February 2021 Volume 3

WASHINGTON UPDATE

2020 Election: What Happened and What Is to Come? By Steve Haro

It is amazing how much of life’s activity is dictated by timing and circumstance. Yes, we plan, strategize, hope. But all that can be easily thrown asunder by events over which we have little control. The “Washington Update” is a simple little column whose goal is to educate readers on the intersection of politics and policy and its effects on both our macro economy, and when possible, the forging industry specifically. And I promise that this latest edition will be no different as I plan to lay out in later paragraphs what we see coming down the pipe in the weeks and months ahead. But first, I want to take a quick pause on policy and politics and write a little bit about people. A great deal of planning, research and writing goes into this column’s construction. And you may be surprised to learn that all this happens long before the magazine hits your inboxes. One of the steps to this process that always gives me an enormous amount of professional pleasure is the very first one: the brainstorming session with our association’s CEO and magazine publisher, Jim Warren. Jim puts a great deal of thought and energy into each issue and is always very generous with his time and insightful on his ideas with how best to structure this column to make sure readers are getting what they need. Jim and I had our brainstorming session for this issue’s column on Monday, January 4, 2021. We discussed various topics that could be included: the fate of the current steel tariff regime under a newBiden administration, how would Congress share power with an expected partisan split (the House being Democratic and the Senate run by Republicans) and a Democratic administration, the economic tools an administration could wield to help with the recovery, and other policy items that have an effect on our industry. Two days later, a joint session of Congress met to fulfill its constitutional obligation to certify the December 14, 2020, Electoral College vote that showed former Vice President Joe Biden beating President Donald Trump 306 to 232. Traditionally, this step is a formality garnering little attention or being anything of consequence. However, misinformation about this certification and what could and couldn’t be done metastasized into a fervent belief that this vote could be used as a way to keep Donald Trump in office as president. Countless protesters descended upon Washington. And then regrettably, too many of these protesters turned into a mob, going on to incite violence by breaking through security perimeters and sacking the United States Capitol. Five people were killed. Over a hundred have been arrested, with

more to come. And now, the words “insurrection,” “sedition,” “coup,” “mobocracy,” and “impeachment” have become part of our regular lexicon. The world has once again turned upside down. As I type, there are more armed military personnel stationed

in Washington, D.C., than there are in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. D.C. is essentially shut down: there will be no inauguration ceremony where the public can descend upon the National Mall and take in the spectacle that is our traditional transfer of power. Eight-, 10- and 12-foot fences have been erected around the city. Places of business have been boarded up. Peoples’ movements have been minimized. Similar precautions are being taken in all 50 state capitals, as law enforcement is tracking credible threats by folks looking to incite further violence. This cannot be our new normal. We cannot allow it to be acceptable. And we must all strive to be better than this. Our republic has shown its fragility. We now must all take it upon ourselves to help show the world that this fragility does not mean we lack empathy, it does not mean we lack strength, and most importantly it does not mean we lack unity. We should be and can be better than this. OK, back to our regularly scheduled programming. First, politics. On Tuesday, January 5th, the people of Georgia went to the polls in a special election where both of the state’s Senate seats were on the ballot. Though the races were always tight, most of the political cognoscenti predicted Republicans would win both.

FIA MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2021 5