As the top 1%, the corporations they own; right-wingers and their “think tanks”; and their Republican mouthpieces seek to blame Joe Biden for EVERYTHING happening during his first 10 months [they’d include disappearing polar bears, but “they’re not scientists], perspective is supplied by numerous newspaper articles.
REQUIREMENT: the Constitution’s Preamble states the purpose of American government is to “..promote the general Welfare..” What needs to be done – to solve inflation, vulnerable supply lines, “globalizing” the American economy – the benefits 100% of US? Have those opposing Biden offered ANYTHING [realistic] that will “promote the general Welfare? If not, they’re sabotaging America.
1] “Biden inherits economy damaged by pandemic” [Christopher Rugaber, 1/24/21, Assoc. Press]: “President Joe Biden has inherited a badly damaged economy pulverized by the pandemic, with 10 million fewer jobs than a year ago, and as many as one in 6 small businesses shut down.”
2] “Economic dip rattles Biden agenda” [J.Stein, R.Siegel, A.Van Dam; 5/16/21; Wash. Post Wkly]; “Price growth has accelerated every month starting in December..”
3] “Big ship in Suez is a very big problem” [David Lynch, 3/28/21, Wash. Post]: “What began in early 2020 with shortages of personal protective equipment..later morphed into semiconductor shortages that idled major General Motors and Ford plants..the canal incident..could cause global executives to rethink hyperefficient production strategies designed above all else to reduce costs. That “Just-in-Time” philosophy produced fatter profits but left companies vulnerable to unexpected events…”
4] “Just In Time Supplies Are Running Late” [P.Goodman, N.Chokshi; 6/3/21; N.Y. Times]: “..many businesses have combined a dedication to Just in Time with a reliance on suppliers in low-wage countries like China and India…No pandemic was required to reveal the risks of overreliance on Just in Time combined with global supply chains. Experts have warned about the consequences for decades.”
5] “Trade is Choking as U.S. Ports” [David Lynch, 9/25/21, Wash. Post]: “Trucking companies and warehouses complain they can’t find enough workers to keep freight moving…Analysts and industry executives said there is little chance the federal government can untangle the cargo snarl before the financially critical holiday shopping season…The mismatch between surging import volumes and an overwhelmed transport network id dogging the recovery.”
6] “Pandemic disrupts supply chain A to Z” [Peter Goodman, 10/24/21, N.Y. Times]: “The disruptions go back to early last year..Factories in parts of the world where a lot of the globe’s manufacturing capacity sits..China, South Korea..Taiwan..Vietnam..Germany – were hit by the spread of coronavirus cases…shipping companies cut their schedules…timing and quantity of consumer purchases swamped the system…finished products..piled up in warehouses and..ports throughout Asia…heavy influx of ships overwhelmed..availability of docks…came on top of decades of very lean inventories kept by companies to limit their costs…bonuses for executives…Monopolistic tendencies..help explain the shortages [meatpackers]..”
7]. “Annual consumer inflation hits 5%, highest since 2008” [Martin Crutsinger, 6/11/21, Assoc. Press]: “The increased consumer appetite is.. bumping up against a shortage of components, from lumber and steel to chemicals and semiconductors, that supply such key products as autos and computer equipment, all of which has forced up prices…a range of companies have been raising prices or plan to do so, in some cases to make up for higher wages they’re now paying to keep or attract workers.”
8]. “Inflation…The Hidden Meaning of hard-money politics” [Jacob Rosenberg, July/August, 2021, Mother Jones]: “For Michael O’Malley, a professor at George Mason University, the 19th-century arguments rhyme with the Reagan-era demagoguery about “welfare queens driving Cadillacs.” And they were used to similar effect…It was the project of 20th-century reactionaries to obscure the distributive struggles contained within inflation…Thus the austerity of the 1970s and beyond was offered as a technocratic fix..allowing bankers to make a killing…We are still living with the wreckage caused by the old consensus…It was never just about the money. Inflation hysteria is always class war of one kind or another, waged on behalf of the asset-holders against perceived forces of “social destabilization,” O’Malley said. “It’s about the wrong kind of people getting too much stuff.””
9] “Car prices expected to stay high” [Tom Krisher, 9/6/21, Assoc. Press]: “The global parts shortage involves not just computer chips,..beyond autos, vital components for goods ranging from farm equipment and industrial machinery to sportswear and kitchen accessories are also bottled up..”
10] “Worker Shortages Drive Up Food Costs” [E.Elkin, M.Ngoc Chau, A.De Sousa; 9/12/21; Blomberg News]: “Across the world, a dearth of workers is shaking up food supply chains…Shortages are hitting farms, processors and restaurants alike…the delta variant is spreading in places like Southeast Asia…the scramble for staff is compounded by local issues, such as difficult and dangerous farmwork conditions caused by a record U.S. heat wave…”
11] “Natural gas prices soar due to shortage” [John Kemp, 9/12/21, Reuters]: “Last year, volume-weighted global prices fell to their lowest annual level since 1995..the result was a sharp cutback in drilling and capital investment..leading to an unprecedented decline in worldwide output…in. an inevitable reaction, monthly prices have now climbed to their highest in real terms since mid-2014..:
12]. High oil prices are likely to remain” [John Kemp, 10/31/21, Reuters]: “Restrictive output policies from both OPEC Plus and U.S. shale producers have kept global production consistently below consumption since June, 2020. The result has been a sharp drawdown in global inventories, which has lifted prices…”
13] “Many industries Feel Chemical Shortage” [ P.Wiseman, T.Krisher; 10/1/21; Assoc. Press]: “As the economy sank into near-paralysis, manufacturers of all types, slashed production. So they were caught flat-footed..companies were scrambling..panic buying…In 2020, Hurricanes Laura and Zeta pounded Louisiana…Hurricane Ida struck…”The consumer is going to have to pay.”
14]. “Inflation hits economy in places we might not expect” [Neil Irwin, 10/12/21, N.Y. Times]: “Many types of businesses..have dealt with..problems..by taking steps that could give their customers a lesser experience..no daily room cleaning..limited restaurant service..receiving the wrong order or no drink at all..no hot breakfast…”
15] “Oat Shortage Looms” [M.Nicholson, M.Hirtzer; 10/12/21; Bloomberg]: bottom line: will YOU be able to buy your Cheerios?!?!?!?! “Wheat prices raise bread costs” [Megan Durison, 11/3/21, Bloomberg]: “Wheat prices are surging from the U.S. to Russia…The crop..was hit by droughts, frost, heavy rains this year..” Issues: dwindling stockpiles, protectionist measures, import needs, costlier fertilizer.
16] “Cost pressures for companies mean higher prices for consumers” [Thomas Mulier, 10/24/21, Bloomberg]: “Consumers around the world are about to get socked with even higher prices on everyday items…Companies are facing a dire mix of supply-chain challenges…”This is a story that’s consistent across the world..””
17]. “White House takes aim at supply chain” [David Lynch, 11/10/21, Wash. Post]: “..the private companies responsible for the ports, trucks, terminals and trains that make up the nation’s goods pipeline operate beyond easy federal direction…Mahir Rasheed of Oxford Economics: “The persistent mismatch between supply and demand will remain a principal driver of elevated inflation as capital and labor shortages improve only gradually heading into 2022″ he wrote in a client note.”
SO – if you want to blame Joe Biden for inflation and supply-chain problems, then you’re asking him to control the weather, asking him to force OPEC to pump more oil, blaming him for COVID-19, blaming him for the “Just-in-Time business model, blaming him for globalization [shifting U.S. jobs & manufacturing offshore since 1970], blaming him for rising world-wide commodity prices, blaming him for companies cutting back production during COVID, blaming him for workers getting paid living wages, blaming him for price increases that started in 2020
If you want President Biden to “do something.” The only thing he can do is nationalize the U.S. economy. – because it’s private companies that run the entire system. SO – if you want that – it means you’re advocating communism!!!
The real solution: bring back manufacturing and good union jobs to America. – like it was when our side won World War II, the Cold War, and built the greatest middle class prosperity in world history.
Sabotage…. The Founders attempted a “virtuous republic” a nation where people “did the right thing” because it was patriotic. Joe Biden, and America itself, are facing sabotage from the “right wing,” led by Republicans.
Think of America as a football team, with Biden the QB. No football team succeeds if all 11 players don’t work together. The “right wing,” financed by rogue billionaires, has grown increasingly radical, reactionary, and destructive since 1965.
Republican Senate leader mcConnell said in 2009, his major goal was to sabotage President Obama. He said the same thing about Joe Biden. He has, and is, doing everything to achieve that goal – even if it means sabotaging his own country. We all saw what Republicans did in justifying the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
Symbolic of recent America is resistance to rational, medically sound science on COVID-19 – again by the right wing. Their refusal to vaccinate, wear masks, etc. means the COVID pandemic will not be easily brought under control. Immense damage has been done to our health care workers. Some have quit. Immense damage has been done to our children. Some have committed suicide. COVID refusniks are modern day “Typhoid Marys” only this time their number is in the millions – having listened to demagogues, media morons, internet idiots.
Because America didn’t invest in itself, we have fallen behind in infrastructure, in public health, in education [is YOUR child’s school equipped with modern heating/AC?], in equitable economic reward distribution – we have not taken care of ALL 331 million Americans. Much of this occurs because of greed – by the top 1%.
There are reasons why America is NOT the happiest place on earth – like we used to be, 1947-1973. Our title now belongs to the people of northern Europe. What do they do that we do not?
With Justice For All 