GIVING THANKS FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN
We should all be giving thanks for President Biden. He and his administration have taken historic steps to protect America’s democracy politically and economically. He is leading the charge to restore fairness and competitiveness in the U.S. economy. He is finding creative ways to support local governments in states where right-wing Republican Governors and legislatures are blocking progressive local policies. Biden has nominated, and the Democrats in the Senate have confirmed, over 150 very diverse judges. He is tackling economic inequality by enforcing our tax laws so the rich pay what they owe.
(Note: If you find my posts too long to read on occasion, please just skim the bolded portions. They present the key points I’m making. Thanks for reading my blog!)
I hope you are finding many things to give thanks for this Thanksgiving, despite the troubled state of the world and our democracy. We should all be giving thanks for the accomplishments of President Biden and his administration.
President Biden and his administration have taken historic steps, with remarkable success, in the fight to protect America’s democracy politically and economically, including standing up for workers and consumers. His administration has resurrected the idea that government can promote economic growth by regulating businesses, investing in ordinary Americans, and protecting workers and consumers. This was the American social contract that was in place from 1933 to 1980. Since 1980, Republicans have torn up that social contract and instead deregulated business, including ignoring antitrust laws that had blocked the growth of huge, monopolistic companies. The result has been that trillions of dollars have been taken from lower- and middle-class workers and consumers and given to the richest 1% of Americans. [1]
President Biden has been leading the charge to restore fairness and competitiveness in the U.S. economy. The economy is displaying remarkably strong growth and a dramatic increase in jobs (13.2 million) (both are stronger than under President Trump). With Biden’s support, workers have made dramatic gains. For example, the United Auto Workers have reached an agreement with the auto makers that includes a 25% wage increase over the next 4.5 years, along with cost-of-living adjustments that will bring the increases up to an estimated 33%. [2]
In 2021, Biden signed an Executive Order requiring agencies throughout the executive branch to promote competition in the economy. His administration is reinvigorating the enforcement of antitrust laws that had been mostly ignored for the past 40 years. It has focused on opposing large monopolistic corporations’ proposed mergers and acquisitions that would make them even larger and more powerful. The filing of antitrust litigation or the threat to do so has stopped the merger of big publishers Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House, the anti-competitive partnership of Jet Blue and American Airlines, as well as several proposed mergers in the health care, energy, and technology sectors of the economy. Antitrust investigations of Apple, Ticketmaster, and Visa are underway. In 2023, the value of completed mergers is down 40% from the average of the past five years largely because of the administration’s focus on enforcement of antitrust laws. [3]
Biden and his administration have also focused broadly on reducing anti-worker and anti-consumer business practices. It is working to reduce junk fees, eliminate non-compete clauses in most employment contracts, and end mandatory arbitration clauses in many consumer contracts. His administration has broken up the hearing aid cartel making hearing aids cheaper and more readily accessible. It has issued new regulations on broadband service providers and railroad corporations. It has revived the prohibition on directors serving simultaneously on the boards of competitors, which can lead to anti-competitive behavior in the market place and insider trading in the stock market. It won an $85 million settlement from agricultural giant Cargill and others for collusion to suppress workers’ wages.
The Biden administration is finding creative ways to support local governments in states where right-wing Republican Governors and legislatures are blocking progressive local policies. For example, in 2011, Wisconsin Republicans blocked local governments from requiring employers to offer paid sick leave, as Milwaukee had done. Fifteen states have passed similar laws including Texas, which has also blocked local governments from expanding voting options, taking some Covid response measures, and regulating local oil and gas drilling. In Florida, the state is controlling what local schools can teach and what books they can have. In Georgia, the state criminalized the provision of food and water to people waiting to vote at local polling places. And the list goes on and on. [4]
Perhaps the most dramatic step Biden has taken to support local governments is making federal funding available directly to them instead of having it flow through state governments, as has traditionally been the case. For example, the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act sent $130 billion directly to municipalities along with $220 billion to state governments. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $196 billion for surface transportation grants that municipalities can apply for directly. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act includes a novel mechanism that allows municipalities to take advantage of tax credits for renewable energy projects.
Biden has nominated, and the Democrats in the Senate have confirmed, over 150 judges who may well be called on to protect our democracy (particularly around the 2024 elections) and our rights in the face of the right-wing and authoritarian onslaught from Republicans and former President Trump. In addition to the quality of these judges (in stark contrast to some who were nominated and approved under Trump and President George W. Bush), they are much more diverse than those nominated and confirmed under those Republican Presidents. Of Biden’s first 150 judges, 100 are women and 98 are people of color. [5]
President Biden is tackling economic inequality by enforcing our tax laws so the rich pay what they owe. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act provided new funding for the IRS to enhance enforcement. In just a few months, it has recovered $38 million in delinquent taxes from 175 high-income taxpayers. It is estimated that for each dollar the IRS spends auditing the top 1% of taxpayers it will recover $3.18; from the top 0.1%, it will recover $6.29 for each $1 spent. A study in 2021 estimated that the 1% of people with the highest incomes failed to report more than 20% of their earnings to the IRS [6]
These are just some examples of the many steps President Biden and his administration have taken to promote fairness and competition in our economy, as well as to re-establish our democracy’s promise of equal opportunity for all. These actions are guided by his principles and values for our economy, our society, and our democracy. A subsequent post will put his actions in this larger context.
[1] Richardson, H. C., 10/30/23, “Letters from an American blog,” https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-30-2023
[2] Richardson, H. C., 10/26/23, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-26-2023)
[3] Norris, W., 10/29/23, “Winning the anti-monopoly game,” Washington Monthly (https://washingtonmonthly.com/2023/10/29/winning-the-anti-monopoly-game/)
[4] Norris, W., 4/4/23, “How Biden is using federal power to liberate localities,” Washington Monthly (https://washingtonmonthly.com/2023/04/04/how-biden-is-using-federal-power-to-liberate-localities/)
[5] Puzzanghera, J., 11/19/23, “For Biden, a full court press to fill US bench,” The Boston Globe
[6] Richardson, H. C., 10/30/23, “Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-30-2023)