So what if it’s my least favorite Allman Brothers song, I needed a title.
We are into the seventh month of the Biden Presidency and maybe it’s time we take another look at how he is doing.
If you are the type to compare and contrast I would say it’s a week C at best. here is my reasoning: I firmly believe that any competent human being could have steered the country as well as President Biden, which is a plus because I did not think he woud be able to comprehend the magnitude of what he took on. I think he did and he does, which is good. He was fortunate that the Trump Administration kick started the vaccine and recovery process before him and say what you will, he really hasn’t screwed that up either. Other than taking credit, I think he has kept his hands off the levers pretty much and let the people assigned to their roles in this process do their jobs. That is the mark of a good leader, delegation and trust in your people to get the job done.
Now you could argue that the process has been a jumble of fits and starts and changes in direction that have befuddled many but I am still cutting this group some slack. This virus has been a moving target from the get go and making policy regarding it has been a challenge to say the least.
As far as the economic recovery, lets be honest, Elmer Fudd with his mansion and his yacht could steer an economy like this. It was cruising and the pandemic hit and, well you know the story from there. Our economy was not going to be stopped and it wasn’t. What Biden and Clinton before him did was do nothing to slow a speeding nation. There will be time in the near future to adjust whatever needs to be adjusted but let your people go. Another plus for President Biden.
Here are where things will get sticky. The Infrastructure bill that appears ready to be approved by hook or by crook will stimulate an economy that really needs no stimulation. Pumping more money into a growing economy can push things off balance. There may be too much money floating around and not enough people to participate. Not to mention the possibility of giving inflation a solid foundation for the next year or so. This infrastructure bill does address some glaring needs but as I have said in several different Substack articles, the bill is throwing money at things that the private sector would do anyway and now the government is getting into more spaces than it needs to be. I like funding highway, bridge, tunnel, rail and airport improvements. They are all solid investments and investments that the government, be it state or federal, should be involved with. However, the private sector has already been increasing broadband and a lot of electric transmission improvements are already being done by the private sector. With over 2700 pages of line items, I am almost positive there are more than a few pork barrel projects and remember, I like simple. 2700 pages of anything other than the Bible is not simple.
There will be arguments about this for years to come I am sure. Another Biden/Harris boondoggle is the border situation. I am not sure how any liberal, progressive Democrat can look at what’s happening and think the Biden Administration is on point. It’s a mess and it’s a mess no matter what network or newspaper you enjoy. They botched this and the reason I included Kamala Harris in the second sentence is because this is supposed to be her baby. Where is she? Where has she been? What has she done? Afraid the answer is zero to all. Not an auspicious start for someone the left thinks can run this country. Maybe President’s Trump philosophy was too harsh, I don’t really know, but there was no issue with the border of Mexico and the United States and now there is.
While I am not a big fan of fighting un-winnable wars and putting American Lives at risk in some God Forsaken Hellhole, I do understand to be a World power you need to act like one and be there when allies ( or something resembling an ally) call for help. Democrats have a tendency to mess up International relations on a grand scale and my instincts tell me that this administration will be no different. From the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan to the Chinese thinking they own the whole South China Sea, there are places where we need to actually draw a real line in the sand and then back that up.
Obama did that in Syria. How did that go? I read somewhere that some in the military feel that the US Navy is not up to the task and if that is truly the case, it may be time to get them up to the task. We are being outspent by the Chinese and they seem to have little fear of consequences besides some vague threat of sanctions. I am not advocating military action but if the Chinese believed that we would follow through and had the advanced strategic military components to back that up, I don’t think the Chinese would risk any sort of conflagration. The biggest component of that of course is Taiwan and we need to make sure the Chinese know that any sort of provocation towards Taiwan will be met with stiff sanctions and a possible military response. I am not sure the Chinese believe that Joe Biden has the backbone to stand up to them.
The last thing that hurts the Biden Administration is they don’t have much clarity and consistency in their messaging. President Biden can, at times, look like a doddering old man and at other times he can show strength. The country is rebounding from a pandemic that when it’s all said and done might have taken the lives of close to a million people and the message varies from day to day, week to week. Not surprisingly his approval numbers are going down and as we deal with an upswing in Covid cases from the Delta variant, it will be imperative for President Biden to be more consistent and more together in his appearances.
Song, Whipping Post;)
Good Morning Peter, I enjoy every column you write and actually learn from some;) You started this one on grading the president. A "c"? With grading like that I should have stayed and finished my Masters, but the "draft" got me.
Cooling down so I could read your article, you explained yourself.
Peter, as with You, I grew up without "T" ball, everyone didn't get a trophy and if you fell, you got back up. I was raised by a Man and Women the only two sexes. This man and I use the term derogatorily, and his cackles goal is to destroy the Constitution along with what our Founding Fathers vision is for Our Country. An F would be closer to his grade but he would have to go some to even achieve that.