This week’s White House report card finds President Joe Biden continuing to struggle with a weak economy strangled by inflation and a new wave of bank failures, and more foreign policy embarrassments.
On Capitol Hill, House Republicans are making good on promises to spotlight policy failures in the administration. In two headline cases, they showed how the administration has lost control of the southern border, and they pushed claims that the Hunter Biden financial scandal is getting close to the president.
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Both our graders said the week was unimpressive for Biden. Pollster John Zogby graded a “C” and said Biden is running in place. “This is the Treadmill Presidency,” he said. Conservative analyst Jed Babbin handed out an “F” and cited the bank failures and weak reaction to Russia’s downing of a U.S. drone over international waters.
John Zogby
Grade C
This is the Treadmill Presidency.
There is progress on inflation. Last month the rate of inflation grew by an annualized 6%. Economists are warning about a recession, but they have been doing so for over a year. The Federal Reserve may put a halt to rising interest rates, but again they may not do it.
Three banks were bailed out just this week — two by taxpayers, the other by mega-banks.
President Joe Biden’s approval polls are not inflationary, holding firm at an average of 44%. But most Democrats still do not want him to run for reelection, and in matchups against former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Biden is tied.
The president just cannot seem to get a break. He’s running in place on a treadmill, but it’s better than Sisyphus and that damned rock.
Jed Babbin
Grade F
It was a very busy week for President Joe Biden and his team with bank failures, a U.S. drone forced down by a Russian fighter, and people still pouring over our uncontrolled Southern border. And those were the highlights.
Comic relief was, as usual, supplied by Vice President Kamala Harris. When asked what her daily duties were, she was stuck for an answer. Her incompetence leaves us grateful that she didn’t have a better answer.
The best answer of the week was given by Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz. He was asked at a House field hearing in Texas if the border was under U.S. operational control, meaning whether we had the power to stop people from entering the country. He said “no,” a comment which should be sufficient to impeach Homeland Secretary Alejandro Majorkas, who insists the border is controlled.
Meanwhile, Biden blamed former President Donald Trump for the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. YGBSM. That dog won’t hunt. The bank was bailed out to the tune of about $20 billion by taxpayers. Normally, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures deposits only up to $250,000. But despite Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s statement that she wouldn’t bail the bank out, Biden made sure that all depositors will be made whole. This is no more legal than his student loan bailout, which is about to be knocked down by the Supreme Court. Biden is bailing out some of his biggest supporters and donors around Silicon Valley.
Meanwhile, the Biden crew is still going after gas stoves, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is launching a campaign to harass gun owners and sellers. There’s no aspect of life that this bunch doesn’t want to control.
And there was the Russian downing of a USAF drone over the Black Sea. Biden should be bashing the hell out of President Vladimir Putin, but he’s making nary a squeak of complaint. Weakness, as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, is provocative. Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, and the ayatollahs are running rampant.
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John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @ZogbyStrategies
Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin
