Published Feb. 2, 2021
Following the wildness pre- and post-election, President Joe Biden set a new tone in his inauguration speech on Jan. 20.
“Credit where it’s due: The president’s repeated calls for unity were a tonic,” wrote Kyle Smith in National Review. “[O]ur new chief executive poured soothing oil on roiling waters and patriotically reminded us of how much we all have in common.”
And some Republican senators had the same evaluation. Maine’s Susan Collins noted that Biden "struck the right themes of unity, a call for us to come together to stop viewing one another as adversaries but rather as fellow Americans."
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska termed it "very well done," adding that "I thought it was what we needed." And Utah Sen. Mitt Romney called Biden's remarks "very strong."
After the four turbulent years of Donald Trump’s presidency, some of it self-induced, these comments were comforting, indeed. However, that was only the start of day one.
Shortly after the inauguration, Biden retired to the Oval Office and began signing what would become more than three dozen executive orders (EOs) and directives as of Jan. 29.
These actions put Biden in first place among all presidents for the number of such actions so early in their term. Even The New York Times, usually a dependable supporter of Democrat policies and practices, headlined an opinion piece, “Ease up on the Executive Actions, Joe."
There were 11 actions on the COVID-19 response; two each on Workforce, Economic Relief and Healthcare; five on Immigration; two on LGBTQ Rights; three on Racial Equity and Racism; and three on Government.
The enormous number of presidential edicts in the first few days is one problematic issue. Another is the scope and particular effects some of them will have.
Our government was deliberately organized with three co-equal branches. One of them, the Legislative Branch, passes laws. Recent presidents have increased the use of EOs to get things done. Some of these topics properly belong in the Congress, not the Executive Branch.
While Biden is off to the races with early executive orders, he has a long way to go to surpass some of his predecessors. U.S. News tells us that “Bill Clinton had 364 orders over two terms, George W. Bush signed 291 over his eight years in office and Barack Obama issued 276. Trump in his one term signed 220 orders.”
One of Biden’s EOs, released to the press late on inauguration day, is titled “Modernizing Regulatory Review.” That sounds innocent enough. But the intent of the order is to effectively toss out the cost-benefit analysis that puts the brakes on regulatory actions where the cost of compliance far exceeds the benefits it provides.
This could return the country to the days of rampant and unnecessary regulation, which would do great harm to the progress of actions taken by former President Donald Trump, who reduced unneeded federal restrictions.
Another one, the “Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation,” takes aim at sex discrimination. This order will make it okay for men to go into women's restrooms and changing areas on federal property, including any public high school and university that receives federal funding.
Should a biological male at any time say he “feels like a woman,” he may now legally enter a woman’s restroom, even if females of any age are already in there. That is potentially dangerous.
The new order reads, in part: "Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports." It is common knowledge that females and males are physiologically different.
Males have significant physical advantages over females in strength and speed. Allowing biological males to participate in female sports puts females at a significant disadvantage, which is very unfair to them.
Furthermore, the Justice Department is going to enforce this order via Title IX. Schools that don’t comply by allowing males claiming to be females to use female facilities and participate in female sports risk losing federal funding, according to U.S. News.
Then there is the Keystone XL Pipeline order. “This is a slap at Canada, and it sends a message to investors that playing by U.S. rules provides no immunity from arbitrary political whim,” said a Wall Street Journal Editorial Board opinion column.
“Killing Keystone won’t keep fossil fuels in the ground. It will merely strand billions of dollars in Canadian investment and kill thousands of U.S. jobs while enriching adversaries and alienating an ally,” the Journal column continued.
A news release for TC (Trans Canada) Energy Corporation explained that, “the total number of American union workers constructing Keystone XL in 2021 will exceed 8,000 and $900 million in gross wages. In total, Keystone XL is expected to employ more than 11,000 Americans in 2021, creating more than $1.6 billion in gross wages.”
The unity for which Biden was praised in his inauguration speech was heavily damaged only a few hours later with the dis-uniting features of some of his executive orders.
The Biden presidency will be far less wonderful than millions expected it to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment