Trust Joe Biden

June 19, 2024

President Biden announced a significant modification to the pathway to citizenship for “undocumented spouses” of US citizens. Even the hard-to-impress headline writers at the New York Times described Biden’s action as follows: “The new policy is one of the most significant actions to protect immigrants in years.” (This article is accessible to all.)

Per the Times,

Under the new policy, some 500,000 undocumented spouses will be shielded from deportation and given a pathway to citizenship and the ability to work legally in the United States. It is one of the most expansive actions to protect immigrants since Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, was enacted 12 years ago to protect those who came to the United States as children. [¶]

The policy aims to help people who have been living in the United States for more than a decade, building lives and families here. Even though marrying an American citizen generally provides a pathway to U.S. citizenship, people who crossed the southern border illegally — rather than arriving in the country with a visa — are required to return to their home countries to complete the process for a green card.

To be eligible, the spouses must have lived in the United States for 10 years and been married to an American citizen as of June 17. They cannot have a criminal record. The benefits would also extend to the roughly 50,000 children of undocumented spouses who became stepchildren to American citizens.

The Republican response to Biden’s humanitarian plan descended to new depths of mind-blowing hypocrisy. As The Hill reported in its headline, Republicans slam Biden immigration order as election ploy.

“An election ploy?” Hmm. Remember that time—six months ago—when Joe Biden had successfully negotiated a bipartisan immigration reform package that was set to sail through the House and Senate? And then remember that Donald Trump asked congressional Republicans to kill the bill to preserve immigration as an election issue for Trump? See HuffPost (1/24/24) Trump Privately Pressuring GOP Senators To ‘Kill’ Border Deal To Deny Biden A Win.

So, in the absence of congressional action, President Biden is doing the only thing he can —use executive action to address areas of immigration policy within the President’s discretion. Biden wishes it were otherwise but has no choice. Rather, he is willing to work with anyone who is interested in finding solutions.

In announcing the new policy, President Biden said,

Folks, I’m not interested in playing politics on the border or immigration. I’m interested in fixing it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again today, I will work with anyone to solve these problems. That’s my responsibility as president. That’s our responsibility as Americans.

No, Joe Biden is not playing politics. He is addressing an intractable problem despite obstructionist behavior from Republicans. A lesser president would give up in defeat. Not Joe Biden. He is a great president and deserves to be re-elected.

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Trump continues to insult Milwaukee

Last week, Trump called Milwaukee a “horrible city”—less than a month before Milwaukee serves as the host to the Republican National Convention. On Monday, news media reported that Trump did not intend to stay in Milwaukee during the convention, opting instead to make daily trips from Chicago to Milwaukee so that he could stay at a Trump-branded hotel. As soon as Trump's plans were questioned by journalists, the Trump campaign denied the report and (now) claims that Trump intended to stay in Milwaukee all along.  See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Trump campaign disputes report he will stay in Chicago during RNC (jsonline.com)

Everyone knows Trump is lying. Local law enforcement said they had been prepping for daily transits by Trump from Chicago to Milwaukee.

Trump is attempting to do damage control by claiming that, “I love Milwaukee!” Trump's supporters claim that Trump was referring to crime in Milwaukee, not to the city itself. If true, that is an odd explanation because crime in Milwaukee has been steadily decreasing for the last three years. See chart provided by Milwaukee Police Department Quarterly Review here.

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Trump gag order left in place by New York highest court.

Trump will likely appear at the Republican National Convention while under a gag order arising from his felony convictions. See HuffPost, Trump's Gag Order Left In Place By New York's Highest Court.

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They are coming for contraception and IVF

It cannot be said often enough: Republicans will not be satisfied until they have outlawed contraception and IVF. A month ago, Idaho Republicans issued a letter saying that IVF was safe in that state. Today, the Idaho Republican Party adopted a platform that included a “fetal personhood” plank, which states as follows:

We affirm that human personhood begins at the moment of conception and ought to be protected and cherished from that moment on. We oppose all actions which intentionally end an innocent human life, including abortion, the destruction of human embryos, euthanasia, and assisted suicide.

See Talking Points Memo, Idaho GOP Becomes Latest To Embrace Fetal Personhood, Threatening Access To IVF.

Any couples of child-bearing age must understand that the Republican Party is attempting to outlaw and criminalize their family planning choices—including attempts to become pregnant through in vitro fertilization. And any sexually active adult should know that Republicans won’t stop until they have outlawed contraception. Don’t take my word for it. Just ask Justice Thomas, who wrote in the Dobbs decision that the Court

should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”

For those of you not familiar with the case names, Thomas was suggesting that the Court reconsider its holdings recognizing the right to contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage.

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Concluding Thoughts

I am still on a restricted internet diet, so I need to cut the newsletter short. I did listen to some of Chris Hayes’ nightly show on MSNBC and heard David Plouffe say that the upcoming debate would be “the most important 90 minutes of Joe Biden’s life.”

Shut the front door! Plouffe is among the consulting class who declared that Joe Biden’s last State of the Union address was the most important speech of his life. As was Biden’s prior State of the Union Address. As was Biden’s speech on the third anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. In other words, political consultants are always telling us that Joe Biden’s next speech, event, or debate is the most important of his life.

Give us a break! We are not as stupid as you apparently believe we are! We remember the last time you issued the same serious political warning, and it turned out to be another Biden triumph!

Joe Biden has debated Trump twice. Biden beat Trump both times. The Republican disinformation machine is already preparing its victims for another Trump loss. They are claiming that Joe Biden will be hyped up on drugs—a slanderous falsehood that is entirely beside the point. Donald Trump is going to crash and burn with no help from Biden. Trump is undisciplined, ignorant, mercurial, and unable to think in a linear fashion. Joe Biden just needs to be a normal human being to show that Trump is unfit for office.

David Plouffe knows all this. And yet he describes the debate as the pivotal moment in Joe Biden’s career. Plouffe has apparently never met Joe Biden, despite having worked as chair of President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

The political consulting class will try to create drama around the debate by making it about Joe Biden. Why? Because we see Trump dissolve into incoherence every day on the campaign trail. Saying Trump will do so during the debate does not heighten the sense of drama. But declaring that it will be the most important 90 minutes of Joe Biden’s career achieves that desired effect. Shame on Plouffe and his colleagues. Stick to the facts, don’t insult our intelligence, and recognize that the debate will be important to both candidates.

Ignore the hype around the debates. Joe Biden will talk about policy for 45 minutes—which he does every day, all day. Trump will ramble on about sharks, Hannibal Lecter, the Biden Crime Family, an invasion at the southern border, and clean, beautiful coal.

In other words, relax. Trust Joe Biden. He hasn’t let us down yet!

Talk to you tomorrow!