Biden’s Beginning....

 by Wilf Brown

 

Joe Biden is considered by many as ‘a new beginning’.  America has experienced a tough and divisive four years, mainly at the hands of the now former 45th President, Donald J Trump.  Many believe that throughout his presidency, Trump has been rebellious, selfish and made a number of ill-advised decisions. His harshest critics say that he has been absorbed by his own swollen ego and has left America in one of its darkest hours that, arguably, could’ve been avoided. 

As a consequence of this, Joe Biden has been tasked with an almost impossible job. To ‘clean up’ America. He has already declared over ten new laws, and perhaps most importantly, has stopped work on Trump’s notorious ‘wall’. To add to that, he has rejoined the Paris Agreement, which aims to address climate change and its negative impacts. He has asked American citizens to be more eco-friendly, to protect our planet. You can tell Biden was born-ready for this job, and some people think he had been dreaming of moving into the White House since he pursued the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination.

The second major issue Biden has inherited from Trump is the global pandemic, Coronavirus. Trump did little to safeguard America from the affects of the virus (his bleach comments now forever engrained in history!). Accordingly, Biden is planning to mount a decisive public health response that ensures the wide availability of free testing together with the elimination of all cost barriers to preventative care and treatment for COVID-19. This will be accompanied by an economic response that starts with emergency paid leave for all those affected by the outbreak and give all necessary help to workers, families and small businesses that are hit hard by this crisis. 

The third sizeable problem Biden has inherited is China. Many believe that due to Mr Trump, America’s relations with China is, to put it lightly, hanging in the balance. Biden will look for closer cooperation with China on a range of issues. However, contrary to the Republican’s fears, there is no prospect of America reverting to Obama’s less confrontational approach. It is is therefore for Biden to decide how best to reach a compromise between the two countries. The Republicans and the Democrats have never been so divided in America, which makes every single decision made by the White House subject to much debate.

To conclude, many hope that the election of Joe Biden will be a new dawn for America, a chance for Trump’s work to be erased, and for America to be ‘great once again’. Whether one man can achieve so much will remain to be seen but Biden certainly intends to give it his best shot.