Don’t Blink! Something Good Is Happening in DC
Let’s hope ol’ Ted Cruz has to think twice before deducting the next vacation in Cancun.
All of a sudden do-nothing Biden is being called one of the most legislatively successful presidents of the modern era. I saw a couple of comparisons to LBJ in media accounts on Sunday, quite the switcheroo from the mantra about the doddering oldster incapable of leading on legislation.
Has perfection been achieved? Nope. Far from it. Vermont’s Bernie Sanders deserves credit for enumerating the legislative shortfalls during the final debates of the latest bill before the Senate.
There are gaps big enough to drive a convoy of diesel spewing trucks through. Left behind are free prekindergarten for all, paid family and medical leave for workers nationwide, along with a significant expansion of Medicare to provide dental, vision and hearing coverage to the elderly. And that’s before we get to all the environmental challenges needing to be addressed.
But, hey, gang, context is everything. Let’s take just a moment to take note of just how much has been achieved in just two years in the face of some really tough opposition.
I’ve gritted my teeth for months as people who obviously never took a civics course demanded the legally impossible; unless, of course, we’re willing to throw away the rule of law and anoint somebody as king. We’ll never get anywhere wasting our time on trying to act like those who rightfully need to be opposed.
We’re living in the age of Citizens United, with an evenly split Senate featuring corporate contrarians who call themselves Democrats, a thin majority in the House of Representatives, and a media echo chamber that specializes in doom, gloom, and amplifying voices whose aim is the destruction of democracy.
Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act ($700 billion; It should be signed next weekend), combined with the American Recovery Act: ($1.9 trillion), Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: ($550 billion) and the Chips and Science Act: ($280 billion). The grand total here: $3.5 trillion.
The scope of the issues addressed is remarkable: the pandemic and its economic fallout, highways, bridges, broadband, rail, manufacturing, science, prescription drug prices, health insurance, climate change, deficit reduction and tax equity.
As the always skeptical Politico put it:
We once noted that the mismatch between the size of Biden’s ambitions and his margins in Congress made it seem like he was trying to pass a Rhinoceros through a garden hose. It ended up being more like a pony, but it’s still pretty impressive.
As an aside, the nay-sayers who predicted that progressives in Congress would let perfection stand in the way of good have been proven wrong.
Over at the New York Times, the always-dour Maureen Dowd says all this accomplishment provides a perfect opportunity for the incumbent president to announce he won’t run for a second term.
The country really needs to dodge a comeback by Trump or the rise of the odious Ron DeSantis. There is a growing sense in the Democratic Party and in America that this will require new blood. If the president made his plans clear now, it would give Democrats a chance to sort through their meh field and leave time for a fresh, inspiring candidate to emerge.
I don’t have a strong feeling about whether Biden running or not is a good idea yet. I just don’t see that “fresh, inspiring candidate” on the horizon. And anybody that Dowd supports is clearly a non-starter.
I do think it’s time for a younger generation to assume power. Imminent threats to democracy, and the rollback of rights achieved in the last century from well-financed advocates for theocracy and autocracy need to dominate the thinking process.
Two things worth noting in viewing the present political landscape are:
The Former Guy’s addition of the promise of repealing the Green New Deal (which was never a stand alone piece of legislation) being added to his daily recitation of lies. Hey, we won without winning!
An underestimation of the impact of the Supreme Court’s Roe ruling; the message about further assaults on individual freedom for oppressed groups is coming through loud and clear.
Republicans don’t have much to work with coming out of this latest legislative achievement. Senator Ted Cruz whining about increased numbers of IRS agents falls short, given that we just had a president who served four years in office with exactly no disclosures relating to actions that would put any of the rest of us in jail. And let us not forget the destruction of the presumption that “charitable” organizations weren’t supposed to meddle in politics and/or serve as laundromats for tainted money.
So, yea, ha, ha. Let’s hope ol’ Ted Cruz has to think twice before deducting the next vacation in Cancun.
There remains much to be done. I’m not satisfied, and neither should you be. The fundamentals of inequality, racism, sexism, and the degradation of the planet remain unaddressed. We have a fantastic opportunity to advance a much more expansive agenda by getting out the vote for the midterms. Let’s do it with smiles on our faces and songs in our hearts.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com