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This week I hopped on a train and headed to DC to watch President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
I’m excited. This is my first inauguration and even though my candidate-elect is not taking the oath, I understand the weight of the moment. If something happened only 47 times in history, it’s a big deal! It’s an honor to be a part of it, regardless of your politics.
That said, while we are in the middle of the reception Donald Trump back in the White House, it’s important not to lose sight of all that was accomplished during the Biden-Harris administration. Here are 11 things on my list. And yes, I know that his approval rating is at an all-time low and that the American people have chosen a different direction. But that doesn’t change the facts on the ground. History will be a lot kinder to Joe Biden than you think.
To begin with, President Biden just announced a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The deal is based on Biden’s three-phase proposal that begins with the return of 33 Israeli and American hostages and ends with a plan to rebuild Gaza. Did Trump and his envoy for Israel have any influence? certainly. But it was done under Biden’s watch and with his negotiators.
2. Consider the strength of the economic recovery he oversaw after a once-in-a-century pandemic that claimed more than a million American lives. Today, unemployment rate is at 4.1 percent, and President Biden has overseen the lowest unemployment rate since Bill Clinton. GDP growth was close to 3 percent. While inflation remains stubborn, rising slightly to 2.9 percent this month, core inflation trends have slowed to 3.2 percent. And the stock market? The best ever. Our recovery is the envy of the industrialized world.
3. None of this would have been possible without the American Savings Act, which delivered $1,400 checks to most households (no, Donald Trump didn’t give you that money) and expanded the child tax credit, which cut childhood poverty in half. 14 billion for the distribution of an emergency vaccine against Covid-19 and forgivable loans for small businesses. The Democrats got us back on track.
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4. One of the biggest areas of achievement has been addressing healthcare costs for Americans. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare has capped the cost of insulin at $35 for millions of seniors. There is now a $2,000 cap on Medicare prescription drug prices, saving 19 million Americans more than $400 a month. And let’s not forget that Medicare can now negotiate drug prices, a Democratic goal for years that could finally become a reality under Biden.
5. Is it infrastructure week yet? It certainly was! Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal will revolutionize America’s roads and bridges. High-speed rail will no longer be a pipe dream. Broadband access for everyone, even rural Americans. Ports and waterways will get the attention they’ve needed for decades, and our cybersecurity will get the upgrades it desperately needs. Good, well-paying union jobs make all of this possible, and of course it will take time for everything to take root, but what this deal has set in motion is monumental for the country.
6. The CHIPS and the Science Act is one of the few major Biden achievements that Republicans will admit is a good thing. A historic investment in manufacturing that has led to hundreds of thousands of new jobs and a real strengthening of our national security makes CHIPS flagship legislation. We no longer need to turn to China for our chips, a huge win for US supremacy and security.
7. Although it mostly flew under the radar, the PACT Act was a huge piece of legislation that expanded VA benefits and care for veterans who were exposed to 23 respiratory diseases and cancers linked to burns, Agent Orange and other toxins. In just two years, more than one million PACT Act claims have been approved and nearly 900,000 veterans are receiving the disability benefits they rightfully deserve.
8, 9, 10, 11. There’s plenty more to tout, like a historic investment in HBCUs, 235 federal judges confirmed, saving tens of thousands in union pensions and, most importantly, the first major gun safety law in decades.
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Taken together, it is hard to imagine how, over time, the four years of Biden’s rule will not be considered to have brought real and meaningful results to the American people.
Is he going to Mount Rushmore? I doubt it. But minimizing what he’s done for this country wildly betrays the reality of his legacy, and there’s no doubt Trump will benefit enormously from Biden’s agenda in his first two years in office.
