Bitch about Biden thread

[Jimmy Higgins]

So, as the term comes close to an end, it is time to look back and complain about what Biden did appear to address. My two major beefs are the USPS and tariffs on China.

Trump put a guy in charge of the USPS who's goal was to end it. And in the four years of Biden, we've seen the USPS start to really slow down. Deliveries are taking longer and there appeared to be no action to steady the USPS. Granted, the USPS isn't falling apart bad yet, but it is trending that way.

The China tariffs accomplished nothing on China. They have helped lead to a bit of inflation. That is about it. Under Biden, little was done with China on trade. We had a bargaining chip with getting rid of the tariffs, but it didn't seem like Biden wanted to do anything about it. I recall hearing that the tariffs allegedly created thousands of jobs and relinquishing the tariffs could put those jobs at risk., and losing any domestic jobs always looks bad. But I have no idea why Biden decided to apparently hold pat on China trade. He worked to try and increase chip manufacturing in the states. Holding on to those tariffs seemed like a bad idea as it put into place a bad precedence in trade policy.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Louis DeJoy is nothing but a Trumpster hack, but Presidents do not hire and fire PGs -- the decision is made by the Post Office Board of Governors, which as I understand it is an 11-member board, and getting a sympathetic board in place would require more pull in the Senate than Biden had (just a surmise on my part.) A whole lot of political maneuvering would've been necessary, with the payoff of firing one slimeball.

 

[Elixir]

Louie is just one minor billionaire hack - if we think he’s bad, Agent Orange has a big surprise for you. Just wait - the destruction has yet to begin.

 

[TV and credit cards]

The core of Biden's decision making process was on getting reelected period
Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine. Thousand likely need not have suffered and died because Biden's concern was escalation and him having his name stamped on the war. It's not like he had to wonder much what Putin would or could do. We witnessed at the outset how ineffectual the Russian armed forces were. If that weren't enough, they showed it again in their major retreat during the Kharkiv Counteroffensive.
Ukraine should have had the systems, advisors & trainers, and authorization to hit any military target within Russia from the outset. Conventionally there was little Russia could have done. Any nuclear action on any scale, I believe would have been and is a red line for China.

 

[starwater]

I think he started strong, and then lost steam.

The infrastructure bill was a huge success.

The border was totally mishandled.

 

[Elixir]

The border was totally mishandled.

Was it?
Dems were stabbed in the back by the Republicans who pretended to help create the bi-partisan infrastructure bill.
Would the border still have been mishandled if they hadn’t cowered before Trump and voted against it to preserve the political issue?

 

[starwater]

The border was totally mishandled.

Was it?
Dems were stabbed in the back by the Republicans who pretended to help create the bi-partisan infrastructure bill.
Would the border still have been mishandled if they hadn’t cowered before Trump and voted against it to preserve the political issue?

They could have done something temporarily until this passed, but they ignored it.

 

[Derec]

I think he started strong, and then lost steam.
The infrastructure bill was a huge success.

He ran the steam too hot and the boiler sprung a leak.
The infrastructure bill was a good idea, but he muddled it by trying to pass the Bernie/AOC inspired $3.5T monstrosity along with it. Despite record spending on the Pandemic and inflation rearing its ugly head.

The border was totally mishandled.

It was. While Republicans did block the compromise bill, the Biden administration had been mishandling the border long before then. And note that Dems had a poor reputation on the border already. The 2019 debates were an exercise in which candidate would outdo the other in promising to open the borders more than the other guy.

As far as recent things to bitch about Biden, I nominate these two.
Biden permanently bans offshore drilling in 625 million acres of ocean, making a Trump reversal difficult

Biden’s executive action will ban new oil and gas leasing across 625 million acres of US ocean. The ban will prevent oil companies from leasing waters for new drilling along the entire East Coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California, and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea.

625M acres is almost a million square miles. The entire US exclusive economic zone is just over 4M mi², so this is a major restriction, imposed by presidential decree rather than as a law passed by Congress.
Why? And why now? While we should gradually ween ourselves from oil, we still need it and will need large quantities of oil until 2050s.
Surgeon General Calls for Cancer Warnings on Alcohol
Again, why and why now, in the waning weeks of the Biden administration?
The studies are hardly univocal, and plenty of other things have studies showing an increase in cancer risk. Might as well slap warning labels on red meat, processed food or anything in plastic packaging.

 

[Emily Lake]

So, as the term comes close to an end, it is time to look back and complain about what Biden did appear to address. My two major beefs are the USPS and tariffs on China.

Trump put a guy in charge of the USPS who's goal was to end it. And in the four years of Biden, we've seen the USPS start to really slow down. Deliveries are taking longer and there appeared to be no action to steady the USPS. Granted, the USPS isn't falling apart bad yet, but it is trending that way.

The China tariffs accomplished nothing on China. They have helped lead to a bit of inflation. That is about it. Under Biden, little was done with China on trade. We had a bargaining chip with getting rid of the tariffs, but it didn't seem like Biden wanted to do anything about it. I recall hearing that the tariffs allegedly created thousands of jobs and relinquishing the tariffs could put those jobs at risk., and losing any domestic jobs always looks bad. But I have no idea why Biden decided to apparently hold pat on China trade. He worked to try and increase chip manufacturing in the states. Holding on to those tariffs seemed like a bad idea as it put into place a bad precedence in trade policy.

Meh. USPS should either be actually rolled into the government as a federal entity, or it should be left to expire on its own. Personally I favor federalizing it completely... but it's in-between status is a hindrance no matter what.

Regarding chip manufacturing, efforts on that pre-date Biden's administration. That said, I don't give credit to any president for that. I'm more inclined to credit the US military for trying to bring chip manufacturing state-side, given the reliance on technology we currently have.

 

[Elixir]

The border was totally mishandled.

Was it?
Dems were stabbed in the back by the Republicans who pretended to help create the bi-partisan infrastructure bill.
Would the border still have been mishandled if they hadn’t cowered before Trump and voted against it to preserve the political issue?

They could have done something temporarily until this passed, but they ignored it.

Like … what? The bill appropriated billions.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I think he started strong, and then lost steam.

The infrastructure bill was a huge success.

The border was totally mishandled.

It wasn't handled, it was sabotaged by the Republicans.

Biden's biggest problem is the Republicans are more interested in making Democrats fail than they are in actually doing their job.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Regarding chip manufacturing, efforts on that pre-date Biden's administration. That said, I don't give credit to any president for that. I'm more inclined to credit the US military for trying to bring chip manufacturing state-side, given the reliance on technology we currently have.

Yeah. If we get our phones from overseas I don't care.

But I would like to see an effort to onshore as much as possible of the essential supply chains. Covid showed us how vulnerable so many aspects of the supply chain are. And not just onshored, but multiple independent paths.

And it's not just us--Israel took out pretty much Iran's entire ability to produce missiles for some time by hitting one plant. One plant is cheaper and more secure--but it has a bus factor of 1.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I think he started strong, and then lost steam.
The infrastructure bill was a huge success.

He ran the steam too hot and the boiler sprung a leak.
The infrastructure bill was a good idea, but he muddled it by trying to pass the Bernie/AOC inspired $3.5T monstrosity along with it. Despite record spending on the Pandemic and inflation rearing its ugly head.

I remember inflation before people were talking inflation because I had a leaking roof in January 2021. The cost and supply of materials was something else. Inflation was occurring because of supply shortages. This worked its way thoughr the system. The spending wasn't nearly as bad. Europe and Japan are struggling with inflation at the moment. Of the things to complain about this is ridiculous. Biden could only pass legislation that was budget related through reconciliation as the GOP wouldn't go along with anything. So he effectively put four years of legislation into the that bill.

The border was totally mishandled.

It was. While Republicans did block the compromise bill, the Biden administration had been mishandling the border long before then. And note that Dems had a poor reputation on the border already. The 2019 debates were an exercise in which candidate would outdo the other in promising to open the borders more than the other guy.

How was it mishandled? People were showing up in record numbers and being sent back in record numbers.

As far as recent things to bitch about Biden, I nominate these two.
Biden permanently bans offshore drilling in 625 million acres of ocean, making a Trump reversal difficult

Biden’s executive action will ban new oil and gas leasing across 625 million acres of US ocean. The ban will prevent oil companies from leasing waters for new drilling along the entire East Coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California, and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea.

625M acres is almost a million square miles. The entire US exclusive economic zone is just over 4M mi², so this is a major restriction, imposed by presidential decree rather than as a law passed by Congress.
Why? And why now? While we should gradually ween ourselves from oil, we still need it and will need large quantities of oil until 2050s.

First, most of this territory isn't even desired by the oil companies, which makes this mostly symbolic. Why now? Bureaucracy. This isn't an Executive Order, this is Executive authority which requires a trillions hopes to jump through. This declaration doesn't mean much of anything, but Trump can't ax it without going through the hoops.

 

[barbos]

The core of Biden's decision making process was on getting reelected period
Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine. Thousand likely need not have suffered and died because Biden's concern was escalation and him having his name stamped on the war. It's not like he had to wonder much what Putin would or could do. We witnessed at the outset how ineffectual the Russian armed forces were. If that weren't enough, they showed it again in their major retreat during the Kharkiv Counteroffensive.
Ukraine should have had the systems, advisors & trainers, and authorization to hit any military target within Russia from the outset. Conventionally there was little Russia could have done. Any nuclear action on any scale, I believe would have been and is a red line for China.

Another UK-rain derail?

 

[Derec]

I remember inflation before people were talking inflation because I had a leaking roof in January 2021. The cost and supply of materials was something else. Inflation was occurring because of supply shortages.

That is too simplistic. Sure, supply shortages played a major role, but if COVID-related supply crunch was the sole reason, inflation indeed would have been transitory like Jerome Powell was saying at first.

This worked its way thoughr the system. The spending wasn't nearly as bad.

The inflation rose as bad as it did because the supply side issues were exacerbated by pressure from the demand side. A lot of money was put into the economy through various programs such as extended unemployment benefits, extended child tax credits, pause on student loan payments and even straight up checks that were sent out. More money chasing fewer goods and services leads to higher inflation than just more money xor fewer goods and services would have caused by themselves. It's an example of bad synergy.
This should be very self-evident, but Dems refuse to acknowledge it because they were trying to pass the $3.5T Spendapalooza at the same time inflation was increasing. Had Manchin and Sinema not stopped it, inflation would have been much worse.

Europe and Japan are struggling with inflation at the moment.

At the moment, the Eurozone has an inflation rate of ~2.4%. Japan is ~2.9%. US is at ~2.7%. So comparably low right now for all three.
And yes, inflation spiked in the aftermath of the Pandemic elsewhere as well. But are you going to argue that other countries did not have their own largess that contributed to it?
Look at the graph in the first link (for Europe). It shows energy was a major source of inflation there. US is luckily blessed with ample oil and natural gas resources and we are able to access them because of the shale revolution, i.e. fracking. Fracking is something that is anathema to many Dems, including Kamala Harris in 2019. Did her handlers really not realize that this attitude is general election poison, esp. in places like Pennsylvania?

Of the things to complain about this is ridiculous. Biden could only pass legislation that was budget related through reconciliation as the GOP wouldn't go along with anything. So he effectively put four years of legislation into the that bill.

Which bill are you talking about concretely?

How was it mishandled? People were showing up in record numbers and being sent back in record numbers.

They were also let in in much higher numbers than under Trump.

Looking at this graph, the number of those processed has increased to Clinton era levels. And Biden also ended Title 42 that made for easier expulsions of those caught trying to cross the border illegally.

First, most of this territory isn't even desired by the oil companies, which makes this mostly symbolic.

I used the area to illustrate just how big a chunk of coastal ocean this policy covers.
I also found this map that illustrates it.

This is a huge change. And of course, most of this area is not suitable for drilling given that it covers most of the US coastline. However, it surely contains areas of interest to drillers.
The thing is, oil/gas fields decline. To keep production, new fields must be found and drilled. Closing most of the US coastal waters to oil and gas development is going to harm US energy security.

Why now? Bureaucracy. This isn't an Executive Order, this is Executive authority which requires a trillions hopes to jump through. This declaration doesn't mean much of anything, but Trump can't ax it without going through the hoops.

What's the difference between "executive order" and "executive authority"? And what would you say if Trump in January 2029 did something equally wide reaching by executive fiat simply to make things more difficult for President Elect Shapiro or Whitmer?

To me, this decision is similar, but far more broad, to Obama abandoning the "all of the above" approach he was rightly touting and caving to extreme ecomentalists to deny approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

 

[ZiprHead]

First, most of this territory isn't even desired by the oil companies, which makes this mostly symbolic.

I used the area to illustrate just how big a chunk of coastal ocean this policy covers.
I also found this map that illustrates it.

This is a huge change. And of course, most of this area is not suitable for drilling given that it covers most of the US coastline. However, it surely contains areas of interest to drillers.
The thing is, oil/gas fields decline. To keep production, new fields must be found and drilled. Closing most of the US coastal waters to oil and gas development is going to harm US energy security.

Why now? Bureaucracy. This isn't an Executive Order, this is Executive authority which requires a trillions hopes to jump through. This declaration doesn't mean much of anything, but Trump can't ax it without going through the hoops.

What's the difference between "executive order" and "executive authority"? And what would you say if Trump in January 2029 did something equally wide reaching by executive fiat simply to make things more difficult for President Elect Shapiro or Whitmer?

To me, this decision is similar, but far more broad, to Obama abandoning the "all of the above" approach he was rightly touting and caving to extreme ecomentalists to deny approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Maybe the oil companies should start using the leases they've been sitting on for years doing nothing before bitching about other places they might want to maybe someday drill maybe.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

You will never see the people who whine about "TDS" doing this with Trump.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

Anyway, his shit position on Israel.

 

[Swammerdami]

I remember inflation before people were talking inflation because I had a leaking roof in January 2021. The cost and supply of materials was something else. Inflation was occurring because of supply shortages.

That is too simplistic. Sure, supply shortages played a major role, but if COVID-related supply crunch was the sole reason, inflation indeed would have been transitory like Jerome Powell was saying at first.

This worked its way thoughr the system. The spending wasn't nearly as bad.

The inflation rose as bad as it did because ...

Inflation, Inflation, Inflation, Inflation. By now you've devoted more posts to condemning Biden's inflation than you've spent ridiculing AOC!
As I will try to explain to you, the inflation you complain of just wasn't that big a deal. Perhaps you know this already, but just want to complain about Biden and can't think of anything more pertinent.

• As others point out, inflation was a world-wide problem during and in the aftermath of the pandemic. The USA had less inflation than many or most other countries. To accuse rather than applaud USA governance for their relatively low inflation is ... Weird!
• Compared with summer 2021, the Dollar is up over 15% against the Euro, up almost 15% against the Pound, up about 45% against the Yen, up over 25% against Australian, dollar etc. etc. Do you blame Biden for the STRONG dollar?? Can you grasp what a mockery this strong dollar turns your inflation rants into?
• The minor inflation was turned into a make-believe big issue by anti-Biden and pro-Trump propaganda. Were you part of the solution? Or just another part of the problem?
• All else equal, if prices go up 10% and wages go up 10% that's a standoff. Yes, I know that you know this much, and will complain that "All else is NOT equal." BUT your persistent but confused focus on this single economic indicator, as though a 5% inflation meant the destruction of 5% of real value, shows that you DO place too much emphasis on this one indicator.
• The Stock market boomed ferociously under Biden, yielding much MUCH more than the inflation rate. Yes, yes, we understand that "exuberance" was involved, but stock market boom would NOT have happened if the inflation had a severe adverse effect on businesses or consumers.
• During Biden's term the yield on Aaa Corporate bonds barely and only briefly went above 5%. Again, this is a sign of a HEALTHY economy. Had inflation been low, but one of these arguably more important indicators been bad you'd have ranted about that and ignored the low inflation.
• Financial crises, whether due to inflation, deflation, unemployment or illiquidity have been common for centuries, especially under Republican administrations. The crisis of 2008 was the worst financial crisis of our lifetimes; it can be blamed on right-wing deregulation and the over-rated partisan Fed Chief Greenspan. The pandemic-caused inflation of 2022 was a rarity -- financial difficulty caused by something other than financial malfeasance! Yet you seem to think that THIS was the government-made crisis, blaming Biden and "Sgt. Sandy." What a joke!
• Over the relevant 3½ years the TOTAL price rise was about 16%, compared with about 8% that would have been normal with no virus. Whoopieeee! The way you rant about this small inflation -- almost trivially small in the scheme of things -- shows either a poor understanding of macroeconomics or a fixation on bad-mouthing your anti-heroes, Biden and Sgt. Sandy.
• Myself and others have linked to article after article written by expert economists explaining the reasons for the recent inflation. Reasons distinct from your prejudiced explanation. Yet you continue to place the blame elsewhere! Over and over and over! Where did you get your PhD in economics, @Derec ?
• Mild inflations -- like the "Biden inflation" you rant about -- can provide benefits to businesses! I've been around the block enough to know that many organizations have useless employees they'd like to terminate, but can't do so easily. With inflation it's easy for employers to offer chunky merit raises to valued employees, while saying "Sorry" to the less deserving.

Well, I hope this helps. But, to mix metaphors slightly, I offer food for thought but can't force a horse to drink!

 

[Emily Lake]

Inflation, Inflation, Inflation, Inflation. By now you've devoted more posts to condemning Biden's inflation than you've spent ridiculing AOC!
As I will try to explain to you, the inflation you complain of just wasn't that big a deal.

I get where you're coming from... but where you're coming from is academic math. That's all fine if that's what you want to look at, but I think you're missing some pretty material things here.

For example... yes, it's true that almost the whole world experienced inflation, and yes it's true that US inflation wasn't necessarily as bad as it was other places, and yes it's true that the US has gained value in terms of exchange rates versus the british pound.

What you're missing is that despite all of the math and the numbers and the academic studies done just right... actual people in both countries are struggling to pay the electric bills so they don't freeze during the winter. Just a few years ago, electricity was affordable.

There are lots of studies that compare wage change over time to things like the cost of gas or the cost of a particularly selected set of groceries. They tend to sort of gloss over the fact that interest rates went up by a LOT over the past few years, which means that getting a mortgage or a car loan is more expensive than it used to be. It misses that this ends up locking people into their current homes, because they can't afford the increased mortgage payment they'd have if they moved to a different house, even if that house had the exact same listed sales price as their current home had at the time of purchase - they end up with less home for the same mortgage cost. And that's not even taking into consideration that housing and rent costs have increased quite a lot. So it's not just a case of having to reduce your house to offset the increased interest rate hit to your mortgage - it's reducing your house to offset increased house sales prices AND increased interest rates. Same thing with cars, except now you're also into the realm of an item that breaks down over time. The MSRP of a toyota camry has gone up by 28% since 2020... and auto loan interest rates have gone from around 4% to around 7.5% for decent credit. The change in the cost of used vehicles is even worse.

Utility costs have risen - gas, electric, water, sewage. In some places by significant amounts. My electricity went up by 42% over the last couple of years.

The fixed basket of goods used for CPI calculations is a pretty generic collection. So sure, the cost of generic store-brand eggs hasn't increased as much as median income has... but the cost of free range eggs has gone up more. The cost of generic store-brand bread hasn't gone up as much, but the cost of the Sara Lee Artisan bread that we have preferred since it came out has gone up quite a bit more. Where most people used to be able to afford the core generic groceries as well as some nice-to-have items and a good selection of name-brand items... now people have to contract their purchases to exclude those "luxuries" like actual real Cheerios, and can only afford the generic bagged "toasted oats" which are not actually as tasty or enjoyable.

So at the end of the day, sure... as long as nobody wants or needs to move, and they have a locked in mortgage instead of a rental apartment, and they have a car that is in great shape and they don't need to purchase one, and they don't buy anything beyond the bare necessities, and then only buy the generic stuff and no name-brand stuff... yeah, it's no big deal. Everything is fine, the academics doing math said so!