I don’t believe we have ever seen a president so willing to make policy completely and utterly subservient to politics. In the Biden administration, politics dictates policy.
It’s embarrassing for the country, and it should be embarrassing for the Democratic Party. It’s so bad that other countries are now mocking President Biden.
Take, for example, Biden’s on-again, off-again embrace of fossil fuels. We know Biden loves green energy and hates fossil fuels and wants to destroy the fossil fuel industry. At least, that’s what he said in his presidential campaign. Though even that position may have been driven by politics—i.e., his need to attract progressives’ support.
But with the midterm elections around the corner and the public angry about high gas prices, Biden had to humble himself before Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Biden said he would make an international pariah.
Politics dictates policy.
But after Biden’s and the Democrats’ public anger over OPEC’s decision to reduce oil production by 2 million barrels a day, and the Biden administration’s asking the Saudis to hold off on the reduction for a month (i.e., after the midterm elections), the Saudis gave Biden a little advice during an international investment conference. If the United States wants more oil on the market, it should produce it.
They’re right, of course.
But perhaps the most egregious recent example is Biden’s new-found love for the public health law known as Title 42, which allows the government to return undocumented immigrants to Mexico during a public health emergency. That would be the public health emergency Biden recently said was over—again for political reasons.
Biden railed against Trump’s use of Title 42, repeatedly claiming Trump’s policies were insensitive and “not who we are.” He’s been threatening to end that policy for months.
And yet Biden’s now using Title 42 to turn back Venezuelans, who are surging at the southern border. Given that Venezuela is a failed socialist country that persecutes its citizens, Venezuelans probably have a stronger claim to refugee status than most of those who have crossed our southern border with ease.
In interviews, Venezuelan families say they saw how easy it was to get in and thought the U.S. door was wide open. These migrants’ only mistake was showing up right before the midterm elections, when border encounters just hit a record 2.2 million, and voters are sick and tired of Biden’s Open Borders policy. So, Title 42 lives—at least for now.
Politics dictates policy.
We could go on—and on, and on. But you get the point.
When historians look back on Biden’s presidency and ask the question, “What did he stand for?” They will likely conclude he stood for nothing—especially when it meant getting Democrats elected.
November 1, 2022