By RICHARD S. BOGARTZ
To counter the dribble-spit that Biden is the lesser of two evils, I endorse social media’s “He’s not the lesser of two evils. He’s the far better human and it’s not even close,” and move to citing some of his accomplishments.
With 750 words I had to choose between depth and breadth. I chose breadth. I’m not a historian or a journalist, so I refer you to those who are.
First check the article in Politico Magazine, Feb. 22, “30 Things Joe Biden Did as President You Might Have Missed.”
The rest of what I want to mention partially paraphrases data gathered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4, countering the continuous bleating that Biden has accomplished nothing during his term.
His political and economic support for Ukraine is arguably averting a world war. This, coupled with support for Sweden and Finland joining NATO and deepening security and economic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, is responsible leadership in a dangerous time in which he successfully conducted missions against key leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda.
In the U.S., Biden, using executive orders, protected reproductive health care and helped with student debt relief by providing up to $20,000 for qualified individuals, benefiting over 40 million borrowers.
Showing heart as well as mind, Biden pardoned all federal offenses of simple marijuana possession and started steps toward review of the federal scheduling of marijuana. With more heart and mind concerning equity and racial justice, Biden ordered criminal justice reforms of prison conditions and reintegration after release from prison.
He significantly invested in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, clean water, high-speed internet, and modernizing the power grid through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Biden enhanced accountability and standards in law enforcement, including the use of body-worn cameras and the establishment of a National Law Enforcement Accountability Database.
Biden enabled Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, boosted the IRS budget to reduce tax evasion, created a record number of jobs, and reduced health care premiums under the Affordable Care Act.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds modernizing infrastructure, such as electric vehicle charging networks, water system upgrades, expanding high-speed internet, clean energy projects, and cleaning up Superfund and brownfield sites.
His administration published guidance for investigating custody deaths, strengthened communication on pattern or practice investigations, updated internal investigation processes, and established the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database.
Biden authorized actions like the assassination of Al Qaeda’s leader, gave Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices, imposed sanctions on Russia, boosted the IRS budget, created a record number of jobs, rsigned the PACT Act for service members, and halted federal executions. But we are told he did nothing.
Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen manufacturing and innovation, crucial for maintaining technological leadership and economic competitiveness.
He reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act through 2027, providing continued support and resources for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Another part of his doing nothing was his administration taking significant steps to combat climate change, including rejoining the Paris Agreement and implementing policies aimed at carbon reduction and renewable energy promotion.
He focused on recovery from the pandemic’s economic impact, including stimulus packages, employment boosts, and small businesses support. Biden increased funding for education, including public schools and special education, and worked on reducing student loan debt.
He worked on health care coverage expansion and cost reduction, including strengthening the Affordable Care Act.
Recently, the administration established the first national drinking water standard for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), aiming to safeguard public health from these harmful environmental chemicals. Additionally, the administration invested $1 billion to help states and territories fund detection and treatment systems, as part of a larger $21 billion allocation through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address PFAS and other water contaminants.
An additional component of Biden’s do-nothing program is additional debt relief measures, including forgiving up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for other eligible borrowers earning less than $125,000. This step is projected to completely eliminate the student debt of about 20 million people.
Also, nearly $145 million has been allocated from the Inflation Reduction Act to assist forest landowners in accessing emerging climate markets. This funding helps promote sustainable land management and supports the economic viability of rural and underserved communities. It’s part of a broader initiative to ensure that 40% of the benefits from federal climate investments flow to disadvantaged communities.
I know you hate lists as much as I do, but I couldn’t figure out a better way to smack the big lie.
Richard S. Bogartz is professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
