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 When President Joe Biden, a self-proclaimed moderate and
defender of bipartisanship, gave his inaugural speech, he promised to unite the
nation and solve our problems at home and abroad. He vowed to govern for
"everyone," even those who did not vote for him. He said: "I will govern as an
American.”
During the 2020 primaries, liberals supported progressives Bernie Sanders and
Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg. They had no use for veteran
Joe Biden, who helped deregulate banks, voted to invade Iraq, adopted welfare
reform, and passed the strict 1994 criminal justice bill.
But when the 78-year-old Biden chose progressive Kamala Harris
as a running mate, the far left got excited. A day after he put "heir apparent
Harris" on the ticket, Biden's platform took a non-Biden turn to the progressive
left in support of policies that were more leftist than those proposed by Barack
Obama.
“I have always said, what Washington needs most is adult supervision" – Barack
Obama
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D. NY, who was elected to the House in 1980, embraced
the mantle of a "law-and-order Democrat" when he ran for the Senate in 1998. The
self-described "centrist," who was once derided for being close to Wall Street,
now boasts he has stood up to the financial industry. He insists his views have
only shifted to reflect his newly developed progressive-era constituency.
In his first speech as Senate Majority Leader, Schumer boasted, "The threat to
our democracy from the presidency has ended." He proudly announced that with Joe
Biden in office and him as head of the Senate, "The chamber will be run more
fairly and efficiently now that Democrats are in charge."
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's far left evolution has been a work in
progress. Although she has represented the most liberal district in California
for three decades, it was not until George Bush was elected in 2000 that she
became “toxic and polarizing." She once remarked that George Bush was
incompetent.
"When are people going to realize that Bush is the emperor that has no clothes?"
– Nancy Pelosi
With the election of Barack Obama, Pelosi adopted Obama's ambitious far left
platform and set out to make the impossible possible. Although Obama's mandate
came from voters, it was up to Pelosi to implement it. She squeaked Obama's
Affordable Care Act through the House, assuring abortion zealots that Sen. Harry
Reid planned to include federal abortion funding during reconciliation.
As Democratic House leader, Pelosi was Donald Trump's
obstructionist. She cut back the funding for Trump's border wall and won huge
gains for the left in the 2017 budget. She derailed Speaker Paul Ryan's health
care bill, led two impeachments of Trump and abused every conceivable legal
tactic to stop Ryan's agenda. She also helped progressives take control of the
House in 2018.
But even Pelosi toned down the rhetoric when Joe Biden was elected. She said,
"Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be strong Democratic leaders and undo the
damage done by Donald Trump and work with the Republicans. This is the dawning
of a day of new hope for America.”
At 78, Biden has a short memory. The day he entered the oval office, Biden
forgot his promise to unify the nation and his pledge for bipartisanship.
Determined to nullify every action that Trump took, Biden signed 22 executive
orders his first week, more than any other president.
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Since taking office, Biden reversed most of Trump's
policies by executive order and set a heavy-handed progressive tone
in Washington. But Biden is not the only one with a short memory.
Nancy Pelosi, Charles Schumer, and Kamala Harris strong-armed a
progressive aid bill through Congress without one Republican vote.
”In a time of crisis we do what we have to do." –
Charles Schumer
Biden’s sharp turn to the left and his lack of bipartisanship has
caught up with him. Last week, a new Gallup poll showed his approval
rating dropped to 42%. The poll revealed that 52% of those surveyed
disapproved of Biden's job as president, while 6% had no opinion.
This is congruent with the latest CNBC-All America Economic Survey,
which revealed Biden’s approval rating is at 41%.
Biden's problems are contagious and "there is
trouble in paradise." The leaders of the Progressive Caucus are
unhappy with the House and Senate leadership, and Biden's inability
to pursue a more progressive agenda. Their wish list includes: all
mail-in voting, packing the court, forgiving student loans,
punishing wealth tax increases, single payer health care, state
teaching of CRT and more.
The cacophony of leftist discord emanates from the
socialist-progressive "Hit Squad", Ilhan Omar, D-MN, Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, Rashida Tlaib, D-MI, and Ayanna Pressley, D-MS.
Since 2019, these women have been the agitating, subversive voice of
the Democratic Party, with antics on the House floor that resemble a
poor imitation of Chuck Barris' ignominious Gong Show.
Rep. Conor Lamb, D-PA, recently told The New York Times that his
constituents "are extremely frustrated by the message of defunding
the police and banning fracking." But progressive Rep. Ro Khanna,
D-Cal., said, "Although Biden did not campaign on an all progressive
agenda, we helped to elect him." She said progressives felt he chose
progressive Kamala Harris to pursue their agenda.
Obama's top economic advisor, Larry Summers, criticized Biden's
managing of the economy. In an interview with the Washington Post,
Summers said Biden's spending plan was too political and not drafted
to satisfy economic requirements. "Biden is courting economic
disaster. This spending can trigger the highest inflation in more
than half a century and hurt the Democrats." – Larry Summers
Former Bill Clinton adviser Naomi Wolf says that the country is
"moving towards a police state" and she regrets voting for Biden. In
a New York Times op-ed, Mark Penn, a key Clinton strategist, wrote:
"Democrats must learn from their losses in Virginia and their narrow
gubernatorial victory in liberal New Jersey," that suburban
Americans don't support the Democrats' progressive policies.
When George H.W. Bush said there will be no tax
increase, "Read my lips," Bill Clinton discredited his integrity and
won the next election. We are reliving Clinton's déjà vu as we see
the Democratic Party implode while voters take out their
frustrations with Democrats and Biden in state elections.
During his first term in office, with his poll numbers failing, Bill
Clinton ditched the liberal left in favor of a more moderate agenda
and won easily in 1996. But that was then and this is now. There is
no forgiveness in the woke world. Will they make an exception for
Joe Biden?
"So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by
people who don't even know that fire is hot." – George Orwell
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