This is the tenth edition of the Biden Tracking newsletter. This week I’m focusing on Biden’s State of the Union address. Though I will also discuss the end of the national COVID emergency, new oil drilling proposals in Alaska, and corruption by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. It is Wednesday, February 8th, 2023, day 750 of the Biden Presidency.
On the State of the Union:
President Biden’s second State of the Union was good, but not great. When on script, President Biden handled himself well and was even able to advocate for good progressive policies like the Pro Act and a billionaire tax. Just advocating for these policies is not enough, but advocating for progressive policies in front of 30 million people does speak to their popularity.
On the other hand, scripted comments on immigration (“If you won’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border.”), police reform (“I know most cops are good, decent people. They risk their lives every time they put on that shield. But what happened to Tyre in Memphis happens too often. We have to do better. Give law enforcement the training they need, hold them to higher standards, and help them succeed in keeping everyone safe.”), COVID (“While the virus is not gone, thanks to the resilience of the American people, we have broken COVID’s grip on us.”) and China (“if China’s threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”) missed badly. The comments on Police Reform, Immigration, and COVID represent a theme you should have noticed throughout this presidency: policies that don’t fix the problems they are supposed to solve. On China, another common theme: Biden’s still a war hawk at heart.
Off script, President Biden struggled. He had moments where statements made little sense (“name me one world leader that would change places with Xi Jinping”), though negotiating live, off script, with Republicans for Social Security and Medicare did show he had some fire left. It was what wasn’t said that was most interesting, no mentions of a $15 minimum wage, legalizing marijuana, or a public healthcare option. But it could have been worse. Biden could have tried to look as moderate as possible, or totally flopped on live TV. But just remember, the State of the Union is just talk. Actions always speak louder than words.
In Other News:
Monday, January 30th (Day 741)
President Biden to End the National COVID Emergency on May 11th
Last Monday, President Biden announced that the national COVID emergency would end on May 11th. I talked about this being a possibility in a prior newsletter. There is a good argument that we are still in a COVID emergency, as I’m writing this 500 people are still dying in the United States, each day, from COVID. But the other ramifications of this decision are massive. The KFF, linked in the headline, did a great job going through them. Essentially, this will cause COVID vaccines, tests, and treatments to become much more expensive. For tests and treatments these extra costs could come immediately, for vaccines it’s much more complicated. Because of federal rules insured Americans shouldn’t need to worry too much about these costs, as long as they are in network. For uninsured Americans though, once the federal vaccine stockpile is depleted, costs will increase significantly for vaccines. At this point, it is unclear how this decision will affect the proposed Student Loan relief by the Biden administration. The reasoning used by the Biden administration was based on the existence of the national COVID emergency. The one piece of good news is that this will likely mean the end of Title 42, which was also based on the national COVID emergency. But don’t get too excited, Republican states will still challenge the end of the policy, and, as I will mention later, there will be another anti-asylum policy that will go into effect to replace it.
Wednesday, February 1st (Day 743)
Biden Administration Releases Study Recommending Major Alaskan Oil Drilling
Despite a promise to end new oil and gas drilling on federal lands, on Wednesday the Biden Administration released a study that recommends new drilling in Alaska’s North Slope as part of the Willow project. It should be noted that the U.S. Interior Department said in a separate statement that it has “substantial concerns” about the project and the report’s preferred alternative, “including direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and impacts to wildlife and Alaska Native subsistence.” Critics have called the project a “Carbon Bomb.” The fight is not over yet, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, as well as other top White House officials, will have the final say on approving the project.
Sunday, February 5th (Day 747)
New Poll Finds 58 Percent of Democrats Want the Party To Nominate Someone Else in 2024
Prior to the State of the Union, a new ABC/Washington Post poll on Sunday found that 58% of Democrats want the party to nominate someone else in 2024. President Biden does especially badly with Democrats ages 18 to 39, 69% of whom want Democrats to nominate someone else. Polls like this are at odds with the many elected and formally elected Democrats who continue to insist that President Biden is Democrats best bet for 2024. To date, no major Democrat has launched a 2024 Presidential bid, only Marianne Williamson has even formed an exploratory committee. Democrats cannot claim to be the party of democracy if no one serious opposes Biden in the 2024 primaries.
Monday, February 6th (Day 748)
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has a Cosy Relationship with a Currupt Meat Company
A new Daily Beast article on Monday revealed some troubling dealings between Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Brazilian meat company JBS. In the fall, the Biden Administration announced that the company, which has been accused of corruption, child labor, and not caring about workers with COVID, would receive a major government contract. Now we know why. The former Chief of Staff for Vilsack, Karla Thieman, received a brand new executive job from the company. Corruption runs deep in the United States.
Tuesday, February 7th (Day 749)
Biden Administration to Finalize Trump-era Asylum Transit Ban on May 11th
In a filing to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the Biden Administration said they were planning to finalize a plan to re-institute a Trump-era Asylum Transit Ban on May 11th, 2023, the day the COVID Emergency, and likely Title 42, would end. As I’ve discussed before in this newsletter, the policy would require asylum seekers to first apply for asylum in countries they pass through before they are eligible for Asylum in the United States. The ACLU successfully sued to stop the Trump Administration's version of the policy and has already said they would do the same for this policy. The Biden Administration has said that their policy will have much wider exceptions than Trump’s, but they have not yet revealed the exceptions.
Quick Reads: