The Time To Create A National Policing Commission Is Now

     Some progressives are saying that the Build Back Better Act doesn't go far enough to address the roots of income inequality, and I agree; we could take some $10 trillion from America's billionaires and they would still live in luxury. However, I am proud of President Biden, who was largely dismissed in the early days of the 2020 primaries as an old dog unable to learn new tricks. $4.1 trillion is the largest investment in America in history (the Build Back Better Act and the Investment In Infrastructure And Jobs Act); it will create millions of jobs, provide millions of Americans broadband and clean drinking water, set America on track to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030, spare America the embarrassment of being the only developed nation without paid leave, address the black birth mortality and uninsured crises, and ensure racial justice in all of its provisions. The nearly $3 trillion tax increase for the wealthy and corporations is the largest in American history, as well. When these two bills and the American Rescue Plan are put together, it represents a historic $6 trillion investment that will define the Biden presidency. If Congress can pass the BBBA, the IIJA, the U.S. Innovation And Competition Act, and legislation to avoid the impending government shutdown, we can say this year was productive.

     Unfortunately, I also saw negotiations on bipartisan police reform legislation fall through. COVID, the economy, and climate change are all moments we need to meet, but so, too, are the Black Lives Matter protests that surged after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many others. This is a disappointment driven by Republican obstructionism, but it also presents an opportunity for President Biden. One of his five major promises, aside from carbon neutrality by 2050 and getting the virus under control, which he is on track to achieve, is to create a national policing commission, composed of police chiefs, civil rights activists, the NAACP, and the black and Latino communities. This does not need Congress, which is currently in a heated battle over the Build Back Better agenda. All President Biden needs to do is pick qualified individuals from the police and civil rights camps, appoint them to the committee, and codify this with an executive order. The swipe of a pen could lead to some progress on police brutality and public fear of the police. While President Obama did relatively little on the issue and President Trump treated protestors with maximum brutality for kicks, President Biden could use this commission to open a dialogue that could lead to the resumption of negotiations in 2022.

     President Biden had paused the formation of a national policing commission to let Congress do its thing, but, now that it is clear that won't happen anytime soon, I am calling on President Biden to keep his promise. I know he will do the right thing. If not now, then when?