This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden treading water.
The economy isn’t going his way, with a weak jobs report and rising inflation creating speed bumps. His infrastructure talks with Republicans are stalled, and the illegal immigration crisis continues to be ignored.
A bright spot is the continued drop in coronavirus cases. But a low point came when Vice President Kamala Harris bombed in her debut commencement address to the U.S. Naval Academy that included a gender-inclusive “joke.”
Jed Babbin
Grade: D-
It was, in relative terms, a great week for Biden, beginning with Harris’s face-plant in her speech to Naval Academy grads, continuing with a big jump in inflation, and ending with Biden suspending Alaska National Wildlife Reserve oil drilling leases.
The best idea out of the White House this week was to offer free beer to those who get vaccinated against COVID-19. The makers of Budweiser agreed to give a free Bud to anyone old enough to drink when they get their shots. That was good, but it didn’t make up for Harris’s bomb at Annapolis.
Harris’s speech was so bad that it was declared the worst of the graduation season after she attempted this gendered joke: “Just ask any Marine today, would she rather carry 20 pounds of batteries or a rolled-up solar panel, and I am positive she will tell you a solar panel — and so, would he.”
Her speech proved, redundantly, that neither she nor Biden have a clue about the military, nor do they give a damn about it except as a toy for social experimentation. Any Marine, whose ruck probably weighs in at more than 100 pounds, would gladly carry 20 pounds of ammunition or food or, yes, batteries, rather than a solar panel.
Biden suffers from political necrophilia, the love of policies that history shows always fail. Biden’s hyperspending, open borders, and reduction of U.S. oil production are prime examples.
Inflation jumped 3.1% in April, the largest increase since the 1990s thanks to Biden’s spending spree — which he wants to increase.
Biden’s open borders are now passing so many people into the United States that the people smugglers (the “coyotes”) are turning themselves in to the Border Patrol so they can get a free trip home, which saves them time and money. The number of illegal immigrants coming across reportedly includes an increase of 300% to 400% from Muslim nations that are known for terrorism.
Biden’s suspension of ANWR oil leases is timed pretty well to coincide with the OPEC agreement to reduce production to make oil prices rise. A gallon of gasoline already reportedly costs upward of $5 in California. Biden apparently aims to have the whole country afflicted with the same prices this summer.
Is it 2022 yet?
John Zogby
Grade: C-
It was a mixed week for Biden. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the U.S. will meet his goal of 70% adult vaccinations by July 4. That statement comes at a time when many people are breaking loose amid an atmosphere friendly to normal living returns.
Unemployment is back under 6%, although the impressive numbers of new jobs created again did not meet the expectations of economists. Many employers still report not being able to fill job openings, as about half the states have already ended (or are planning to eliminate) state and federal unemployment benefits.
America is experiencing inflation levels not seen in decades, and post-COVID era production and supply chain problems are only being exacerbated by hacking vulnerabilities in meat processing and other industries. A dry-run blockage of public transit was “tested” this past week, only stoking fears of even more widespread cyberterrorism.
The president and Senate Republicans are talking about infrastructure, but Biden’s efforts at compromise are too much for conservatives and not enough for progressives. The U.S. is no closer to an infrastructure bill.
Are you better off than you were one week ago? I don’t know.
Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and partner Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @ZogbyStrategies
