Let’s not forget Biden accomplished these things!
Yes, Biden announced he will no longer compete against Trump for the elections; however, there are still many things he has done until now. Even if not everybody agrees and people’s opinions are always divided, some improvements were made.
After COVID-era inflation, everything has skyrocketing prices, and the cost of living is… huge. We all panicked and thought that this wave hit us hard, and who knows if we’ll survive. Since we want to be as impartial as possible in this article, we will talk about all the things Biden did based on statistics and how the president’s performance is somehow higher than his predecessors.
Millions of citizens signed up for healthcare
Biden’s greatest accomplishment is his ability to secure inexpensive health care. In the second quarter of 2023, the percentage of Americans without health insurance fell to an all-time low of 7.2%, while the number of individuals enrolled in Obamacare plans for 2024 increased to 21.3 million.
About 12 million Americans, or more officially, those covered by the Affordable Care Act, had health insurance at the beginning of Biden’s period of office. This number had not significantly moved since 2015 when the public markets had opened. Working-age individuals were uninsured at a rate of 22.3% in 2010, compared to just 10.4% in the current ACA.
According to the health policy foundation KFF, the repeal of pandemic-era regulations that let Americans continue receiving Medicaid without having to reapply for benefits drove away some 16.4 million people, including more than 3.2 million children.
However, to accommodate some of these people, lawmakers set up the ACA exchanges. People were able to purchase marketplace plans more easily because of subsidies, and the government expanded financing for individuals who are trained to assist consumers in selecting the best insurance option.
Republican-heavy states like West Virginia and Louisiana, whose enrollment increased by 80% and 76%, respectively, are home to a large number of newly enrolled people. Enrollment increased by almost a million persons in each of Texas and Florida, which is a lot.
Biden has caused the fastest disinflation in recent history
It may be hard to believe; however, graphics and statistics don’t lie. The cost of living in America is expected to drop to its pre-pandemic level by the end of the year when family wealth across income levels is at its strongest point in the new century. The cost of living increased to a four-decade high during Biden’s first two years in office.
Stories in the media, supported by several prominent economists, said that inflation began to decrease in 2022 when the CPI peaked at 9.1%. Since then, the CPI has dropped to 3.1% at an unparalleled rate. The resultant disinflation, which happened last quarter when the GDP grew by 3.2%, is unprecedented in modern history and is the opposite of what happened in the 1970s when it took eight years and five months for inflation to drop to 3%.
By the middle of 2022, everyone believed that inflation had reached an uncontrollable level; nevertheless, the market for inflation-linked swaps, or futures, accurately anticipated the CPI to the exact decimal place for every month of the year. Therefore, it becomes fair to anticipate that by the end of 2024, the notable price increases will come to an end.
Salary increases might outpace inflation
More jobs were created by the economy in the first three years of his presidency (14.8 million) than under any other US president during that time. Furthermore, for the first time since the 1960s, the unemployment rate has remained below 4%. However, a lot of people have been unhappy as rising inflation erased salary increases in 2022 and then some more. However, income growth started to surpass price growth last year.
Because of that, many people argued on the fact that this might also spike inflation, but it also fueled hiring more. Will massive hiring influence the overall election result? In the end, it’s up to us voters to decide which candidate is the best.
He looked more after the environment
…yet it’s not enough, but compared to previous presidents, some changes are visible. Spending on the US energy transition exceeded $303 billion in 2018, setting a record and going up by two-thirds from when Biden took office in the White House.
Congratulations on your quick start, but in comparison to the end goal, it is merely that the US needs to invest more than $1 trillion annually in transition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
The salaries of lower-income workers grew
After taking inflation into account, lower-paid workers witnessed improvements while median and higher incomes saw almost any growth at all. Salary disparity decreased in 2021 and 2022, although that was at a period of the economy when real wages were falling for all income levels.
While this may not seem all that great, consider how much worse everything was under George W. Bush’s presidency. As the world gradually recovered from the financial crisis, things got a little better during the Obama administration.
Trump was the only administration to oversee positive pay increases across the board. However, throughout his administration, inequality also increased as the incomes of the top 10% of workers climbed faster than those of the lowest 10%.
Biden has urged states to use stimulus funds on law enforcement
Back in 2020, the homicide rate was rising to 29%, which was its peak. It went even higher in 2021 but fortunately started to fall after August. Statistics show that there was a little year-over-year fall in 2022 and maybe the biggest loss on record last year, which was 11.8%. The Major Cities Chiefs Association reported a 2.6% loss in membership for the whole year, while the FBI reported an 8.2% countrywide decline for the first nine months.
Now, what was the exact implication of Biden in this matter? Certain, if you think that more money going toward the police stops crime. A record $350 billion was allocated to state and local governments in Biden’s 2021 stimulus package, and he urged them to use this money on law enforcement.
A significant rise in net wealth
A lot of citizens may argue on this matter, and this is OK since the financial situation differs from one family to another. However, after various research and comparing graphics from the past years, during Biden’s presidency, households are in better financial shape.
According to Federal Reserve data, household net worth increased to a record $156.2 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 from $131.4 trillion at the end of 2020, despite a bear market in equities in 2022 and high inflation.
It seems that household debt loads are almost at all-time lows. But there’s also the housing issue, which performs poorly and is the most expensive on record. In 2024, how many people are doing better now? Well, many of them claim to be. Is this something that’s merely for show, or is it actually true?
These are some of the things Biden did while on the White House. Now let’s hear your opinion regarding this topic. Do you agree or disagree? How do you feel now in this current economy? Tell us in the comments.
…psst! You may also want to read Kamala Harris’ Campaign: 4 Important Things We’ve Learned So Far.
