What Promises? Washington is Blue!

Two months have passed since the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden to the highest office in the country. In this time, he has failed to begin implementing many critical promises, abandoned several others, and has been shielded from criticism by his allies and the media.

Biden’s campaign was one of unity and progress. In his inaugural speech, he spoke about reuniting a divided nation and undoing the injustices of the past four years, while maintaining a civil and open political climate. However, it seems that he has embraced unity too much, as his administration is now distancing itself from left-leaning policy to appease conservatives.

To say that Biden has abandoned all his promises is a lie. In his first days he made many executive orders which either started or immediately fulfilled his campaign promises. 

For instance, as one of his day-one actions, Biden overturned the Transgender Military Ban, a direct action he promised he would do. However, this action was one of no cost to him: he did not lead a battle for civil rights or petition Congress, he simply signed an order. Not only was it a simple action, it was also a hollow one. The lifting of the ban does not give transgender Americans socioeconomic support or quality healthcare. 

Biden also used executive power to rejoin the World Health Organization on his first day in office. If the rest of his actions were akin to this especially important move, Biden would be a great president. 

As it stands now, even with a blue Congress, the president has not aligned the nation to the course he promised.

Biden made a substantial promise in his campaign when he championed a $15 minimum wage. He still promises the same, but his actions have indicated otherwise.

A few weeks ago, the latest relief bill was put into action. The bill had many long-to-arrive, but nonetheless important elements: it gave eligible Americans a direct stimulus of $1400, and granted $70 billion to Covid testing, vaccine manufacturing and distribution. However, it lacked a key piece that Americans are unlikely to forget.

The bill was supposed to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. According to CNBC’s reporting, this part of the bill was removed on the premise that it “[did] not comply with the rules governing budget reconciliation.” This action was the work of Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. As Vice President, Kamala Harris had the authority to overturn this decision and return the cut segment, but was likely directed by Joe Biden not to.

Raising the minimum wage has been a strategic promise of many Democratic candidates for the past decade. For years now, Democrats have been promising a $15 minimum wage, neglecting to follow through, and then making the same exact promises during the next election cycle. This is not a unique or uncharacteristic strategy, but raising the minimum wage has not been his only promise regarding public economic conditions that has not been followed up with action.

In May of last year, Harris and allied Democrats introduced S.3784, the Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act, to the House. The passage of this act would give all American families a monthly check for $2,000 per dependent family member until the end of the pandemic. Biden promised to support this policy if elected in three speeches and on his Twitter.

This legislation has not moved past the introductory phase. Instead, Biden has attempted to alter the substance of his previous promise. He collaborated with House Democrats to pass a one time stimulus check of $1,400 to supplement the $600 from this past winter. Biden now claims that this was his original intention.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez commented in opposition, “$2,000 means $2,000. $2000 does not mean $1400.”

Joe Biden also pledged to decrease our chronic military presence in the Middle East; he abandoned this too. While his website featured a promise to end the “forever wars” in the Middle East, he strategically left open the possibility that if terrorist groups gather strength, troops would have to remain.

Although no major cells have organized in past months, his staff has evaluated that it would be more advantageous to remain. 

On February 25th, five weeks after the inauguration, in the first military order of the Biden Administration, the U.S. launched an airstrike in Syria. The war torn nation, which according to experts at the World Politics Review was on a recovery course, has been set back by months of progress due to this attack.

Finally, Biden has failed to fulfil his greatest promise. He has neither ended the separation of families at the border, nor has he closed the detention centers. Instead of closing the centers, he modified some, opened others, and is now benefiting from an operation to alter public perception of the issue.

Biden has reopened several old facilities, including the center at Carrizo Springs, Texas. While this renewed facility offers better conditions for migrant children compared to others, it remains a prison.

The media is implicit in these policy decisions, as it has continued to protect Joe Biden from criticism. CNN said the centers were “overflow facilities for migrant children,” while under Trump the narrative was “kids in cages.”

Border conditions and policies have not changed, but now that blue leaders are operating them, reporting from liberal media has gone in an entirely different direction. Right now, this is a common trend in all politics.

Minimum wage, stimulus packages, forever wars, and border control are all a part of the same problem: liberal media does not challenge Biden’s regressive and dishonest administration. It is as if Trump’s ghost remains in the oval office, and journalists fear that critiquing Biden would bring it back.

Unless liberal media takes a stand and challenges the current administration, the change America was promised will not grow beyond hopes and dreams.