The president’s first 100 days are an arbitrary benchmark, and measurement journalists draw a comparison between current executives and last CEO Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose first three months were really important. I like it because I can do it.
But lately, the 100-day metaphor has also been taken seriously by presidents, including both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
In the 2016 presidential election, Trump promised to abolish the Obamacare Act in the first 100 days, build a wall on the Mexican border and convince Congress to pass the term limit.
Nothing happened to them, but Trump surpassed the previous owner of the office in one respect: creating a mess without a shirt.
The smart new president banned immigrants and travelers from Islamic countries, but was soon revoked by federal court. He stripped federal funds from the sanctuary city, which was soon challenged. His National Security Adviser resigned in a scandal over secret contact with Russian authorities.
But soon, Trump set his own self-proclaimed three-month deadline. “Stupid standards” At the same time, he insisted, “In the first 100 days, we did more than any other president.”
Biden also promised swift action. He promised to get 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the first 100 days. When he found it too easy, he doubled the goal to 200 million (and achieved it).
He promised COVID bailouts and managed to submit a huge $ 1.9 trillion bill through Congress without having to afford to vote.He proposed $ 2.3 trillion Infrastructure planning. And his approval in polls is about 54%, a higher level than his predecessor has ever touched.
If Biden was simply compared to his immediate predecessor, he would be declared the winner of the 100-day race. But due to the unexpected boldness of all Biden, his record does not meet Roosevelt’s standards.
The FDR passed 15 major laws in the first 100 days. Biden has just passed one. More importantly, Biden’s bailout bill is huge in terms of dollars, but most of its emergency measures are only temporary. Unlike the FDR’s New Deal, its program, especially family tax credits that promise to halve child poverty, will not last for a generation unless the president persuades Congress to extend it.
“These were emergency measures justified by the pandemic,” said Elaine Kamalck, a scholar at the Brookings Institution. “Looking at the fate of the infrastructure bill, we can see how durable it is.”
Another way Biden’s recovery of the New Deal-style government is limited is: The new president’s energy relentlessly focuses on four priorities: pandemics, economics, climate change, and racial relations. Other democratic priorities—immigration reform, gun control, and a minimum wage of $ 15—have moral support, but nothing more. Its narrow focus is one of the reasons for Biden’s success (unlike Trump, who is notorious for his short attention period), but it creates frustration among progressives who wanted more help. It was.
Biden Transpartisan Renaissance I was disappointed. The president held amicable meetings with Republican senators, but only chose bills that could be passed without them. He made the strict choice that the bill would pass first. Transpartisan comes second.
And Biden has a problem on the horizon. The surge in underage immigrants at the southern border has created a crisis that the new administration is struggling to overcome because of all its proud experiences. In addition, some economists are concerned that Biden’s huge spending bill could increase inflation.
And if the Democratic majority in parliament does not survive the 2022 midterm elections, Biden’s agenda will die and stop.
For all these attentions, Biden succeeded in his first step. He revoked dozens of Trump’s policies through executive orders, ending Trump’s crusade of dismantling and dismantling most of the federal government.
“He has recovered Normal governance — And that’s amazing speed, ”Kamarck told me. “This administration can be almost boring at times. It was never under Trump.”
By fulfilling his first promise and canceling much of Trump’s legacy in three months, Biden had a major impact. He was already a more ambitious and consequential president than some Democrats expected.
But he still has a long way to go.
The most memorable outcome of the FDR was not achieved in his first 100 days of emergency action. The bill, which established the Social Security and Labor Relations Board, was not passed until after his first midterm elections, which helped him elect nine more Democrats to the Senate.
If Biden could emulate the trick, he might be able to qualify for Roosevelt’s league, but until then it wasn’t.
This story was originally Los Angeles Times..