Americans across the country are frustrated and disappointed with President Biden’s performance for the past year, so it’s not surprising his approval ratings are at historic lows. Last week, President Biden gave his State of the Union Address, where he struck an optimistic tone and claimed numerous so-called “victories” he has scored during his first year in office. Despite this, the truth couldn’t be clearer: President Biden has failed the American people, and his constant lying is an insult to everyone.
My biggest criticism is the president’s unwillingness to secure our southern border so we can stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into our communities. President Biden brought up the border crisis in his address, saying, “We need to secure the border and fix the immigration system.” If this is truly a priority for him, why has he done nothing for the last 14 months? Every month since he has been in office, we’ve seen an increase in border crossings, but we have seen zero action from the Biden admin. Getting the border crisis under control has been a top priority of mine since I took office, and it’s why I’ve cosponsored and introduced countless bills to fix this situation. President Biden can pretend he cares about fixing the problem, but he has done nothing except make the situation worse.
President Biden also made a big emphasis on buying American-made products. I agree, but he is being dishonest with the American people yet again. If he cares so much about buying American-made products, why did he immediately shut down the Keystone XL pipeline, stop new oil and gas lease sales on federal land, and make us dependent on Russia for oil? There’s no good reason – especially now – for the United States to continue importing nearly 600,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia when we have the ability to produce clean energy right here at home. Let’s unleash American energy and end our reliance on Russia.
The president has also lied to the American people about the runaway inflation we are all experiencing. He brags about wages being up, but inflation is eating away at any raises folks have gotten. When inflation reached 4% in February of 2021, the Biden admin said, “inflation is transitory.” When it reached 6% a few months later, they claimed inflation is good. Just a few months later, they blamed it on corporate greed. Now, they claim it’s Putin’s fault. President Biden can point the finger all he wants, but the truth is inflation is being driven by the outrageous spending the Democrats have been pushing. Common sense tells us we cannot spend ourselves out of debt. It’s time to reign in the spending and get our economy back on track.
The bottom line is Americans are worse off today than they were a year ago because of President Biden’s failure to be the leader our country needs. His constant lies and finger pointing are an insult to the American people, and we should not tolerate it. Thankfully, the American people are incredibly tough and resilient, and I have no doubt we will make it through these crises stronger than ever before.
Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.
