What have the Democrats & the Biden Administration Accomplished?

Does Biden have Washington Working Again, in Spite of Narrow Democratic Majorities in Both the Senate & House? Why are Democrats Not Running on Their Collective Record?

October 26, 2022 / Local Government & Politics / National Government & Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The midterm elections are on Tuesday, November 8th.

While President Biden's poll approval is below 50%, I believe it is because there's a yawning gap between perception - as provided daily by the billionaire controlled TV networks - and reality.

So here's the reality piece of it, since you've already been inundated with the ratings-driven TV networks view of things.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on the Biden record / accomplishments.

The American Economy

The Biden Administration presided over the creation of 10,000,000 new jobs since coming to office, more than any other first half term of a presidency.

The Biden Administration helped fix the broken supply chain last year, which enabled most Americans to have a normal Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Biden's Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg worked with the shipping industry to identify and fix the bottlenecks of: 1) ship arrival and departure scheduling, 2) harbor warehouse space capacity and management, 3) harbor merchandise management movement, 4) harbor staffing and scheduling and 5) land transportation pick up and delivery. Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's Wall St. Journal, NY Post and Fox News hyped the perception that things were far more broken than they were. The Murdoch media outlets noted above, seem better at letting their audience know what Rupert Murdoch wants them to think / fear [aka perception], than reporting the world as it is [reality].

The Democrats and Biden Administration passed a $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill which was designed to upgrade our nation's infrastructure by improving broadband communications, transportation infrastructure like bridges, tunnels and roads, and our utility / power grid.

The Biden Administration passed the CHIPS law, which is a semiconductor manufacturing bill that incents America's leading chip makers to build more of their products right here in the good old USA. America leads in semiconductor research and design, but lags behind China, Korea and Japan in chip manufacturing. This will create many new high tech jobs. It seems to me that Ohio Senate candidate, Tim Ryan, should try to make some hay with this. BTW this isn't just good for the economy. It's also necessary for national security.

The Biden Administration is presiding over one of the lowest unemployment rates [currently 3.7%] the U.S. has had, which is part of the reason inflation was triggered.

Inflation. It's Starting to Come Down & Will Continue Downwardly in 2023

Inflation happens when demand outstrips supply. That's simple economics.

During the pandemic the supply / demand relationship was disrupted globally. As a result inflation rose from 4.7% globally to an estimated 8.8% globally. In the U.S. inflation in 2021 was 4.7% and is estimated to end 2022 at about 8%, falling to 6.5% in 2023. So inflation is a global problem and we're doing better than the rest of the world.

The Federal Reserve is able to 'manage' inflation by raising interest rates which takes liquidity out of the market and slows spending. The Federal Reserve, from where I sit, overreacted with monetary stimulus during the pandemic, and is on the verge of overreacting with its withdrawal of money supply by virtue of raising interest rates too fast and too far.

I think the Fed should reduce its interest rate increases to a half point in November and December and then move cautiously in the 2023 new year, perhaps to a quarter point or maybe even to no increase in the beginning of 2023, because as you can see from the chart, it wasn't until the beginning of 2022 that inflation started galloping. And because inflation was high in the early months of 2022, the price increases year over year should start dropping fairly significantly beginning in 2023. See chart above right and also note that inflation is already coming down, so we're on the right track, in correcting for the economic / supply and demand disruptions caused by the pandemic.

The other thing for the Feds to consider is the multiplier effect and its lag time. The multiplier effect is an economic term that essentially says when a large purchase is made - like a house, a car or a vacation - that economic activity trickles through to many other segments in the economy. For instance the purchase of a home usually initiates some spending on furniture or construction / renovation, while the purchase of a car initiates spending on gas, hotels, restaurants, and so on. The reverse is true as money dries up. The large purchases are oftentimes made by borrowing, and the payments associated with borrowing depend on the interest rates, which ultimately depend on the Federal Reserve funds rate. When the rates go up, the economy slows. When the rates go down, the economy accelerates.

There's a lag time for the multiplier effect to ripple through the economy. So, in the current scenario, this means that as money is taken out of the economy by Fed interest rate increases, there's a lag in its impact on consumers realizing the change and adapting their spending to it. The lag can range from three to 24 months. This summer / fall we started to see the Fed's rate increases begin impacting / slowing economic activity. But the full impact of the increases made to date will take longer, as the multiplier effect continues reverberating through the economy, ultimately affecting business and consumer decisions going forward. So the Fed needs to tread carefully, as the tools they have to manage this process require one to master something that is part science and part art.

The Federal Reserve Chair is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate every four years.

Democrats & Biden's Efforts to Mitigate the Impact of Inflation. Social Security Increase of 8.7%. Healthcare Cost Reductions & Aid. Energy Savings. Student Debt Reduction.

The Biden Administration is overseeing one of the largest increases [8.7%] in Social Security payments in decades. This is good news for the elderly, as it will catch them up on the last year of inflation, as inflation is expected to come down.

The Biden Administration, through the Inflation Reduction Act, has enabled Medicare to negotiate drug prices. This is good economic news for the government budget deficit and will help lower the cost of prescriptions for Americans on Medicare.

The Biden Administration included in the Inflation Reduction Act an extension of the subsidies to enrollees of the Affordable Care Act [ObamaCare] to help keep enrollees out-of-pocket costs low for the next three years. These subsidies were set to expire this year.

The Biden Administration included in the Inflation Reduction Act funding for incentives for consumers to buy more renewable energy products and appliances in order to reduce carbon emissions. Electric vehicles are one such example and the incentives are limited to those making 150% of the median income in their area.

The Biden Administration has announced that it is reducing debt incurred for education by $10,000 for qualifying students. I would have preferred that they kept the loans intact, while offering 0% interest instead to help students out.

The Biden Administration is overseeing one of the largest increases [8.7%] in Social Security payments in decades. This is good news for the elderly, as it will catch them up on the last year of inflation, as inflation is expected to come down.

Protecting the American People. Bipartisan Gun Bill.

The Biden Administration passed the first law regulating the purchase of handguns in 30 years. See September 13, 2022 report below. Everyone recognizes that the legislation didn't go far enough, as assault weapons must be taken off the streets, but the Republicans in Congress won't allow it. So they accomplished what they could - given the tight majorities the Democrats have in both legislative bodies - by taking handguns out of the hands of young people and tightening background checks.

The Biden Administration has two Local Police Funding bills [Invest to Proect] pending - one in the Senate and one in the House - which need to be reconciled. If they two legislative bodies can reconcile their differences, about $300 million will go to local police departments over five years to help them with the recent crime wave coming out of the pandemic. During the pandemic Americans made record gun purchases, many by first time gun owners, and many gun sales included assault weapons, which have contributed to record mass murders in America this year. Biden is the president, not the dictator or king [same difference in many nations], so he needs majorities in both bodies of the legislature, to move the needle a little closer to reasonable vis a vis the kinds of guns on the streets.

Protecting Veterans. PACT Act.

The Biden Administration passed a bill, the PACT Act [Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins] that expands medical and other benefits for veterans and their families who were exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances while serving in the military.

Protecting Civil Rights. Women. African Americans.

President Biden appointed the first African American woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the Supreme Court.

The Biden Administration sued Idaho to delay an Abortion ban in the wake of the Supreme Court Ruling overturning a woman's right to an early cessation of pregnancy. The Department of Justice is also weighing similar suits to do the same in other states, but without a Democratic Congress and Senate, the Biden Administration's hands are tied on this issue. If women wish to retain their right to make decisions as to when to give birth and to whose baby [in many states, women with rapist pregnancies, are mandated to give birth], then they need to get out and vote for the Democrats who are trying to protect their rights. Can you imagine Mitch McConnell or Donald Trump allowing the government to tell them that they had to go through a nine month pregnancy, and birth / take care of the baby of someone who raped them?

Biden named Juneteenth a national holiday. According to Wikipedia, "Juneteenth marks the anniversary of the announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas." The slaves in Texas were among the last to learn of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863.

Protecting the Planet. Responding to Climate Change.

The Biden Administration approved the passage of sites for 30 gigawatts of off shore, wind-powered installations. This would increase wind generated power by about 22% in the U.S. in just a few short years. For perspective the U.S. generates more than 1116 gigawatts of power [this is not an accurate figure - only directional as I didn't have time to reconcile the difference between various information sources]. Solar power sources in the U.S. in 2015 stood at about 28 gigawatts in total. It's only a start, as Republicans still seem to ignore all of the signs of global climate change - like a spelunker team leader believing that the light at the end of the train tunnel is an opening - not an oncoming train. Rupert Murdoch, who largely controls the Republican party through his propagandistic mass media outlets [WSJ, Fox News & NY Post], has had close ties to the Saudis. At one time a Saudi Prince was the largest non-Murdoch investor in his tightly controlled NewsCorp.

Do you think Murdoch's financial dealings with the Saudi Prince affected his 'news' outlets distorted reporting of climate change?

For the full story on a man members of British Parliament called unfit to run an international company, that a former Australian Prime Minister called a cancer to their democracy, and who President Joe Biden said was the most dangerous man in the world - see our report series on Rupert Murdoch who controls Fox News, the NY Post, the Wall Street Journal and is one of the largest shareholders in Disney / ABC.

The Biden Administration included in the Inflation Reduction Act funding for incentives for consumers to buy more renewable energy products and appliances in order to reduce carbon emissions. Electric vehicles are one such example and the incentives are limited to those making 150% of the median income in their area.

The Biden Administration has initiated other efforts to curtail the use of fossil fuels, many of which require a larger majority in both the House and Senate than the Democrats now have.

Protecting the American People. CoVid Vaccination Rollout.

The Biden Administration rolled out the CoVid vaccinations with some measure of success, shortly after taking office. Unfortunately the white people, many of whom rely on Rupert Murdoch's distorted news reports - including on vaccinations - now have one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation.

Fiscal Responsibility. Reducing the Deficit.

Within its first two years, the Biden Administration has more than halved / reduced the federal budget deficit by $1.7 trillion. But that said, America is still running a $1.4 trillion annual deficit, and that deficit along with our record national debt, is the collective responsibility of both Democrats and Republicans. America's funding of its government through debt issuance, coincidentally began shortly after Australian born Oligarch Rupert Murdoch entered the White House during the Reagan years, and began meddling in our politics. Murdoch appears to favor politicians who help him and the other billionaires rob the U.S. Treasury and American people through larcenous tax breaks. The last Murdoch promoted tax break for billionaires was passed by the Republicans and the Donald in December 2017. A multi-trillion dollar plus deficit was first recorded during the Trump Administration, in part due to its response to the CoVid pandemic. It's worth noting that it appears that Murdoch has also been legally robbing the Australian and British people in the same manner.

Foreign Affairs. Exit Afghanistan, Stay out of Ukraine, Help Ukraine Defeat Disgusting Dictator

President Biden oversaw the American exit from Afghanistan. Compared to the last invading nation's exit [Russia], the 20 years of collective Republican and Democratic mismanagement of that conflict, and the timeline set out by the prior administation, I'd say the Administration did a pretty fair job. Unfortunately nobody can prevent suicide bombers without putting the entire nation under lock and key - and even that might not work.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with the TV networks, one of the media outlets [Wall Street Journal] controlled by the Australian born Oligarch, Rupert Murdoch, led the perception narrative of the Biden Administration evacuation from Afghanistan. The Wall Street Journal ignored so many of the facts in their signature oped piece by 'The Editorial Board' [aka Rupert Murdoch], which turned a huge swath of the nation against the President. The Wall St Journal then continued to run the video from mid August into November on its front page [how's that for propaganda?]. The narrative was echoed not just in the Wall Street Journal, but on Murdoch's other propaganda outlets such as the NY Post and Fox News, as well as on many of the lemming TV network news outlets. The editorial ignored many of the realities of the situation faced by the Administration, as well as ignoring Afghanistan's culture, history and our management of that conflict. If you ignore enough facts, you can make black look white and white look red. And wave the red flag at Biden Murdoch's WSJ did. Here's a story we did on the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan at the time.

The Biden Administration included in the Inflation Reduction Act a minimum tax of 15% on large, wealthy, profitable corporations who are paying no tax at all. He also added funding to step up enforcement of corporate tax dodgers. This is likely one of the reasons that Australian born Oligarch Rupert Murdoch has his propagandists continually slant / portray Biden in a negative light.

Contrary to Murdoch's Fox News predictions of disaster in Afghanistan, the U.S. military under the Biden Administration reportedly succeeded in getting terrorist Al Zawahiri in August 2022.

The Biden Administration has kept us out of the Russian Ukrainian war, without ceding a large [44 million people] emerging democracy to the ruthless Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin. Trump called Putin's move brilliant at the beginning of 2022. But to date Putin's invasion looks far from brilliant, as Russia has lost about 20,000 of their soldiers and there are another 60,000 plus Russian soldiers injured. Putin's war to make himself famous has gone so badly that he had to call up a 'partial mobilization' for his 'military operation' in Ukraine.

In response to Putin's call to sacrifice their lives for him, an estimated 200,000 Russians reportedly fled the country to avoid being drafted into Putin's egomaniacal war. To boot, Russia's economy went from about +5% growth in 2021, to about -2% [more?] in 2022. After eight months of Putin's invasion, the Russians are only occupying between 15% - 20% of Ukrainian territory, of which about half [or more?] they had previously captured in 2014. Putin has now made himself a suspected war criminal for allowing and / or promoting crimes against civilian Ukrainian women and children.

So is Trump correct in calling Vladimir Putin brilliant? You decide.

The Biden Administration has led America back into a leadership role for western democracies through improved relations with our traditional allies via NATO and the United Nations.

So why are Democrats running for House and Senate seats ignoring the Biden record?

Maybe because the Democrats running for Congress and the Senate are operating under the misguided perceptions of Biden, manufactured by the billionaire controlled TV media - not on the facts like those contained in this report.

Biden isn't a very good speaker. He has had a speech impediment since he was a child. So, unlike Trump, who sells blather for billions, Biden can't talk his way out of a paper bag. But unlike Trump, Biden knows how to operate the federal government quite effectively. This should come as no surprise, as Biden spent the better portion of his life working the halls of the Senate and Oval Office, while Trump sold New Yorkers and Russians real estate, working on his true calling, which many believe was the 'Art of the Steal'.

So who to trust? The ratings-driven, teleprompter readers regurgiating their billionaire owners' news views on TV - or - the reports by journalists on the web, who do their homework in order to inform their audiences? You decide.