Immigration:
No one approves of Biden's immigration record. Conservatives are upset he hasn't built a wall and rounded up every illegal immigrant in the country. Progressives are upset that Biden is continuing Trump's brutal policies. Somehow it has become common wisdom to say, “If everyone is upset, you must be doing something right.” This is completely wrong. Biden is pleasing no one, because he's decided to not solve the problem. He allows it to fester unaltered.Haiti is in the midst of ongoing turmoil. Having barely recovered from the 2010 earthquake, it recently suffered a presidential assassination and another earthquake. The White House extended protections of Haitians already in the United States, but began deportation flights for new refugees. Border agents, working for Homeland Security, were photographed harassing Haitians migrants with horses. Former presidential candidate, Julian Castro, criticized the administration for its inhumanity. The US envoy to Haiti resigned to protest the White House's treatment of refugees.
Meanwhile, the government can't ensure the safety of released migrant children, and can't offer a pathway to citizenship. But the White House is trying to increase the refugee cap to 125,000, its highest level in nearly three decades.
Afghanistan:
Many of the refugees in the expanded number would arrive from Afghanistan. Over 50,000 evacuees are expected. While the public supports overing a home to refugees, Republican politicians are turning resettlement into a partisan issue.Only a month later, the media barely covers the events of Afghanistan. Maybe it's better that way. News agencies barely reported on the truth of the situation during the twenty years of war. Soon Afghanistan will be no more relevant to the United States than South Sudan.
The Taliban established an all male cabinet, composed of FBI targets. They banned girls “temporarily” from high school, by only inviting male students back to class. Republicans demanded Biden label the Taliban as a terrorist organization, a barbaric decision, which would cut off 38 million people from foreign aid.
And the Pentagon admitted that its late August drone strike murdered ten civilians.
China, Australia, and France:
Biden inherited the issue of Hong Kong from Trump, but hasn't done enough to alleviate it. Chinese police arrested civilians responsible for organizing the Tiananmen vigils. In a pivot to China, Biden signed a deal to supply nuclear submarines to Australia. The French recalled their ambassador to the US, because they had signed a contract to sell diesel subs to Australia.The United States reached a deal with the Chinese company, Huawei, dropping charges against Meng Wanzhou, allowing Canada to release her. China had retaliated by arresting two Canadians.
Abortion:
In September the government of Texas passed a law banning abortions after six weeks. The Supreme Court refused to block the law. The Department of Justice sued Texas, since the law violated the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade. The DOJ asked the U.S. District Court of Austin, Texas, to temporarily block the law. To protect abortion providers, the Department of Health and Human Services increased funding for clinics and protections for workers.The Coronavirus:
In September the coronavirus infected 175,000 every day (with a peak of 285,000), and killed 2,087 a day. These numbers were similar to late January 2021. The good news; the numbers peaked in mid-September and dropped precipitously into October.In September only 63% of the population, age 12 and above, was fully vaccinated (52% of the entire population). This put the United States 15th internationally. As one of the largest producers of vaccines, the United States led in vaccinations five months ago. But politicization of the vaccine by one political party convinced a significant portion of the population to reject it. With too many people saying they would never get vaccinated, Biden initiated a new rule through OSHA. Any company with more than 100 employees needs to vaccinate its workers, or have them take a once a week coronavirus test. Biden also signed an order, which requires all federal employees to receive the vaccine, with no option for testing. Experts estimate this will cover at least 80 million employees. Republican governors threatened to sue the White House over these testing requirements.
The Army, Airforce, Navy, and Marine Corps set November and December deadlines for their members to receive the vaccine. The Army warned members they would be disciplined if they were not vaccinated by the deadline of December 15th. According to the Pentagon, only 40% of Army soldiers were vaccinated.
September was full of horrible coronavirus milestones. John Hopkins reported that 664,000 people had died in the US, equal to 1 in 500. The CDC reported that as many Americans had died from Covid, as from the Spanish flu. And if your defense is, well the population of 1920 is one third of 2021, you should reflect on how you can dismiss so much death so casually. The CDC released a study, covering April 4th to July 17th, showing that unvaccinated people were 11 times more likely to die of the coronavirus.
With vaccines so effective in reducing death, the FDA recommended Pfizer boosters for those over 65, or with special medical conditions. The White House reimbursed a Florida school district that the Republican governor penalized because it had a mask mandate. And the United States will allow fully vaccinated tourists from Europe to visit, starting in November.
Ambassadors:
At least three progressive House members insisted the Senate reject Biden's pick for ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel. But the Senate has only passed two of the fifty-five submitted ambassadorial positions.Other:
Near the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, Joe Biden announced the declassification of files of the FBI's investigation. The Justice Department banned no-knock entries and chokeholds for the FBI, DEA, and Marshals, except in the use of deadly force. The White House withheld $130 million of the $1300 million military aid it gives annually to Egypt, citing human rights concerns. That 10% reduction will certainly hold el-Sisi's feet to the fire. Supreme Court Justice Breyer refused to announce his retirement, possibly making Biden the first president since Carter to not nominate a new justice.The Environment:
Every month brings more climate catastrophes. Hurricane Ida, having crashed into Louisiana on August 29th, pushed north, flooded states from Tennessee, to New York, to Maine. The largest wildfire in California history was in its seventh week, and still expanding. Meanwhile the Canadian and American governments are pushing forward with an expansion of a massive oil pipeline, Line 3. Based in Alberta, Canada, it will send 800,000 barrels of oil to the United States through Minnesota and Wisconsin. The United States, and the world, can no longer afford additional sources of pollution. New energy projects need to be green. Hurricane Ida caused additional damage. It broke pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico, spilling oil.Biden has stated his desire to curb climate change. He has connected the dots between wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding with global warming. But there has been no action to back up his words. Quite the opposite. In the 2020 Democratic primary, trying to ward off Senator Sanders, Biden said, “No more subsidies for fossil fuel industry. No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period...” Instead, the Biden administration has awarded more drilling permits than any President since George W. Bush in 2008.
The IPCC recently released five possible outcomes of climate change. The leadership in this country, Democrat or Republican, renders one pessimistic about the final outcome.
Infrastructure:
Democrats have a $3.5 trillion bill that doesn't do enough to avert climate change. But it's the best possible deal(?). Joe Manchin, whose daughter as CEO of Mylan schemed with Pfizer to artificially inflate prices of Epipen, makes five hundred thousand a year from his shares in a coal company. This man only supports $1 trillion of Biden's plan. Almost none of the money will be spent on reducing CO2. During the Democratic primary, pundits repeatedly said Biden was the only candidate who could convince Manchin to back his plans. But Biden is failing. Senator Sanders is standing up to Manchin, insisting that any further reduction of the reconciliation bill is unacceptable. Manchin insisted Congress should pass the Manchin/Collins bill now, but delay the reconciliation bill until 2022. That's political speak for, conservatives will never vote for the progressive bill. The closer the midterm elections, the less likely any substantive improvements occur. Progressives know that if they pass Manchin's bill now, he will never pass their reconciliation. So when conservative Democrats in the House forced Speak Pelosi to hold a vote on the bill, progressives refused to vote for it. Pelosi didn't have enough votes and pulled the bill.The reconciliation bill helps families by making the child tax credit permanent, pays for childcare and community college, while reducing climate change. It has many enemies; Republicans, the wealthy, corporations, and conservative Democrats.
Funding for the bill comes from increased funding for the IRS (to chase down wealthy tax dodgers), raising taxes on the top income bracket, raising taxes on corporations, and allowing government agencies to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over the cost of drugs (current the government has to accept the price dictated to them by the companies). But conservative Democrats, from Senator Sinema, to House members, have been bought off by the Pharma lobby.
Republicans and Conservative Democrats are going to kill a bill that helps the poor and middle class, that will largely be paid for by tax increases on the wealthy, and is only going to cost $3.5 trillion over ten years. Not $3.5 trillion per year. But $350 billion each year. The War on Terror cost $8 trillion over twenty years, so the price is about the same, but one killed hundreds of thousands of people, displacing millions, while the other will increase the health and education of the people of the United States.
War Budget:
Somehow the United States can't find $350 billion per year to fund its schools, take care of the poor, and avert catastrophic climate change, but it can spend $768 billion a year on military jets, bombs, guns, and soldiers. Not adjusting for inflation, that is the largest Department of Defense budget ever. The bill passed with 181 Democrats and 135 Republicans voting in favor, with 39 Democrats and 77 Republicans against. Part of the size was because the House Armed Services Committee (which Democrats control), voted 42-17 to add $24 billion to the Pentagon's budget. Fourteen Democrats voted against the leadership of Biden and Pelosi, who said the additional funding was unnecessary.The Debt Limit:
In a truly deranged decision, Ted Cruz decided to filibuster a debt limit increase. The debt limit is the total amount of outstanding borrowing the country can hold. If Congress doesn't increase the debt limit, the government can't increase its debt. If the government can't increase its debt it would default on its legal obligations. No one is certain what the result will be, but economic damage is almost certain. Democrats helped Republicans raise the debt ceiling three times under Trump. Mitch McConnell says he wants Democrats to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally, but this is a deception. Democrats tried to pass a debt ceiling increase through the Senate. But Cruz's filibuster means Democrats need sixty votes, while there are only fifty Democratic Senators. Republican Senators are causing damage, as they did in 2011, even if they eventually walk back their threat. If they do force a debt limit breach, they are economic saboteurs.Recent:
Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order: Exploring Six Planets in the GalaxyRelevant:
The Democratic Party Shouldn't Embrace Militarism
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