Joe Biden prepares to calm a divided country with his State of the Union address

First modification: 02/08/2023 – 00:43Last modification: 02/08/2023 – 00:55

Joe Biden is halfway through his term and preparing to give his second State of the Union address to Congress, when both the Legislature and the population are polarized. This annual speech is usually used to take stock of the previous year, set some objectives for the current year, encourage the population and describe the situation in the country.

This year, Biden will be speaking in front of a Republican-led Congress, which isn’t going to make his job any easier. The president finds himself with a particularly low popularity rating, his approval rating has hovered around 42% for months, after recovering from a dip to 30% over the summer. He is also facing an investigation into classified documents that have turned up in his home and his office.

The president will try to justify his advances in internal and external policy. He will call for unity within the population and will try to give it confidence in an economic context of high inflation.

Balance in the middle of his term

Last year, Biden announced a “unity agenda” with four components: fighting cancer, protecting veterans of the Armed Forces, addressing the mental health crisis and confronting the opioid epidemic.

According to the White House, in the past year Biden has worked with Democrats and Republicans to push through legislation to further those goals. She now she should explain where these projects are and what has been achieved.

Specifically, Biden congratulates himself on having been able to pass large legislative texts, the infrastructure plan of 1.2 trillion dollars; the Chips Act, on the production of semiconductors in the United States, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which promotes green energy above all and was very poorly received in Europe.

unstable economy

In economic terms, the country is at both a peak of unemployment and a peak of inflation. The unemployment rate in January fell to 3.4%, its lowest level since May 1969, something Biden will use to justify his economic advances.

However, the country is in the midst of stubbornly high inflation, which is of great concern to Americans.

Regarding economic policies, Joe Biden will face a Republican core that does not share his ideas. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy insists on extracting spending cuts in exchange for support from House Republicans.

At the same time, Biden plans to keep funding the government by raising the federal debt limit and wants to tax the rich while supporting the needy.

war in ukraine

Last year’s speech came just days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, a year later, Biden will seek to expose the aid the United States provided to kyiv.

Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, the United States has provided kyiv with $29.3 billion in cash and equipment.

Arms aid packages initially focused on equipment such as anti-tank weapons and anti-aircraft missiles. Washington also provided large amounts of ammunition, prompting the Pentagon to increase domestic ammunition production. Recently, the White House helped with some of its most powerful ground weapons and decided to send Patriot missile launchers, the most modern in the country.

Predictably, Biden will insist on the need to maintain the coalition of countries allied to kyiv to continue resisting against Moscow.

Healthcare system

Health will probably take an important place in your speech since many of the recommendations of the past year have to do with this area. Biden is expected to call for more public investment in healthcare.

It should support a public health strategy known as “harm reduction,” which helps addicted patients use more moderately without pushing them into withdrawal. The Department of Health and Human Services would also help states spend more money on naloxone, a substance that can reverse opioid overdoses.

On the other hand, President Biden is likely to signal an end to the Covid-19 public health emergency, a symbolic but important move. The health emergency began in January 2020, and the White House has already said that the Administration will not renew it beyond May 11.

Finally, Joe Biden should call for the unity and cooperation of the Republicans to carry out future projects such as reducing police and armed violence. It will be expected in the coming weeks that the president will officially decide whether he is running for re-election or not.

With AP, EFE and local media