What you'll miss in Joe Biden's State of the Union

Op-Ed

Everyone knows President Biden will spin his administration's policies during Tuesday night's State of the Union, but that's not why East Tennesseans should tune in.

Viewers should watch how President Biden takes zero accountability for the following major issues or avoids addressing them altogether.

Inflation

Last time the inflation rate was 7.5%, I was working at the 1982 World's Fair and Joe Biden was in the U.S. Senate.

Inflation is getting worse each month in President Biden's economy. His only proposed answer to increasing prices is the multi-trillion dollar Build Back Better Act, which the president claims costs nothing.

The U.S. is over $30 trillion in debt and President Biden can't solve the inflation problem by simply printing more money.

Instead of stumping for more government spending, the president should reexamine his administration's regressive economic policies that dismantled affordable prices for everyday goods -- like gasoline -- Americans rely on.

Afghanistan

President Biden proved to be a poor leader when his administration botched the Afghanistan withdrawal last August.

Both allies and enemies watched the United States of America abandon thousands of its own people in a hostile country and leave behind billions of dollars of American military equipment for the Taliban to seize.

It was a global embarrassment, but the president denies responsibility for his handling of the situation. His administration isn't even cooperating with a House Foreign Affairs Committee, which I serve on, investigation into the matter.

Foreign adversaries saw weakness in our commander in chief, and now they're taking advantage of it. Russia is at war with Ukraine after the Biden administration's failed diplomacy, and the Chinese Communist Party's aggression towards Taiwan is growing. Our emboldened enemies know the worst they'll get from President Biden is a finger-wag.

Southern Border

President Biden ignored border security from Day One of his administration. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents apprehended over two million undocumented immigrants at our Southern border in 2021. In 2020, that number was less than 600,000.

Our open Southern border is fueling the deadly opioid epidemic. Drug cartels are using crowds of migrants to traffic lethal fentanyl into the United States. In 2021, CBP agents seized 10 times more fentanyl at South Texas ports of entry than they did in 2020. More concerning is how much fentanyl got past CBP and the Americans who overdosed as a result

It's no surprise these numbers are skyrocketing when our federal government actively suppresses border security instead of strengthening it. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas needs to step aside, and President Biden should replace him with someone who will enforce our immigration laws.

COVID-19 policies

Viewers might find the visuals for Tuesday's State of the Union strikingly similar to President Biden's address to Congress in 2021. Social distancing. No invited guests. A fence encircling the Capitol Building.

No, not 2021, but many of the same coronavirus protocols and safety measures are still in place. Remember that as President Biden spikes the football on his pandemic policies or touts his administration's response to the chaos in Ukraine.

Also don't forget which president and political party demands mask mandates for children (but not politicians), believes unvaccinated Americans should lose their jobs and publicly shames anyone who disagrees with their absurd public health policies.

The state of our union is weak thanks to a year's worth of one-party rule in Washington, D.C. It would serve President Biden well to chart a different course during his speech on Tuesday night, but he won't.

I predict he will double down on policies that are not working and act like some problems just don't exist. What he doesn't say is more important than what he does say.

Source