Maybe I missed it, but I have been sort of miffed that in all of these conversations about what the Dems got wrong in 2024, I don’t recall hearing any Democrat outline (or Bulwark contributor?) outline the numerous Biden Admin policy errors. Bad policy leads to bad outcomes which leads to b…
Maybe I missed it, but I have been sort of miffed that in all of these conversations about what the Dems got wrong in 2024, I don’t recall hearing any Democrat outline (or Bulwark contributor?) outline the numerous Biden Admin policy errors. Bad policy leads to bad outcomes which leads to bad politics. It seems pretty easy math to me. What were the policy mistakes?
• The American Rescue Plan which did not on its own cause inflation but made it worse probably by 3%-4%. That followed by the pursuit of BBB instead of fiscal policy that worked in tandem the Fed’s monetary policy to stem inflation. The Fed was the sole body trying to curb inflation which meant more rate hikes and a more difficult economic environment. Can Dems simply know acknowledge the ARP was a mistake and massive gov’t spending is not the way to economic growth?
• Getting rid of Remain in Mexico with nothing to take it’s place.
• Abandoning Afghanistan (Biden’s general warned against it) and reversing the Max Pressure campaign on Iran
• Keeping Trump’s tariffs
• Illegal student loan forgiveness
These were major policy errors which led to bad outcomes and a bad political environment for Dems. What am I missing? I’m Ron Burgundy?
You missed Ukraine. Biden kept a leash on the Ukrainians that kept them from gaining a decisive victory, making the war there look like another "endless" conflict - and he never explained or defended his Ukraine policy/strategy to voters. So, even though two-thirds of Americans support Ukraine, Biden failed to turn this popular issue into a political winner for his party.
Speaking of failure to communicate, Biden also did not capitalize on his infrastructure initiatives by talking them up. He and his team just seemed to think that good policy should speak for itself. Their reticence let Republicans fill the vacuum with their own talking points, which went unrefuted.
Loved Kinzinger. He is such a tremendous leader.
Maybe I missed it, but I have been sort of miffed that in all of these conversations about what the Dems got wrong in 2024, I don’t recall hearing any Democrat outline (or Bulwark contributor?) outline the numerous Biden Admin policy errors. Bad policy leads to bad outcomes which leads to bad politics. It seems pretty easy math to me. What were the policy mistakes?
• The American Rescue Plan which did not on its own cause inflation but made it worse probably by 3%-4%. That followed by the pursuit of BBB instead of fiscal policy that worked in tandem the Fed’s monetary policy to stem inflation. The Fed was the sole body trying to curb inflation which meant more rate hikes and a more difficult economic environment. Can Dems simply know acknowledge the ARP was a mistake and massive gov’t spending is not the way to economic growth?
• Getting rid of Remain in Mexico with nothing to take it’s place.
• Abandoning Afghanistan (Biden’s general warned against it) and reversing the Max Pressure campaign on Iran
• Keeping Trump’s tariffs
• Illegal student loan forgiveness
These were major policy errors which led to bad outcomes and a bad political environment for Dems. What am I missing? I’m Ron Burgundy?
You missed Ukraine. Biden kept a leash on the Ukrainians that kept them from gaining a decisive victory, making the war there look like another "endless" conflict - and he never explained or defended his Ukraine policy/strategy to voters. So, even though two-thirds of Americans support Ukraine, Biden failed to turn this popular issue into a political winner for his party.
Speaking of failure to communicate, Biden also did not capitalize on his infrastructure initiatives by talking them up. He and his team just seemed to think that good policy should speak for itself. Their reticence let Republicans fill the vacuum with their own talking points, which went unrefuted.