Biden's accomplishments remarkable in historical context

by Tom Maertens

President Joe Biden is on a roll. Or, as the Guardian newspaper put it, ‘Democrats have their mojo.’

Less than two years into his term, Biden’s record of accomplishments surpasses what most presidents accomplish in their entire tenures.

As Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, said: “If someone were to say that a president had a record of accomplishment (such as Biden’s), without putting a time frame on it, the logical response would be: That person had a successful two-term presidency.”

In fact, it might be necessary to go back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt to match Biden’s record of success. And astonishingly, it has been accomplished with a Senate split 50-50.

Biden’s headline legislation is the Inflation Reduction Act, a $739 billion health care and climate bill which will also permit Medicare to negotiate the price of some expensive prescriptions. Some $369 billion of that is earmarked to fight climate change, investing in things like tax credits to build solar panels and wind turbines at home.

The legislation provides Medicare recipients with free vaccines and caps out-of-pocket insulin at $35 monthly starting in 2023 and out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $2,000 annually.

It imposes a 15% minimum tax on the domestic profits of American companies with over $1 billion in earnings, and a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks that could slash the deficit by $300 billion. This is part of Biden’s stated goal (March 2021) to reward work, not just wealth.

The bill extends Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years for the 35 million ACA enrollees. ACA subsidies are tax credits available to those whose net income is between 100% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level.

Prior to that, Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) extended eligibility for ACA health insurance subsidies to people buying their health coverage on the Marketplace, which increased the number of people eligible for such subsidies 20%, from 18.1 million to 21.8 million.

More than 9.5 million unemployed Americans found jobs over the past 18 months, and the unemployment rate fell from 6.4 to 3.7 percent. Twenty-two states are reporting unemployment rates below 3%; that’s a record.

Mankato made the Washington Post in early September for an unemployment rate even lower than the state average of 1.8 percent — the lowest since federal labor statistics began tracking data.

In August, Biden signed the CHIPs Act which will invest $52.7 billion to build microchips in America and boost federal scientific research and development and make the U.S. less dependent on China for electronic parts.

Also in August, Biden signed the Pact Act that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances in a combat zone.

Congress also passed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act which implemented several changes to the mental health system, to school safety programs, and to gun safety laws. The law includes $750 million to help states implement "red flag" laws to remove firearms from people deemed to be a danger to themselves or others and establishes a process for the licensing and registration of firearms.

Biden oversaw the attack on al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man. He also facilitated the admission of Sweden and Finland, two traditional neutrals, into the NATO alliance, and has led Western support/training for Ukraine, which is becoming apparent in their recent successes against Russia.

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Law makes a once-in-a-generation investment of $350 billion in highway programs, including the largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate Highway System.

He succeeded in getting the first Black woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, confirmed to the Supreme court. Additionally, he passed an anti-Asian hate crimes law, and updated and reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act.

Biden forgave 10,000 per student in loan debt, 20,000 for those who received Pell grants. This is going to wipe out debt completely for about 20 million people and remove a major chunk of debt for many others.

Gas prices continue falling, a net plus for Biden, even though presidents have little control over them.

Republican efforts to portray Biden as senile and incompetent aren’t working, and the claim that he is a bomb-throwing partisan isn’t going to work either. His poll numbers are going up

I served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a time when Biden was the vice chairman; he had a reputation as a decent guy and nothing appears to have changed.

His most important accomplishment, however, will be that he stepped up to prevent ex-President Donald Trump from gaining power again and destroying our democracy.

Tom Maertens served in the White House under both Republican and Democratic presidents.