2021 Democratic Accomplishments

As this is the last column of 2021 I thought it important to review some of the things that Democrats led by President Joe Biden have accomplished this year. Democrats worked hard to overcome the obstruction of Republicans like our senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. While they haven’t done everything I think they could or should have, I firmly believe that the country is better off for their efforts. Many of our families, friends, and neighbors have benefited from the legislation and policies pushed by the Biden administration with the support of Texas Democrats like our congressman, Vicente González.

To me the most important act Biden took upon his inauguration was to rejoin the Paris climate accord which former President Donald Trump had left. His action put the U.S. back in line with the majority of the world's nations and also helped place the Biden administration at the center of efforts to tackle global climate change. While Biden has repeatedly stressed the need to curb climate change by transitioning to clean energy, the administration's approach has often disappointed me. The U.S. not signing the pledge to end the use of coal power announced at COP26 conference is one of those disappointments. On the positive side, last month the president unveiled a 100 country pledge to cut emissions of the greenhouse gas methane by at least 30 percent by 2030 and joined another agreement to end and reverse deforestation. This month the Biden administration ordered U.S. government agencies to stop financing carbon-intensive fossil fuel projects abroad.

Biden, an opponent of the federal death penalty, has reinstated a 17-year pause on federal executions on federal executions that former President Trump ended allowing 13 people were put to death between July, 2020 and January, 2021. It’s important to remember that according to a study published in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” at least 4% of people on death penalty/death row were and are likely innocent. Biden has pledged "to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow."

President Biden supported by the 50 Democratic senators has seen 40 federal judges confirmed so far more than any president in their first term since Ronald Reagan in 1981, and twice as many as Trump appointed during his first year. Now he just needs to address the 6-3 conservative dominated Supreme Court.

Many Americans are pessimistic about the U.S. economy given inflation at a 40-year high, yet it’s important to remember that Biden's first year in office has seen significant improvements in job and wage growth. The national unemployment rate fell from 6.3% in January to just 4.2% in November, the lowest since March 2020 and jobless claims fell to their lowest levels since 1969 in early December.

Yes, inflation has increased but more importantly wages and salaries paid by private businesses rose more, outpacing inflation by 2.4% from January to October and disposable income grew 3%. The American Rescue Plan, passed on a near party line vote and the historic economy recovery, combined to cut child poverty in half.

Next week I’ll cover what we have to look forward to in 2022 and what Republicans are doing to prevent the climate and economic recovery we so desperately need through voter suppression and gerrymandering.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - December 29, 2021