The Presidential Events: January 2022

Imagine being Obama's vice president for eight years, watching Mitch McConnell and Republicans refuse to vote on any significant policy, blocking action at every opportunity. Then go into the Presidency and imagine it would be different because Biden's an older white guy who voted to make it impossible to declare bankruptcy on student debt, and who sponsored the 1994 crime bill, increasing penalties for poor and African Americans. Imagine wasting a year of your Presidency to figure this out (and there is no guarantee Biden has learned anything, on February 3rd he said Mitch McConnell was “A man of your word,” “A man of honor,” and said, “Thank you for being my friend.”) Biden continuously praises the men sabotaging his Presidency (Manchin, McConnell) while insulting Sanders.

The Presidential Events of January, 2022.

Foreign Policy:

In January North Korea conducted its first long range missile launch since 2017. It was the seventh missile test that month.

Biden designated Qatar as a major non-NATO ally, making it the 18^th member of that category. This list includes an eclectic mix; expected allies (Japan, Israel, and Australia), not so strange (New Zealand, The Philippines, and Jordan), and surprising (Pakistan, Bahrain, and Taiwan). This designation is not the same as a mutual defense pact (though many of these nations also are in mutual defense pacts with the United States). A major non-NATO ally has priority access to military training, funding, and weapons.

The deposed Afghan government is also a major non-NATO ally. The United States has refused to recognize the Taliban as the official government, freezing approximately $9.5 billion that the country needs to feed its populace. Biden said that one precondition for recognition is the release of U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs.

In mid January, Russia deployed 100,000 soldiers to the Ukrainian border. Western leaders believe Russia will invade Ukraine. Or Putin is threatening to invade to extract concessions, such as a statement from NATO that it will no longer consider Ukraine for admission to the alliance, even though the chance of Ukraine joining in the near future is almost impossible (a nation can only join the alliance if all current members approve). The US Senate prepared massive sanctions against Russian leaders as a deterrent, planning to implement them if war starts.

Like Trump:

Liberals hate when their beloved leaders are compared to conservative predecessors. But the political circle of Washington D.C. rehabilitates offenders with surprising ease. Biden renominated Trump pick Jennifer Rearden as district judge for the Southern District of New York. In addition to donating to GOP candidates, Rearden often sides with corporations. She was also involved in Chevron's lawsuit which resulted in the imprisonment of environmental lawyer Steven Donziger.

Biden's DOJ is also defending two of Trump's immigration policies; border restrictions and migrant separations. The White House is refusing to compensate families for their separation and detention at the border.

The Coronavirus:

The Omicron variant swept across the country in January. Cases rose from an average of 389,000 daily to 806,000. On January 10^th the United States recorded 1,433,000 new cases. Hospitalizations increased from 91,000 at the end of December to 160,000 by the end of January. Daily deaths doubled from 1,240 to 2,558. The only good news was the rapid fall of cases and hospitalizations, but deaths were continuing to increase as the month ended. The Biden administration insisted that the Omicron variant was mild. But while deaths per infection may be much lower than previous variants, deaths are close to setting a new daily record.

The Biden administration downplayed the newest variant. Dr. Fauci said, "Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will ultimately find just about everybody." The acting head of the FDA, Janet Woodcock, said, “... most people are going to get Covid, all right?” Both doctors made infections normal, even expected. Why? Woodcock added, “What we need to do is make sure … services are not disrupted while this happens.” Is the White House putting people at risk to keep the economy running? The updated CDC guidelines from last month are a source of concern, as it's clear that infected people can transmit the virus longer than five days. Amazon used the new CDC guidelines to cut employee leave time. Vox says that the CDC's real problem was miscommunication. Or perhaps it messed up, because it was equally interested in both a political problem (economy, return to normalcy) as it was in a health issue (protecting people from the coronavirus).

The Biden administration insisted schools remain open, even as the House of Representatives instituted new safety measures. But America's egregiously underfunded educational system doesn't have enough teachers. Chicago school teachers walked out for five days, demanding improved safety for themselves and their students. Students walked out in some cities to protest inadequate coronavirus precautions and the resulting poor learning conditions.

As Walmart, Kroger, and other companies raised prices for coronavirus at home tests, the government set up a site to give every household four tests regardless of family size. Officials said tests would ship within 7 to 12 days of January 19^th. Some people reported receiving them, but many others have not.

A federal judge in Texas declared military members could refuse the coronavirus vaccination order from the government if they object on religious grounds. The United States Supreme Court blocked OSHA's coronavirus mandate for the general population, but allowed the mandate to continue for healthcare workers (The Court did not rule on military mandates).

Voting Rights:

In December, Joe Manchin broke his promise and said he couldn't vote for Biden's Build Back Better agenda. His “no” killed the Child Tax Credit, legislation to curb global warming, and other legislation to reduce economic inequality. Manchin's and Sinema's refusal to budge on the filibuster, raising taxes on the super wealthy, and helping the poor and middle class, are destroying any chance of a successful Democratic agenda. Desperate for a victory, Democrats abandoned the BBB and pivoted to a doomed vote on voting rights.

Biden began the push with a January 6^th speech commemorating the attack on the certification of the 2020 election. Pundits praised the power of the speech, but Vox rightly criticized it as hot air. As President, Biden has often said the right thing, but never followed through with action. He isn't fixing problems, merely glossing over them, like placing nice wallpaper over a rotting wall. Delivering an extended speech on the importance of voting rights looks weak when two members of the Democratic party shot it down the same day. Civil rights organizations knew Biden didn't have the votes. They recognized his weakness, his inaction, and refused to attend his pro-democracy speech in Georgia. Martin Luther King Jr's family asked the White House not to celebrate his January birthday, if the White House couldn't deliver on voting rights. At his January 11^th speech the President asked the Senate to carve-out a voting rights exception for the filibuster. In December the Senate voted for a carve-out to avoid a default on the federal debt. A carve-out only needs fifty votes. As Biden prepared to meet Senators on the 13^th of January to discuss this option, Kyrsten Sinema stood in the Senate and declared her public opposition to any filibuster reform, carve-out, or workaround. When Senate Majority Leader Schumer held a vote to overrule the filibuster and vote on the voter reform bill, Sinema and Manchin joined all fifty Republican Senators to vote it down.

Pro-democracy organizations like Human Rights Watch criticized Biden for his mixed human rights record. The White House continues to supply weapons to authoritarian regimes, and is not ensuring democracy domestically. Biden condemns authoritarians and praises democracy, but arms authoritarians and lets democracy wither through inaction.

More Manchin:

Manchin wrote the current voting rights bill, a watered down version of the original proposed by the Democratic controlled House of Representatives. He doesn't deserve credit for voting for his own insufficient bill, because he won't vote to eliminate the filibuster. Joe Manchin doesn't want to abolish the filibuster, because then Democrats would force him on the record with votes for policies he objects to.

With their failure on civil rights assured, Democrats, flailing in desperation, returned to the Build Back Better act. When the deal fell apart in December Manchin hinted at continuing negotiations on some smaller package. That haggling appears dead, but Biden is still insisting Democrats can pass “big chunks” of the BBB. Until the President demonstrates his commitment with more than words, this seems like more malarkey. But panicking Democratic Senators followed the President's lead. The most likely outcome is Sinema and Manchin waste 2022, leaving Democrats with nothing to run on except a meager infrastructure bill and failed bipartisanship.

But as of January 26^th Democrats can no longer do nothing. Instead they can do nothing and approve a new Supreme Court Justice. Justice Breyer, anticipating a Republican takeover of the Senate in the 2022 election, announced his retirement. Biden can nominate a candidate. Will it be a conservative Democrat to appease Manchin and Sinema? Will Sinema and Manchin only vote for the nominee if at least one Republican does so as well? Will Democrats self-destruct and fail to approve the candidate?

That's to find out later in the year.

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