Biden's progress
A first semester report card
A tough parliament
Writing on Open Forum James Arvanitakis assesses Biden’s progress on important issues since he took office.
Most notable for its contrast with the chaos of the Trump administration has been the calm and steady style of the Biden administration. Also he has used executive orders to reverse most (but not all) of Trump’s most odious polices.
On foreign policy, although he inherited the Afghan mess from previous administrations, he could have handled the withdrawal much better. His other failure, which he cannot blame on Trump, has been his involvement in the AUKUS deal, inflicting tremendous damage on the long-standing relationship between the US and France, and upsetting security arrangements in both Europe and Asia. (Did the State Department and Department of Defense fail to brief the White House about the Australian government’s diplomatic ineptitude?)
On Covid-19 Biden is still struggling with a nation divided. It is extraordinary that 25 percent of the world’s recorded deaths from Covid-19 are in a prosperous nation with 4 percent of the world’s population.
Another problem for Biden is the battle to pass effective voting rights legislation. In the Senate the Democrats have only the slimmest of majorities. Just one defecting senator can block legislation. Writing in The AtlanticRussell Berman describes the task of securing the support of “moderate” (read “conservative”) West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin to pass an already watered-down voting rights bill: What does Joe Manchin do now?
The power of the privileged
President Biden’s Build Back Better Plan, his far-reaching scheme to lower the costs of health care, housing and education, to make the federal tax system more progressive, and to help take the nation through an energy transition, is having a tough time in Congress.
Akela Lacy, politics reporter for The Intercept, writes that corporate interest groups linked to the Koch brothers and the Trump administration are seeking to turn the public against Biden’s plan: Conservative dark-money groups push deceptive ads against Biden’s agenda. She describes the campaigns run by the usual suspects – big pharma, the fossil fuel industry, and the so-called “business roundtable” (a lobby for overpaid CEOs). Their tactics have a familiar ring: they involve scare campaigns, claims that Biden’s reforms will hurt workers and the aged, and pressure on Democrat senators with slim majorities.
In a similar vein Henry Olsen, writing in The Washington Post, describes how Biden’s plan to turn around the nation’s economy is losing support: Why have Biden’s approval ratings plummeted? Look to his spending agenda. A year ago, before the election, opinion polls revealed that a clear majority of Americans wanted government to do more to solve the nation’s problems, but that support has fallen away, particularly among uncommitted voters.
It hasn’t taken long for the self-interest of the “small government” movement to mobilise against the public interest.