President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris walk along the Colonnade after Biden's remarks on the recent terrorist attacks in Israel, Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
In an election year when people are asking, ‘What have you done for me/my family/my country?’ the Biden-Harris administration has an answer that is unmatched.
We’re hitting the two year anniversary of two landmark and historic pieces of legislation, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. You’ve probably heard them speaking about these bills, but might not understand how they’re helping to transform America from what they inherited upon taking office – the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression – to a recovery focused on lowering costs, creating jobs, equity, climate, and helping disadvantaged communities.
Here’s a few facts about the recovery provided by the White House:
-Added nearly 16 million jobs, including nearly 800,000 manufacturing and nearly 900,000 construction jobs
– Highest share of working-age Americans in the workforce in 20 years
– Achieved record-low unemployment for Black Americans and Hispanic Americans
– Inflation down two-thirds to 3.0% for CPI and 2.5% for PCE
– Record 18 million new business applications— strongest 3 years on record, on track for a 4th
“Collectively, that these laws are benefiting every state and region in the country living up to the President’s promise to be a president for all Americans,” Natalie Quillian, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, said on a call with reporters Wednesday in which PoliticusUSA took part. “For example, over 99% of high poverty counties in the United States are benefiting from a chips IRA or infrastructure Law Project. Additionally, when adjusted for population, high poverty, counties are receiving 58% more in investing in America funding than other counties.”
Here are a few details getting into how the Biden-Harris administration has focused on creating good jobs in communities that were left behind:
– 99% of high-poverty counties in the U.S. are benefitting from an Investing in America project (BIL, CHIPS, or IRA grant program). High poverty counties are receiving 58% more Investing in America federal funding per capita than other counties.
– More than 80% of IRA-related private sector investments are in areas with below-average college graduation rates; 81% of clean energy investments announced since IRA was signed are in places with below-average weekly wages; 78% in counties with below-average household incomes
– According to the Economic Innovation Group, “left-behind counties…experienced their strongest three-year period of job creation and business growth since the turn of the 21st century”
– According to the Brookings Institution, economically distressed areas are poised to benefit from the surge in private sector investments in industries of the future; catalyzed by the Investing in America agenda
– These stats are driving progress at the local level. There are economic comeback stories across the country in place like Milwaukee, Wisconsin;Dayton, Ohio; Syracuse, New York; and Scranton, Pennsylvania
The biggest problem for the Biden-Harris administration isn’t that they haven’t done the work to actually help people and the country; rather, it’s that people aren’t aware of how much they’ve done, let alone the broad strokes.
They were asked during the call why this is, and John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, made the point that like the Affordable Care Act (aka, “Obamacare”) people will appreciate the benefits once the impacts become apparent in their lives.
Podesta added, “We’re working this summer, the Department of Energy has teamed up with civic nation to make sure in communities across the country, people understand the direct personal benefits that come from both tax credits and the rebate programs, and as I noted, IRS has put information out this morning that found that more than 3.4 million American families benefited from $8.4 billion in tax credits that lowered the costs.”
As much good as the administration has done, the messaging on it has lagged in part due to the Democratic Party’s love of policy and weeds to the detriment of messaging. If Donald Trump had managed to do 1% of what the Biden-Harris administration has done, he’d have plastered his name on the projects, checks, rebates across the country.
Just take a look at these examples of impact:
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The Biden-Harris administration has radically transformed the United States in terms of remaking it into a manufacturing country with decent jobs leaning into union jobs when possible. The issue is that it’s really hard to translate what they’ve done in simple terms. While Trump made promises about infrastructure that never happened, President Biden and Vice President Harris dedicated themselves to the hard work of protecting our country and rebuilding it with good jobs and lowering costs for the working class.
Like any other job, people who become presidents can show up eager to do the actual work or they can show up only for the perks, power and credit while being unwilling to do the actual work. We all know those people who put on a show for the boss but dump the work on their colleagues’ desks as soon as the boss has left the room. The people digging into their work and finding a way to make it all happen are rare and they are what makes a business or government office work.
President Joe Biden’s relationships and diplomacy skills are why we have these bills. He will be remembered in history not only for his patriotism and his much needed decency after four horrific years of Trump chaos, incompetency, and national security threats — but for a Franklin Delano Roosevelt-esque transformation of the United States.
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