© Sputnik / Alexey Filippov / Go to the mediabank
As the year comes to a close, it is worth looking back at 2022 - but more specifically, the good, the bad, and the ugly of US President Joe Biden’s second year in office.
The good and bad are self-explanatory - dedicated to the wins and losses of the Biden White House. The ugly outlines matters that cannot be considered a total loss since the administration intended to do it but that shouldn’t be classified as a win because they were unpopular, went against previous promises, or put the world in danger.
Let’s start with the good, because the Democrats and the Biden administration did manage to pull out some surprising wins in the past year.
The Good
Democrats Maintain Senate Control, Limit Damage in House
Over the summer, Democrats looked like they were about to take a beating in the midterms. Typically, the party that controls the White House suffers in midterm elections and Biden’s approval rating in the summer was at historic lows.
But a few legislative wins (more on that later) and a base motivated by the repeal of Roe v Wade resulted in Democrats performing better than expected in the midterm elections. Democrats held onto control of the Senate and even added a seat to their ranks, a significant feat since the Senate is in charge of approving appointments, effectively making Biden’s job far easier.
Unlike the upper chamber, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives; however, the win only gave the GOP a razor thin advantage in the lower chamber. And yet, however slight the gains were, Republicans are already riddled with headaches as the party fails to get behind one candidate for the House speaker post.
Respect for Marriage Act
Turning out to be a bit of a layup for Democrats, the Respect for Marriage Act officially repealed the Defense of Marriage Act, which was already off the books due to a 2015 Supreme Court decision on Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriages nationwide.
However, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas stated the high court should reconsider cases like the Obergefell v. Hodges while writing for the majority in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that repealed Roe v. Wade.
The development subsequently encouraged Congress to push the Respect for Marriage Act forward, enshrining the protections afforded by Obergefell v. Hodges. The bill was supported by members of both parties, with 39 Republican Representatives and 12 Republican senators voting for the bill, a rare act of bipartisanship in Congress.
Biden’s Supreme Court Pick Confirmed
The Biden administration got a rare first half of the year win when his first Supreme Court nomination, Ketanji Brown Jackson, was confirmed without much pushback.
During his presidential campaign, Biden promised to nominate an African American woman for his first Supreme Court pick, and with the nomination and confirmation of Jackson, he fulfilled that promise.
While the court appointment did not affect the political balance of the Supreme Court, it did prevent the bench from leaning further to the right as Jackson was replacing fellow liberal-leaning Justice Stephen Breyer.
Inflation Reduction Act
And then there was the Inflation Reduction Act, one of the legislative wins credited for helping Democrats perform better than expected during the November midterms. While the legislation failed to immediately curb inflation, and the Congressional Budget Office predicted the bill would not significantly reduce prices, the measure represented a rare legislative win for Biden’s domestic agenda.
The bill extended the Affordable Care Act subsidies for another year, put a 15% minimum corporate tax rate on companies with more than $1 billion in income, and placed a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks, all of which are extremely popular policies with American voters.
The Inflation Reduction Act also capped prescription drug prices and allowed Medicare to negotiate with drug manufacturers; however, those policies, which are also popular with the voting public, won’t take effect until 2025.
Brittney Griner/Viktor Bout Prisoner Swap
When WNBA star Brittney Griner was arrested in Russia for possession of cannabis and sentenced to nine years in prison, it quickly became a political headache for the Biden administration.
In July, Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, said Biden had not responded to a handwritten letter by the imprisoned basketball star, and claimed the US government was not “doing anything” to secure the athlete's release.
After months of negotiations, the Biden administration finally secured her release in late November by trading Viktor Bout, who the United States claims is an illegal arms dealer, in a prisoner swap.
Although folks hailed Griner's US return, the prisoner swap was met with unease by many who questioned why the Biden White House failed to secure the release of US Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested for espionage in Russia in 2018.
The Bad
It was not all victories for the Biden administration in 2022, and Biden’s summer approval ratings proved to be a clear indication of that development.
Roe v. Wade Overturned
While Democrats were in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, ending federal abortion protections after nearly 50 years on the books.
Democrats were given forewarning of the decision after it was leaked months before the official decision, but still failed to even put forth legislation that would have protected abortion rights.
This was actually the second time Democrats failed to codify abortion rights while holding Congress and the White House. The Obama administration, when Biden served as vice president, held a filibuster-proof majority in 2009, but Obama had said codifying Roe was “not a priority” and focused on the Affordable Care Act
Thirteen years later, the second presidential administration that included Biden, oversaw the destruction of those very same rights.
The repeal did help Democrats secure a better-than-expected performance in the midterms by motivating the Democrats’ base, but failing to protect abortion rights, a cornerstone of the Democratic platform, cannot be classified as anything but a major defeat.
Inflation at 40-Year High
While the rate of inflation eased somewhat in the last months of 2022, it remains dangerously high and a top issue for voters. A poll taken a week before the midterms showed it was a top priority, with 36% of respondents saying it was their top concern. Abortion came in second at 10%.
While the Biden administration has pointed to low unemployment numbers and a growing GDP figure as signals the economy is doing well, the experience for everyday Americans has been different and inflation seems to be at the heart of that disconnect.
Even after a post-midterm bump, US adults are still pessimistic about the economy.
A December CNN poll revealed more than half, 53%, of Americans believe the economy is moving in the wrong direction, compared to just 17% who say it is getting better. Worse still, a whopping 93% of polled adults say they are at least somewhat worried about the US cost of living.
Title 42 Gets Saved by Supreme Court
The pandemic-era, Trump-created Title 42 rule allowed for the quick expulsion of asylum seekers at the US border. To date, the Biden administration has had no success in stopping the rule’s enforcement since the early days of 2022.
In fact, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Title 42 should remain in place until it can hear arguments in February, giving the mostly Republican-controlled states that have been fighting for it to remain in place a significant, albeit temporary, end-of-the-year victory over the Biden administration.
The ruling, which came down in a 5-4 vote, was slammed by Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, who underscored in his dissent that "the current border crisis is not a COVID crisis."
"Courts should not be in the business of perpetuating administrative edicts designed for one emergency only because elected officials have failed to address a different emergency," Gorsuch wrote. "We are a court of law, not policymakers of last resort."
The controversial legislation allows the federal government to enact emergency actions in order to keep illnesses from spreading stateside, such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. With over 2 million expelled under the policy, Republican lawmakers have used the measure to clamp down on entries from the US-Mexico border.
Student Loan Forgiveness
This may end up being an early 2023 victory for the Biden administration, but as it stands now, Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness executive order has been halted by the courts as the program deals with various legal challenges.
Of late, the order has gone all the way to the Supreme Court, which has so far shown a trend to favor conservative viewpoints. If they rule against the program, what seemed like a major turning point for the Biden administration will instead become an embarrassing defeat.
Biden long promised to address student loan debt during his presidential campaign, and if he fails to do that by the 2024 election, voters may blame the administration for failing to deliver another campaign promise.
COVID Rages On
COVID nearly made the ugly category, because it is not clear the current situation isn’t satisfactory in the eyes of the Biden administration. While pandemic-era lockdowns and vaccine mandates look to be a thing of the past, US citizens are still dying from COVID at an alarming pace.
Weekly COVID deaths remain in the thousands and there is seemingly no end in sight. Meanwhile, the Biden White House has largely ignored the problem, declining to reinstate significant COVID prevention measures.
In 2021, Biden declared the vaccine would prevent COVID infection and deaths, but that has not turned out to be the case.
“You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations,” Biden said in early 2021. “If you’re vaccinated, you’re not going to be hospitalized, you’re not going to be in the ICU unit, and you are not going to die.”
As of August 2022, only 42% of people who died from COVID were unvaccinated. That does not mean the vaccines are completely useless, there are more vaccinated adults than there are not, but Biden’s assertion in 2021 that the vaccine - and the vaccine alone - was enough to prevent COVID, proved to be misguided at best.
To top it off, the Biden administration announced in August that federal funding for COVID vaccines, treatments, and tests will be ending in January 2023. This, after Biden and first lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID in July and August, respectively. The following month also saw the commander-in-chief declare that the "pandemic is over," much to the chagrin of health authorities.
While ending federal funding for COVID, the Biden administration did institute a Trump-like rule on Wednesday, requiring negative COVID tests for travelers arriving from China, despite the pandemic continuing to spread inside the United States unchecked.
The Ugly
Intentional actions cannot be considered losses for the Biden administration, even if their results are a loss for the rest of us. Here are the ugliest actions intentionally taken by the Biden camp in 2022:
Biden’s Not-So-Secret Affair With Saudi Arabia
During the 2020 presidential Democratic primary debates, Biden promised to hold the Saudi government accountable for both the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and for the country’s brutal war in Yemen. He not only neglected to do that over the past two years, in 2022 he went in the opposite direction.
The “fist-bump heard around the world” got significant attention for a relatively silly controversy but it foretold future concessions from the Biden administration.
In August, the Biden administration approved a $3 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia. During his presidential campaign, Biden promised to “end the sale of material to the Saudis where they’re going in and murdering children,” and promised to make the country a “pariah” in the international community.
When Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said he was going to introduce a War Powers Resolution Act to force the White House's hand in Saudi Arabia in regards to Yemen, Biden promised to veto the bill if it passed Congress, signaling his support for Saudi Arabia was here to stay.
He also promised to make the Saudi Government “pay the price” for Khashoggi’s murder, but in November, the State Department filed a court brief recommending Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman be given immunity in the case as a head of state. Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, called the decision a betrayal.
“If even the United States will not serve to bring criminals to justice, who will? Biden betrayed his own word. He has used 'democracy and human rights' as words or slogans everywhere. But [there's] not real action on it.”
In early December, a federal court threw out the lawsuit Cengiz brought against bin Salman and 28 others, citing the State Department’s brief.
Breaking the Railroad Strike
Biden repeatedly promised to be “the most pro-union” president in American history, but that assertion was tested when faced with a railroad workers' strike. If the railroad strike had gone forward, it would have cost the economy $2 billion a year, according to the pro-management Association of American Railroads.
The main sticking point in labor negotiations was paid sick leave: the workers had none. The Biden administration stepped in during the summer and mediated a deal that did not include paid sick leave. The union rank-and-file members of the largest unions rejected the deal, setting up a possible strike.
However, the Biden administration couldn't have that and, working alongside members of Congress, utilized the Railway Labor Act of 1926 to prevent a rail workers' strike, effectively forcing workers to take the deal they were given.
In an attempt to lessen the PR blowback, Democrats put forth a bill that would have given railroad workers seven paid sick days, roughly half of what workers were asking for, but decoupled that from the bill that ended the strike.
The result was as predictable as it was cynical: the bill blocking the strike passed while the bill ensuring sick leave for workers was rejected by the Senate. "Joe relied on us to get him home to his family," roadway mechanic Reece Murtagh told NPR at the time, remembering Biden’s penchant for taking Amtrak as a Delaware senator. "But when it was his turn to help us out... to better our life, he turned his back on us."
Trading Global Stability for Weapons Manufacturer Profits
Regardless of how one feels about Russia’s special military operation, the fact it happened at all should be seen as a major loss for the Biden administration. The conflict has cost thousands of lives and tens, if not hundreds, of billions in treasure for the United States and other NATO countries.
It should be considered a loss, but it is going in the ugly category because for a small subset of people, many of them donors to the Biden campaign and members of his cabinet, the conflict has been extremely profitable.
Raytheon, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and other war profiteers have received billions in contracts related to funding the Ukrainian military.
Since December 2021, Raytheon’s stock price is up more than 15%, General Dynamics is up more than 18.4%, and Lockheed Martin is up an eye-watering 35.9%. All nice profits for companies that combined donated $4,956,901 to Democratic causes during the 2020 election cycle, including more than $1.2 million to the Biden campaign.
The leaching is not limited to weapon manufacturers, however. On Wednesday, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink announced a deal for the financial management company to oversee investments into the reconstruction of Ukraine.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise for those paying attention to Biden’s cabinet, which is filled with former Blackwater executives.
Former Blackrock global chief investment strategist Michael Pyle was appointed as Vice President Kamala Harris’ chief economist in January last year, despite not being an actual economist. He was joined by former managing director Eric Van Nostrand who joined the Treasury Department in August of this year.
Both of them were preceded by Biden’s initial cabinet picks, which included no less than two former Blackrock executives.
Nuclear war with Russia was not the only thing the Biden administration was willing to risk to increase the stock price of war profiteers. The administration has been saber-rattling in China. Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) angered Beijing over the summer by visiting Taipei, greatly increasing tensions in the area.
The profits from that potential conflict are already rolling in: the latest defense bill includes $10 billion in military aid for Taiwan, which is sure to provide a nice profit for the companies producing those weapons.
With that backdrop, the conflict in Ukraine and escalating tensions with China take on a new light and may be exactly what the Biden administration intended. Unfortunately, it puts the whole world at risk.
