Promises promises: A look at President Biden’s first 100 days in office
Samantha Martin, News Editor
President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20, 2021 after a tumultuous campaign between himself and then president Donald Trump. The campaign slogans “Battling for the soul of America” and “Build back better” attempt to summarize the promises Biden and Harris made to the American people.
One of the top five promises of the Biden administration, to get COVID under control, is identified by Politifact as “In the Works.” This promise from Biden was outlined in ten executive orders that aim to contain and limit the spread of COVID-19.
Biden during his campaign and since the start of his administration has done all he could to differentiate himself from former president Trump by insisting that he will ‘follow the science,’ encourage the use of masks and ask that state governors, city mayors and other leaders reinstate mask mandates.
Many feel that Biden has taken credit for the work of the Trump administration’s efforts to develop and distribute a vaccine under Operation Warp Speed. One such individual is Hunter Corzine, secretary for the NGU College Republicans club.
“I find it interesting that if you go and look at Trump’s plan and Biden’s plan, the plans look very similar. Biden has taken advantage of Operation Warp Speed,” said Corzine.
Biden himself has had a poor track record when handling individuals that have lifted or won’t impart mask mandates.
After Texas governor Greg Abbot lifted his state’s mask mandate, Biden included in his response that “masks make a big difference” and “we are on the cusp to fundamentally being able to change the nature of this disease.” Referring to those who are lifting mask mandates, Biden said, “the last thing we need is the Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything is fine, take off our masks, forget it.”
Affiliated professor of political science and SC House of Representatives Board of Directors member Garry Smith said, “When you look at his comments calling people neanderthals and saying ‘follow the science’ and then you look at what he and his administration are doing, which is not following the science.”
Smith supported this point by referencing an article by Dr. Nicole Saphier in the Wall Street Journal, published April 2, 2021. In the article, Saphier suggests that masks will not be needed outside of local outbreaks within a matter of weeks, once COVID-19 rolling average of deaths is below that of the flu. All of this due to the distribution and administration of the vaccine.
With the administration working to develop a “system for people to prove they’ve been vaccinated,” some worry about the intrusiveness of such a system.
“The last thing you want to do is get through a version of border security every day,” said Seth Elliott, Vice President of the NGU College Republicans club.
But Biden’s policies go beyond this pandemic, and many simply reverse the actions of former President Trump. By Jan. 29, 2021, Biden had issued more than three dozen executive orders, virtually all of which were to reverse or stop actions taken by the Trump administration. Areas like LGBTQ+ rights, climate change and immigration all were at the forefront of these orders, with the Equality Act listed as ‘in the works’ on the Biden Promise Tracker.
Some, such as Rhett Wilson, president of the NGU College Republicans club, feel that the Equality Act, which seeks to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act, could pose a threat to universities like North Greenville.
“If the Equality Act passes, and NGU takes a biblical, traditional stance on marriage and sexuality, then NGU would lose its accreditation as a school,” said Wilson.
Refusal to submit to the act certainly would strip the university of federal funding, as the Equality Act will supersede the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, meaning that the university has no protection from this law.
“When you look at Title IX and this enactment, the meaning of sex was important to what Justice Gorsuch talked about in the Bostock decision, that the meaning of sex was very clear — it was immutable. Sex is a binary between male and female” said Smith.
The Biden administration has also had a controversial run in economics, passing through ‘omnibus bills’ like the $1.9 trillion ‘American Rescue Plan’ paying out $1,400 stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits and aid to state and local governments, renters, childcare facilities and schools. Though Biden’s plan was popular among Democrats, some Republicans characterized the aid to state and local governments as ‘bailouts.’
“You see states that have more debt and have not been good at handling their fiscal affairs being rewarded for not doing a good job,” said Smith.
Biden is nearing the end of his first 100 days in office and has passed nearly 40 executive orders, some which causes some concern amongst the American people.
>
“It’s very concerning the things that were not mentioned at the forefront but we are now starting to see circulating through his administration and what they are pushing for.”
Another hot button issue for the administration is immigration. Biden is moving to reverse policies like family separation at the borders and the Trump border wall.
Biden has also promised to increase the admission of refugees into our nation, beginning by setting the number at 125,000/fiscal year and increase over time. In conjunction with this, Biden plans to create a path to citizenship for nearly 11 million people who have been living here illegally, with a proposal offering citizenship in three to eight years depending on whether the individuals in question are farmworkers. Biden released a Feb. 18 statement supporting the proposal.
>
“I look forward to working with leaders in the House and Senate to address the wrongdoings of the past administration and restore justice, humanity and order to our immigration system.”
The actions of the administration have created a surge of illegal immigration at the southern border, with caravans of people wearing Biden campaign shirts and illegal aliens openly saying that they came during the Biden administration because they felt more hopeful than during Trump’s administration.
“What we’re doing with the immigration problem is we’re inviting people to come here, and we will catch you, and we will release you,” said Smith.
As of March 24, 2021, Biden has placed Vice President Harris in charge of the border crisis. However, neither Biden nor Harris has visited the southern border, and the administration continues to block media in the migrant facilities, despite campaigning and continuing to argue a position of transparency.
The issues that are the forefront of the administration continue to be divisive with many policies being pushed through by reconciliation, rather than a typical legislative process.
“I think that the way they have gone about it with the number of executive orders that have been issued is very concerning. It is completely circumventing the process that was intended which is the legislative process,” said Smith.
For those who may not agree with the current administration, or those that want to ensure this is the course of action from now into the future, there is one thing that they can do — become involved.
“One of the things I like to tell people is that this is your government. When you look at the federalism we have, it gives you tremendous amounts of opportunity to take and be involved with your government,” said Smith.
