Faced with the provocations of North Korea and Russia, the slump in inflation and the parliamentary collapse of a major electoral reform, Joe Biden on Friday hailed one of the rare victories for his presidency, namely a major infrastructure project.
“I add that we talk a lot about the frustration of things we can not do, and we are going to manage to do more. But this is what we did“, Joe Biden said at the White House, scrolling behind him for pictures of more or less damaged bridges.
What the Democrats did was vote for a $ 1.2 trillion investment in roads, bridges, and the Internet, a historic amount that even benefited from the support of some Republican lawmakers.
But the reminder of this undeniable victory contains something almost terrible.
When the speech was approved with great fanfare on November 15, Joe Biden invited Arizona Senator Kirsten Cinema to speak in praise of the speech.
On Thursday, the same Kirsten Cinema, in a few words, was buried in the Senate Gallery, a key electoral law that Joe Biden promised would protect access to the referendum for African-Americans against restrictions imposed by some conservative states in the south.
Turning
This speech marks a turning point that Joe Biden wants to take: In two recent speeches, the President issued warnings about the unprecedented attraction to American democracy. He also launched unprecedented attacks on his predecessor, Donald Trump, and on the opposition in general.
Therefore, in this electoral reform program, there is no hope that one of the Republican MPs can be mobilized and achieved.The majorityThe Senate needs 60 votes.
So Democrats have devised a procedure to force a simple majority – 51 of the 51 votes they control against the opposition. But, like another moderate Democrat senator, Kirsten Cinema rejected the maneuver, denouncing the reform itself.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected a vaccine requirement the president wanted to impose on big business. The White House has acknowledged that the threat of a new conflict in Ukraine has not been eliminated after a serious diplomatic standoff with Russia.
A black day in a disaster week, Joe Biden, reminded us that he had invested a year ago and made big promises with little room for maneuver.
His control over Congress hangs in the balance, and he has to deal with the Supreme Court, which has made Donald Trump more conservative.
Small rabbits
From an economic point of view, inflation is at its highest level since 1982.
The United States has surpassed the record for the number of hospital admissions with the new wave of Covit-19s evacuating supermarket shelves that have faced a series of shortage problems since the outbreak began.
On Friday, North Korea test-fired its third missile of the year, and the United States imposed provocative new sanctions.
What about the referendums that confirm the president’s strong unpopularity one after another? Most polls give a rating of about 42%.
“A project does not end in a year. We will continue to fight for every component“White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki promised on Friday that the list would include both the economy, the fight against disease and climate change, and the fight for civil rights.
But if Joe Biden has some weapons to fight, he also has less time. In the fall, he will face by-elections to the legislature, which has historically been difficult to come to power and could lose control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
AFP
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