Overseas Chinese Newspaper Editorial: Biden's year in power: there are not many bright spots, and it is difficult to move forward

At a press conference on the first anniversary of his administration held on January 19, US President Joe Biden reviewed his achievements in the past year as president in fighting the epidemic, creating new jobs, reducing child poverty rates, and advancing the passage of bipartisan bills on infrastructure construction in Congress; he also acknowledged the main difficulties he faced, such as the continuation of the epidemic, inflation, the Rebuilding for Better Act, and the obstruction of the voting rights reform and other important legislative agendas.

On the 19th, Biden held a press conference at the White House. (Image source: Associated Press)

Biden's sorting out of progress and difficulties is fairly objective; but he commented at the press conference that he "performed more than expected," and many people may not agree; and he also made a wish that "America will be better," which is even less convincing at the moment.

When Biden took office, he faced the mess left by his predecessor Trump: the passive fight against the epidemic made the epidemic worse; the congressional riots highlighted the crisis of American democracy and the risk of division; and various "abnormalities" in domestic and foreign affairs caused the United States to suffer a low credibility on the international stage. It is for this reason that Biden is pinned high hopes. A year has passed, and people have found that Biden's "performance report card" does have some content to write, but these so-called "bright spots" appear thin and bleak in the face of accumulated social problems, the dilemma of multiple problems at present, and the huge uncertainty of the road ahead. Biden's "U.S. presidential anniversary" is not a good day.

At his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021, Biden vowed to be "president of all Americans," committing to "unity," and promising to eliminate the pandemic and boost economic recovery. Just after taking office, Biden signed 17 executive orders involving returning to the Paris Agreement, returning to the World Health Organization, stopping the construction of the US-Mexico border wall, and canceling the "ban on Muslims", obviously rushing to "remove Trump's 'residual poison'". Shortly after he took office, on the one hand, the 1.9 trillion yuan bailout plan was passed and quickly signed and implemented in Congress, on the other hand, the new crown vaccine was rapidly promoted, and the goal of 100 million doses of new crown vaccination in 100 days of office was easily completed ahead of schedule. In his first few months in office, Biden's approval rating was impressive, reaching nearly 60 percent at its peak — a difficult one in the divided United States in recent years.

However, looking back a year later, biden's "list of achievements" is still the highlight of the first few items; the results of the subsequent dismal operations are either counterproductive or deeply controversial.

In terms of anti-epidemic, although the Biden administration has spared no effort to continue to promote vaccines - including expanding the age of vaccination, encouraging vaccination and strengthening needles, etc., due to the lack of tracking and isolation means and the insufficient supply of testing reagents, the ensuing virus variants such as Delta and Omicron have brought about one epidemic counterattack after another. The first anniversary of Biden's administration, the United States is in another peak of the epidemic, as of January 18, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the United States has reached 67.08 million. Overall, Biden's attitude towards the fight against the epidemic is much more important than Trump's, but from the current situation in the United States, this item has limited "plus points" for his overall performance.

In terms of economy, the United States once had a strong economic recovery in the first half of 2021, but after that, the sequelae of the Biden administration's "flood irrigation" relief measures, the coming and going of the epidemic, the intensification of supply chain crises, labor shortages and other factors have slowed down the recovery. The U.S. economy seems to be doing well from data such as the stock market, unemployment, growth rate, and even wage growth; however, high inflation rates "swallow" these beautiful numbers; the latest Labor Department data shows that inflation reached a nearly 40-year high in December 2021. The high inflation has greatly reduced the sense of security and happiness of ordinary people, and has also directly affected people's satisfaction with the current president.

From the perspective of internal affairs, the "unity" that Biden is focusing on is difficult to achieve - the division between politics and society is originally a problem that is difficult to return, and the Biden administration does not have any breakthrough measures, and it is expected that this problem will not be solved. Partisan politics has dragged down Biden's legislative agenda, resulting in limited legislative progress in specific areas such as immigration, race, voting, gun control and other specific areas this year.

From a diplomatic point of view, Biden focuses on practicing the "return of the United States", which has the effect, but it is difficult to meet expectations. The United States, led by Biden, still cannot find its right place in a changed world — pursuing a revitalizing leadership position, but failing to achieve its goals.

In short, judging from the situation on the occasion of the first anniversary of his administration, Biden has few bright spots and is struggling; all aspects are basically in a weak state of "relying on heaven to reap". Biden, who is nearly eighty years old, represents the Democratic Party and leads the United States, waddling and staggering forward. (End)