Saturday, January 15, 2022

One of the Most Accomplished, Successful Presidencies in Modern American History

We are approaching the one year anniversary of the Biden-Harris administration.  Up to this point, it has turned out to be everything that I expected it to be.  Few individuals brought the government and public service experience to the White House that President Biden did.  And while there is an element that thinks time in public service and government is not an asset or a good thing in candidates running for office, specifically President, it's become very obvious that it has been exactly what this country needed at this time in its history.  

It's hard to believe what has been done in just one year.  And much of it has happened in the teeth of opposition from the most obstructionist Republican opposition.  While Biden has now distinguished himself as one of the most successful Presidents out of the gate, the Republicans have demonstrated an astonishing lack of vision, character, morals, ethics and above all of that, an incredible measure of uncaring selfishness when it comes to serving their constituents.  They're all about conspiracy theories and feathering their own nests.  They are a dark cloud hanging over America whose ideals they have abandoned in order to kiss the...ah, well, bow at the feet of an insane, narcissistic egomaniac.  

But that's enough negative energy.  Many of them will be leaving the stage come November, trust me.  

What's been done with handling the COVID crisis and pandemic is a major accomplishment, especially since things were heading in exactly the opposite direction prior to his inauguration.  The financial relief alone has been the biggest key to battling the virus.  It's hard to tell how many hundreds of thousands more Americans would be dead had the vaccinations not been made available and 72% of Americans are now fully vaccinated, in spite of a campaign of conspiracy theories, lies and falsee information.  The COVID relief deal saved what was a sinking economy.  There's still work to be done and some distance to cover, but there's a plan in place and it's being accomplished. 

The economy has roared back, due largely to Biden administration initiatives.   Even before the $1 trillion infrastructure bill was passed, unemployment was falling and the stock market was surging.  All of the indicators that the previous administration considered signs of a healthy, growing economy have surged to heights it was never able to achieve as the stock market is healthy, growing and stable, with no sign of recession.  The drop in unemployment was unprecedented in such a short period of time.  Energy prices account for most of what's causing the inflation, though economic growth rates like we're seeing now are also a cause of inflation.  

But the administration has done what government is expected to do, well within its constitutional role and limits of economic regulation which provides stability.  The jobs that are being created as a result of the infrastructure bill will further drop the unemployment rate and other stimuluses, like the release of oil from national reserves, have already had an effect on inflation, which is dropping.  The retail sector, which has been sluggish for a while, saw a whopping increase during 2021, and that's another good sign of a good economy. 

Joe Biden listens and he responds.  

Measured against previous presidencies of the modern era of American history, Biden's first year ranks right up there with Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, in terms of what has been accomplished as well as what has had to be left on the table to try and get done in the second year.  But the only other President during that period of time who had to face the kind of visionless obstructionism that Biden now faces was President Obama.  Even Clinton didn't have that kind of senseless, selfish political stonewalling.  It's taken an experienced public servant with the kind of personality and optimism Joe Biden brings to the Presidency to get things done for the American people, not for feathering his own political nest.  

For me, personally, the biggest accomplishments are on the horizon. 

Build Back Better and the voting rights protections need to get passed into law.  It seems there's obstruction going on there, too, even within the Democratic party but the President has seen that sort of thing before and I have full confidence they'll figure out how to solve that problem.  Neither of those Senators has yet articulated a reason for their opposition that anyone is buying and the administration will figure out how to get through what's really behind their opposition.  Either that, or find weak links on the other side.  

It's going to require someone with the understanding and experience in government that President Biden possesses to navigate the country through what must be done to preserve and protect our representative democratic government and the United States Constitution.  Everyone who participated and aided the attempted Trump coup, including the former President, must be brought to justice.  It's been over 150 years since this country has had to deal with something like that, and we didn't do a great job of it last time around.  Selfish ambition cannot be allowed to subvert the constitution. 

So congratulations to the President, Vice-President, their spouses and the whole administration on an amazing, successful first year in office.




1 comment:

  1. And what about all that polling data? Biden found himself in the low 40's most of the last quarter. But then again, Trump never really got out of the low 40's, and his "favorable" rating now is just 30%, which is way too high, but not nearly high enough to influence a lot of elections, which the GOP is just now starting to discover. They'll turn on him when they realize they can.

    But Biden's numbers have been on the upswing through December and into January. There are several A rated polls, including Morning Consult and YouGov, in which his daily numbers are now regularly at or above 50%, and in five of six polls taken the first week of January, while still in the upper 40's, were better than the unfavorable ratings. He's a likeable guy and he'll get back up and keep going.

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