4 Agenda Items the New Congress Should Embrace
Infrastructure is a no-brainer. So are upping the minimum wage, protecting investors and battling climate change.
Bloomberg, November 7, 2018
Democrats won the popular vote in House races by 9.2 percent. This is a much larger share than the margin of victory that Republicans won in recent House change of control elections: Republicans won a 7.1 percent margin of victory in 1994, 7.2 percent in 2010 and 5.7 percent in 2014.
E.J. Dionne Jr. noted that all 435 House were up, making that the only contest that reflected the opinion of the entire country. “This landslide for the opposition party is a repudiation of President Trump,” he wrote.
I wouldn’t go quite that far, but it does mean that the Democrats get a seat at the table. The margin in the popular vote suggests much of the country wants to see change in the nation’s tone and priorities; a newly elected majority in the House can help to set that agenda.
But what should the new Democratic House focus on? Over the past few years, I have been writing about middle of the road issues where there is consensus on both sides of the aisle. I don’t mean rational political positions, like not selling assault rifles to people on the No-Fly list; rather, issues with significant economic and market implications that makes good policy for the entire country.
In order of how much bi-partisan support these might get (a/k/a odds of passage), consider these legislative agenda items . . .
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I originally published this at Bloomberg, November 7, 2018. All of my Bloomberg columns can be found here and here.
