ICYMI: Biden’s Record Speaks for Itself – “a fair assessment of his domestic record over four years would give him high marks”

Washington Post: Opinion: Biden’s record speaks for itself

By: Jennifer Rubin

• During his campaign, former president Donald Trump has been largely reduced to empty attacks against the Biden-Harris record (“worst economy ever!”) and fearmongering. That’s because, on the merits, President Joe Biden’s four-year term compares favorably with any four- or eight-year presidency over the past few decades. 

• Those interested in substance, however, should recognize that Biden has presided over not only legislative victories (e.g., the American Rescue Plan, the bipartisan infrastructure deal, the Chips and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act), but also positive results on a whole array of issues.

• This week, the FBI released further evidence of the noteworthy drop in crime during Biden’s tenure. “Violent crime in the U.S. dropped in 2023, according to FBI statistics that show a continued trend downward after a coronavirus pandemic-era crime spike,” the Associated Press reported.

• In a statement following the release of the FBI data, Biden announced: “In 2023, according to the data, our nation saw the largest ever one-year decrease in the homicide rate, which is now 16% below its level in 2020. Violent crime also declined again and is at a near 50-year low.” Biden’s assertion that we are near a 50-year low turns out to be true.

• Likewise, with the Federal Reserve’s recent rate cut signaling that inflation has largely been tamed, Biden can accurately boast that the United States economy leads the world. 

• “Inflation has come back down close to its level just before the pandemic, while we have maintained the lowest average unemployment of any administration in over 50 years, and real GDP has grown by 2.9 percent per year on average. December 2020 was the last month in which U.S. employment declined; since then, employment has expanded for 43 months in a row,” National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard observed during a speech in New York last week.

• During the Biden administration, nearly 16 million new jobs have been created, including almost 800,000 manufacturing jobs. Nineteen million new business applications have been filed. Energy production from all sources is at a new high.

• Consider how the Inflation Reduction Act has transformed the economy. The act invested “close to $370 billion to combat climate change,” which in turn spurred “more than $100 billion in private investment and roughly 100,000 new jobs created in clean energy manufacturing,” PBS NewsHour recently reported. “Together, the [Inflation Reduction Act] and its companion bill, the Chips Act, offer more than $400 billion in funds focused on jump starting manufacturing industry, reducing emissions and providing cleaner electricity to the economy.”
• On the health-care front, Biden announced this month that “nearly 50 million people have had coverage in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace over the past decade.” With 1 in 7 Americans covered by the ACA, it was able to reduce costs “by an average of $800 per year for millions of Americans.” 

• Combined with the drug prescription controls in place for Medicare — which might benefit millions of people with employer-sponsored insurance who use one of the first 10 drugs identified for Medicare price negotiations — many Americans will see their health-care costs go down.

• After Republicans nixed a tough border security bill, however, Biden acted unilaterally to surge resources to the region, speeding up the screening process and denying asylum to those who cross illegally. “In July, the number of migrants illegally crossing the southern border between official entry points plummeted to 56,400, the lowest level in nearly 4 years, according to federal statistics,” CBS News reported last month.
• Considering the gigantic challenges (e.g., covid-19, a recession, Jan. 6) that Biden faced when he took office, the narrow majorities he had for two years and the unhinged House he endured for the next two, a fair assessment of his domestic record over four years would give him high marks. No wonder Trump has been left sputtering.