Letter to the editor: Biden’s accomplishments many

Published 1:26 pm Tuesday, February 6, 2024

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To the editor:

In reading the editorial page of Jan. 25, I realized Biden’s competition has defined him. I had to think and research to find actual accomplishments. There are more than I thought. The US is fortunate to have someone who has worked for the past three years and left the celebrity politicking subside.

But that means now he has to convince voters of what he has been doing and undermine the fake news.

Together, along with Chuck Schumer in the Senate, they passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that included:

– the biggest infrastructure package for roads and bridges since Eisenhower put in the interstate highway system in the 1950s; driving around America last year I saw more road work going on than I’ve ever seen in my life;

– the biggest investment in passenger rail in 50 years, $16 billion, which, besides trying to catch us up to the rest of the world, created 100,000 jobs;

– the most impactful gun reform legislation since the assault weapons ban in 1993;

– brought high-speed internet to rural states, including those that voted against him by 2 to 1, but he did it because it’s the right thing to do;

– the largest water infrastructure investment in the nation’s history incouding replace all the remaining lead pipes;

– replacing old school buses with new American-made electric buses; and

– began implementation of a network of high-speed electric vehicle chargers along all the major highways across America.

On his first day in office he signed the order to have the U.S. rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and the world Health Organization after Twitler insanely withdrew U.S. participation from both.

He said he would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 and hour, and then did it.

He remained bullish on his former administration’s Obamacare program and reduced uninsured Americans by another 4 million people. There’s now more people signed up for it then there ever has been.

His Inflation Reduction Act includes penalites for pharmaceutical companies if they raise prices more than the rate of inflation, and Medicare can finally start negotiating for lower drug prices, including antibiotics, chemo drugs and blood thinners.

And that in the same act he capped insulin costs for Medicare recipients at $35 per month, and he got the nation’s largest insulin provider, Eli Lilly, to drop the cost for everyone by 70%.

His policies and these two major acts have created 800,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector and kept unemployment in the 3.5-7% range, the lowest in over 50 years.

And in yet another example of Biden fighting for the regular person, he’s taken on the banks’ $40 overdraft fees that only hit poor people when they’re the most vulnerable. No other president in my lifetime has gone after this type of institutional exploitation of taking advantage of the little guy.

George McManus

Cooleemee