Biden’s “achievements” in office for one year are difficult to be recognized by the public
2022-01-21 09:38:17Source: Xinhuanet
US President Joe Biden ushered in the first anniversary of his presidency on the 20th. Over the past year, the Biden administration’s performance in preventing and controlling the epidemic, recovering the economy, easing social conflicts, and diplomacy has been lackluster. The set of problems he has promised to address has rarely improved, or even worse.
On January 19, US President Biden held a press conference at the White House in Washington (video screenshot). (Published by Xinhua News Agency)
policy blocked
In terms of fighting the epidemic, when Biden took office, he put the scientific prevention and control of the new crown epidemic and the return to normal life as soon as possible as a policy focus. He invited Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert, to serve as the president’s chief medical adviser, and helped Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion economic relief plan and quickly advance vaccination. These measures were recognized by many voters. However, in order to curb the rebound of the epidemic caused by the new crown mutants such as Delta and Omicron, the White House issued a mandatory vaccine order for employees of large private companies, which was strongly resisted by Republican ruling states and some business groups. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the injunction cannot be implemented, setting back the Biden administration’s policies.
On January 13, medical staff samples samples from a new coronavirus testing site in Washington, the capital of the United States. (Published by Xinhua News Agency, photo by Shen Ting)
On the economic front, although Biden pushed Congress to pass a large-scale infrastructure construction bill, problems such as high inflation, supply chain bottlenecks and labor shortages continue to be difficult to solve, and the road to US economic recovery is full of thorns. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that the U.S. consumer price index rose 7 percent in December from a year earlier, the largest year-on-year increase in nearly 40 years. In the same month, the number of new jobs in the non-agricultural sector was only 199,000, and the number of unemployed due to the epidemic was still as high as 3.1 million, and the employment situation was still grim.
In terms of politics, the bipartisan struggles and social divisions in the United States have not eased, making it impossible for Biden to pass congressional legislation to achieve policy goals such as alleviating racial conflicts, controlling the proliferation of guns, controlling border immigration, and stopping violent law enforcement. In recent days, the two parties in Congress have engaged in a fierce confrontation over two electoral reform bills proposed by Democrats to protect voters’ right to vote. The electoral reform controversy may further deepen some conservative Republican voters’ doubts about the “legality of governance” of the Biden administration.
On the diplomatic front, Biden has pledged to repeal a series of unilateral policies from the Trump administration, proving to allies that “America is back.” However, he “breaks more and establishes less” in diplomacy and lacks constructive policies. Some analysts believe that although Biden has fulfilled his promise to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the withdrawal plan has been sloppy, the process is chaotic, and the consequences are serious, and he has been widely criticized. He ignored Russia’s security concerns on issues related to Russia’s core interests, which led to the continued deterioration of US-Russian relations; he promised to let the United States return to the Iran nuclear deal, but he did not show sufficient flexibility in negotiations with Iran, leading to the prospect of an agreement between the two sides Still unclear.
Hard to get recognized
Biden made many promises when he took office: curing American “democracy”, defeating the new crown epidemic, addressing deep-rooted racial and economic problems, and restoring America’s place in the world. However, a year has passed, and his performance in preventing and controlling the epidemic, curbing inflation, and policy legislation has not been recognized by the American people.
A poll released by Quinnipiac University in the United States recently showed that voters’ satisfaction with Biden’s administration has dropped to 33%. US media pointed out that Biden, who broke the record of popular votes in the 2020 US presidential election, has now become one of the most unpopular US presidents.
Bill Galston, a researcher at the Brookings Institution in the United States, said that Biden has lived up to the expectations of voters, and his anti-epidemic performance has been particularly disappointing. At the same time, the chaos of the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan has also seriously damaged the image of the Biden administration.
This is a photo of local residents and Taliban personnel in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on August 31, 2021. U.S. Central Command Commander Kenneth McKenzie announced on August 30, 2021 that the U.S. military has completed the task of withdrawing from Afghanistan, and nearly 20 years of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan have officially ended. (Published by Xinhua News Agency, photo by Sanaura)
US Republican strategist Sarah Longwell found that after a year of interviews and surveys, voters’ ratings of Biden continued to decline, and even “failed”, and there were many Democratic voters who were dissatisfied with Biden. Longwell believes that the survey results reflect the general public dissatisfaction with the status quo of the prolonged epidemic and rising inflation.
The American “Atlantic Monthly” wrote an article a few days ago that compared with Republican voters’ consistent strong dissatisfaction with Biden, Biden’s rapid decline in support among Democrats and independent voters is more worthy of attention. The internal divisions and conflicts among Democratic voters have become increasingly prominent. Some voters believe that the Democratic Party is not advancing the New Deal quickly enough, and some voters do not agree with the ideas that the Democratic Party is currently pursuing.
split still
In recent years, the partisan struggles in the United States have become increasingly acute, and the public opposition has become more intense. The Capitol Hill riots early last year marked a new height of top-down divisions in American society. Now, one year after Biden took office, this polarization and tearing has not only not eased, but has been further intensified.
The Republicans’ complete rejection of Biden’s policies, the American media’s keenness to play up oppositional sentiments, and the fact that former President Trump still has influence in the Republican Party are all reasons why the United States is deep in the abyss of confrontation and tearing.
On January 6, U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a speech at the Capitol in Washington to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the riots on Capitol Hill. (Published by Xinhua News Agency, Pool pictures, photographed by Michael Reynolds)
Republican strategist Rick Taylor believes that Biden’s Democratic Party’s dominant position in Congress is extremely weak, and it is usually difficult to implement policy proposals through legislation, and the presidential executive order he signed lacks overwhelming convincing. This means that it is difficult for Biden to have the ability to unite the United States.
Analysts pointed out that the division in the United States has continued to intensify over the past year, Biden’s patience with Republicans has almost run out, and the two parties have been arguing over the reasons for the division. Some even questioned the need for a bipartisan consensus. Under these circumstances, bridging differences and uniting the United States seems destined to be a distant dream.