Democrats, aided by former President Donald Trump’s denigration of Georgia’s electoral system, which gifted them the state’s two Senate seats, were gifted by voters with the narrowest of legislative majorities: 51 to 50 in the Senate and 220 to 212 (with three current vacancies) in the House. Biden himself won the crucial three swing states by just 42,918 popular votes.
Incautiously, Democrats plunged into policymaking without making anything like cognizable policy arguments. Trump had reduced illegal immigration by extending walls on the Mexican border and persuading Mexico’s president to hold asylum-seekers in Mexico until their (usually baseless) claims could be ruled on. Both policies were ditched on Day 1 of the Biden administration. The policy argument: “Orange man bad.”
The likely result is something like 1 million new illegal immigrants in the United States this year. This represents a reversal of the trend. The Pew Research Center says the illegal immigrant population peaked at 12.2 million in 2007, declined as post-recession net immigration from Mexico plunged to zero and leveled off at 10.5 million in 2017.
Or consider the stealth section essentially repealing the 1996 welfare reform law and its work requirements. Here we have actual results: Welfare rolls fell sharply after 1996, child wellness criteria improved, teenage pregnancies nosedived and the number of welfare-raised children committing violent crime decreased. Why do we want to reverse these results now? Just because “Orange man bad?”
The answer seems to be that Biden subcontracted policy development to Bernie Sanders, and that “Bernie Bros” love policies that spread money around but lack any curiosity about the effects.
nypost.com
Incautiously, Democrats plunged into policymaking without making anything like cognizable policy arguments. Trump had reduced illegal immigration by extending walls on the Mexican border and persuading Mexico’s president to hold asylum-seekers in Mexico until their (usually baseless) claims could be ruled on. Both policies were ditched on Day 1 of the Biden administration. The policy argument: “Orange man bad.”
The likely result is something like 1 million new illegal immigrants in the United States this year. This represents a reversal of the trend. The Pew Research Center says the illegal immigrant population peaked at 12.2 million in 2007, declined as post-recession net immigration from Mexico plunged to zero and leveled off at 10.5 million in 2017.
Or consider the stealth section essentially repealing the 1996 welfare reform law and its work requirements. Here we have actual results: Welfare rolls fell sharply after 1996, child wellness criteria improved, teenage pregnancies nosedived and the number of welfare-raised children committing violent crime decreased. Why do we want to reverse these results now? Just because “Orange man bad?”
The answer seems to be that Biden subcontracted policy development to Bernie Sanders, and that “Bernie Bros” love policies that spread money around but lack any curiosity about the effects.
Democrats need better arguments for their agenda than ‘Orange Man Bad’
President Joe Biden’s disastrous border and social spending policy changes from the Trump administration come down to one sleazy narrative — “Orange man bad,” Michael Barone writes.
nypost.com
