President Joe Biden stood for two hours this week in front of the press, putting forward a defense of his first year in office.
But straight talk with a concrete plan to reign in runaway inflation was hard to decipher. It is time to put an economic agenda first and foremost for the good of the country. Without a plan, it will be game over for Democrats this Fall.
The President was correct to highlight the significant legislation passed in its first year that are investments in our future, the crown jewel being the infrastructure bill, as well as the rollout of the vaccine program for those Americans who wanted it. And Dems have rightly pushed hard for generational reset on issues that will continue to make our country a leader in the educational and energy sectors.
This has been done during a pandemic that has alternatively shut or slowed down our lives, with the pressure overwhelmingly felt by students, their parents and teachers not to mention the healthcare professionals.
But as the latest wave begins to recede in the Northeast, the time has come for the President and members of his party to focus on an economy that has been unmoored and upended during the last two years.
The President talked in generalities about competition lowering prices, that the perception of empty store shelves is false and the supply chain bottlenecks lessening.
Inflation and supply chain issues are not going away; businesses are still experiencing high prices to get their goods shipped from overseas as well as continuing delays in getting goods from docks to warehouses to stores. Solutions and answers are needed to impact Americans now, not down the road.
This is a correctable problem that needs creative solutions, such as enlisting the National Guard where there are shortages of workers. The Biden Administration seems to not understand the problem or is afraid to discuss the hard realities the U.S. economy faces.
The approach of putting affordability on the back burner while being too focused on social issues nearly cost Gov. Phil Murphy a second term in a very Blue state. Democrats do not lack for ideas, such as the Affordability Agenda for Jersey that Rep. Josh Gottheimer proposed last year that showed how to combat inflation issues caused by supply chain issues along with domestic priorities, such as getting rid of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, that can help taxpayers right away.
A course correction is needed at the White House and from Democrats, refocusing their agenda. After all, Republicans do not plan to help for anything that will look like helping President Biden—as one of their own who decided not to run for Senate after talking to GOP leadership recently said they are more focused on being a “roadblock for two years.”
A major flaw of the Biden presidency has been his administration seemingly being a step behind when it comes to governing. If any lesson that the President needs to learn since taking office is that he needs to rid himself of the Senator mindset and be more forceful—with his opponents and even members of his own party.
The President’s North Star should be governing for the middle, those that placed him in the office in the first place. He can start by pushing for a smaller Build Back Better Act—and yes that includes reaching across the aisle to find common ground even if in the end it is a fool’s errand—that is married to an economic policy that tells the truth of where we are and how to get out of it.
He should be upfront of how we need to transform to living with COVID, for that will help our economy and continue to urge workers to return to their offices in some capacity.
We are understanding of wanting to have a positive message of a better day coming during a pandemic. But when business leaders warn that unemployment is on the verge of going up and prices for a bottle of Coke are rising as production is cut back, there has to be a strategy to address this. Talk of competition and the marketplace making the correction is a hope, not a plan.
We believe President Biden has a chance to change the political winds going against him and his party. The State of the Union must deliver a coherent message and concrete solutions to an economy—which includes how to pay down our debt—that feels like it’s at an inflection point. Tired of the fight over social issues from both extreme wings of the party, Americans want leadership on the issue that usually decides their vote: their bank account.
Even all the years later, it’s still the economy stupid.
Instead of returning to offices, we need more creative solutions to transform the current economy to a more virtual one, wherever humanly possible, both because that is more efficient, environmentally sound, and ultimately supportive of both family life, as well as the desires of workers to keep themselves and their family safe from COVID.
I’m sorry to say this, but as I read this I can only think that we expect Preesident Biden to accurately predict the unpredictable and then blame him when he gets the impossible wrong. Do you really think a different administration, especially a Republican one, would do better? I certainly don’t. What I do think is that, sadly, the president’s “friends” are going to cause him more harm than his adversaries. And it’s not just this blog/review/article. Sorry, folks – I wish I didn’t feel this way, and I don’t have answers either, but I think this article is not one of them.
well if they are complaining that products made in other country is costing to much to ship there is a simple solution.
Make the products in the USA.
maybe the tide has turned where it will be cheaper to open american made products the to spend all those high shipping cost from china
There is nothing Joe Biden or any other president can do to improve the economic conditions in the US except to GET OUT OF THE WAY! The president is not supposed to have a PLAN or an AGENDA. The presidents job is to implement the laws the congress passes. Thats it. The president is not intended to have any POLICY of his own. Complex problems like shortages of food or fuel cannot be “SOLVED” by government interventions. The answer is to cut taxes, eliminate entire government agencies. Like the dept of education, energy , home land security, transportation and more. Drastically cut income taxes for EVERYONE. Leave more money in the private sector where it belongs. Liberty begets prosperity
Dirk, you seem too have no awareness of successful international governmental efforts to lessen hunger and diseases. Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with the Millennium Development Goals UN report on these successes.
While there is still much more to be done, we’ve made a lot of progress, thanks to the cooperation of international governments.
https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20PR%20Key%20Facts%20Global.pdf
Michael, while your idea sounds great, it’s not that simple. We can’t suddenly instantly tool up to make all of the products we currently import from abroad. Not only are there cost issues, but there are raw materials issues, actual factory/equipment issues and infrastructure issues to address. These changes don’t happen overnight and can take decades to implement. So we need a solution that works in the present, even if we are going to eventually re-tool to produce what we need in the US.
SEE! The thing is, that the Biden has N0-Coherent Economical Plan; That is not unless some0ne hands it to him!! Seems like 0ther’s have bin doing this all along, thus far!! Until the preverbal Handle on that Pitcher break’s.. This administrations has bin running 0n Air & it may run 0ut of Gas sooner than they think!! Now all American’s, start eating more Bean’s, so’s to Help propel U S towards an Economic Bliss!! AND; All bin powered thru Green Technology!! Now, how easy is that..//
It seems that Dirk and Rob would like to cancel (the right-wing’s term) most government agencies (except the ones that suit them, of course) and revert the US to the robber baron era. What a non-starter! As I recall, they don’t much like corporate America either, which is what that was in its time. And considering Rob’s grammar and punctuation, continuing the Department of Education is essential. — About restarting American manufacturing, I’m all for it, but as noted, the ramp-up time is considerable. You can’t just throw a switch today and start up hundreds of manufacturing jobs in the empty buildings, empty lots or condo conversions in our industrial cities tomorrow.
Inflation is a worldwide problem not an exclusively American one. Covid created supply chain issues are one area where policy can help and guess what? While the previous administration did nothing about port updates, this one has. Likewise while former Governor Christie killed the much needed Gateway tunnel, this administration is funding it. The causes of the current inflation are mostly supply shortages and demand increases otherwide known as CAPITALISM, which conservatives like until they see it as a convenient cudgel to attack. When gasoline demand slacked due to the pandemic, prices dropped. Oil prices dropped to where drillers in Texas went out of business. Now demand spikes and it will take time to recover supplies. That hasn’t stopped the clowns from blaming high gas prices on closing the Keystone pipeline, which has zero to do with domestic gasoline prices now or ever. The Canadian tar sand was destined to travel through America to the Gulf where it would be put on ships bound for China. Few jobs were created and only spill disasters might follow. In any case, at best it could be argued (non too persuasively) that one cause for inflation was the Covid Relief bill that helped struggling Americans survive during the worst of the pandemic and that all that money in the pipeline fueled inflation. Between massive unemployment and some inflation, I think inflation is preferable.
You can’t spell, you can’t construct a coherent sentence, and your punctuation is atrocious. Mocking renewable energy completes your 100% ridiculous comment.
To some degree that is happening but as long as the minimum wage remains at under $8.00 and workers are paid poorly, we remain addicted to cheap overseas products. Much is made here but most of it is “luxury goods” priced beyond the reach of underpaid Americans.