100 Days in Office: A on Rhetoric, F on Results
Friends,
Last week, President Joe Biden marked his first 100 days in office. I give him an A on his rhetoric but an F on his results. Here's why.
President Biden called for unity and bipartisanship in his inaugural address. I was at the inauguration to demonstrate my commitment to our nation's peaceful transfer of power. I have always worked across the aisle on bipartisan solutions and hope to work with the president whenever possible.
The reality is on issues like COVID relief, infrastructure and immigration, there are many bipartisan answers on which Republicans and Democrats agree. I have solutions for each of these areas and hoped President Biden was sincere in his calls for bipartisanship. However, while the president gave a great inaugural speech, unfortunately his actions since then have not matched his rhetoric.
So far, the President has yet to reach out to House Republican leadership to discuss any issue facing our country. In fact, he's taken bipartisan issues and made them partisan.
While President Trump was in office, we passed five bipartisan measures in Congress to respond to the pandemic. President Biden forced a massive so-called COVID bill through without any Republican input and without a single Republican vote. This was because the bill only had 9% dedicated to combating the virus.
Through executive action, President Biden eliminated jobs in our country and has threatened more, especially in our crucial energy sector. Gas prices have already risen 159% over one year ago and the attacks on American energy will only make the problem worse.
The president has also made our country less safe.
From the Biden border crisis he created by bringing back "catch and release," to restrictive gun control, to failing to listen to boots on the ground in Afghanistan – President Biden's actions are threatening our public health at home and our security around the world.
But this is just the beginning.
On Wednesday, President Biden addressed a joint session of Congress to outline even more massive spending and dangerous policies.
To quote President Reagan – "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." For over an hour, all the American people heard were promises of how the government is going to fix every problem you face from the cradle to the grave.
All added up, Biden's proposed spending spree just in his first 100 days equals an astonishing $6 trillion. That's more than the cost of the whole government in a single year and 30% of the entire American economy.
The president outlined what would be the largest tax hike in decades to help pay for his agenda. He also spoke about his infrastructure plan.
I support investing in needed infrastructure to improve our roads, bridges, highways, ports, airports and expand broadband to rural areas of our state. However, the $2.3 trillion proposal by Washington Democrats devotes just 6% ($115 billion) to traditional infrastructure, while more money ($174 billion) goes to subsidize electric vehicles. This is not the way to bring our country together and rebuild America.
Together with my Republican colleagues, I'm working on a proposal that is actually bipartisan and spends more money on roads and bridges, despite being a quarter of the cost of the Democrat plan. That is the kind of common sense that is lacking in Washington.
While President Biden outlined his priorities, there was something missing: solutions to end the Biden border crisis he created.
The president waited until an hour into his speech to mention the word border. Yet instead of laying out a plan to stop the 233% increase in fentanyl seizures, 5,018 individuals with criminal records arrested by Border Patrol, and a 400% increase in migrant apprehensions compared to last year, the president proposed a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. This, along with reversing Trump-era policies that worked, will only make this crisis worse. Now, $86 million of your hard-earned tax dollars are being spent to house the massive influx of illegal immigrants in hotel rooms. We might as well have a massive ‘open' sign hanging from the border wall that President Biden stopped building (though the contractors are still being paid).
Clearly our country faces numerous challenges. But we faced challenges before, and we have always overcome them by uniting around our shared values. This is a moment when we need bipartisanship and leadership, not empty rhetoric.
I hope in the next 100 days, President Biden will work with Republicans like he promised. Like Senator Tim Scott said on Wednesday, we will remain focused on solutions that grow our economy, keep us safe, fix the crisis at the border, and help you and every American family succeed.
Until next week,
Richard Hudson
Member of Congress