Editorial by Lynda Goldberg
Don’t like the choices in 2024? Thinking of voting for a third-party candidate? Just think about the people who voted for the Libertarian or Green Party candidates in 2016 because they didn’t like Hillary. Or, the 97,000 votes Ralph Nader got in Florida in 2000, where George W. Bush won by 537 votes. (nytimes.com/2023/05/03/opinion/biden-trump-third-party-2024.html)
Ask yourself if you are better off now than you were before President Biden took office….
à 20,000 people per week were dying of COVID-19 in January 2021; (nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html);
à Unemployment rates are the lowest since 1969 (rate was 6.3% in 1/21; hit 3.4% in 2/23; fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE);
à More jobs have been added in Biden’s first term than under any other president (https://americanindependent.com/economy-jobs-report-unemployment-joe-biden-bureau-labor-statistics/);
à Our international standing has improved (news.gallup.com/poll/355979/ratings-record-low-trump-exits-rally-biden.aspx);
à Manufacturing sector has boomed due to the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act (nytimes.com/2023/04/20/opinion/
manufacturing-biden-trump.html);
à Biden has racked up more bipartisan wins than any president in a generation.
For example: the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (raising the debt ceiling): 314 votes in the House with 165 Democrats and 149 Republicans; 63 votes in the Senate with 46 Democrats and 17 Republicans (congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3746)
Δ House Republicans passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act in April 2023. This would have caused hundreds of thousands of Americans to lose jobs and health coverage, derailed manufacturing boom, gutted public investments in veterans’ care, education, border security, and food security. (bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-24/republican-debt-ceiling-plan-would-boost-joblessness-zandi-says; nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/house-gop-debt-bill-would-throw-600-000-off-health-insurance.html; news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-tax-report/energy-industry-warns-projects-in-danger-if-gop-debt-bill-moves;washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/23/mccarthy-debt-ceiling-plan-theater/)
*Respect for Marriage Act in December 2022: 258 in House, including 39 Republicans; 61 in Senate, including 12 Republicans (congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8404);
*Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November 2021: 221 in House, including 2 Republicans; 69 in Senate, including 19 Republicans (congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684);
*Bipartisan support for welcoming Sweden and Finland into NATO: Senate Resolution of Ratification passed 95-1 (senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00282.htm#top) House Resolution 1130 passed 394-18 (congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/1130);
*CHIPS and Science Act in July 2022: 215 in House, including 1 Republican; 64 in Senate, including
17 Republicans (congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4346)
*PACT Act of 2022 for expanded veterans’ benefits: 342 in House, including 123 Republicans; 86 in Senate, including 39 Republicans (congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3373);
*Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in June 2022: 230 in House, including 10 Republicans; 65 in Senate, including 15 Republicans -first major legislation to address gun violence in three decades (congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2938)
*Postal Service Reform Act of 2022: 342 in House, including 120 Republicans; 79 in Senate, including 29 Republicans (congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3076);
*Emmett Till Antilynching Act: House Resolution 55 – passed 422-3, including 201 Republicans voting yea (congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/55);
*Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022, which was added to an Omnibus Appropriations Package: (whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/16/fact-sheet-reauthorization-of-the-violence-against-women-act-vawa)
Biden’s Legislative Public Infrastructure Projects
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