Politics Biden - How’s he doing?

The Pew Research Center released its 2021 Global Attitude Survey today that highlights public opinion of the United States and the US president from citizens in 16 countries around the world.


America’s Image Abroad Rebounds With Transition From Trump to Biden

Most notably...



(more striking graphics in the report linked above)

 

Good gawd, serious info overload. Now I remember why some of my Political Science classes were total yawners.

Seriously, that's good news. Now Democrats and Biden need to turn that into voter support here in the US.

 

Biden did seem to pull off the summit and Putin meeting effectively.

But one thing that Biden messes up is the small stuff. Why didn't he call on a Russian journalist during his press event? Why did he need two huge flags next to him during the press conference? Is there a plan for a future meeting? Did he find out what assets Russia would consider off-limits to cyber attacks from Americans?

 

Some of the news media has me puzzled.

Why, exactly, were they expecting Biden to leave the summit with Putin's head on a stake (so to speak)?

What, exactly, was Biden supposed to do to Putin/Russia?

 

My post made me think:

What would Lt. Frank Drebin do?

 

Big win for Biden AND the American people (public support for the bill was in the 65%+ range in latest polls) on the Senate passage of the bi- partisan infrastructure bill, the 'Invest in America Act' with support from 19 Senate Republicans yesterday.

Captured here with a comparison to Trump's many promises on infrastructure...


View: https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1425262786813194240


The House will likely vote on this bill sometime in September and despite the unhappiness among the House progressives with Biden's giveaways (from his $2+ trillion original plan) in his compromise to get bi-partisan support, it will pass the House.

Up next, Senate is expected to vote on the $3.5 trillion budget resolution (non-binding) before adjourning for their summer recess, with only a simple majority needed. This will lead to the "budget reconciliation bill" sometime in late Sept/early Oct for Biden's 'American Families Plan.'

Fact Sheet: The American Families Plan

This has already seen modification in what a final Senate bill will include in order to meet the "budget reconciliation" requirements. Sanders will lead the Senate effort and balance the education/health/family support programs with some added "green" initiatives (that were dropped in the compromise on the infrastructure bill).

And then probably more revision as the Democrat progressives and moderates in the House get their turn at it sometime in October, if all goes well.

This will be a slog over the next few months that will hopefully result in a Biden three for three sweep of highly popular plans for the American people - American Rescue Plan (stimulus), American Jobs Plan (infrastructure) and the biggest and boldest American Families Plan.

 

It will be interesting to see how this political strategy works 15 months from now. Plus let's see how the budget and voting rights bills go too. Police reform and immigration need to be addressed too.

It all could come crashing down if Covid spreads wildly once schools start back up without restrictions though. Biden/The Democrats should try and use the money from the Afghanistan war ending and find some other extra costs that could be cut, along with pushing for more economic activity to bring in more taxes. But if the monetary policies aren't good this time next year, there might be some problems too.

But I still think that some fringe culture war issue will make more impact on the next election than money and jobs.

 

Pretty fucking disastrous. But the Media provides political cover while Afghanistan falls. COVID 19 cases are back on a massive upswing but no body is covering that. We have highest inflation in about a dozen years. Violent crime is the highest it's been in about a decade. I'm sure the copium will be strong on this forum but Biden is NOT doing a good job.

 

The Afghanistan clusterfuck was certainly a failure for Biden, but in broader terms, marks the end of a 20 year failure by four presidents at a cost of $2+ trillion, 2,500+ US military deaths, 20,000+ US military wounded, 50,000 Afghan civilian deaths. There is/was overwhelming public support o get the hell out of Afghanistan. I am certainly among those.

Biden made the decision to implement the bilateral agreement that Trump signed with the Taliban in Feb 2020 (a terrible agreement, imo). There was little alternative, particularly after Trump reduced the total US troop level in Afghanistan from 15,000 to 2,500 between Oct 2019 and Jan 2021. The failure was in the belief by Biden and his national security team that the 300,000 well equipped superior force Afghan military, after years of US training, could hold much of the country , and that force crumbled at every level and every region of the country.

It was on his watch, so ultimately, the buck stops with Biden and he has to own the failure (and not blame Trump and/or the failed Afghan government and military).

On the economy, nearly every economic indicator, other than inflation, is very positive.

More than 4 million jobs added since Biden took office or a recovery in six months of nearly half of those jobs lost by Trump during the pandemic. The GDP grew 6.5 percent in the second quarter (April - June) and most forecasts are in the range of 6.0 percent annual growth for 2021. Markets are at record high and consumer confidence is holding relative steady

The Fed Chairman commented last week that the expectation is to see little in the way of a significant adverse economic impact as a result of the new COVID surge. I dont know that I agree with that but the Fed will continue to focus its monetary policy with an eye on controlling inflation.

IMO. all of that is still dependent on the response to the latest COVID surge. While it is occurring in every state, nearly 40% is concentrated in Florida, Texas and a few other Republican (mostly southern ) states, all with the lowest vaccine rates and where the governors are prohibiting local governments from implementing public health preventive measures (masks in schools, etc.). There is little that Biden can do at the federal level in the way of public mandates that would be legal and enforceable.

And finally, on crime, 2020 (Trump's last year) saw a marginal increase in violent crime that has continued in the first half of 2021. While it makes headlines, the increase is not widespread across the country but concentrated in a relatively small number of urban areas. It appears that Congressional Republicans will not support a crime bill that passed the House earlier this year that address some of the issues and has widespread public approval.

On the positive side, Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure program that passed the Senate and the $3+ trillion 'American Families Program' (education/health care /green programs) that Democrats hope to adopt by "budget reconciliation" later this year both have widespread public support (in the 60% range) and would be significant achievements for Biden in public perception.

It is certainly fair to say Biden's honeymoon is over (per the decline in public approval in the last month) but no where near being underwater (higher negative approval than positive) so that the public does not necessarily agree with you that Biden is "NOT doing a good job" given his overall job approval, approval on economic issues and approval on COVID response.

Again, July and August have not been good months for Biden and that may change in either direction in the coming months.

 

I have to give Biden points for doing a Harry Truman and saying the decision was all his.
He could have kept it going until the next president came along and handed it off to them.
Hell, that president could probably just do the same.
The military industrial complex would love that shit.
No super power has ever been able to hold Afghanistan.
Not Russia, not Great Britain, not the Sikhs, not the Persians, or Alexander the Great.
Except for the War Against the First Nations, this is the longest military operation the United States has been involved with.
WTF made us think we would be different?

 

I like Biden, I believe overall we're moving in the right direction under him.

While there were and are some surprises in the evacuation of Afghanistan, I think Biden totally blew it. The chaos he directly mentioned could've been mitigated to a certain degree with some good sense foresight and planning.