Donald Trump’s stint has left the Republican Party quite astray. Joe Biden takes full advantage of a disoriented opponent to act without being pressured by a strong and effective opposition party.
Joe Biden’s first 100 days have not been as quiet as we expected. First, it had some operational successes, the vaccination campaign being the most spectacular.
Above all, Joe Biden is making the United States take a serious left turn. A transformation of the United States more radical than what we have seen for a long time. He invokes the particular context of the pandemic, but the new president has just announced three spending plans of 2 trillion each.
Transfers to individuals, aid to businesses, infrastructure, new programs, Joe Biden opens the floodgates. I will not surprise you by announcing the next step: tax increases for individuals and businesses.
Good for us!
From a Canadian perspective, this is good news. Business tax cuts under President Trump had made investing more attractive south of the border. Canada’s tax rates appeared even higher in comparison. And Canada was struggling to attract investment.
Joe Biden is therefore implementing a major reform of the American economy, following an ideology strongly camped on the left. Enough to open the door wide for Republicans to present a credible alternative vision. The average American is very sensitive to too much state intervention and open to listening to counter-narrative.
Biden relies on government checks to succeed in the fight against poverty. The alternative is to bet on employment to get there. Personally, I prefer this. Joe Biden seems to be betting on public investment for the revival of the economy. In the past, the United States has often been successful in encouraging private investment.
Lost
As Biden operates a near-revolution in front of their eyes, Republicans are elsewhere. They are against the mask. They have fun contradicting medical evidence and confusing political ideology with respect for measures to fight a virus.
As if the virus were Republican or Democrat. As if the response to an illness was a matter of political ideology. Do people on the left have their arteries more or less unblocked as needed? Are right-wing diabetics pricked themselves less on insulin? Stupidity.
Republicans are still obsessed with Trump. Many still defend it. In Arizona, the election result is still being contested. Too many Republicans, including elected officials, are never far from some conspiracy theory that distracts them from the path.
Trump liked to call Biden “Sleeping Joe.” For the moment, it is the Republicans who are put to sleep by the Trumpist opium. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is alert, transforming their country.
My conclusion: I am very worried about the evolution of the right in North America.