The President stood at the window of the Oval Office window, in pajamas, cup of coffee in hand, and looked out at a bright day, dappled sunlight across the South Lawn, a variety of birds cheerfully chirping. Supporters and a handful of protesters stood outside the gate, many carrying placards with the recent campaign's slogan, A New Beginning.
The President sipped the coffee, toasted coconut floating on top of the creamy colored beverage, sweetened with coconut milk, and just a dash of pineapple juice. What a long, hard journey to get here, but now the governing began. The culmination of years of efforts to restore America to its democratic mission was finally beginning to pay off.
It took a great deal of hard work to get into a position to do the things that they were now achieving. The years of decline that occurred took hard effort to reverse and was only now showing fruition. The massive debt that was accumulated, the destruction of our standing in the world, the almost irreversible damage done to our climate, the weakening of civil rights protections for minorities and the LGBTQ community, the increasing income gap, the abolishment of the social safety net, the very fabric and heart of democracy had been ripped out and stomped on.
President Warren had to spend most of her Presidency trying to restore fiscal balance, return civil rights, and improve our standing in the world. She had to fight both corporate Democrats and corporate Republicans, the still fiercely angry and unapologetic Trump Rump, the hostilities of a right-wing dominated media, and Wall Street fat cats who did not want to budge.
Often when Democrats clean the mess up, they are rewarded by the next President being a champion of the extreme right. Clinton was followed by Bush, and Obama by Trump. The fear was that after eight years of Warren, they would return with someone as dangerous. But for once, history did not repeat itself. Instead, Warren's second-term Vice President became President.
And now that new President was in the Oval Office, the legislation to be signed later that day already on the desk. A big ceremony was planned that day, signing into law a complete restructuring of the tax code. There would be no more federal individual income tax. The only taxes coming out of worker's paychecks would be for Social Security and the Medicare For All program. Everything else would be raised by several new taxes, all designed to be operated without having to have a CPA to fill out the paperwork, including a national sales tax with luxury items taxed higher than basic necessities, a variable tax on corporate and business gross income, and a transaction tax on the movement of money. The days of having to spend so much time trying to use the tax code to your advantage in preparing your income taxes were finally over.
The President stretched, spending a few minutes at her yoga routine. She looked around the office, pictures of FDR, Kennedy, Obama, and Warren on the walls. Her own touches were there, including her ZZ plant. As she completed her routine, there was a knock on the door. Vice President Duckworth entered with a smile. "Are you ready for the signing, Madame President?"
President Ocasio-Cortez grinned back. "Almost. I probably shouldn't do the signing in my p.j.'s. That might send the wrong message,"
"Yeah. That might be carrying casual Friday too far. This is a big moment, Tulsi. As Joe Biden would say, 'It's a big fu...."
The President interrupted. "OK, I know what he would say. Hopefully, you can choose some better framing." President Ocasio-Cortez put her arm around Vice President Tammy Duckworth. "I'm leaving to get dressed now. Thanks for all your help in getting it through the legislature. I think we're living up to our campaign slogan now."
"Yes, Madame President. It truly is a new beginning."
The sunlight streamed into the Oval Office.
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