Columnist James Buckley says President Joe Biden has failed the U.S. in many ways.
Purely Political, By James Buckley
Maybe you are one of those people who actually voted for the Biden/Harris ticket.
And maybe it was because you just didn’t want to read another middle-of-the-night ridiculous, idiotic, paranoid, evil, nasty, vituperative tweet from Mr. after-all-he’s-the-president-of-the-United-States Trump.
So you voted for the other guy, the “Big Guy” (né Joe Biden, as immortalized in crack-pipe riddled son Hunter Biden’s Laptop from Hell emails concerning any number of corrupt deals with yet another political scoundrel).
Happy now?
If you are, then you were pleased right from the get-go.
On day one, the Big Guy blew through a torrent of executive orders, canceling, for example, ongoing construction of the 1,179-mile-long Keystone pipeline, designed to bring about 830,000 barrels (44 gallons in every barrel or 36,520,000 gallons) of oil down from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Neb., where it would connect with an existing one and make its way down to the Gulf of Mexico and to refineries in that area.
Then President Biden gave the go-ahead to complete the 745-mile-long Nord Stream 2 pipeline that runs from the Baltic Sea to Germany and avoids going through Ukraine entirely (unlike other pipelines that do). President Donald Trump, who thought it was dangerous that Europe be so dependent upon Russian energy, had put a halt to its construction even though it was nearly 90% completed by then.
On the very first day of his presidency (Jan. 20, 2021), the Big Guy also ordered:
1) The Office of Management & Budget to undo President Trump’s loosened regulatory approval process for federal contracts.
2) Halted construction of the border wall between Mexico and the U.S. that was nearly 500 miles long at that point. President Biden also terminated the national emergency declaration that President Trump used to fund its construction.
3) Canceled what had been an expansion of immigration enforcement within the United States, basically neutering the ability of Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents to do their job.
4) Reversed President Trump’s restrictions on U.S. entry for travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea.
5) Required non-citizens to be included in the 2020 Census and therefore included in the apportionment of congressional representatives.
6) Folded the 1776 Commission that had been promoted by President Trump to foster what Mr. Trump termed a “patriotic education.”
7) Rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the effort.
8) Launched his “100 Days Masking Challenge” that “asked” Americans to wear masks for 100 days (“two weeks to stop the spread”?) and mandated masks and physical distancing in federal buildings, federal lands and by government contractors.
The Big Guy stayed busy. On Jan. 25, 2021, he reversed President Trump’s ban on transgenders joining the military, which ultimately required the military to pay for sex reassignment surgery.
On Feb. 27, 2021, he rescinded one of President Trump’s pet projects that created an industry-led apprenticeship program, especially for those not college bound.
WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
After promoting the fiction during his run for the presidency in 2020 that President Trump had ties to Russia, President Biden (April 15, 2021) imposed sanctions on and ordered diplomatic expulsions of various Russian individuals and blocked U.S. financial institutions from trading in Russian bonds. I could be wrong, but it seems like something that could have inspired President Vladimir Putin’s rage. Just saying …
As for inflation, along with debilitating requirements on energy production that helped destroy U.S. energy independence, Biden raised (on April 27) the federal minimum wage from $10.95 to $15 and eliminated the tipped minimum wage (pegged at half the minimum) and mandated that it expire completely by 2024.
So President Biden destroyed America’s newly won energy independence and reduced the country’s ability to produce more oil. He discontinued construction of the border wall and forbade ICE and other border control mechanisms to operate. He also stopped policing the border, allowing untold millions of people to pour across into the U.S., along with drugs that have made the criminal cartels that profit from those drugs immensely wealthier and more dangerous. And not coincidentally, caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans, mostly careless youngsters.
Fourteen months into the Biden presidency. We have inflation running in the 9% range, Ukraine under relentless attack from neighboring Russia; Secretary of State John Kerry publicly opining that he hopes the war won’t deter Russia from sticking to its Climate Change commitments, the price of gas double what it was 14 months ago, and an administration unwilling to encourage additional domestic drilling and fuel production.
We’re about to sign some kind of nuclear deal with an unrepentant Iran (“Death to America!” “Death to Israel!”), with lots more U.S. dollars heading their way, brokered by Russia.
Cackling Kamala is on the loose somewhere in Europe, proving to the Old World that New World politicians are … well, less than stable and a lot less intelligent than once imagined.
President Biden’s nominee for vice chair of supervision of the Federal Reserve Sarah Bloom Raskin, whose public statements insisted that banks should be prevented from lending to fossil fuel extractors (oil and gas companies), has withdrawn her nomination.
Masks remain a required wardrobe accessory to enter federal buildings and federally controlled areas.
Marxist-inspired Black Lives Matter is still an honored institution at the White House, despite the missing $60 million or so in unaccounted donations swooped up by the organization’s handlers.
Critical race theory continues to be advocated by the Biden administration, which supports the national teachers’ union’s insistence that it be taught as part of every school’s curriculum.
Nearly 70% of those responding in virtually all recent polls believe the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction. Those of us who agree with that sentiment really do wonder — and worry — how we’re going to survive until January 2025.
There is probably something the Big Guy has done that one could consider positive, but think though I may, I have yet to find it. Maybe you will. If you do, please email me at: jimb@substack.com.
James Buckley is a longtime Montecito resident. He welcomes questions or comments at jimb@substack.com.
