We cannot expect President Biden to fix everything, but we seem to have a man in the Oval Office who cannot fix anything – and when he tries, he generally makes matters worse. The best hope for America is that he carries on as a do-nothing President.
Perhaps it would make the point if we were to look at the many issues sitting on his desk.
- Afghanistan. This is one in which Biden actually did something – something incredibly stupid. He surrendered to the Taliban — orchestrated an ill-planned and deadly escape – leaving thousands of Afghan friends and helpers behind, along with hundreds of Americans. We lost more strategic geography to the enemy – along with critical natural resources, intelligence capabilities, a growing international drug trade and a recruitment advantage for Muslim terrorists. Afghan women are being oppressed and enslaved.
- Covid Pandemic. Biden will have more deaths on his watch than did Trump, even though Biden had the benefit of the vaccines from day one. Biden promised to have 70 percent of the adult population vaccinated by July of 2021. That goal has not been reached yet. He often lies by saying that there was no vaccination plan and no vaccines until he took office. That got him three Pinocchios from the Washington Post.
- Border Crisis. Biden’s policies have mainly been dangling the carrot that encourages illegal border crossing. On his watch, the numbers arriving at the border have reached unmanageable proportions – and the worst is yet to come. Biden has not instituted a single policy that would reduce the migration – but reversed policies that were doing that. Most recently, he would have allowed Title 42 to lapse — and cause an unprecedented surge at the southern border – were it not for a federal court stopping him. And as for immigration reform … fuhgeddaboudit.
- Inflation. On his watch, America is suffering the worst inflation in half a century – triggered by Biden’s policies of pouring money into an economy awash with liquidity and short on goods. He blames it all on Putin’s war, but the economists lay blame on the White House for spending, supply chain shortages (think baby formula), and tightening the spigot on American oil production.
- Gasoline. The cost of crude has been a significant driver of inflation – at the pump and throughout the economy. Most Americans – according to the polls – have been willing to pay a little more for gas in support of the Ukraine war effort. But that only accounts for a small portion of the gas inflation. The greater problem has been Biden’s war on fossil fuel – ending America’s national net gas independence. He stopped the Keystone Pipeline and removed millions of acres of land from exploration and drilling – including offshore. Refused permits to drill even where oil companies held leases. And pressured banks against lending money to oil companies. And more. He refused to reverse those policies even as the gas crisis got worse. Rather than increase American production, Biden began negotiating with two enemy nations to purchase their oil – Iran, and Venezuela. In the case of Iran, he is offering to lift sanctions in return for the oil.
- Supply chain. Biden was already in office for almost a year when the effects of a supply chain crisis were being felt in a significant way. Biden ordered union stevedores to work 24/7. That did little to alleviate the supply chain problem but did add to the cost of goods because of the double- and triple-overtime pay. One element of the supply chain crisis is the lack of truck drivers. Biden has done nothing to address that problem.
- Baby formula. It was not the first supply chain shortage, but arguably the most critical at the moment. Abbott was warned of a possible problem with contamination in October of 2021. The FDA was alerted at the time. The FDA did nothing until December and did not institute a recall until January of 2022. The growing shortage was ignored until it reached crisis levels in late April. Biden finally addressed the issue in May, saying that he acted swiftly as soon as he was “aware” of the scope of the crisis.
- Ukraine. While the hometown press has given Biden credit for uniting NATO, it was Putin who did that. It was Putin who caused Finland and Sweden to abandon generations of neutrality to join NATO. Biden literally paved the way for Putin’s invasion by assuring the Madman of Moscow that America would not engage him. Biden even removed the modest military presence America had in Ukraine. The devastating sanctions Biden promised were too little, too late. Biden has been reluctant to send the more advanced weapons to Ukraine until other NATO nations led the way. While aid has been ramped up under pressure from Congress, Biden has been behind the curve at every turn.
- Crime. Biden has not only NOT developed any policies to reduce the impact of crime on the American population, but he and the Democratic Party have also been primarily responsible for the unprecedented increase in crime across the nation – especially in the major cities. To counter his own Party’s defunding of the police movement – which impacted personnel numbers and morale — Biden has called for increased police funding, BUT mostly in the soft social areas – more community workers, psychiatrists, and social workers. He has not used his bully pulpit to condemn the Democrat district attorneys for literally refusing to prosecute those arrested for certain crimes based on political correctness and identity politics.
- Unity. Biden campaigned on his alleged ability to unify the nation – to end the acrid divisiveness that undermined national discourse. Instead, he has succumbed to engaging in the left’s basic strategy of maligning Republican and conservative voices with broad brush attacks, deploying mendacious and slanderous narratives.
The problem for Biden and Democrats with this list of failures is that virtually none of this list can be turned around in the few weeks before the beginning of early voting – and several issues are almost certain to get worse.
So, what is the Biden legacy so far? He got his stimulus bill passed, but most economists now blame it for launching inflation. He got an Infrastructure Bill passed, but that had bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. His signature Build Back Better Bill failed – and again most economists said that would have made inflation much worse.
From the standpoint of the radical left, the Progressive Coalition has seen their dream legislation not even get support from Biden. They wanted to end the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court. They were trick-bagged into supporting the Infrastructure Bill based on Biden’s commitment to later pass Build Back Better – which had a lot of the radical left’s agenda items.
Going into the 2022 midterm elections, Biden and the Democrats have nothing to offer. No wins – and a lot of screw-ups. That is why the Biden favorability rating is tanking. That is why they are basing their entire campaign on empty panic strategies of insurrections and imaginary coup attempts, racism and replacement theory, and reaction to the loss of Roe v. Wade.
If Biden is walking around a bit slower … a bit more hunched over … a bit more unsteady … speaking a bit weaker … it may be that the ravages of age and reputation are taking their toll.
Maybe we can do another diagnosis and see how he is doing.
So, there ‘tis.