In this series, I have already documented multiple ways that Biden saved the US economy as president. It’s been a Herculean job. But did you know that this wasn’t his first time pulling off this feat?
As The Atlantic pointed out in 2020, when Biden was running for President against TFG:
Biden oversaw the 2009 economic recovery for Obama
Check out what he did.
It was by far the largest enterprise Joe Biden had ever led: a nearly $800 billion government-spending program intended to rescue the country from the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. It involved more than 100,000 projects—275 programs within 28 federal agencies.
But in overseeing the 2009 Recovery Act as Barack Obama’s vice president, Biden shepherded an effort now seen as an effective and remarkably fraud-free response to the financial crisis, even if it won little praise or political credit at the time. If Biden has the good—or bad—luck to win the presidency in November, his first task will be to perform an encore on an even more daunting scale.
It wasn’t a glamorous job, involving as it did minding hundreds of minor details and scores of bureaucracies, and some public officials doubtless would have found it boring. But it was the kind of close work that’s required for good management in any crisis, and Biden seemed to take to it with an enthusiasm that those who were there in the trenches with him recall with pride.
“He would be the most battle-tested president to come into office that we’ve ever had in this regard,” said Biden’s longtime economic adviser Jared Bernstein, a progressive expert on income inequality who would doubtless have a role in a Biden administration. “FDR did amazing work on the Great Depression, but he was throwing noodles at the wall. Biden would bring a unique experience to the office, having been the implementer in chief last time.”
A
New York Times story from 2020 also underscores Joe Biden’s strengths as a manager and his ability to keep progressive principles in view:
An examination of that critical two-year period, drawn from interviews with 30 people involved in the effort, offers a glimpse of Mr. Biden’s strengths as a manager — his enthusiasm, focus on detail and knack for leading a first-rate team that moved the money out quickly and minimized waste and fraud. It was “one big competence test,” and Mr. Biden aced it, his longtime lieutenant, Ron Klain, said in an interview.
Mr. Biden, participants recalled, spoke up for pro-worker provisions, funding for green energy projects and light rail. Later, he would intervene to insert $10 billion in additional funding for the National Institutes of Health.
Did you catch that last part? In addition to doing the nitty-gritty stuff necessary while working with dozens of bureaucracies, he fought for us. He made sure the recovery effort was pro-worker and that it funded green energy and the NIH.
And he has done those same things saving the economy this time!
Is there still more work to be done? 100%! Lots more work. But Biden has done so much more than many people guessed could be done. He deserves a lot of credit. AND he deserves to be re-elected.
What can you do to help?
Your donation will come bundled with others from our Good News community and will show Biden that there are many of us who support him and combine hard work with optimism in our battles for a better America!
Want to do something else?
Rec and comment on these posts to keep them alive at DKos and share them with others who might not realize how great a president Joe Biden has been.
Looking for something else? Here are some other ideas:
This is an entry in my ongoing series Boosting Biden.
Check the comments for more information on how to find other entries and subscribe.
These posts are written by Goodnewsroundup (Goodie),
edited by Matilda Briggs, supported by 2thanks and WolverineForTJatAW,
and reinforced by several notable Kossacks!
As with all good things, it takes a village.