President Biden's First Year in Office Is a Disaster by Any Unbiased Measure

By 

Wesley Smith

|
January 21, 2022

7 min read

Public Policy

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One need not be a partisan to look at the last twelve months and be highly, and rightfully, critical of the Biden presidency. It need not, and should not, involve personal attacks.  The issues and the repercussions are too important for that.  Rather, this is criticism of a world view and of actions that impact the economy, geo-political stability worldwide, and our own U.S. national security.

This past week marked the one-year anniversary of the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States.  Those on the right continue to be highly critical of his Executive orders, his policy proposals, and his demeanor.  He is also under fire by disenchanted members of his own political party.  Those on the Left say he is not radical enough.  On the other hand, moderate Democrats lament his pulling the party leftward and away from centrist principles that are characteristic of American politics. America is a center-right country, politically. Average, everyday Americans who voted for Joe Biden have a severe case of buyer’s remorse. 

Many Americans are both troubled and, at times, embarrassed.  It is not only embarrassment because of his policies—but also embarrassment for him personally and his physical, mental, and political missteps.  For those of us who are serious about our Christian faith, we are taught to pray for our leaders.  In my church, we literally pray for President Biden every time we gather.  He needs the prayers of the American people.  He deserves our prayers.  No President in U.S. history has faced this much concern, at this point in their term, over their mental capacity, their policies, and their ability to lead their own party—to say nothing of leading the most powerful nation on earth.  It is deeply troubling.

Here are some of the reasons why.

Inflation is out of control, the highest rate in 40 years.  Much of this is a direct result of Biden’s policies.  As more and more money is spent at the federal level, inflation increases.  Wages have not kept pace with the higher prices on virtually everything we buy.  The Federal Reserve is predicting an increase in interest rates—something that will further negatively impact average Americans.  It is reminiscent of the Carter Administration and the 1970s.  When it comes to how people view their President, former President Bill Clinton was right: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

The economy, despite COVID, was making a remarkable comeback when Biden took office.  The previous four years had seen the strongest economy in decades and the lowest unemployment rate for black and Hispanics in U.S. history.  Now we struggle as a nation.  Supply chain issues have led to empty store shelves for many products.  Biden has reinstituted regulations that hurt businesses and make it more difficult to hire people, and he has pushed a $6 trillion spending spree that will increase taxes and inflation.

The President’s closing of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the severe restrictions he placed on other parts of the energy sector have made gasoline and heating oil prices soar.  He also put about a million energy-related workers out of a job. We had the specter recently of our President going to OPEC begging them to increase oil production to decrease prices; they refused. Prior to the Biden presidency, America enjoyed energy independence.  No longer.

The border is out of control.  Drug traffickers exploit the overwhelmed border agents by sending thousands of illegal immigrants to choke points, allowing them to send their drugs across at other unguarded points.  Sex traffickers and human traffickers do the same.  Federal practices that brought some order to the border chaos were overturned in Biden’s first week in office.  In twelve months, we know of almost 2 million people who crossed illegally.  That does not account for the “got aways”—some think those who were not apprehended could number in the hundreds of thousands.  Nothing, quite literally, is being done to secure the border, and President Biden seems unconcerned.  It is also a national security concern, as we find immigrants attempting to enter the United States from all over the world—102 different countries last month.

President Biden immediately reentered talks with Iran over the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal, even though Iran was violating the agreement and known to lie to international inspectors.  Besides, the JCPOA did not forbid Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon; rather it delayed it for about 10 years. Iran is demanding the lifting of all sanctions and the Biden Team is considering it.  Meanwhile, Iran is enriching uranium at near weapons-grade levels and continues to export terror to the Middle East.

Our President has been bullied by both China’s President Xi and Russia’s President Putin and has done nothing to stand up to them.  China refuses to release information about the COVID epidemic and threatens to invade Taiwan.  Russia is about to invade Ukraine. The leaders of these nations believe they can do these things and that the U.S. is powerless to stop them – especially since Biden removed sanctions from Russia’s Nord Stream II pipeline, giving Putin a financial windfall and making Europe dependent on Russian energy; and he has continued to do massive trade with China.

Biden orchestrated the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.  Ignoring the advice of his generals, he withdrew all U.S. troops without coordination with our allies.  The Taliban, our enemy for 20 years who facilitated the attacks on 9/11, now rules Afghanistan again.  Thirteen U.S. service members died in this debacle, and Afghan allies and U.S. citizens have been left behind.

Biden’s news conference on January 19th was a protracted disaster.  The key takeaways from it illustrate his continued missteps and his unwillingness to make mid-course corrections.  He claimed at the press gathering that he has over-performed and achieved more in his first year than any President in U.S. history—an alarming exaggeration that is factually untrue.  In an almost 2-hour Q & A, Biden indicated he would trust the next election outcome only if Democrats win, denied what he actually said in Georgia that those who oppose the election reforms he supports are the equivalent of racists and traitors, and that a minor incursion by Russia into Ukraine was somehow less serious and perhaps allowable.  The White House staff had to do multiple corrections and explanations to mitigate the damage.

Perhaps most concerning was his response to a reporter’s question about his low poll ratings and that a respected poll said only one-third of Americans think he is doing a good job.  Biden glibly shrugged it off and said he didn’t believe the poll.  His being dismissive of the poll and the reporter’s question comes off as dismissive of people’s concerns about him, the pain they are feeling at the gas pump and grocery store, and their concerns about the southern border—among many other things.  If he truly believes he is doing a great job and doesn’t understand the dissatisfaction with him and his Administration, then there is no impetus for him to change.  And he won’t.

To draw on two fictitious kings in literature, it seems that no one in the palace at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is telling the emperor that he is naked.  And unlike King Midas (where everything he touched turned to gold), it seems that everything our President touches turns to garbage or some other type of waste.  Divorced from reality, President Biden will continue to fail himself and fail the American people.  Pray for President Joe Biden.  Pray for the United States of America.

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