Ronald Reagan famously campaigned on the idea that "Government isn't the solution - government is the problem". And that idea stuck for decades. If he was right in 1980, Trump proved that idea catastrophically wrong in his four years of mismanagement horror.
Most notably, his astonishingly incompetent federal response to COVID-19 has caused at least twice the number of deaths than would have happened if he had not largely dismantled the pandemic response team that had been set up by Obama, and if he had used the power and leadership of the Federal Government to provide masks, tests, and vaccines using tools like the Defense Authorization Authority of government to lead the country and the world in stopping the disease.
But, we have a new government, and competence and skill are being put into place in Biden's appointments. People with experience, character, and commitment to the success of their agencies rather than inexperience, lack of character, and commitment to the destruction of their agencies.
His incompetent predecessor did what all tyrants do, he put political loyalists in place to run the government. And like political loyalists all across the world, they had little knowledge or expertise in the organizations they were in charge of. An example of that is the tyranny in Venezuela, where the oil industry was turned over to men who did not and do not know how to run and oil industry but they do know how to kiss the ass of the tyrant. Since Venezuela essentially has only one industry, oil, its economy collapsed long ago.
Biden is providing government leadership once again. Thank goodness. There are many, many things that private enterprise never will and never can do - lack of government was the problem.
Here are some of what he is doing, for which I am grateful:
COVID
- Require Masks on Federal Grounds and airplanes (just following the science)
- Stay in the World Health Organization (duh)
- Accurate virus data (Trump tried to force low virus numbers)
- Provide scientific guidance on opening schools (replace inconsistent state driven political whims)
- Student loan moratorium (Even Trump did this one)
- Coronavirus Testing Board (We need hundreds of millions of quick response tests)
- Temporary eviction moratoriums (pandemic compassion)
ENVIRONMENT
- Rejoin the Paris Climate Accord (catastrophic climate change is toooo real)
- Undo deregulations that harm the environment and cause catastrophic climate change (focus on climate change and polutution)
- Halts new oil and gas leases on public lands and offshore (time to stop government artificially propping up technologies that are causing catastrophic climate change and are being replaced by green technologies)
- Halting the Keystone pipeline (puts teeth into commitment to pollution regulations)
BIGOTRY
- Restoring DACA (they were raised as Americans and should be treated as such)
- Reverse attempt to defund "sanctuary cities (Undo the racist attacks)
- Prevent sexual and gender discrimination (macho man primacy is stupid)
- Reunite families separated at the border (trying to undo racist horrors of T)
- Cancel Trump's ridiculous emergency building of his border wall (just stupid pandering to racists)
- Honest census count (reverse previous unconstitutional attempt to exclude the undocumented)
- Re-establish fair housing policies (undo the racism)
- Reversing the ban on transgenders in the military (be thankful for patriotism)
SCIENCE
- Appointed a Director of Science and Technology as a cabinet level position (science to have a major seat at the table for decisions, what a concept!)
We had the misfortune of a president and a Republican Party dedicated to the destruction of government, and it was a nightmare. Thank goodness for people who are public servants dedicated to the public welfare by providing things that only government can provide.
Expertise is back. I deeply hope that the Biden Administration can attract the expert scientists, diplomats, and government employees who were forced out of their key and vital jobs by the anti-government nitwits of the previous administration.
