden has promised to reform the police and emphasize community policing while also saying he does not plan on defunding the police. He says he will end for-profit prisons, one of the most reprehensible aspects of our criminal justice system, and will commit to rehabilitation rather than punishment. Biden has actually shown interest in working with reform groups to address the grievances being aired by the Black community. Furthermore, he denounces White supremacists with no hesitation, which is more than can be said for Trump. While Trump’s racism makes Biden look like Martin Luther King, Jr., he does admittedly have some unforgivable moments in his political career, such as calling Obama the “first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright.” However, by appointing Harris, a Black woman and someone who criticized Biden for working with senators who supported segregation, as his running mate, Biden sends the message
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that he is willing to admit his mistakes and is working towards fixing the issues with race in this country. Biden’s social policy will also restore rights and freedoms to underrepresented groups. The Trump administration has come after the rights of transgender Americans, restricting their ability to serve in the military and turning a blind eye to noncompliance with Title IX. Furthermore, Vice President Mike Pence’s history with the LGBTQ+ community can be described only as appalling. He has long been against anti-discrimination laws protecting the rights of gay people and has been a strong opponent of gay marriage. The Trump administration has violated some of the most basic human rights of undocumented immigrants, forcibly sterilizing detained women and holding children who have been separated from their parents in cages. While a simple reversal of these horrifying and backwards actions and mentality would be a tremendous first step, Biden actually supports restoring and improving the rights of the underrepresented. In terms of the economy, Biden is the clear choice. Under the Obama administration, Biden helped bring the U.S. back from a financial disaster. Trump has sent America into one. The Obama administration inherited the housing crisis and the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression, Obama and Biden were able to turn this around in eight years and handed over a thriving economy to the new president.
After maintaining the upward trend for a few years, Trump’s poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic has sent America back into a downward spiral from which it will struggle to recover. Biden’s tax plans would undo the excessive cuts made by the Trump administration, which saved a few Americans billions in dollars while others were left with much less than what Trump promised despite social programs being cut. Joe Biden has a clear vision and plan when it comes to protecting and restoring our environment, his economic experience in times of crisis will help restore our national economy, he has shown a willingness and desire to fix race relations in this country
and reform the policing and criminal justice systems. Socially, Biden’s policy will push America closer towards being the free and fair nation our founders envisioned. He is the clear choice for president.
The case against Trump On all levels, President Donald J. Trump has shown a supreme failure to lead. On the national scale, polls by the Pew Research Center have shown that the divide between Democrats and Republicans has steadily grown, and a vast majority of the population and both sides of the aisle expect
