Biden hits the road, leaving his progressive agenda behind

WASHINGTON – As President Joe Biden hit the road this week, seeking to turn attention back to his domestic policy efforts, much of the focus was on the economy – and not to mention progress. top of his agenda.

Biden made stops in Iowa and North Carolina, his first domestic tour in over a month, just over six months away. midterm elections. The president plans to make trips to Oregon and Washington next week as other top officials make trips across 25 states over the next three weeks, with a specific focus on rural communities.

As Biden begins to travel again, his message increasingly focuses on promoting the work his administration is doing to try to lower prices amid record inflation and blame for the invasion. of Russia into Ukraine. Voters have said inflation is a top concern and only a third approve of Biden’s handling of the economy in an NBC poll in March.

“I’m doing everything in my power, by executive order, to lower prices and address Putin’s price hikes,” Biden said at an event in Iowa promoting the use of ethanol next to a large pile of cornmeal. and there is a sign that says “cost discounts for families.”

But contrary to Biden’s recent remarks are top issues in the Democratic base, including immigration, student debt and voting rights. White House officials admit they have little chance of passing any major legislative policy this year due to divisions not only between Democrats and Republicans but also within the president’s party.

Instead, the White House has focused on more modest efforts, such as Covid funding and the passage of a bill to support the semiconductor industry, the focus of this week’s trip to North Carolina.

Biden has also turned more to executive actions, signing an executive order last week on health insurance, signing an emergency waiver for ethanol fuel this week during a trip to Iowa that allows it. are sold during the summer months and use the Defense Production Act. to promote the production of batteries used in electric vehicles.

Cabinet-level officials have also traveled around the country pushing for infrastructure legislation, an area that Democratic strategists see as a draw for pre-term voters. Officials plan to focus on advancing the legislation in rural communities, which have struggled in the past to get federal funding for infrastructure projects.

In Washington, the White House has been hosting popular events to promote incremental progress. Earlier in the week, Biden held a gun control event in the Rose Garden, where he worked on finalizing a rule change for privately assembled firearms that he had announced a year earlier at a similar event. on one’s own.

Unable to pass legislation limiting drug prices, Biden held a celebratory event at the White House with former President Barack Obama talking about the Affordable Care Act and the executive order he signed that would make many families happy. families are more eligible for health insurance benefits.

The efforts come as Biden’s overall job approval rating has dropped to 40%, the lowest level of his presidency, in a country. NBC News poll from March 27. The survey also showed Republicans leading by 2 points on the question of which party should control Congress before the midterm elections in November.

inside pollonly a third of respondents said they approved of Biden’s handling of the economy.

But when it comes to some of the key priorities for progress, the White House has done little. Democratic strategists say it could hurt Democrats in November if their supporters continue to feel their top issues aren’t being addressed.

“There has been a lot of frustration,” said a Democratic strategist who works closely with progressive groups. “There was a lot of indifference, I think voting was what broke the will.”

Biden hasn’t said much about voting rights since January, when he came under heavy pressure from civil rights groups to do more before Martin Luther King Day. In his State of the Union speech, he mentioned only legislation that would restore and strengthen parts of the Voting Rights Act.

Even climate change, which Biden emphasized at the start of his presidency, appears to have backed off amid high gas prices. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent prices soaring, Biden has called for companies to extract more oil, including on public lands.

During a trip to an Iowa ethanol facility on Tuesday, Biden signed an emergency waiver authorizing the sale of an ethanol blend during the summer months that he says could reduce gas prices by 10 cents.

Environmental group be censured this action and said it could harm air quality. They also present evidence that increasing corn production to produce ethanol can increase greenhouse gas emissions, and a study published in February found that ethanol could be worse for the climate than gasoline.

One progressive priority that the White House has suggested could be acted upon soon is police reform. After bipartisan efforts to pass the legislation failed in Congress last year, the White House was reviewing an executive order Biden could sign on the issue, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. know this week.

But when Biden makes a swing on the West Coast next week — in Oregon, where he plans to talk about his infrastructure law, and in Washington, where the focus is on the effort to lower prices — he will seeks to bring attention back to the economy, with midterms only half a year away.

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here