Happy Presidents Day!
Happy Presidents Day! Let’s take take a moment to recognize the tremendous accomplishments of three great Democratic presidents.
During the Bill Clinton Presidency, 22 million new jobs were created, unemployment declined from 7% to 4%, median family income rose, and poverty declined to its lowest rate in 20 years. The Clinton budget also converted what was then the largest budget deficit in American history to a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion over the next ten years.
A progressive reform of the Clinton Administration was the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Hillary Clinton worked with Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch to provide insurance coverage to more than 8 million children.
Clinton is also hated by the radical right because he is was the first president who has ever actually defeated the NRA. In 1994, a Democratic majority Congress passed a 10 year assault weapons ban.
George W. Bush passed onto President Obama probably the worst situation any incoming American president had faced since the dark days of the Great Depression in March 1933. When Obama took office, the world economy was in free fall due to the collapse of Wall Street in the fall of 2008. The economy was losing 800,000 jobs per month, GDP had shrunk 8.9% in the fourth quarter of 2008, the banking industry was on the verge of disintegration and the U.S. auto industry hung by a thread.
Since the end of the Bush recession in 2010, the unemployment rate was reduced from 10% to 4.7%. In 2016 alone, the economy added 2.15 million jobs. Between 2009 and January 2017, the economy added 12.2 million jobs. That was the best record of job creation since Bill Clinton’s second term. In contrast, a net 3 million jobs were added during the eight years of the Bush Administration.
During the Obama Administration, 20 million formerly uninsured Americans obtained insurance. The uninsured rate was reduced from 18% to a record low of 8.6%. Lifetime limits in policies were abolished and insurance companies can no longer discriminate against the sick and the injured.
President Biden has already made amazing progress in cleaning up Trump’s mess. Since Biden took office, a record 11.2 million jobs have been created. In contrast, in 2020, 9.4 million jobs were lost. Unemployment has dropped from 6.4% to 3.5%. In 2021, the U.S. experienced the strongest GDP growth since 1984.
President Biden and the Democrats had the most productive legislative session since Lyndon Johnson. In 2021, Biden passed the American Rescue Act and the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure bill.
New statistics show that 5 million more Americans have health insurance because of the American Rescue Act. The American Rescue Plan led to a record 14.5 million Americans signing up for healthcare coverage for this year through the Affordable Care Act. The U.S. currently has the lowest uninsured rate in its history now.
The year 2022 turned out to be an amazing year of progress for President Biden and the Congress. In 2022, Biden and the Congress passed:
Biggest ever investment in clean energy.
First major gun safety bill in 30 years.
Restart the American microchip industry.
Massive expansion of veterans benefits.
Cap seniors’ drug costs at $2000.
President Biden and the Democrats in Congress have capped insulin costs at $35 a month for Medicare recipients.
The Inflation Reduction Act will now save 13 million Americans an average of $800 annually on health insurance premiums.
End corporate tax evasion.
A ban on companies using mandatory arbitration to defeat sexual-harassment claims.
A renewal of the Violence Against Women Act.
Codify same sex marriage.
Many of these bills passed with bi-partisan support after the D.C. pundits said it could never be done. Biden’s bi-partisan wins includes the infrastructure bill , the CHIPS and Science Act, an expansion of veterans benefits in the PACT Act, the first gun safety bill since 1994, the Postal Service Reform Act, and marriage equality.
Prominent presidential historian Michael Beschloss said it best: “Anyone still saying it doesn’t really matter who is President of the United States?”
You’re going to want to save this post for when Trump and his propaganda machine try to rewrite history.