JESSICA TARLOV: 11 Biden accomplishments we can't ignore as Trump takes office
This week, I hopped on the train and headed down to D.C. to cover President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
I’m excited. It’s my first inauguration and although my candidate of choice isn’t being sworn in, I understand the gravity of the moment. If something has only happened 47 times in history, it’s a big deal! It’s an honor to be part of it, no matter your politics.
That said, while we are in the midst of welcoming Donald Trump back to the White House, it’s important to not lose sight of all that has been accomplished during the Biden-Harris administration. Here are 11 things on my list. And yes, I know his approval rating is at an all-time low and that the American people chose a different direction. But that doesn’t change the facts on the ground. History will be far kinder to Joe Biden than you think.
For starters, President Biden just announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The deal is based on Biden’s three phase proposal that begins with the return of the 33 Israeli and American hostages and ends with a reconstruction plan for Gaza. Did Trump and his Israel envoy have an impact? For sure. But this was done on Biden’s watch and with his negotiators.
2. Consider the strength of the economic recovery he oversaw from a once in a century pandemic that took over a million American lives. Today, the unemployment rate is at 4.1 percent and President Biden has overseen the lowest end of term unemployment since Bill Clinton. GDP growth has been gangbusters has been close to 3 percent. While inflation remains stubborn, and ticked slightly up to 2.9 percent this month, underlying inflation trends slowed to 3.2 percent. And the stock market? The best it has ever been. Our recovery is the envy of the industrialized world.
3. None of that would’ve been possible without the American Rescue Act, which delivered most households $1,400 checks (no, Donald Trump did not give you that money) and expanded the Child Tax Credit, which cut childhood poverty in half. 14 billion to distribute the remarkable Covid-19 vaccine and forgivable loans for small businesses. Democrats got us back on track.
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4. One of the greatest areas of achievement was addressing health care costs for Americans. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare the cost of insulin is capped at $35 for millions of seniors. There’s now a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug prices under Medicare, saving 19 million Americans upwards of $400 a month. And lets not forget that Medicare can negotiate drug prices now, a Democratic goal for years that was finally able to become a reality under Biden.
5. Is it infrastructure week yet? It certainly was! Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal will revolutionize America’s roads and bridges. High speed rail won’t be a pipedream anymore. Broadband for everyone, even rural Americans. Ports and waterways will get the attention they’ve needed for decades and our cybersecurity will get the upgrades it so desperately needs. Good, high paying union jobs are making all this possible and, of course, it will take time for it to all come to life, but what this deal set in motion is monumental for the country.
6. The CHIPS and Science Act is one of the only major Biden accomplishments that Republicans will admit is a good thing. Historic investment in manufacturing that’s led to hundreds of thousands of new jobs and real strengthening of our national security makes the CHIPS a marquee piece of legislation. We don’t need to turn to China for our chips anymore, a major win for US supremacy and safety.
7. Though it largely flew under the radar, the PACT Act is a tremendous piece of legislation that expanded VA benefits and care to veterans who were exposed to 23 respiratory illnesses and cancers related to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxins. In just two years, over one million PACT Act claims have been granted and nearly 900,000 veterans are receiving the disability benefits they so rightly deserve.
8, 9, 10, 11. There’s so much more to tout, like the historic investment in HBCUs, 235 federal judges that have been confirmed, saving tens of thousands of union pensions and, crucially, the first major piece of gun safety legislation in decades.
Taken together, it’s hard to see how, with time, Biden’s four years in office won’t be seen as having delivered in real and substantive ways for Americans.
Is he going on Mount Rushmore? I doubt it. But the minimization of what he’s done for this country wildly betrays the reality of his legacy and there’s no doubt that Trump is going to benefit enormously from the Biden agenda in his first two years in office.