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The Biden-Harris Team Promises. And They Deliver.
The Biden-Harris team has also fulfilled promises only they have made — including many Mr. Trump would never have uttered.
Fighting Inflation, Helping the Family Budget, and Growing the Middle Class
“We came into office during the height of a pandemic, record unemployment. And because of our economic policies, we now are reducing inflation. We have created over 14 million new jobs. We've created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs. Wages are up. And so, we've seen great progress.”
— Vice President Harris, Oct 29, 2023
Higher prices for monthly expenses leave family budgets strapped. The Biden-Harris team has worked hard with a three-pronged strategy to help families afford everyday needs:
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bring inflation and prices down;
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bring wages up, and;
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stop corporate price-gouging.
The Biden-Harris Administration is Bringing Inflation and Prices Down
The Biden-Harris Administration is:
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Bringing Inflation and Prices Down
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Inflation has been a problem around the world as everyone dealt with coming out of the pandemic. But the Biden-Harris team has worked hard and inflation in our country has been reduced more than in other developed nations.
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Biden-Harris began the presidency with snarled supply-chains left by the Trump Administration — a major contributing factor to inflation. Biden-Harris created a high-level task force to straighten things out and get things moving again. And they have.
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The inflation rate has come down 6% on Biden-Harris’s watch.
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Inflation is projected to continue to fall in 2024 from 3.2% all the way down to 2.2%, according to Goldman Sachs.
Bringing Wages Up
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Wage growth now exceeds inflation. Most of us have more money in our pockets and bank accounts for daily expenses, and at the end of the month we are coming out ahead.
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Real wages are higher today for the average worker than they were in the pre-pandemic Trump years, adding $1,400 to the yearly family budget.
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Young adults have seen their wages rise 12 percent.
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Our wage increase is unique among major developed nations. While our post-pandemic wages have increased 2.8% above inflation compared to pre-pandemic, German workers, for example, earned 7.2% less.
Stopping Corporations From Price-Gouging American Families
Biden-Harris has gotten rid of unfair hidden fees or “junk fees” by banks, credit cards, hotels, rental housing, cable, concerts, airlines, and healthcare that strain the family budget.
The Biden-Harris Administration has:
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made it illegal for banks to charge for basic services, such as charging $30 to check your balance;
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reduced overdraft fees by about 50%, saving an average of $150 for 33 million American families;
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stopped credit card companies from gouging people with insane fees; instead of paying an average of $31 for making a late payment, now they can’t charge you more than $8.
Bipartisanship
Just about everyone thought the Biden-Harris team was out of touch with our partisan times when they promised to work with Republicans during the 2020 campaign. But even amidst the most extreme partisanship our nation has seen since the Civil War, Biden-Harris has scored major bipartisan victories for our country:
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the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal to rebuild our nation's roads, bridges, rails, airports, electrical grid, and much more;
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the CHIPS and Science Act to bring back semiconductor production in our country and boosting R&D to keep us on the cutting edge of useful scientific knowledge;
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the Respect for Marriage Act, protecting same-sex and interracial couples;
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the PACT Act to help veterans exposed to toxic chemicals;
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the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act addressing gun violence; and
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a deal with House Republicans to take away their ability to blackmail the country using the debt ceiling, which will also reduce the federal debt $1.4 trillion over a decade.
Such bipartisanship shows that the Biden-Harris team stands at the center of our nation, able to unite people deeply divided to work together for the common good. For with unity comes strength and freedom.
Nominate First Black Woman to Supreme Court and Diversify Federal Courts
The Biden-Harris team fulfilled a campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Justice Jackson said this upon her nomination in the Rose Garden: “I must begin these very brief remarks by thanking God for delivering me to this point in my professional journey. My life has been blessed beyond measure, and I do know that one can only come this far by faith.”
In keeping with Justice Jackson’s nomination, the Biden-Harris judicial nominees — 219 and counting — are the most diverse in history. As for those already confirmed by the Senate:
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108 women, two-thirds of all confirmations in history;
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70 women of color, more than 40% of all confirmations;
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110 people of color, almost two-thirds of all confirmations;
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80 who had significant experience as public defenders or defenders of civil rights, to broaden the professional diversity of federal judges.
Student Debt
Biden-Harris has promised that the Administration will give more borrowers breathing room so they can get out from under the burden of student loan debt, move on with their lives and pursue their dreams.
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Biden-Harris has forgiven more than $136 billion in student loans for more than 3.7 million borrowers thus far.
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Many are teachers, nurses, social workers, firefighters, and other public servants who had earned forgiveness but never received it.
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When the Supreme Court struck down their original plan to forgive at least $10,000 for those making less than $125,000 a year, Biden-Harris found work-arounds.
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The Biden-Harris team continues to find ways to forgive more student debt, e.g. the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, wherein payments are lowered and some will have their debt canceled. 7 million have already enrolled in SAVE.
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The Biden-Harris Education Department has issued a draft regulation that will forgive the debt of those likely to default do to various hardships, especially financial hardships.
While these are substantial achievements, Kamala Harris knows the job isn’t done on student debt.
Protecting the Innocent with Gun Safety
Gun safety is one of the most contentious issues in our country. In the face of deadly shootings at schools and houses of worship, and the fact that gun violence is the leading cause of death for children, we despaired that anything could get done to reduce such violence.
Thankfully Biden-Harris was able to work with Congress to pass the first major gun legislation in nearly 30 years, the Bipartisan Safer Community’s Act. Biden-Harris readily admitted that it wasn’t everything they wanted. But it’s a start. The legislation includes:
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enhanced background checks for those under 21;
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incentives for states to implement “red flag” laws that allow law enforcement to confiscate guns from individuals a judge has determined to be too dangerous to have one;
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closes “the boyfriend loophole” adding boyfriends to the other types of domestic abusers are not able to buy a gun, i.e., abusive husbands, live-in boyfriends, and fathers;
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provides over $13 billion for school safety and mental health programs, and;
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tougher sentences for illegal purchases.
Biden-Harris has wasted no time in having the Administration implement the law and find other ways to act through all the powers at his disposal, including establishing the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to keep things moving. In all, Biden-Harris has taken more meaningful action on gun safety than any other administration.
It’s about keeping all of us safe, especially our children. Every child deserves to feel safe at school, and Vice President Harris, once she is president, won’t stop until they do.
Of course, Mr. Trump would not do any of this, and if he were reelected would do what he could to stifle and roll back gun safety. As he said to the National Rifle Association on Feb. 9, 2024: “During my four years … there was great pressure on me having to do with guns. We did nothing. We didn’t yield.”
Restoring our International Standing and Defending Democracy Around the World
Biden-Harris understands that upholding democracy here and abroad is not only the right thing to do, it is good for America. Democracies make better allies. They are more stable and make better trading partners, leading to jobs, business opportunities, and economic growth.
Biden-Harris knows that:
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democracy, alliances, stability, economic growth, and jobs go together;
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our democratic freedoms don’t just happen; they must be tended to and defended;
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NATO, and alliances in Asia to counter China, make us stronger;
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rallying the world to defend Ukraine against Russia’s criminal aggression means keeping our brave soldiers out of harm’s way;
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supporting the democratic state of Israel and its right to exist against Hamas’ terrorism and desire to completely destroy Israel is the right thing to do, even if it costs him politically at home;
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Palestinians deserve the fruits of freedom like everyone else; their lives and future are just as valuable as ours; that’s why he has pressed Israel to show restraint, protect civilians, and allow humanitarian aid, and he continues to fight for a two-state solution, giving consideration to recognizing a Palestinian state beforehand;
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assistance to other nations must be in keeping with our values; as he reiterated in a Feb. 8, 2024 memo, all nations must use such funds in a manner “consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”
In defending our country and the cause of freedom around the world, the Biden-Harris team has shown us real courage, real character, real vision. For them, the presidency is about serving one’s country. It’s about us.