coffee1978 t1_iqylhzm wrote on October 4, 2022 at 1:19 AM

>Biden’s first two years defined the most effective Congressional term in decades.

Can you please point at hard data to prove this, comparing to past terms across decades?

theexpertgamer1 t1_iqylvbj wrote on October 4, 2022 at 1:22 AM

Hard data…? Biden signed several major and significant bills with a 50-50 Senate and a slim House majority. That is astronomically effective and anyone that says otherwise is either unfamiliar with the workings of Capitol Hill or willingly sticking their hand in the sand.

Trump did not pass this much major legislation. Obama did not pass this much major legislation. Bush Jr. Did not pass this much major legislation. That already covers two decades.

He also appointed 84 federal judges (as in, Senate confirmed) in his first two years (so far). That’s more than Trump, Obama, Bush Jr., Bush Sr., Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, and Eisenhower. A bit below Clinton.

coffee1978 t1_iqysb90 wrote on October 4, 2022 at 2:10 AM

Apologies if I missed something, as I'm going off the top of my head and what I can easily lookup on Wikipedia/etc over the past 1/2 hour... If I am missing something substantial, please say so.

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act - good thing, 100% agree.

CHIPS and Science Act - good idea and good something was passed, but quite underwhelming. $280b is chump change over 10yr. It costs $15-20b and years to just build a single fab, and this gives a measly $40b only towards construction and modernization. This will have some positive impact but in no way a slam dunk.

Inflation Reduction Act - it is about everything except inflation reduction. They simply renamed a climate bill because they were smart enough to know there would be blowback from the all sides of the public for passing a climate bill in the middle of this economic shitshow. It still is generally a good thing but people are too wowed by the sideshow to see what this really was.

KBJ Nomination & Confirmation - good thing.

Honoring our PACT Act - good thing, and is something Trump would never have done without being forced.

...........

American Rescue Plan - let's be honest, any Dem/Rep president would have passed something along these lines in 2021/post-pandemic. He gets a Participation Trophy for this one.

PPP Extension - Same as American Rescue.

Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act - meaningful, does not do anything to fix our broken country. Participation Trophy.

Juneteenth National Independence Day Act - meaningful, does not do anything to fix our broken country. Participation Trophy

...........

Not caring about any of the Executive Actions or Orders or Proclamations.

Decently effective, 100%. Astronomically effective? That's a stretch, which is all I'm saying.

iamstrugglin t1_iqzxfp5 wrote on October 4, 2022 at 10:04 AM

I really like this list and how brutally honest it is. With that being said, is it not the most effective in recent decades?

I feel as though that was the original claim.

coffee1978 t1_ir0t06d wrote on October 4, 2022 at 2:47 PM

I agree he has been effective, I still think "most effective" is a big stretch. That's the point I'm supporting.

Some of the accomplishments were simply due to the current times and situation. If Orange man had won a 2nd term, there anyway would have been economic packages similar to ARR, CHIPs, etc. Different scale and scope but there would have been something.

IRA is purely a Biden/Dem accomplishment. Mr Orange would have had something immigration/border or domestic energy related.

iamstrugglin t1_ir0ujoo wrote on October 4, 2022 at 2:57 PM

Huh, interesting point. I like what Biden's administration has done with the Pro act (I wish it could get passed), additionally the Disclose act is a win in my book. That's just my 2 cents.

Thanks for offering your perspective.

theexpertgamer1 t1_iqyvicm wrote on October 4, 2022 at 2:35 AM

There’s also the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, first major gun bill in 30+ years (doesn’t matter if we agree with the bill or not). The Inflation Reduction Act is a monumental accomplishment, $700 billion in spending and significant strides forward in climate and healthcare (introduction of Medicare price negotiation, Medicare insulin price cap, etc.). The ARP could only be passed with Biden and a Dem Congress. Republicans did not support $1.9 trillion in spending (a tiny few GOP Senators pitched a measly $600 billion).

My initial point was about effectiveness. In the last decades there was no first term with such a large list of accomplishments. Especially with no wiggle room in the Senate.

coffee1978 t1_iqyxad7 wrote on October 4, 2022 at 2:49 AM

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act - many gun owners support this... want to know why? It changes nothing whatsoever for any legal gun owner. It applies minor tweaks to some small laws and funds a bunch of social programs that barely relate to guns. It simply checks a box that Biden passed a gun law. The B&H Admin are keenly aware that even members of their base are purchasing firearms (women and minorities are the largest groups of new gun owners in past 2 years). Any major legislation or ban would hurt them more than help. This law is another sideshow meant to distract.

theexpertgamer1 t1_iqyyc9p wrote on October 4, 2022 at 2:57 AM

Like I said, “doesn’t matter if we agree with the bill or not.”

Again, first major gun bill in 30 years. We aren’t arguing the merits of the bill here, just the effectiveness of Biden and the 117th Congress.

I read almost all of the 730 pages of the Inflation Reduction Act so I know that that bill isn’t a “sideshow” as you called it in your previous comment. As for the BSCA, I did not read a single page of it, but I still know it’s the first major gun bill in almost 30 years, no other President in that time managed to pass anything of the sort. 1994 had the assault weapons ban for example. Biden still is considering it a major priority to get a renewed assault weapons ban through the 118th Congress if the Senate majority expands (lol) and if Dems keeps the House (bigger lol). We will see what happens with assault weapons (99% chance of nothing happening).

And as I write this comment, I got notification that Biden has formally confirmed that he is running for re-election in 2024 so there’s a fun little breaking news for you since you’re respectful!

edit: apparently the news broke like 2 hours ago but I just got notified of it… but anyway

There is going to be a pro-choice march in Montclair this week

theexpertgamer1 t1_iqykzac wrote on October 4, 2022 at 1:15 AM