Why Uncle Joe’s doing a really good job!

A year ago, my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the supreme court had just withdrawn, and my vice president had shot someone. Ah, those were the good old days.  – George W. Bush

During last Thursday morning’s WRMN AM1410 radio spot, morning man Mark Bialek threw down the gauntlet in regard to my contention that, despite his low 40.1 percent approval rating, the President is actually doing a good job. And I accepted his challenge because presidential approval ratings are just another casualty of our hyper-partisan times.

Proof of that postulate is the last commander-in-chief to enjoy an over 50 percent approval rating was Bill Clinton back in 1996 when the Internet incited economy was growing at a record pace.

The truth is it’s far simpler to simply dismiss the “other side” than it is to apply a critical eye to their potential successes and failures. But if we take the time to apply a reasonable due diligence to President Biden’s first term, particularly when you consider the Republicans’ refusal to govern in any meaningful way, he’s racked up quite the impressive track record.

So, lets start with Uncle Joe’s penultimate achievement – the economy.

Despite the Democratic governors’ best efforts to destroy the economy through worthless COVID mitigations and the pundits’ predictions for another Great Recession, the economy is humming along at a more than reasonable pace.

To be fair, no President has the power to create economic magic or we’d never experience a downturn, but poorly chosen policies can send the whole thing right into the Krapper. So, when you consider how the Biden administration successfully navigated the post-pandemic supply chain borne inflation minefield, it really says something about their capacity to get it right.

Better yet, a recent Quinnipiac poll reported that nearly 60 percent of Republicans and over 70 percent of Democrats said their financial situation was “good” or “excellent,” and those exceptional numbers should relegate any GOP contender to an also-ran. Nate Silver’s 538 Blog gives Quinnipiac a rather stellar A- reliability rating, too.

Biden’s third best accomplishment was the 2021 COVID vaccine rollout, the only anti-pandemic measure that actually worked. That swift response saved one million lives in 2021 according to the Commonwealth Fund, and it prevented 10 million hospitalizations, too. That’s particularly impressive when the Trump administration left office with no distribution plan whatsoever. Americans didn’t have to pay a cent to get the shot, either.

The President’s American Rescue Plan, which effectively boosted the post-pandemic economy, included the largest middle class tax cut in history, and money for schools, law enforcement, and, of course, vaccines. Oh! And every Republican voted against that bill.

Biden also passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is one of my personal favorites.

In a clear case of fiddling while Rome burns, both sides have bickered so furiously that they’ve been content to simply sit back and watch our aging bridges, highways, and public transportation systems fall into gross disrepair. How can we compete with a surging China when our infrastructure is crumbing before our eyes? Trump joked about being able to pass that kind of bill, but Biden did it.

Again, despite the economic experts’ dismal proclamations about the post-COVID economy, the Biden administration has presided over near-record job creation. Businesses added more than 7 million workers to nonfarm payrolls in 2021, and another 4.8 million in 2022, the second-best gains on record. We’ve recouped every last one of the 22 million jobs lost at COVID’s outset and more, sending unemployment plummeting to 50-year 3.5 percent low.

Now that Texans are starting to believe in climate change, Biden’s desperately needed Green spending initiatives hit a record $141 billion in 2022. Just look out the window, or stick a toe in that Florida beach water and you’ll understand why we need to turn the tide on global warming NOW!

Despite the GOP’s furious legal efforts to destroy the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. is finally joining the First World counties that believe health insurance is a right and not a privilege. Under Biden’s tutelage, the number of uninsured Americans dropped to a record low 8 percent in early 2022, as a result of a whopping 16.4 million people signing up for a public plan including 4.4 million new enrollees. That’s a 36 percent increase over 2021.

The vast irony is the ACA is particularly popular in those red southern states.

But my favorite Biden accomplishment is this one. After Trump did everything he could do to destroy our relationships with our traditional allies and sidle up to Vladimir Putin, the President somehow persuaded those enigmatic European countries to form a united front against the Ukraine invasion. He turned a stumbling NATO into the kind of dedicated alliance we haven’t seen since the early days of the Cold War.

Because the President so effectively stood up to that psychopath, Russia is mired in a war they cannot win, their economy is in shambles, their army is no long a threat to anyone, and Putin has become a global pariah. Of course, in the “whatever it is we’re against it” vein,” Republicans vehemently oppose any military aid to Ukraine because Trump sucked Putin’s dick and they all want their turn.

Joe Biden’s singular popularity sin is acting his age which is unforgivable in the eyes of America’s perpetual pop youth culture. How does that movie title go? No Country for Old Men? But despite his age, low approval rating, and a GOP that does their best to block his every move, the President’s managed to accomplish quite a bit.

But why listen to me? New Gingrich, a man who doesn’t mince words, said this about Biden immediately after the 2022 election, “Republicans must learn to quit underestimating this President. Conservatives’ hostility to the Biden administration on our terms blinds us to just how effective Biden has been.”

I rest my case!

Authors Note:

I realize I’ve been remiss about promoting my weekly radio spot, but for reference purposes you can hear my dulcet tones every Thursday morning on Elgin’s WRMN AM1410 from 8:35 a.m. to 9:05 where Marky B. and I discuss all the latest First Ward news.