By Ruth A. Sheets
Robert Reich, Substack commentator, University Professor, former Secretary of Labor, wrote today that President Biden needs to speak more forcefully and often about the ways corporations are harming the American people, the way Senate candidates Casey or PA, Brown of OH, Rosen of NV, and others have spoken out. My response to his article is as follows with a few changes and additions. I’d like to know your reaction to this.
It has been 9 years since Donald Trump jumped on his golden escalator and rode into the throat of our nation, causing as much chaos as he could with only a few patriots trying to stand in the way of even more damage done. Trump has been the first or second news item on a vast majority of newscasts since then even when he was not president or even officially running for anything. In the 2016 campaign candidate Hillary Clinton got only “emails” and “Ben Gazi,” both non-issues that had been more than fully dealt with before the campaign mostly in her favor. At the same time Trump's comments no matter how stupid, how evil, how ridiculous and uninformed got prominence on the air, even at NPR. His "supporters" were interviewed and the only thing we learned was that they are were and are as uninformed as their Trump.
During the 2020 campaign news outlets only briefly mentioned the poor quality of Trump’s presidency, and not at all that he did almost no work, because he just didn’t know what to do. His handling of COVID 19 was problematic. He did get vaccine research moving, though acted as though researchers hadn’t been working on it since the early 2000s and it was all done under his careful watch; it wasn’t. Then he didn’t push the vaccine when he learned some prominent supporters were antiivaxers.
When Trump left office, the economy was in free-fall and just as in 2009 when Barack Obama became president in the midst of the “Great Recession which occurred under Republican Bush, Biden was left with an enormous mess that he would have to clean up with little to no help from the Fed (he mistakenly left Jerome Powell in charge, a poor attempt at bipartisanship). He knew he was not going to get much if any help from Republicans in Congress and it turned out to be the truth. Biden did get insulted and belittled, though, and the full-scale Republican lying and disinformation strategy set in.
Despite all of that and despite the defection of two supposedly Democratic senators, Manchin and Sinema, Biden managed to get some important legislation passed in the first 2 years of his term, the term when Dems were in charge of both the House and Senate. Biden also was “shot in the foot” by Democrats across the country, in the 2022 mid-term elections, particularly in New York who didn’t vote, which allowed Republicans in their chaos to run the House, which has been an 18-month clown show.
In the 2024 campaign in the media, so far, President Biden’s economic successes have been generally dismissed despite the major improvements to our economy, our infrastructure, our well-being he has helped to initiate.
Donald Trump did nothing positive while in office for anyone but the very rich with the massive tax cuts and none of that was passed on to the ordinary people, even Trump's "supporters" yet they now think they were so much better off then. They can't name one thing that was better, but truth is irrelevant to the Trumpers and Trumpettes whose only contact with the real world is their workplace, their churches, and right-wing news outlets, all of which are slanted in ways that encourage them to think as little as possible, to resent what others have that they don’t and to blame THOSE people for it (except the very rich, because that is what they want to be. Biden can stand up and has stood up to speak about what corporations are doing to the American people, the price gouging, the shrinkflation, the greedflation, the monopolies (and he has spoken loudly about all of these), but it is as though he has been silent if one considers the current media coverage.
In addition to the corporate bad behavior that has hurt consumers, the Fed has kept interest rates high because they settled on an almost impossible inflation rate to meet 2%, before they will lower interest rates, even a tiny fraction. People can't afford to buy a home or car or to take out a loan for repairs or improvements, and the deals they make with banks and other loan agencies have outrageously high rates for the consumer. Credit card interest rates are robbery. Powell, the Fed Chair, told us he was expecting a recession and he has been working hard to make it happen, but it hasn't happened yet. He is still going to be working on it because the elections are still 140 days away and he wants a complete Republican victory and who cares who is harmed. The Fed could call out the corporations but I have not heard a word about it from them. I don't know what Biden can do when even as president he is hardly heard.
Even today when Trump had nothing of any value to say, except that he was tripping up to the Capitol to "consult" with his elected cult members, his story Trumped Biden's actual trip to Europe for discussions on how to deal with the real issues in front of the world's economies. However, say if Biden should slip a bit while walking up a wet staircase, that would make the top story, proving he is too old and incompetent. Every time Trump opens his mouth he proves his incompetence, but it is covered as though it is some kind of “normal” pronouncement. Well, it is, pronouncing that he is a fool who wants to be a dictator over our democracy and tear it to pieces so his toddler self can prove he is bigger and badder than the other kids.
Messaging and advertising have not been a strong suit for Democrats, although Dem speeches are far superior to anything Republicans have dished up in decades. And, Democrats actually do try to work to make things better for more people than just themselves, but that cannot penetrate the orange wall.
Democrats do depend on donations from corporations, a bad practice, but when the other side is taking advantage of such resources, ignoring that resource would be foolish. The Roberts Supreme Court erroneously decided that money is speech and corporations and rich people should be able to “speak” in campaigns as much and as often as they wish. Because of this, corporations and rich folks have far more influence than they have a right to be when it is one person one vote. All candidates can benefit, but Republicans who want a free rein for corporate activities benefit most. That corporate power does mean Biden has to be a bit careful when calling out those corporations, although, since he is gaining nothing from being seen as silent, maybe stirring the corporate pot a whole lot more could help.
I would really like to see more Democratic presidential advertisements in all media spoken by prominent people describing what Biden has been working on, how Republicans in Congress have done everything to block efforts to help people, and a counter to Trump’s promise of a dictatorship filled with revenge and hatred, more money to the rich, and disregard for the law and our Constitution. A bit of comedy from some of our greats, like Alonzo Bodin and Samantha B, some serious talk from say, Martin /Sheen and Barack Obama, and maybe a song or jingle from some composers and musicians like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Paxton. Get creative folks! This really is a crisis!
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