Alas, Joe Biden has become a lame duck president just one year after taking office. His own party is accusing him of political missteps since taking office along with an inability to keep promises made during the campaign. Biden is following in the footsteps of Barack Obama, who bit off more than he could chew with Obamacare and then lost a filibuster-proof Congress after about two years. Obama didn’t anticipate the untimely death of Sen. Teddy Kennedy and the resistance of his opposition. Biden overestimated the influence of his left-wing comrades.
Unlike other situations, Biden’s own colleagues are doing him in. Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, both Democrats, have vehemently opposed outrageous initiatives of the president. After decades in the Senate, you’d think Biden would know how to navigate through thorny political minefield in Congress. He didn’t give weight to his razor thin margin in the Senate. At 50/50, only one defector can derail big plans of a president and a political party.
The lesson to be learned is that a president should not try to make massive changes in our country without a buy in from the opposition and a significant mandate from the voters. The bad blood in Washington has made it exceedingly difficult to get anything done these days.
Specifically, Democrats tried to slip through a $5 trillion spending plan and change the rules relating to the Senate filibuster (to enact voting rights reform). Overspending and attempted dominance by a political party without a mandate was resisted by the two Democratic senators. They saved the country from several horrible mistakes, granting unwise entitlements and ensuing exacerbation of inflation, and blowing up Senate rules that have been in place for a long time.
Why didn’t Biden appreciate the fact that radical left-wing hacks in his own party were leading him down the primrose path? Joe has Schumer, Pelosi, Sanders, the Squad and a number of socialists in his government to thank for his predicament. He is destined, for sure, to be in office only one term, and Democrats are going to lose seats in the House and Senate in 2022 and 2024. And, Joe Biden has 40 plus years experience in Washington. Can you believe such an experienced person can perform so ineffectively?
After all this said and done, our government worked well. It prevented a rogue group of socialists from disrupting our country. Having a 50/50 advantage in the Senate is not a platform from which a president can change the pillars of the country.
But what will happen during the next three years. Probably, Republicans will gain majorities in the Senate and the House. But with a Democratic president little will be accomplished, as one would expect Biden to veto all Republican initiatives. Gone are the days that opposing parties could find compromise. There will be little or no compromise between now and 2024.
It causes great concern that Joe Biden will be conducting foreign policy for three more years. Getting close to Iran and mishandling Russia and China is expected with Biden in a lead role. Hopefully, Congress will be able to fend off bad decisions regarding our allies and enemies.