Biden gets plenty of stick from both sides on several issues. Who’s right here? Let’s look at the record:
- INFLATION: RIGHT: Biden’s spending caused the inflation. Cutting spending will solve it. LEFT: Biden’s the president, right? He should have done something to make inflation go away! People are suffering, and the economy sucks! We don’t know what should be done, but the president should always have the answers. THE TRUTH: Democratic spending was a small, but meaningful, component of American inflation, which was primarily caused by dislocations resulting from the pandemic and was a worldwide phenomenon. The additional spending, which is now over, also fueled a recovery that is the envy of the world, and temporarily expanded the welfare state to the benefit of American workers. Today, the dislocations are over, and inflation has more or less returned to normal.
- GAZA: RIGHT: Bounce the rubble! Biden should forget about protecting Palestinian civilians and give unqualified support to Israel. LEFT: From the river to the sea! We need a cease-fire immediately to protect the Palestinians! The Israelis are imperialist occupiers! THE TRUTH: A cease-fire would represent an unwarranted victory for Hamas terrorism, and would only tempt them to do it again, but bouncing the rubble is cruel and myopic. The objectives are to enable an Israeli victory, to protect civilians to the maximum extent possible, and to demand a political solution fair to both sides after the war.
- STUDENT DEBT: RIGHT: Forgiving student debt doesn’t solve the affordability problem and unfairly taxes people without college educations for the benefit of the more fortunate. LEFT: Biden’s plan failed, so he sucks. We might just as well have Trump. THE TRUTH: Biden can’t control the Supreme Court. What is he supposed to do?
- IMMIGATION: RIGHT: America is full. We need to bring back Trump’s policies. Cruelty is necessary to create a deterrent. Biden has opened the border to everyone. LEFT: Biden is just as bad as Trump. We need to open our hearts, minds, and borders to the poor people who just want a safe place to live and work. THE TRUTH: What we need is a system that is humane, orderly, and predictable. The current system was designed and funded by Congress. Only Congress can solve the problems.
- CLIMATE CHANGE: RIGHT: Climate change is a hoax, or at most, a problem that can’t be solved without destroying the American economy. Focus on energy independence and stop worrying about it. Victims of wildfires and hurricanes are acceptable collateral damage. LEFT: Biden isn’t doing enough to solve the problem. In particular, there is way too much drilling being permitted. THE TRUTH: With a carbon tax off the table as a practical matter, and regulations likely to run afoul of the Supreme Court’s bogus “major questions” doctrine, the only thing left on the menu was subsidies. The IRA was a significant step forward, and the only one available to Biden.