Photo Courtesy of Flickr
This past January, President Biden reached his 2-year tenure in office.
Upon taking office in early 2021, the economy was fresh out of a pandemic with the hope of a strong economy on the horizon. At the end of 2020 near the start of Biden’s Presidency, 8.8 million jobs had been lost to the COVID-19 Pandemic which was 5.5% down from the last quarter of 2019. 2 years later, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is back down to 3.5% which is what it was before the pandemic; job growth was slow. Relating to the economy, the inflation rate under President Biden soared up to 8.5% in June of 2022 with historic gas prices climbing coincidentally after President Biden signed executive action banning drilling for fossil fuels on U.S. lands and canceling construction on new fuel pipelines. After signing an executive order in January of 2021, which put the climate ideology at the forefront of American policy, gas prices immediately started increasing throughout 2021 and according to the US Energy Information Administration, they reached a peak average gas price of around 5 dollars in June of 2022 before finally slowly receding. In December 2019, the average gas price was $2.60; therefore, even before the pandemic, gas prices were under control until President Biden took office. Along with gas, food and services cost more too because of rising inflation.
The other aspect to look at is foreign policy, starting with President Biden’s controversial Afghanistan withdrawal in August of 2021. President Biden ordered all U.S. troops to pull out of Afghanistan, but as U.S. troops left, Isis and Taliban fighters closed in and took control of the country. Most American troops left before all American civilians got out leaving hundreds of U.S. citizens stranded in terrorist-controlled Afghanistan, and many thousands of U.S. partners such as military contractors. During the withdrawal, 13 American troops were also killed by ISIS bombs due to irresponsibility. Along with the costly loss of life, The Biden Administration also left behind 7 billion dollars in U.S. military equipment for the Taliban to take during the hasty exit, leaving all of our advanced technology in the hands of terrorists to be used against The U.S. and our allies.
The United States' handling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was also fumbled by President Biden. In February 2022, Russian troops entered Eastern Ukraine and declared war against Ukraine. The U.S. response was mediocre. Our nation has been sending billion-dollar packages to fund Ukraine with supplies and weapons helping continue the war, nearly a year and 24.9 billion dollars later. according to the U.S. Department of Defense, the war in Ukraine seems to be at a never-ending stalemate. These bad responses have painted Biden’s foreign policy as dysfunctional.
Biden’s first 2 years in office have been very controversial on both a foreign policy front and an economic front. We are living through tumultuous times, and with the 2024 election quickly approaching according to Reuters, Biden sits at just a 41% approval rating. His ratings continue to plummet as his administration remains unresponsive to impending issues like Chinese aggression, infrastructure failures, and rising crime.
Comments