During his inaugural address, President Joe Biden pledged to work in a bipartisan fashion to create a stronger and more united America. While the country needed this, the administration’s policies veered quickly to an unrecognizable left and resulted in a much different reality than what was promised.
That reality is a nation in a constant state of crisis.
Inflation has increased every month since Biden took office, recently reaching a 13-year high. As the costs of goods and services surge, Americans are left with less money in their bank accounts. Simply put, inflation is a tax on every American. Instead of identifying their out-of-control spending as the root cause of this crisis, Biden and his allies in Congress are pushing another massive spending bill that will raise taxes and cause inflation to soar to even greater heights.
Energy prices have also continued to skyrocket thanks to Biden’s continuous attacks on domestic energy production. Within hours of taking office, Biden eliminated the Keystone XL Pipeline and thousands of jobs. Days later, he banned new oil and gas leases on federal land. When Americans started paying the price at the pump, Biden begged OPEC nations to bail him out rather than empowering American workers to develop these resources here at home.
It’s not just American energy workers who are bearing the brunt of Biden’s “America last” approach. Minnesota’s miners recently took a hit when the administration put forward a new partisan obstacle intended to ban the development of critical minerals in the world-class Duluth Complex. As our nation grapples with supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages, it’s infuriating that Biden would opt to rely on hostile nations like Communist China instead of putting Minnesota’s labor unions to work.
ADVERTISEMENT
Possibly the most appalling blunder made by the president was his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, which left American civilians behind enemy lines, billions of dollars in weaponry in the hands of the Taliban, and 13 young American troops dead.
Just as he lost control of the situation in Afghanistan, the president has lost control of our southern border through his radical rollback of Trump-era immigration controls. Border Patrol agents are completely overwhelmed as illegal immigrants and illicit drugs are smuggled into our communities at historic rates.
Whether it’s damaging energy executive orders that destroy jobs or weak national security policies that embolden our enemies, President Biden’s first year in office has shown that he is focused on catering to out-of-touch radicals instead of putting the needs of every American first.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Fortunately, there is a way out.
With Republicans poised to take back the House in the upcoming midterm elections, I will be better able to mount a defense against Biden’s dangerous policies. I especially look forward to doing so on the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, of which I’m positioned to become chairman. In this exciting role, I will fight for both mining and energy dominance to secure our national interest and pave a path to a brighter future.
With your help, we will get America back on track.
Pete Stauber of Hermantown represents Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. He wrote this exclusively for the News Tribune at the invitation of the News Tribune Opinion page.
ADVERTISEMENT
