Opinion: Joe Biden’s record so far — and what does he have left to do?

Biden is working for the good of the nation

First and foremost, I believe that Joe Biden is a decent man. And that quality must be essential for any leader.

Overall, I have a sense of stability in my day-to-day life that I did not experience with the former administration.

I think that President Biden’s strength in leadership has been in foreign affairs. For him to be so instrumental in the resurgence of NATO’s unity and common purpose is one of his greatest legacies.

President Biden’s cognitive abilities have been questioned, but when he has attended international leaders’ summits and has had intense schedules meeting world leaders, attending functions and portraying America as a strong world leader, I have no doubts as to his abilities.

Readers React

Opinion: Have Your Say on the Doomsday Clock and what it means for humanity’s future

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved its Doomsday Clock closer than ever to midnight.

Jan. 26, 2023

As to the increased evidence of violence here in America, I would hope that he never wavers from pursuing rational and reasonable gun-control laws while ensuring that our Second Amendment rights are not compromised.

It appears to me that President Biden continues to work for the good of our county despite all the distractions that he is hit with on a daily basis. It appears to me, for the most part, that he attempts to stay the course of working for our country. Every day now, I see the rebuilding of our infrastructure, and I am grateful.

I also appreciate that Biden has always been a man of faith. It is evident that he believes in the dignity of all life — from conception to natural death. As he is an advocate for women’s choice, I believe that he understands the complexity of making hard decisions and realizes that we should not be judged. I have a sense that in his personal life he would do all he could to ensure an unborn child’s right to live.

In terms of the fiasco of immigration, this needs to be a priority, with necessary resources allocated. Political infighting is taking up valuable time, which can result in a death sentence for those seeking refuge. It is also taking time in which, out of desperation, everyone is put at risk — U.S. citizens and those seeking a homeland. There are so many good people in our country, let us be supported in safe and fair ways to expand our country of immigrants that make us one.

No one is perfect, and I can’t imagine all the political give and take, concessions and steadfastness that must come with the job. May we be aware and alert, and continue to ensure that we have fair voting in which our voices can be heard to determine our leaders.

Charlotte Kacmar, Oceanside

Importantly, Biden restored normalcy

Calmness. After four years of Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s main accomplishment is simply returning the executive branch to normalcy. We are no longer waking up in the morning wondering what on Earth the president is going to do to ruin our day. While Biden has brought back a professional calmness and a dedication to making peoples’ lives better, it is now Congress, with its Republican majority in the House, that is the branch of government that is eliciting nightmares.

By pushing through legislation with only Democratic votes, and some bipartisan legislation in areas like gun safety, expanded care for veterans, investments in climate-related programs, infrastructure and lower prescription costs for Medicare beneficiaries, the Biden administration has shown it can deliver on issues that directly affect the general public in a good way. Although heavily criticized, he ended U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as promised, and after all, what exit from a war isn’t messy?

He’s displayed excellent leadership in galvanizing most of the world in assisting Ukraine against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war and has reestablished good relations with our allies that had become frayed under Trump. And while the Supreme Court is still stacked with right-wingers, Biden was able to nominate and get confirmed a justice that exercises good judgment and sense. Appointments for lower court judges that aren’t drinking the Trump Kool-Aid are moving at a good pace.

What will the next two years be like? With the bomb throwers in the House, there is little chance that any important legislation will pass. There will be no progress on immigration reform or even more strong gun legislation because I think Republicans would rather use those issues as talking points, like they do with abortion, to rile up their base instead of actually legislate in good faith. We are coming up on a debt-ceiling fiasco that has become the Republicans’ weapon of choice in recent decades when they don’t hold the White House to try to reduce Medicare and Social Security benefits.

As long as the Senate is under Democratic control, progress will continue to be made in appointing judges, including any potential openings on the Supreme Court. Foreign policy will be in the hands of adults who actually give a darn about the U.S. role in the world.

Biden will continue to lead in a professional manner. With the expected overreach by the radical Republicans on their “investigations” and their desire to scream and shout but not do any actual work, I think the presidential race in 2024 will look quite good for the Democrats. Most voters like Biden. He’s made things calmer.

Rob Cohen, Mission Hills

Joe Biden has had his wins and a few losses

The Biden presidency has made progress by remaining moderately progressive. Kudos are well deserved in several areas, including promoting legislation that put money to work keeping businesses open and helping people pay their bills when it looked like a financial collapse was just around the corner. The cause for the economic crisis — COVID-19 — was then beaten back by Biden’s commitment to mass production and distribution of vaccines as well as free access to testing.

Then there were the necessary and sensible bills — some of which even appealed to Republicans — designed to prepare the United States for the 21st century. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was a biggie. You can’t claim to be the world’s preeminent power when roads, bridges and railway tracks are crumbling. The CHIPS and Science Act provided money to bring high-tech jobs home and avoid the troubling reliance on foreign manufacturers. And the president set the right tone when he directed that the U.S. government must buy clean energy vehicles and make environmental improvements in federal buildings.

Sure, this all costs a lot of money. But it will pay dividends going forward.

As vice president, Joe Biden spoke for the gender rights of all Americans. As president, he signed the Respect For Marriage Act, which requires the federal government to recognize the sanctity of same-sex marriage.

With bipartisan support, he signed the Electoral Count Reform Act, designed to forestall a repeat of the insurrection we all witnessed on Jan. 6, 2021.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine? If the other guy had won the U.S. election, I’m willing to wager he’d have crossed his arms and declared it wasn’t our fight. Biden recognized immediately what was at stake and led NATO and most of the rest of the world in supporting Ukraine, and he continues to push successfully for additional military and humanitarian aid.

There’s more, but let’s be evenhanded. Where has Joe Biden fallen short? In three areas: The pullout from Afghanistan was Vietnam all over again — though it must be noted the previous administration announced it would pull out in May 2021, likely with the same result. The discovery of classified documents in several locations, including Biden’s home, may or may not be criminal, but it is embarrassing, especially in light of the condemnation of findings at Mar-a-Lago. And then there is the immigration morass. Building a wall sure isn’t the answer, but Biden, like several of his predecessors, has not developed successful policies and programs to bring the problem under control.

With the Republicans winning the House of Representatives, making legislative progress will be a daunting task. But Biden does have a way of throwing his arms around friend and foe alike and getting results. His first challenge will be the debt ceiling. The administration can negotiate with Speaker Kevin McCarthy after it has been raised. As it must be.

If nothing else, I salute this president for replacing chaos, cruelty and corruption with calmness, dignity and humanity.

I’m still ridin’ with Biden.

Mark Linsky, Pacific Beach

It may be time for Biden to step aside

As a liberal Democrat, I feel that Biden saved our country. He, and those who voted for him, got rid of a cancer killing our country. For that I, and I think the nation, owe him a debt of gratitude.

He has countered the right by appointing decent and reasonable judges. He has passed infrastructure bills to repair our crumbling roads, bridges and railway systems. He has attempted to allow more legal immigrants to fill the need for low-wage workers, which is sorely needed.

He has strengthened environmental laws and been an advocate for addressing climate change, backing alternative energy sources and attempting to put the U.S. at the forefront to stop global warming.

He has helped our ally Ukraine with generous monetary and weapons packages to confront Russia and its reign of terror, not only against Ukraine, but the whole world. Hopefully, our sanctions will have the effect we need to deter it from further aggression throughout the region and the world.

He has energized the country to vote for Democratic senators and Congress people to stop the radical right from imposing its ambitions of controlling women’s bodies, destroying climate change, gerrymandering voting districts throughout the country, and putting in jail those who attempted a coup on Jan. 6, 2021.

Even though I believe he has done good at the border, it is obvious that not enough has been done with enforcement of our immigration laws. Of course, this must be seen through the lens of the Border Patrol’s inability to hire enough agents due to unreasonable lie detector procedures for applicants. That ridiculous process eliminates many of them.

Probably the largest problem I have with Biden recently is finding secret documents in his office and in his home, though I think he’s unlike the 45th president who fully knew that they were in his possession. Biden may have been unaware of what his aides were doing, but the buck stops with him, period.

The final thing I’ll say is that the document debacle is extremely disappointing, and I believe that it may be time for a new Democratic candidate to emerge to challenge him in the primaries. Due to his age and the document scandal, I believe that it’s time for him to step aside and allow a younger candidate to try their hand.

G.D. Morrill, Escondido

Documents fumble stains Biden’s record

President Biden has had remarkable success in some areas and disappointments in others. It is well known that he has difficulty dealing with the Congress, that is the Republican factions in Congress.

He also faces right-leaning newspapers and television channels that are constantly criticizing and sometimes making fun of the president.

He has signed into law legislation for major improvements to our infrastructure, which badly needs improvement and repair and upgrade to keep us competitive with the world economy for years to come.

He has signed legislation to reduce out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs to $2,000 per year and make sure that no senior will pay more than $35 a month for insulin.

The so called Inflation Reduction,Act will improve access to the internet, clean energy and create thousands of jobs for working class people.

He established a minimum corporate tax, so that wealthy corporations will begin paying their share of taxes. None of these improvements will raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 per year.

He has signed legislation aimed at cutting gun violence and hopefully sponsor ways to limit access to weapons of war, that is firearms designed specifically to kill people. This past weekend’s violence once again makes it obvious we need more than background checks.

Frankly, I hope he introduces legislation to buy back these long guns with enhanced capability and capacity that endanger everybody. Certainly we should protect Second Amendment firearm rights. We also need to protect the rights of the average citizen going to the market, a school, a convenience store or yes, a dance studio.

Sadly illegal immigration seems an unsolvable problem. There are simply too many people from countries that are failing their citizens wanting a better, safer life in the U.S.

Also obvious, if Trump were the president instead of President Biden, Ukraine would now being in the hands of Russian President Putin.

The recent disclosure of classified documents, found at Biden‘s residence and an office raises questions. First of all, did he know they were there? Second doesn’t it seem odd that documents were discovered in an office that he hasn’t been used for six years?

No doubt the recent document disclosures will not help his campaign for another four years as president. And although because of his successes, arguably, he should be granted another term.

But I think the time is come for a new leader ship, and a new president. I have enjoyed watching Joe Biden and his career over the past 30 years. But the time comes for everyone to realize it’s time to move on.

Ron Carrico, Mission Hills

Editor’s note: We received essays that were more critical of Biden that didn’t meet our standards, and the authors declined to fully address cited inaccuracies. If you have a view, send us your own 500-word essay, and we may publish it online.