Introduction
On February 7, President Joseph Biden delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. During his address, Biden discussed the progress and achievements he has cultivated during his time as president. His address was both optimistic and polarizing, as demonstrated by the audience interactions, which trended on social media.
Campus Conservative, Marisa Powers
In my opinion, Biden’s speech did not reflect the current state of the union. He claimed that he created “12 million new jobs – more jobs created in two years than any president has created in four years.” However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), “the economy under Biden has actually added 2.7 million overall jobs.” The other 9 million jobs are those that had been lost during the economic shutdown caused by the pandemic. It is hard to believe that he created 12 million jobs considering the current economic state of the country, with an inflation rate of 6.5% in 2023. Biden also made the claim he created 800,000 manufacturing jobs when BLS data shows he only created 214,000.
President Biden hardly acknowledged the current inflation rate in his speech. He stated, “inflation is coming down […] gas prices are down $1.50 from their peak. Food inflation is coming down, not fast enough but coming down. ” These statements are ignoring the struggles of Americans as they continue to struggle to pay for groceries and gas. While inflation and gas prices have decreased over the past few months, they are still quite high. He did not provide any remedies to the high inflation rates, besides mentioning the Inflation Reduction Act, which is just increasing the national debt by spending more money, thereby causing more inflation.
Biden says he is working to rebuild the backbone of America’s middle class, but in my view, he’s currently working against them and his speech did not reflect that.
Campus Liberal, Tasha Khosla
While Biden’s speech was able to showcase his achievements and he was able to remain firm against the hecklers, the address itself felt too hopeful and didn’t really address certain issues. The main theme of his speech was “finish the job,” a phrase that was repeated 12 times throughout the night. Yet, some of the jobs Biden wants to take on seem unrealistic and made him seem out of touch.
According to a poll by CBS, only 44% of Americans view his presidential actions as competent. Moreover, most Americans believe that the American economy is doing poorly, hence why viewers were looking for Biden to address the current state of the economy. While he did mention that “a record 12 million new jobs” have been created under his presidency and that “we’re building an economy where no one is left behind,” his words feel ignorant of the reality that many Americans are struggling within the current state of the economy. Due to rising interest rates, car payments have become too expensive for buyers. Mortgage rates are still increasing. The costs of essential goods and services are still very high. As a result, many Americans have already been “left behind.”
The ideas are there and we will see in time how Biden plans to tackle some of the other issues he mentioned such as gun reform, providing teachers with larger salaries, and “clos[ing] the loopholes that allow the very wealthy to avoid paying their taxes.” These policies would take time and would need support, which Biden lacks right now, as evidenced by the polls.
Conclusion
Both sides agree that his speech did not accurately reflect the struggles that Americans are facing due to the current economic state.
