Biden has a propensity to state a goal – and then impose policies that will not only not achieve it but will have a reverse effect.
He has done it with border security. Even as Vice President Harris admonished South Americans to NOT travel to the border in an attempt to enter America, the Biden administration was holding up carrots – assuring them of admission and benefits once they arrived.
He has done it with the Afghanistan withdrawal. His action to end the War in Afghanistan provided NONE of the benefits he promised – not even an assurance that the newly empowered terrorists will not carry on their war against the United States.
And now he has done it with the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Biden said he would have 100 million folks fully vaccinated in his first 100 days in office. In that case, he was simply putting his name of the previously announced Trump goal of 100 million vaccinated in the first 90 days of 2021. There was nothing Biden could do in such a short time to actually impact on those first 100 days. He was just stealing credit – lying to the public.
He did say he would have 70 percent of Americans vaccinated by the Fourth of July. In that time frame, he could have implemented policies to meet that goal. At one point, the Biden administration claimed they would come very close to the 70 percent goal – something in the range of 65 to 68 percent. But that was a lie, too. As of today –more than two months after the Fourth, the fully vaccinated population is hovering around 50 percent. It goes up to 64 percent if you include those with one dose.
It is obvious that those who reject the vaccine are not some small groups of right-wingers – as Biden and the Democrats would like America to believe. After all, everything wrong in America – in the eyes of Biden and the left – is due to redneck Republicans.
Like all fake political narratives, this one does not pass muster. To sell their narrative, they point to red states – without noting that among the lowest vaccinated ethnic groups are African Americans. And they represent a large portion of the population in several southern red states, such as Mississippi.
Biden has moved from using the bully pulpit to convince the unvaccinated to roll up their sleeves to a more aggressive enforcement. He has mandated that all federal employees – including the military and government contractors – to be vaccinated as a condition of employment. The members of Congress are exempt, however – as usual.
Biden has now added businesses with more than 100 employees.
This is where it gets dicey. As the boss of the federal bureaucracy, Biden has the power to impose workplace regulations –as any private sector can impose such regulations. Individually, they can require every employee to be vaccinated.
But the question is: Does the FEDERAL government have the power to impose such regulations on private business. There are arguments to be made on both sides – and we will not really have an answer until the issue arrives on the docket of the Supreme Court.
Those arguing in favor of the Biden order say that it is not different than the federal Occupation Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulating workplace safety. They also note that many states fighting the Biden vaccine order have mandatory vaccine requirements for school kids.
Those requirements were imposed by the states or the local school districts – and they have not been seriously challenged in many years. But whether the federal government can usurp that power from the states or local school boards is a whole ‘nuther question.
Out of frustration, Biden imposed his harsh regulation with even harsher rhetoric. If you summarize his intensely negative description of the unvaccinated, you might be inclined to see them as “enemies of the state.”
That approach has both anti-vaxxers and those trying to sell vaccinations upset. Folks in the medical profession have said that Biden’s rhetoric, alone, is hardening the unvaccinated. It goes along with that old adage that “you do not catch flies with vinegar.”
As a long-time big-government liberal, Biden does not understand personal freedom. He believes in a big powerful government. It is the duty of we the people to simply obey.
But that is not how most Americans respond. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough calls it “hyper-individualism.” That is to stand in opposition to the “rugged individualism” that was conceived in the Constitution – and that for 237 years has made America the greatest Republic in the history of the world.
It will be interesting to see if Biden’s my-way-or-the-highway approach to governance will be successful in winning passage of his incredibly dangerous big-effing-deal — $3.9 trillion big – social welfare package will work. Or will he find that his excesses and missteps will doom yet another Biden goal? We can only hope so.
So, there ‘tis.