Xinhua News Agency, Washington, January 20th (International observation) Biden’s "political achievements" in power for one year are hard to be recognized by the people.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Deng Xianlai
US President Biden celebrated the first anniversary of his administration on the 20th. Over the past year, the Biden administration’s achievements in preventing and controlling the epidemic, reviving the economy, easing social contradictions and diplomatic fields have been lackluster. The series of problems he promised to solve have not only improved little, but even got worse.
On January 19th, US President Biden held a press conference at the White House in Washington (video screenshot). (Xinhua News Agency)
Policy obstruction
When Biden came to power, he made scientific prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic and returning to normal life as soon as possible as a policy priority. He invited Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert, to be the president’s chief medical adviser, and prompted Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion economic aid plan to rapidly promote vaccination. These measures were recognized by many voters. However, since then, in order to curb the epidemic rebound caused by COVID-19 mutant strains such as Delta and Omicron, the White House issued a compulsory vaccine order for employees of large private enterprises, which was strongly resisted by the Republican ruling state and some business groups. The US Supreme Court recently ruled that the injunction could not be implemented, which frustrated Biden’s government policy.
On January 13th, medical staff took samples from the examiners at a Covid-19 test site in Washington, DC. (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 shortage continue to be difficult to solve, and the road to economic recovery in the United States is full of thorns. According to data from the US Department of Labor, the US consumer price index rose by 7% year-on-year in December last year, 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 people due to the epidemic was still as high as 3.1 million. The employment situation is still grim.
Politically, the struggle between the two parties in the United States and social tears have not eased, which has led Biden to fail to achieve policy goals such as easing racial conflicts, controlling the proliferation of guns, controlling border immigrants, and stopping violent law enforcement through congressional legislation. Recently, the two parties in Congress launched a fierce attack on two electoral reform bills proposed by Democrats to protect voters’ voting rights. The controversy over election reform may further deepen some conservative Republican voters’ doubts about Biden’s administration’s "ruling legitimacy."
On the diplomatic front, Biden promised to abolish a series of unilateralist policies during the Trump administration and prove to allies that "the United States is back." However, in diplomacy, he "broke more and established less" and lacked constructive policies. Some analysts believe that although Biden fulfilled his promise to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the withdrawal plan was sloppy, the process was chaotic and the consequences were serious, which was widely criticized; He emphasized stability and predictability in relations with Russia, but ignored Russia’s security concerns on issues related to Russia’s core interests such as the Ukrainian crisis, which led to the continuous deterioration of US-Russia relations. He promised to let the United States return to the Iranian nuclear deal, but he did not show enough flexibility in the negotiations with Iran, so the prospect of reaching an agreement between the two sides is still unclear.
Difficult to be recognized
When Biden took office, he made many promises: to cure American "democracy", to defeat the COVID-19 epidemic, to solve deep-rooted racial and economic problems, and to restore America’s position in the world. However, one year later, his performance in preventing and controlling epidemic situation, curbing inflation, and policy legislation has not been recognized by the American people.
According to a poll released by Quinnipiac University recently, voters’ satisfaction with Biden’s administration has dropped to 33%. The American media pointed out that Biden broke the record of popular votes in the 2020 US presidential election, but now he has become one of the most unpopular US presidents.
Bill galston, a researcher at the Brookings Institution in the United States, said that Biden failed to meet the expectations of voters, and his anti-epidemic performance was particularly disappointing. At the same time, the chaos of Afghanistan’s withdrawal has also seriously damaged the image of Biden’s government.
This is a photo of local residents and Taliban in Kandahar, Afghanistan on August 31, 2021. Kenneth Mackenzie, commander of the US Central Command, announced on August 30, 2021 that the US military has completed the task of withdrawing from Afghanistan, and the US military operations in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years have officially ended. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Sanaula)
Sarah Langweil, a Republican strategist in the United States, found through a one-year interview that Biden’s rating by voters continued to decline, and even "failed", and there were many democratic voters who were dissatisfied with Biden. Langweil believes that the survey results reflect people’s general dissatisfaction with the long-term persistence of the epidemic and rising inflation.
The Atlantic Monthly recently pointed out that compared with the consistent strong dissatisfaction of Republican voters with Biden, the rapid decline of Biden’s support rate among Democrats and independent voters deserves more attention. The internal differences and conflicts among the Democratic voters are becoming more and more obvious. Some voters think that the Democratic Party is not pushing the New Deal fast enough, while others disapprove of the ideas that the Democratic Party is pursuing at present.
Division remains the same
In recent years, the partisan struggle in the United States has become increasingly acute, and the opposition among the people has become increasingly fierce. The riots on Capitol Hill at the beginning of last year marked a new high in the top-down division of American society. One year after Biden took office, this polarization and tearing has not only not eased, but has further intensified.
Republicans totally deny Biden’s policy, American media are keen to play up opposing feelings, and former President Trump still has influence in the Republican Party, all of which are the reasons why the United States is deeply mired in opposition and tearing.
On January 6, US President Biden delivered a speech at the Capitol in Washington to commemorate the first anniversary of the riots on Capitol Hill. (Xinhua News Agency, Pool photo, photo by Michael Reynolds)
Rick Taylor, a Republican strategist, believes that Biden’s Democratic Party’s dominant position in Congress is extremely weak, and it is usually difficult to realize its policy proposition through legislation, and the presidential executive order he signed lacks overwhelming persuasion. This means that it is difficult for Biden to have the ability to unite the United States.
Analysts pointed out that over the past year, the division of the United States has been intensifying, Biden’s patience with Republicans has almost run out, and the two parties have been arguing over the reasons for the division. Some people even question whether it is necessary for the two parties to have a consensus. In this case, it seems destined to be an unreachable dream to bridge differences and unite the United States.
