Credit where its due

Give President Joe Biden some credit for mid-term election Democratic successes when most everyone, including the media, predicted otherwise. Instead of focusing on himself, he quietly avoided states where he’s unpopular and helped Democrats win Pennsylvania where he grew up and is still popular. He presented us with our country’s greatest challenge: to save our democracy from autocratic ambitions of the MAGA faction that dominates the Republican party.

He inherited a mess and time spent cleaning it up detracted from time for positive accomplishments. Our democratic institutions had been trashed, traditional allies alienated, and tyrants like Vladimir Putin ingratiated.

It’s unclear to what extent, if any, Biden is responsible for inflation. The previous Republican administration’s inflationary spending had exploded due to huge tax cuts for the rich and corporations that weren’t paid for. In contrast, Democrats funded the Inflation Reduction Act by taxing the rich, and the deficit has been reduced under Biden. Meanwhile, large corporations are profiting like bandits while common people pay for it with rising prices.

Violent crime fell precipitously from 1990 until 2000, more slowly until 2014, then generally rising until 2020. It continued rising during the pandemic spanning both previous and present administrations, until declining the first half of 2022. All this time we’ve witnessed the increasing proliferation of guns, including high-capacity assault rifles, and school mass shootings that Republicans refuse to confront.

Republicans blame Democrats for inflation and crime while admitting no responsibility, and are short on any real solutions.

Norm Luther

Spokane