Yes, Joe Biden is the best candidate to fix the economy
By every measure that matters, Joe Biden is better equipped than Donald Trump to lead the nation during the next four years. That’s not just my opinion; that’s how most voters feel, too. In poll after poll, people say they trust Biden more than Trump to handle health care, the environment, education, foreign policy, national security, immigration and all the other big issues of the day.
Well, almost all the big issues.
There’s one area where voters give Trump an edge: the economy. Last week, a CNN poll showed 51 percent of voters nationwide trust the president to handle economic matters, while today’s Washington Post/ABC poll of two of the biggest battleground states show Trump leads Biden on the economy 49–43 percent in Pennsylvania and 55–41 percent in Florida.
That’s nuts.
Biden may not have Trump’s business background, but he’s got a better handle on economic matters than this president ever will. At the very least, Biden knows something Trump refuses to acknowledge: We’ll never fix the economy until we get the coronavirus under control — and we’re no closer to controlling it today than we were when the outbreak began in the winter.
The United States reported 99,000 new covid-19 cases on Oct. 30 — the highest number of cases recorded in a single day by any country. Incredibly, Trump still has no plan to beat the virus, which has now killed 230,000 Americans. He continues to downplay the disease, insisting that the nation is turning the corner, even when the facts show things are only getting worse.
Contrast this with Biden, who has made taming the pandemic the centerpiece of his campaign. His comprehensive plan includes a universal mask mandate, free rapid testing for all Americans, the rapid distribution of an effective vaccine, funding to help schools and businesses reopen safely and paid sick leave for people who really need it, including those caring for loved ones and workers who are at high risk for covid-19.
Of course, Biden’s economic agenda goes beyond controlling the virus.
His “Build Back Better” plan focuses on growing the middle class by expanding health coverage, raising the minimum wage, investing in clean energy and infrastructure, creating millions of manufacturing and technology jobs and making college more affordable. Biden would fund a lot of his proposals by raising taxes — but only on the wealthiest 1 percent of all Americans. If you make less than $400,000 a year, your taxes wouldn’t go up under Biden’s plan.
This is all a far cry from Trump, who wants to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in order to give more tax cuts to the rich and corporations. In fact, if the president has his way, the nation’s top 100 billionaires — who have made more than $300 billion during the pandemic — will receive a combined tax cut of $29 billion.
Does this sound like someone who has your economic interests at heart?
Yet somehow, the myth persists that Trump is better suited than Biden to fix the economy.
I suppose a lot of voters have faith in Trump because they believe he was a successful business person before he ran for president, even though his record in the private sector — like the fact that he squandered much of his wealth and has more than $1 billion in debts coming due — tells us otherwise.
I’m sure a lot of voters also give Trump credit for the economic growth the United States experienced before the pandemic, but that argument doesn’t hold up, either. The economy created 1.5 million more jobs during the last three years of the Obama administration than the number created during Trump’s first three years in office.
Overall, the economy has bled a record 4 million jobs during Trump’s term. By comparison, the nation added 12 million jobs during Barack Obama’s eight-year administration.
This gives Trump a unique distinction: Not only is he the worst person for the job of president in American history, he’s also the worst jobs president.
That hardly seems like the kind of person I would want to put in charge of fixing the economy after covid-19. Then again, if Trump is re-elected, can we be sure the pandemic will actually end?
