Joe Biden isn’t going to let this stop him
As Republicans continue to push the “big lie” and do nothing for middle class America, President Joe Biden’s plans zero in on that very group of people. As the Washington Post points out, the middle class has lost confidence that they can do better than their parents and that this will continue with their children. It is little wonder this feeling is so prevalent. The last few years have shown us that many politicians put corporations above people and have done absolutely nothing to bolster that confidence by elevating the middle class. President Biden wants to change that.
During his speech last week, President Biden said: “It’s time to grow the economy from the bottom and middle out,” debunking the erroneous belief in “trickle down” economics. The notion of trickle down began with President Ronald Reagan and his “Reaganomics” theory that stimulating business would benefit the economy overall. According to the Balance, the theory seemed to be working when Reagan first introduced it because it ended the 1980 recession. What most fail to remember, however, is that Reagan also increased government spending at the same time. According to the U.S. Treasury, Reagan tripled the national debt. Instead of helping the middle class, the trickle-down theory has, instead, increased the gap in wealth, helping the already wealthy to become even more wealthy while choking out the middle class. Clearly, trickle down does not work, and Biden is wise to seize upon that and make it clear to everyone that we need to try something else.
That something else involves investing in American workers and families. Though President Biden’s plan will address aging roads and bridges, upgrading electrical grids, and investing in research, his team believes that expanded access to broadband, parental leave, and higher wages for childcare workers is vital. Pointing to the number of women who have entered the work force in the last 50 years, the Biden administration realizes that accommodations are necessary for working mothers to realize success. Indeed, working women have been hit hardest by the pandemic as they were forced to leave paying jobs. According to Betsey Stevenson, a University of Michigan professor and former Obama administration official, the U.S. is the one industrialized country that fails to offer the support necessary to working women, and that must change. Everyone who is able and willing to work should be able to do so without being hampered by the cost and availability of quality childcare.
Republicans are up in arms about the projected cost of President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, but that is nothing new. Both Reagan and Trump added to the deficit with unwise tax cuts, and Bush squandered the surplus left by Bill Clinton with an unnecessary war. The deficit, then, should not be an issue with President Biden’s plans, especially considering that he has already devised a plan to offset the cost, which Republicans also do not want, which is raising taxes on the top 1% and corporations. Republicans do absolutely nothing for the American people. They need to sit down, shut up, and allow President Biden to work for the good of this country.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years