- For over two years, Biden has governed the nation as a figurehead with limited awareness
- America is bursting at the seams with dissatisfaction, with a low TIPP Direction of Country Index score for the past 25 months
- The federal government appears chaotic, with different constituencies pursuing their goals independently and little coordination among agencies
- The administration's formula is to blame the GOP and the MAGA movement for its problems and demand increased federal spending
For over two years, Americans have experienced a proxy presidency. They know two truths.
Truth #1: President Biden is a figurehead who is mostly clueless about what is happening around him. So, someone else must be running the White House. But who? Is it former President Obama from his Washington D.C. home, the only former President who never left the Beltway? Or is it a coterie of former presidential aspirants from the 2020 campaign (Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar) along with Biden's cabinet who are calling the shots?
Truth #2: Americans are deeply dissatisfied with what is happening to the country. The TIPP Direction of Country Index for this month is 36.9. The index ranges from 0 to 100, with 50 being neutral, above 50 optimism, and below 50 pessimism. The index plunged below 50 to the negative territory in September 2021, the month following the embarrassing, disorderly American withdrawal from Afghanistan under Biden’s leadership. It has stayed there for the past 25 months. Notably, both Republicans and independents have been in the negative zone for the entirety of Biden’s term.
The TIPP index is consistent with the RealClearPolitics data, which shows that more than 63% of Americans think America is going down the wrong track. Even more remarkably, in four of five polls that RCP averages, fewer than 30% of Americans think America is headed in the right direction: Economist/YouGov (23%); Harvard-Harris (29%); Newsnation (28%); and Reuters/Ipsos (13%).
Without an effective leader at the helm, the federal government has become a chaotic mess, with each embedded constituency pursuing its own goals with little coordination among the various agencies. With each succeeding month, chaos has turned into a full-blown crisis that has spread across every cabinet department.
But there are two strategies about which everyone in the administration agrees: Blame the GOP and the MAGA movement for administration ills and demand more federal spending.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is an outstanding example of the Biden administration's incompetence at work. Every day, she dutifully goes up to the podium, lies, and defends the administration through distractions and blame. We illustrate this through an actual exchange that occurred yesterday:
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy: "What do you call it when ten thousand people illegally cross the border in a single day?"
KJP: "So here's what I will say, and you've heard me say this a couple of times, and I'll say it again because it is the facts. On day one, the first day of this president's administration, he put forth a comprehensive immigration reform that we believe, we believe was desperately needed for this country. As we know, and you've heard us say this many times before, we are dealing with a broken system. And no action was taken from Congress, and so what the president was able to do, he imposed consequences for those who do not have the legal basis to remain, and he has removed more than 250,000 individuals, this administration has done so, since May 12."
Doocy: "But, when you spoke last month, and you said we are stopping the flow at the border. Is 10,000 migrants in a single day stopping the flow?" Doocy asked.
KJP: "What I will say is, I just mentioned, 250 [thousand] individuals have been stopped who do not have the legal pathway to come in. That has been since May 12. And, as we are looking at Eagle Pass, and I know this is kind of where the issue is at the moment. You know, CBP quickly surged resources and personnel to the area, and thanks to their great work, we're able to swiftly vet and process into custody more than 2,500 individuals and cleared the area where migrants had congregated. And that's the work of our law enforcement. That's the work of our law enforcement at the border. Remember, House Republicans are trying to cut that."
Does anyone really believe KJP?
Americans cringe at what is happening across our Southern Border. More than 6 million migrants have entered America, inundating cities. The migrant crisis is 100% the result of the "welcome-mat" policies adopted by the Biden administration to show that it differs from the Trump administration. But as the invasion continues, the administration scrambles to respond - with the same old, tired approaches of blaming Congress and asking for more money.
To be sure, Congress did not create the current crisis because Congress hasn't acted on immigration in decades, but under previous administrations, even Obama's, the migration crisis was never this terrible.
On the war in Ukraine, it is now increasingly clear that the Neocons in the Biden administration walked away repeatedly from preventing Russia's attack on Ukraine by not engaging in peace talks before a single shot was fired. Further, Biden’s energy dependence enriched Putin’s coffers to fund the war. Now, they are arguing for continued hostilities to help weaken the Russian military at an astounding cost to human lives, the American treasury (more than $120 billion have been appropriated thus far), and America's global standing.
The Biden administration created the Ukraine crisis and now blames the MAGA Republicans for not continuing to fund the Ukraine war. How do we know? For four years under President Trump, not a single Russian soldier trespassed into Ukraine.
Former President Trump is polling at more than 60% in a packed GOP nomination contest - an astounding lead over his rivals. Americans fondly remember his presidency compared to the chaotic mess we're in today. Ridiculous tweets seem like such a minor inconvenience.
But most importantly, Americans know that Trump will be calling the shots should he return to the White House. No more proxy presidency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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