Despite President Biden’s vague allusions to bipartisanship, normalcy, and unity, nothing can change the fact that his administration has failed in almost every regard. Questionable fiscal policy, an unaddressed border crisis, embarrassing foreign policy, and a reckless disrespect for norms have become the hallmarks of a presidency dead set on pleasing ideologues at the expense of the American people.
The economy has not been a bright spot for the new administration. On March 11th, President Biden’s most notable policy achievement thus far—the “American Rescue Plan”—was signed into law. The $1.9 trillion stimulus package aimed to reduce poverty and address the increased unemployment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. A study published by the left-leaning Urban Institute, widely touted as evidence of the bill’s success by mainstream media outlets like CNN and the Washington Post, found that it would “reduce the projected poverty rate for 2021 by more than one-third.” After reading past the first page, however, it is easy to see what drove this conclusion: the Urban Institute admits that their “analysis does not include the macroeconomic effects of the policy changes.” If it did, they would have to recognize the inflation, astronomical debt (as high as $12,492 per American), and perverse incentives associated with Biden’s plan. To make matters worse, more than 90% of the bill’s spending is unrelated to COVID-19. If President Biden wanted to stimulate the economy, he wouldn’t be pushing for minimum wage hikes, lockdowns, and increased taxes — he would be pushing for freedom.
In addition to Biden’s misguided fiscal policy, the situation at the border is nothing short of a self-imposed disaster. After being sworn into office, President Biden repealed a flurry of Trump-era immigration-related executive orders. This, along with his promises of asylum, fueled mass waves of illegal immigration. According to President Biden’s own DHS office, the U.S. is on track “to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years.” These are levels up to 150% higher than what the Obama administration would have considered a “crisis.” Such policies naturally intensify illegal border crossings, incentivize child smuggling, and enable inhumanely overcrowded detention facilities. The new administration’s failure to recognize the consequences of such soft immigration policies demonstrate their crude incompetence.
In terms of foreign policy, the president has made plenty of missteps. This includes re-entry into the World Health Organization — which failed to report the pandemic early on and suffers from improper Chinese influence, as well as the Paris Climate Agreement — which has proven incapable of combating climate change, and places immense burdens on working-class Americans. Biden has also, even by the admission of left-leaning publications, failed to appropriately address China. Given the career-politician turned president’s history of poor foreign policy decisions, as acknowledged by his own colleagues, his lack of success in this sphere is unsurprising and will likely continue.
Perhaps the greatest irony—considering President Biden’s ubiquitous, yet empty, promises of unity and bipartisanship—has been his disregard for constitutional norms. On the campaign trail, countless liberals, and even some “Republicans,” painted the prospect of a Biden presidency as a return to normalcy and a step towards unity; yet, his actions have been anything but. In early April, President Biden established a commission to, among other things, “study… the membership and size of the [Supreme] court,” in direct opposition to the more than century-old tradition of a nine justice Supreme Court in the U.S. President Biden also appointed a wide range of unfit, divisive cabinet picks, including David Chipman, a known Waco apologist. Exploring options for partisan power grabs and radical cabinet picks are not the qualities of a “unifying” president and deserve to be stressed unabashedly.
We’re only 100 days into the Biden administration, and it has been made abundantly clear that the new president has no intent to bring this country together. If such behavior continues, the partisan divide in the U.S. will continue to deepen, stoking anxiety and civil instability for years to come.