How do you think US President Joe Biden is doing so far?

He’s entirely successful in being a not-Trump. So that goes a long way for me.

He stood up to the Deep State and ended the war in Afghanistan, which I never thought he would do. I kind of thought Trump would actually do it, but when that didn’t happen I was pretty sure Biden wouldn’t either, but I was wrong. In most other ways Biden is just more of the same. I’m sure that nothing significant will change re. immigration or climate policy. I’ll have more to say if the infrastructure bill goes anywhere.

I’m already surprised at both your answers as I see you two as less biased in politics, as most of what news I’m reading is that most veteran Democrats are not thrilled.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/08/democrats-bet-biden-bounce-back-510366

@KNOWITALL Well, I’m not surprised. As Paul Maslin is quoted as saying in that article, “You can argue what he’s doing or not doing, but it’s almost irrelevant. If things are chaotic and wrong, it ain’t going to help him”. The climate is getting exponentially worse every year, the pandemic is still going strong, the border crisis is nowhere near being solved, gridlock in Congress prevents anything from getting done…the only thing we’re not seeing now are riots in the streets like last summer, but I’m sure there will be another police-involved killing that can set those off. I don’t see any president not losing popularity shortly into their presidency at this point in American history. President of this shitshow is the absolute last job in the world I’d want.

He has had shortcomings and made mistakes, and he has tried to re-unify the country with little success, but he isn’t acting out of self service or meanness.
He is doing better than i expected, but not as well as I hoped.
Seriously, who expected so many on the right to refuce vaccines?

He’s not inciting riots, not making fun of mentally ill people, not downgrading women and people in general. I think he’s doing well.

He got us out of Afghanistan. It was sloppy, but I mostly blame the military for that one. It’s not like they didn’t have 2 decades to plan their exit.

In every other way, he’s going to maintain the status quo. The middle class will continue to decline, the younger generations will continue to have less opportunities than their parents, life expectancy is going to continue to decline, and billionaires may soon become trillionaires, and the planet will continue to experience climate change at an increasing rate, pushing us even closer to the point of no return.

There’s a good chance this stagnation will result in more extremist populist right wing candidates being elected in the future out of desperation for change.

Biden’s been doing about as well as could be expected on most fronts, it seems to me. I didn’t have particularly high hopes, but he has exceeded mine by quite a bit.

Not being Trump was my base-line expectation, and he’s done a great job of that, and has un-done many of Trump’s acts of horribleness, and done some good.

I do think all non-Trump-supporters everywhere should be non-stop calling that criminal would-be-dictator a criminal would-be-dictator, and not trying to cooperate with filibustering Republicans, nor giving Trump-supporters or coup-deniers ANY respect.

@filmfann How would anyone “re-unify the country” at this point, without condemning what Trump and his supporters did to try to overturn the election?

It seems to me that the only way to do that is to condemn everyone who supported Trump’s attempted coup (which at this point includes most Republicans in Congress) and prosecute them to the fullest extent possible.

@gorillapaws I agree on all points. Unfortunately. What do you think the chances of a populist left-wing candidate coming to power are? Why is it only the far right that has a chance?

He’s not perfect by any means but he is a 100 times better than his predecessor.

@Demosthenes “What do you think the chances of a populist left-wing candidate coming to power are? Why is it only the far right that has a chance?”
– Because the fundamental political situation in the US is NOT left-vs-right – that’s the decoy used by the two big parties, and the mainstream media, ALL of which are controlled by big-money & corporate interests, not popular interests.

@KNOWITALL I didn’t say I was thrilled with him. I said he’s not Trump, which goes a long way with me. However, I think the situation on the border is a travesty and the rapid pullout from Afghanistan was a disaster. I am happy with his vaccine mandate. I am unhappy with his incompetence in dealing with Congress. I am happy with his aggressive attacks on the Texas abortion law

So, mixed reviews. But I always have mixed reviews with governments, it’s one of the banes of being an independant. But he’s normal and not a national tragedy like Trump is.

@Caravanfan Texas Democrats feel he’s blowing them off. I’m just over here reading and listening, but seems that Mid-terms aren’t looking great for Democrats right now and past trajectory does show a trend towards the Right in these situations, @Demosthenes.

@Demosthenes “What do you think the chances of a populist left-wing candidate coming to power are?”

Sadly, I think it’s low. The Democratic Party’s raison d’être is to prevent progressive policy. The rhetoric may sound nice, but they’ll make sure that actual policies will be killed/gutted behind closed doors (“Oh no, the unelected, easily replaceable at any time Parliamentarian said we can’t do x, so I guess there’s nothing we can do! We tried so hard to make this happen for our working class base but just couldn’t get it done.”).

Bernie is the perfect example (though certainly not the only one). No other candidate in history had such a strong lead in the primaries only to have the establishment go all-in to destroy his chances. They’ve proven they’re willing to lie/cheat/steal to ensure we don’t have progressive change.

I think he’s doing about as well as could be expected considering all the crap that is going on in the world.

@KNOWITALL American politics is just a system of flip-flopping between the two major parties in hopes that the change of party will “fix everything”, but it never does. The illusion of coming change is a big part of maintaining the status quo. I won’t be surprised if there is no president going forward whose party actually wins the midterms of the president’s first term (unless something in the system radically changes).

@kritiper Biden could have joined the protesters in kayaks in front of Manchin’s Yacht.

@gorillapaws ?

@kritiper The point is there are things he could be doing to pressure politicians obstructing his agenda that he’s not doing.

@gorillapaws He’s a lot like Obama was. Remember the genocide in Syria?

It seems to me that the Democrats always assume that everybody is going to play by the rules and the Republicans NEVER play by the rules!

Not an American, but can’t say he has made an impression.

Al Gore mentioned in his 2007 movie “An Inconvenient Truth” that the “point of no return” on climate change could be reached within 10 years.

@kritiper ”...the “point of no return” on climate change could be reached within 10 years.”

We may have already passed it.

@gorillapaws My point exactly!

I think he’s a decent, well meaning man doing a difficult, hard to please people job. That’s about the extent of it. I’d have much rather had Sanders in Office. Bernie a fighter, and I like that. At the same time, he won’t allow thugishness among his supporters, and has made it plain more than once that we don’t want trouble makers. And I like that as well. Biden is just too laid back and bland. “Hi, I’m Joe Biden. Like me please”. Yawn…

Biden is a mediocre president in a tough situation. There is no unity among Democrats and little willingness among Republicans to cooperate in any way. The Republicans want to see Biden fail. It is a wonder that they are backing the infrastructure bill, probably because they would look awful opposing it.

@LostInParadise “It is a wonder that they are backing the infrastructure bill”

The bipartisan infrastructure bill is a blowjob to corporate interests—It’s essentially a right-wing bill.

He’s OK. As so many have said, if we had elected a chicken it would still be better than trump

He’s concerned about climate change and that’s a big one for me.

He also has Obama’s input and that’s HUGE.

@Dutchess_III “He’s concerned about climate change and that’s a big one for me.”

You believe he’s sincere when he publicly expresses concern for climate change? Do you think he’s concerned enough to take dramatic action?

Yes. And I think he’ll try to take dramatic action…which will be thwarted by the idiot Republicans.

@Dutchess_III Why won’t he fire the Parliamentarian then?

I’m not sure what you’re saying @gorillapaws.

Biden is doing OK and I no longer worry so much about the US or the world now Trump is not in charge. Have there been better presidents than Biden? Yes, for sure. Have there been worse presidents than Trump? No, I don’t think there have.

@gorillapaws Not his monkey, not his circus.
Frankly, the role of the parliamentarian is to call balls and strikes, and to decide nonpartisanly. So Biden won’t fire her, but Trump would have tried.

@filmfann She ruled that $15 minimum wage wouldn’t affect the budget. Give me a fucking break. Think about how much less welfare would be paid out if companies are paying their employees a living wage, increased tax revenue, etc. That’s not calling balls-and-strikes, that’s effectively acting as a de facto veto on any and all legislation she wants.

She just recently ruled that immigration reform wouldn’t affect the budget. Again, that’s nonsense. How many taxpayers would that add?

She can be replaced at will and the position has been replaced at will in the past. The fact that she hasn’t been replaced indicates that Biden/Pelosi/Schumer/etc. are content to use her as a convenient excuse for not implementing any meaningful action—it’s intentional.

There are plenty of executive orders that Biden could enact to address climate change, that he won’t do. His policies seem mostly focused around the Paris Climate Accords, which is woefully inadequate to address the problem.

Considering the dumpster fire he was handed, and the continuous roadblocks thrown at him by insurrectionists, he is doing ok.
The market is at record levels so investors also think he’s doing something right. Consumer spending is also on the rise and that means consumers have more confidence as well.
Afghanistan obviously could have been better but he was following the path set in motion by the previous admin.

Biden doesn’t have his family as Special Consultant being paid you the government.

Biden isn’t connected to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Buddies Tried to Get the VA to Sell Access to Veterans’ Medical Records. It showed the trio had a hand in budgeting and contracting, their interest in turning patient data into a revenue stream.

Trump was only President to make money for him, his family and his cronies.

^Nor is Biden tied to the My Pillow guy.

. . . Rudy Kazootie is another one the Biden isn’t connected to . . .

Wow, thanks for all the answers, a pretty mixed bag of ‘pretty good’ is my general takeaway.

He says a lot of nice words. He’s got a great press secretary. But he had no intention of following through on campaign promises (e.g., student loan debt) and has done a shit job with immigration and southern boarder issues. Not a fan, but not surprised.

@KNOWITALL I didn’t say he was “pretty good”. In fact I told where he has been a complete disaster. But I would have voted for LITERALLY anybody but Trump. If you take Trump out of the equation and pretend he never existed and compare Biden to other presidents except for Trump, I’d give him a C.

I don’t curse at the TV like I used to so for that sort of relief alone, Biden is terrific.

He’s a career politician, old and tired. Good thing the president is not Caesar.

@Caravanfan Hit it on the head.

@Caravanfan Heard and received times a million, buddy! Haha!
Hope thing’s are calmer for you. Hugs.

“Not Trump” but still a complete shit rough equivalent.

All things considered, I think he’s doing as well as I expected. He doesn’t seem to be in it for himself, which is nice after the last four years. Has he been perfect? Of course not. No one can make everyone happy or everything they want happen in the blink of an eye, so he has faced some major obstacles. I sometimes get the feeling ever other politician wants what they want “yesterday” and not a day later, never mind the morass of issues that he has to deal with.

He is doing the job I fully expected him to do.

He is the center-right lesser evil that I expected. He has done nothing to convince me to vote for him in a primary, but I would have no problem voting for him again in a general election against Trump or any similar candidate.

@gorillapaws “Oh no, the unelected, easily replaceable at any time Parliamentarian said we can’t do x, so I guess there’s nothing we can do!”

Biden is an institutionalist. He promised not to do the kind of large-scale norm breaking that his predecessor did, and most of the party signed on to that message. It’s not really surprising when the party that campaigned on not doing end runs around laws and institutions refuses to do an end run around laws and institutions.

“She ruled that $15 minimum wage wouldn’t affect the budget.”

No, she didn’t. She said that including it in the bill violated the Byrd rule, which is the rule that governs reconciliation.

“She just recently ruled that immigration reform wouldn’t affect the budget.”

Again, no she didn’t. The Byrd rule isn’t just “does it affect the budget?”

@Irukandji The parliamentarian is the most powerful person in DC, with respect to determining what legislation can/can’t be passed. She is unelected, and there is very little known about her publicly. Who is she married to? Does she have any conflicts of interest?

As for the Byrd Rule, what provisions of the Byrd Rule qualifies either of those two examples as “extraneous?”

”...most of the party signed on to that message.”
Most of the party wants an unelected person to essentially decide what laws can/can’t be passed without any transparency? Really?

He is doing a wonderful job of pushing the World Economic Forum’s global “Build Back Better” agenda to usher in The Great Reset.
You know, the agenda being pushed by the same global corporations who have been pillaging the earth and are now going to save us all from themselves.

A wonderful job…

@gorillapaws What I find most absurd is that all I did was point out that you were mistaken about what the Senate parliamentarian said, and you came back with this rant about wanting to know who she’s sleeping with. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since your main strategy in these discussions seems to be “misrepresent what someone said and then change the subject.”

“Most of the party wants an unelected person to essentially decide what laws can/can’t be passed without any transparency?”

See? You know I didn’t say that, but you just couldn’t help yourself. Maybe I should ask if you support systematically removing all checks and balances on partisan power grabs in favor of government by cronyism. I know you don’t believe that, but it’s just as (in)accurate an interpretation of your position as your statement is of mine.

Does the Senate parliamentarian hold significant procedural power? Yes. So do judges and other (often unelected) people who act as checks on those holding elected office. But unlike judges, a parliamentarian’s ruling is non-binding. The Senate parliamentarian offers advice and recommendations that hold a lot of institutional sway, but they can be overruled and ignored.

“As for the Byrd Rule, what provisions of the Byrd Rule qualifies either of those two examples as ‘extraneous?’”

According to the MacDonough, both violate the provision that no element of a reconciliation bill can “produce changes in outlays or revenue which are merely incidental to the non-budgetary components of the provision.” A lot of things cost money or have implications for the budget, but that alone doesn’t qualify those things for passage via reconciliation.

This is by far the most controversial provision of the Byrd rule, and you are free to disagree with MacDonough’s ruling all you want. But you really can’t expect to go unchallenged when you misrepresent what the ruling was.