Biden's First 50 Days: Foreign Policy, Stalled Stimulus and Trump's Shadow

 

     My reader's have spoken. I've done several polls on my favorite social media platform and it seems people want to read about Biden, his first 50 days which will be the 10th of March. These first two months of his presidency has been dominated by Biden's ambitious 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus/covid relief bill which finally passed the Senate and should be on Uncle Joe's desk by the 13th. Other domestic issues have been discussed at some length including: immigration reform, Medicare, Climate Change and even voting restrictions. Foreign policy has been more of the same from the two previous administrations: extremely close ties with Israel, confusion over how to deal with China, forcing Iran to negotiate a nuclear deal they already agreed to follow verbatim, and of course the dreaded bombing campaigns of shadow militias in Syria. No it hasn't been smooth and leaps and bounds far from perfect. The passing of the Covid relief the highpoint, despite capitulation on the 15 dollar minimum wage part of the bill. Considering Senator Joe Manchin's tendency to give Democrats of every ilk agita with his indecisiveness and overly Moderate, center-right policies. It's safe to say, progressives can claim a minor victory in what seemed like a never ending debate over much needed relief, especially when most every economic expert surmised that a massive influx of money was needed to stimulate spending. It's only 60 days, but surely enough for a breakdown of the good, bad and mind-boggling of the beginning of the Biden years.

    Defeating the most deranged, yet polarizing President of the modern era cannot be a very comfortable way to start your administration. Not to mention, a full scale attempted coup, just 14 days till you were to take office. Trump's shadow is an immense one and not just because of his bloated physical figure. Nearly half the country still views Trump as "their" President, and threats of more Trumpist styled violence still looms over Washington. Biden was left with a pandemic on his plate, a country of jobless, hopeless working class folks with nothing and nowhere to turn. Sadly, living on the Death Star of Ultra Capitalism, any form of Socialist ideals are off the table. Not that Joe would ever go for such a "radical" proposition, so the obvious way to try and jumpstart the sputtering Capitalist machine? Pump trillions of dollars into the economy and hope their aren't as many money hoarders as there are trash hoarders in this filthy country. Speaking of filthy, one thing we can give credit to Biden was he did pass the executive order, common sense portion of his early days in office. Rejoining the Paris Climate Accords for one thing was a no brainer, lifting the racist Muslim travel ban another(despite it still being fought in the courts). Biden's attempts at reconciliation with allies has been mixed. Justin Trudeau was like a kid in a candy store during his first meeting with the new US President, but Mexican President Lopez Obrador's meeting with Biden was lukewarm to say the least. We know how certain European leaders felt about Trump, so it's safe to say many in the EU would take a well dressed mannequin over the Donald. Of course, so called "allies" in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the UAE are certainly lamenting the loss of their golden goose. Though, of the three, Israel has the least to worry about as much of Biden's foreign policy advisors are totally in line with the previous administrations subservience to Israel's Zionist aggression.

    When it comes to foreign policy in the current times no nation is more important, as well as enigmatic then China. Trump's China policy fell flat on it's face due to unsuccessful tariffs, Trump's reprehensive quips about  Covid-19 being the "China virus" and the sudden break with American policy tradition to not get into an overly close diplomatic and defensive relationship with Taiwan. No matter how anyone feels about the Taiwanese and their fight for freedom from the mainland. For the US to involve themselves militarily in any kind of future conflict between China and Taiwan over ideological  differences could be a massive blunder, which would lead to potentially disastrous results. Tony Blinken wants to get tough on possible Chinese human rights violations, the Uygurs being at the top of that list. But again we must weigh the pros and cons, comparing the US GDP (which decreased by 2.3%) with China's GDP (which increased by over 2%) in 2020, just shows you that at this moment it's the United States that seems to be behind the eight ball, so to speak (GDP numbers courtesy of CNBC.com). Recently, China has shown another aspect where they're way ahead of their western rival and that is cyber warfare.( According to usnews.com) A major cyber security breach was uncovered sometime in early January. All signs point to China as the likely culprit, this discovery comes on the heels of an even more damaging hack by the Russians. The Solar Winds hack which was according to the Solar Winds CEO first intruded in September 2019 but wasn't released in the media until February of 2020 (courtesy of businessinsider.com). This infiltration effected not only a litany of Fortune 500 companies but also extended into the US government including; the Pentagon and embarrassingly one of the many US agencies meant to guard against hacks, the Department of Homeland Security.

    The problem with Trump's obsession with using sanctions to punish anyone for anything has made them lose whatever luster they once had. Biden hasn't truly figured out a way to punish hostile acts by the likes of Russia and China. Sanctions are effective when it comes to already ostracized countries like North Korea and Venezuela, but for countries like China, Russia and even Iran we've seen there are many ways around them. Speaking of Iran, I'm a strong proponent of peace with the Islamic Republic, Trump bailing on the nuclear deal( JCOAP) was one of his many blunders. Of course, Biden and his State Department, not wanting to show weakness, instead of offering Iran an olive branch, wants to play political football while in the meantime Iran produces more Uranium for a bomb. We've reached the part of Biden's early foreign policy stances that disturbs me. Call me naive, I thought just maybe, Biden's Adm. would sit down with Netanyahu and his Likud warmongers to try to convince them that nightly bombing raids against random Iranian "militias" is not only wrong but reckless. Instead, Biden joins the missile launching, after a light mortar attack on a US base in Erbil, Iraq which didn't kill a single US soldier on February 20th Biden ordered attacks on, once again, Iranian "militias", based in Syria mind you, with seven 500 lbs bombs which (according to democracynow.org and the London based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights) killed some 22 people. Progressives whom were trying to get behind Biden's stimulus plan were shocked at his early signs of warmongering. Congressmember Ro Khanna had some choice words calling the attack illegal under the Geneva Convention which is correct. But it seems Israel and the US are the only two countries that don't need to follow that age old treaty. Nothing has been done by Secretary of State Blinken to reign in Israel's imperialistic, militaristic and colonial actions. If anything they've promoted Trump's policies of giving the Zionists everything and anything they want. Who knows what kind of secret plans the two "jewels" of Democracy have in store for their perceived enemies in the Middle East? We already know the West Bank is a settlement by evictions on a massive scale, but now the Jordan Valley is up for grabs for the land thieving Zionists at the expense of Palestinians who have resided there for generations. Biden and team have made no mention of putting a stop to that internationally illegal activity. Reentering the World Health Org., UN Security Council and regaining the trust of NATO all were pretty easy policy moves to get back into the good graces with allies were important. But as a whole I'm not impressed a whole with where his foreign policies are heading.

    Joe Biden's first priority, his main objective after achieving his electoral victory was his ambitious stimulus bill worth 1.9 trillion dollars. It was a breath of fresh air for even the most cynical progressive, far-leftists, including myself. It had everything realistically we hoped it would: 1400 dollar checks, unemployment extensions, money for vaccinations and of course, the much needed 15 dollar minimum wage raise. It seemed all the more possible after the Georgia Senate runoff sweep by Democratic candidates; Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff on January 5th (date courtesy of georgia.gov). The double win seemed to make it not only all but certain that the bill would be passed but that the Democrats, with control of both Legislative Houses, could ram the bill through within weeks. Alas, Joe Biden and many other moderate Democrats, unlike their GOP counterparts have this old-time view of passing legislation with bi-partisan support. Since the utterly disrespectful decision not to give Merrick Garland a Senate hearing, Obama's choice as Supreme Court replacement for Antonin Scalia, and Mitch McConnell's obstructionism throughout Obama's two terms, the whole bi-partisan fantasy should be figuratively tossed out the Capitol window for good. Thankfully, budget bills in this case are filibuster proof so after weeks of nonsensical debate the 1.9 trillion stimulus package passed on March 6th (date courtesy of Washington Post). But here's the kicker, not only did the 400 dollar unemployment enhancement get lowered to 300 but also, much more damaging with an assist from Democrat in name only, Joe Manchin, the 15 minimum wage was left out of the finalized legislation. For many Americans desperate for any help, it was a small price to pay for the lower class to receive immediate financial relief. The parameters of the bill also includes: Billions of dollars in federal spending for vaccination distribution, virus testing, and aid for small businesses, hospitals, as well as educational relief. All in all I would call it a moderate success, a five out ten. For now, hopefully, with the amount not being significantly lowered, this stimulus relief bill can jumpstart the US currently faltering economic state.

    With all that's happened since his election triumphant, if Biden wasn't already completely white, he'd certainly be by now. Riots at the Capitol from radical White Nationalists protesting his predecessors defeat, a Senate impeachment trial which took precious time away from senate conformation hearings, as well as, his first major policy move. Biden's got a lot on his proverbial plate coming up, including the immigration reform he's attempting to enforce, deleting Trumpisms attempts at destroying the environment and trying to rid the country of the circus-like atmosphere from the last four years. Trying to keep his Progressive wing happy, while curtailing to Wall Street honchos who run both parties. Perhaps his age will become a detriment by year 2 or 3 and Kamala Harris may need to take a larger role which I predicted in a November piece I did on if a Biden presidency would really improve the country as a whole. I for one am rooting for Biden, I even gave Trump a chance and that lasted about 2 1/2 days. In this case I haven't completely given up on ol' Joe, but if his foreign policy, especially in the case of Israel and Iran doesn't change drastically, I will just label him another Zionist enabling, warmonger. And once you get on my bad side as a politician, well, see previous editorials on Donald.