My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Bruce Ledewitz: Donald Trump is inheriting a stronger country thanks to Joe Biden

Special to the Post-Gazette

Dec 16, 2024

5:30 AM

Every Thanksgiving, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd’s conservative brother writes her column. This year, he crowed about Donald Trump’s victory: “Biden and Harris have left a huge mess. Trump is the right choice to fix it.”

Similarly, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, a conservative Never-Trumper, lamented “Biden’s feeble, forgettable, frequently foolish presidency.”

Undoubtedly, these expressions mirror the feelings of many voters. Well, voters are entitled to whatever feelings they have and to vote any way they want. Good luck to them with Trump.

But these descriptions of the Biden administration’s record are nonsense. Biden did a good job. America is in a good place right now.

I want to set the record straight before Trump starts claiming that things are now good on his watch, or that things are bad but they were worse under Biden. In judging the state of the country, one should start with the three big issues that Republicans emphasized during the campaign: immigration, inflation — and the economy generally — and crime.

Solution in search of a problem

On immigration, Biden relaxed Trump policies, with the result that the amount of both legal asylum seekers and people crossing the southern border illegally increased. It was by no means the “open border” that critics claim, and the estimated increase was less than many people imagine, but it was real and Biden paid a political price for ignoring it.

But, importantly, Biden changed course. Last June, he issued an executive order authorizing immediate deportation of illegal entrants and by all estimates, the numbers of border-crossers declined. The southern border today is as closed as it ever was under Trump.

As for legal asylum seekers, the bipartisan immigration bill that passed the Senate, which Trump ordered House Republicans to kill so he could run on the immigration issue, would have expedited the hearings that are needed before people can be deported. The problems are the need for additional resources and the current state of the law, which have been problems for every president.

As for the millions of people already here illegally, whom Trump pledges to round up and deport, this seems to me a solution in search of a problem. Despite our current hysteria, immigrants are more law-abiding than the rest of us and when they do commit crimes, they are already subject to deportation. The problem is that federal authorities lack the resources to do this — which also would have been addressed by the Senate bill.

Most immigrants work now, whether here lawfully or having crossed the border illegally. They did not come here to collect welfare benefits, which, generally speaking, they are not eligible for anyway. Nor did they bring fentanyl or other illegal drugs. When you want to illegally import drugs, you don’t give them to a person walking across the border. You use a truck, plane or boat.

Immigration has nothing to do with drugs.

There is no immigration crisis.

Focus on the real problems

Inflation was quite real and painful, but as a matter of fact Biden’s over-spending only added a small amount to price increases — perhaps the difference between peak inflation of 8% versus the 9% we experienced.

Basically, the whole world suffered post-pandemic inflation. America — alone! — brought the inflation rate down to its current level of 2.6% without a recession. Biden does not deserve much credit for that, but at least he kept his mouth shut and allowed the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell, to do its work.

Yes, housing affordability is at an all-time low, but that is largely because of high interest rates that are now coming down. Overall, the economy is growing at a healthy 2.8% rate; real wages are rising; the unemployment rate remains around 4%; and there has been a substantial increase in manufacturing jobs.

As for increased crime, that is just a fantasy of the right. Trump disputed crime statistics during the campaign, but no reputable survey has showed an overall increase in crime during the Biden Administration.

Meanwhile, Biden actually addressed America’s infrastructure crisis, which Trump kept promising to do, and began the movement toward renewable energy to fight climate change even while keeping oil and gas production at record levels.

Climate change and the national debt are the real mess. Trump will worsen both.

America’s place in the world

Stephens’s criticisms are aimed at foreign affairs. The world is certainly a dangerous place right now. But even here, Biden’s record is good.

On China, Biden continued Trump’s policies but made them much more effective. On Afghanistan, Biden executed the exit that Trump negotiated. The end was terribly messy, but there is no graceful way to lose a war. The American people don’t yearn to return to Afghanistan.

As for the two wars currently going on, Biden deserves credit for helping build the Western coalition that has allowed Ukraine to fight for its freedom. And on Gaza, Biden has supported Israel and Harris paid a political price for his doing so.

All in all, Joe, a record to be proud of, whatever we hear to the contrary.

Bruce Ledewitz is a professor of law at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University. His previous article was “The one thing the Senate Democrats must not do.” The views expressed do not represent those of Duquesne University.

First Published: December 16, 2024, 5:30 a.m.