Just as I did for Obama and Trump I used the accomplishments that the pundits listed as accomplishments to get the greatest number of accomplishments. From that list I examine the accomplishment in terms of “how does this impact me”. No citizen of this Country cares much about so-called accomplishments that have no positive impact on our lives. Those that are just fluff and self-serving I list, but then do not notate they are actual accomplishments.
The American Rescue Plan in response to COVID-19
One of Biden’s first acts as president was to try to get the coronavirus pandemic under control by passing the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which sparked inflation that continues even today. COMMENT: This plan has had a tremendous impact on every citizen of this Country and has led to a deterioration of our “standard of living” in a big way. The cumulative increase in prices according to government stats is 19.4% since Biden took office, but frankly I feel and think this is low. Gasoline continues to be over 40% higher than when Trump was in office and this is due directly to Biden policies of reducing available Federal lands for drilling. Thus reducing the amount of oil available for market, and in addition he withdrew from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve so much oil that it is at a record low level. To fill the reserve would require the Feds to go out onto the market and purchase a significant amount of oil which would drive up prices. So the United States sits without a significant source of oil in the event the Middle East reduces production. Inflation was caused by the dramatic increase in money supply and reduction of oil. Not an accomplishment and it actually has been harmful to Americans
The White House sent Americans in the low-to-medium income range a $1,400 payment to help fund basic necessities like rent and groceries. Biden also extended a $300 a week federal unemployment benefit for some 9.7 million people out of work at the time, temporarily expanded the child tax credit program, allotted $7.25 billion for small business loans and $128 billion in grants for state educational agencies. COMMENT: This helped in the immediate term to make sure we didn’t suffer catastrophic economic impacts from loss of jobs, but it also caused many to stay home rather than return to work when possible. And it had inflationary implications as well. I can see where it did help the average citizen and therefore I consider it an accomplishment despite it’s long-term effects. It was necessary at the time and was done in a timely manner.
Biden teamed up with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to administer and track COVID-19 vaccinations across the country. The bill passed the Senate 50-49 and the House 220 to 211, both along party lines, before being signed into law by the president on March 11. COMMENT: This was controversial and had no meaningful benefit for the average American. Not an accomplishment.
While the initiatives were broadly popular with voters, critics warned the rescue plan could actually make the country’s economic outlook worse. COMMENT: I am not sure the was particularly popular with voters except for the payments related to unemployment. The plan seems to me cost the taxpayer far far more than it benefited particularly in the long run.
A bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law in November 2021 that will repair the nation’s roads, bridges and railways, bring high-speed internet to rural communities and more. COMMENT: Before dissecting this item I would just ask the reader to think about whether or not they have seen any of the things listed actually being worked on… I cannot say I have seen any meaningful new projects.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes: $284 billion for transportation needs, which includes repairing bridges and roadways, public transit and airports, electric vehicles and low emission public transportation; $65 billion for broadband internet; $73 billion for power infrastructure; and $55 billion for clean drinking water. COMMENT: Again I have not seen anything that would indicate this money was actually spent on projects listed. I know that this money would have had a stimulative effect on the economy, which would create new jobs, but add to inflation at a time when we already were experiencing painful price increases in every sector of the economy. I know in the city I live they received money from this program, but have yet to spend a dime, which is puzzling but begs the question “how much of this money is still sitting in city coffers.”
Biden signs the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law
The legislation was a major bipartisan achievement, made possible by 32 Republicans — 13 in the House and 19 in the Senate — who crossed the aisle to ensure it passed. Former President Donald Trump had pressed conservatives to vote against the bill, but key GOP leaders Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky supported the legislation.
The first major gun-safety bill in decades
In wake of the mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y., — which together claimed the lives of 19 children and 12 adults — Biden signed into law the largest gun-safety bill to pass Congress in nearly 30 years. While historically significant, the bill was rather limited compared to what gun control advocates would have wanted.
Just before he signed the bill in June, Biden said that although the measure didn’t achieve everything he had hoped for, the bipartisan piece of legislation would ultimately save lives.
“At a time when it seems impossible to get anything done in Washington, we are doing something consequential,” Biden said. COMMENT: Let’s get real… none of these attempts to restrict gun ownership and type of guns available have had any serious impact on “mass shootings”. This is called “appeasement legislation”. The simple fact is that most of these shootings are done by boys under the age of 21. If they want to impact the killings, change the age from 18 to 21 to own a firearm.
Building semiconductors at home through the CHIPS Act
The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 passed in August, which allocated roughly $53 billion in federal funding to manufacture semiconductor chips in the U.S. instead of relying on China to produce them.
According to the White House, the bill will “boost American semiconductor research, development, and production, ensuring U.S. leadership in the technology that forms the foundation of everything from automobiles to household appliances to defense systems.”
Biden has $52 billion for semiconductors. Today, work begins to spend that windfall
Cellphones, laptops, gaming consoles, washing machines, automobiles — nearly all modern electronic devices — require semiconductors to function. And though the United States is major semiconductor manufacturer ($5 billion in 2020), it imports more than double what it produces ($12.5 billion in 2020), according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Supply chain issues during the pandemic highlighted that heavy reliance, and Biden’s bill aims to remedy that level of overseas dependence. It passed the Senate and the House through bipartisan efforts. COMMENT: American production of chips was 277B in 2022 but this is not really meaningful to our GDP of 23T. So I am not sure the $52B investment is even important to increasing our production of chips when we really don’t spend a lot on them in terms of our GDP. Nonetheless, I consider this an accomplishment as it is a step in the right direction and will have an impact on Americans eventually.
THe Inflation Reduction Act
Not long after securing his seat in the Oval Office, Biden worked to pass the Build Back Better Act, a massive social spending bill to the tune of nearly $2 trillion. It included many promises Biden made on the 2020 campaign trail, such as major health care reform, universal pre-kindergarten and paid family leave, $550 billion dedicated to combatting climate change and more, paid for in part by increased taxes for corporations and the uber rich.
That original piece of legislature stalled, but after months of negotiations, resurfaced under a different name; the Inflation Reduction Act. COMMENT: Tell me how social spending, reduces inflation? Spending by it’s very nature is stimulative and in turn inflationary. This act combined with the other Biden legislative initiatives undoubtedly led to more inflation and so it is difficult to ascertain whether there is a benefit to Americans or not. Given this is social spending which does not create jobs, and increases budget deficits I cannot assign this to an accomplishment.
3 ways the Inflation Reduction Act would pay you to help fight climate change
It took almost a year for Biden’s ambitious package to pass through Congress, with Vice President Harris’ vote breaking the Senate’s 50-50 party line vote. It cleared the House in a 220-207 vote along party lines, without a single Republican voting in favor.
The bill aims to tackle inflation by reducing the federal deficit, promote production of certain goods and limit the cost of some prescription drugs, as NPR previously reported.
The package also includes:
- $369 billion for a climate initiative to reduce greenhouse emissions and promote lean energy technologies.
- $300 billion in new revenue through a corporate tax increase.
- $80 billion for the Internal Revenue Service to hire new agents, modernize its technology, audit the wealthy and more.
- A $2,000 annual cap for out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for those insured by Medicare.
- COMMENT: This is hard to stomach since nearly all is likely wasteful spending. Climate initiatives are code for “pork”. If the market wanted green energy it would find a way to create the economic investments so that green energy was economically viable. As it stands, green energy is more expensive than other energy sources and is unreliable. And the notion that we can become a nation of electric cars when we have 283 million vehicles that run on hydrocarbons already on the road is preposterous. That doesn’t even take into account the lack of infrastructure needed to provide the power to charge these new electric vehicles. Not in our lifetime will electric vehicles be the dominant transportation source, unless we as a nation can accept dramatic increases in electricity costs and less reliable electricity.
Support for Ukraine’s defense against a Russian invasion
President Biden meets with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 21, 2022. The United States recently pledged $44 billion in aid to Ukraine, bringing America’s total support since the war started to over $100 billion.
The United States recently pledged another wave of support for Ukraine — over $44 billion — in its 2023 federal spending bill. When added to what the White House provided earlier in 2022, it brings America’s total contribution to over $100 billion.
It’s been over 300 days since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Since then, President Biden and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have provided continued financial, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which appears to have kept Putin’s army from steamrolling across the country despite its superior military capabilities.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy traveled to Washington just before Christmas to thank Biden and Congress for continued support. “Your money is not charity,” he said. “It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”
In coordination with the trip, America promised nearly $2 billion in additional aid, as well as a Patriot surface-to-air missile defense system.
“The United States is committed to ensuring that the brave Ukrainian people can continue to defend their country against Russian aggression as long as it takes,” Biden told Zelenskyy. “You will never stand alone.”
There has been weakening support for Ukraine aid from some Republicans as the war creeps closer to the one-year mark, however, and getting more funding through could become increasingly difficult in the new year.
Accomplishments as Vice President
Biden played a key role in negotiating with Republicans on Capitol Hill after his election as vice president in 2008.
He helped the Obama administration pass several key pieces of legislation, including the 2010 Tax Relief Act, the Budget Control Act of 2011, which dealt with a debt ceiling crisis, and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. The 2012 act resolved the so-called “fiscal cliff.”
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Obamacare and the “Cancer Moonshot”
Biden has previously highlighted his role in the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also called Obamacare. This was Obama’s signature piece of healthcare legislation, which passed in 2010 with limited bipartisan support and Biden’s personal role seems to have been getting his own party on board.
He later helped to launch a “Cancer Moonshot” initiative in 2016 aimed at improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The Lancet Oncology, a medical journal specializing in cancer, gave Biden an unprecedented endorsement on October 1, 2020 for his commitment to healthcare and cancer research.
Career in the Senate
Biden sponsored one of the first climate change bills in the Senate in 1986 and went on to propose curbing greenhouse gas emissions in 2007.
In 2008, he successfully passed the PROTECT Our Children Act, which was aimed at addressing the online exploitation of children.
Biden has played a role in foreign policy, serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee three times. He spoke passionately about the need to place sanctions on Apartheid-era South Africa in 1986 and advocated for intervention in Yugoslavia in the 1990s as that country descended into civil war and ethnic cleansing.
He also pushed for former Eastern Bloc countries to join NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union, which many of them did.
The Violence Against Women Act
Biden co-sponsored the original Violence Against Women Act in 1994 along with Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. Biden was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time.
The act passed with bipartisan support in both houses of Congress and following its passage, intimate partner violence against females fell 53 percent up to 2008, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The 1994 Crime Bill
This is perhaps the most controversial aspect of Biden’s career. The Democrat has defended the 1994 Crime Bill, which he largely wrote and saw through the Senate, as lowering violent crime. Critics on both the right and the left see it as one of his biggest weaknesses.
In particular, the bill is accused of leading to mass incarceration, or at the very least exacerbating the trend of mass incarceration, and disproportionately affecting African Americans. Biden has said that some aspects of the bill were a mistake.
Senate Judiciary Committee
As ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986, Biden urged then President Ronald Reagan to withdraw Jeff Sessions as a nominee for the federal district court in Alabama amid allegations that Sessions had made racially insensitive comments to staff while he was U.S. attorney in Mobile, Alabama. Sessions was not confirmed but went on to be a U.S. senator and attorney general under Trump.
Biden became chair of the Judiciary Committee in 1987 and served until 1995. He was instrumental in preventing the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. Opposition to Bork centered on his views about the court’s decisions on civil rights and abortion. Some conservative critics charge Biden was unfair on Bork and the term “borking,” meaning to sabotage a judicial appointee, entered the political lexicon.
During his time as chairman, Biden oversaw the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He’s said he regrets his handling of the hearings with Anita Hill, who accused Thomas of sexual harassment.
He also presided over the confirmation hearings of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993. She was just the second woman to ever sit on the court. And he successfully was able to get Bork dropped from consideration as a justice.
I look at Biden’s accomplishment in totality, over 50 years and am not impressed given his role in the federal government.
Chuck Tyson's Texas Tea 