US President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 1, 2022. (SAUL LOEB / POOL / AFP)
WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill Tuesday night.
The primetime speech came amid the evolving Ukraine crisis, ballooning inflation at home, and the White House's stalled domestic agenda and low approval ratings, while the United States is also looking to turn the page on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The confluence of pressing issues has renewed scrutiny of Biden's foreign and domestic policies, and brought new challenges to his roller-coaster presidency, in a high-stakes election year likely to put the direction of the nation at a crossroads once again.
Response to Ukraine crisis
Biden said the United States is closing off American airspace to all Russian flights. While addressing lawmakers of both parties from the House chamber, he listed a series of measures that his administration had taken in response to the conflicts in Ukraine, including a flurry of sanctions against Russia, as well as military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
While Biden continued to blame the Ukraine crisis solely on Russia in the State of the Union address, Moscow has attributed the situation to the eastward expansion of the NATO, a move that the United States ratified in May 1998
Meanwhile, he tried to instill confidence into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance and highlighted the military and political bloc's unity in response to the Ukraine crisis, which continues to develop militarily, though Russia and Ukraine have engaged in peace talks in Belarus' Gomel region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday it is important to recognize "Russia's sovereignty over Crimea," as well as the country's commitment to solving the tasks of Ukraine's "demilitarization and denazification," and the issue of Ukraine's neutral status. Ukraine's key demands were an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Russian troops, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
While Biden continued to blame the Ukraine crisis solely on Russia in the State of the Union address, Moscow has attributed the situation to the eastward expansion of the NATO, a move that the United States ratified in May 1998.
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A Ukrainian serviceman points to the direction of the incoming shelling next to a building that was hit by a large caliber mortar shell in the frontline village of Krymske, Luhansk region, in eastern Ukraine, Feb 19, 2022.
(VADIM GHIRDA / AP)
George Kennan, the architect of America's containment policy during the Cold War, told political commentator Thomas Friedman earlier that year that he thought it was "a tragic mistake" for the United States to greenlight the NATO expansion, and predicted that Russians would "gradually react quite adversely" and it would affect their policies. Friedman, in an op-ed published last week, argued that "America is not entirely innocent of fueling" the Ukraine situation today.
The Ukraine crisis has represented another test for Biden's foreign and national security policies, whose public approval was marred by a botched military withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer despite efforts to fix relationships with allies in order to refocus on the Asia-Pacific region
The Ukraine crisis, other pundits and observers also pointed out, has represented another test for Biden's foreign and national security policies, whose public approval was marred by a botched military withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer despite efforts to fix relationships with allies in order to refocus on the Asia-Pacific region.
"It would not be surprising to see the US strengthen its overall security posture, including in Europe," William Courtney, a retired US ambassador and now an adjunct senior fellow of the US think tank RAND Corporation, told Xinhua. "But until the war ends or freezes, it is too soon to assess potential shifts."
Economic proposals amid inflation
Biden used a considerable portion of his State of the Union address to discuss the US economy, taking credit for the nation's economic growth and job numbers while also acknowledging that inflation is robbing American families "of the gains they might otherwise feel."
The consumer price index, which measures the costs of dozens of everyday consumer goods in the United States, rose 7.5 percent in January from a year ago, the highest reading since the early 1980s. Gas prices have also gone up significantly and could further increase due to volatility and uncertainty in the oil market driven by the Ukraine situation.
A shopper walks through the dairy aisle of a grocery store in Washington, DC, on Feb 19, 2022.
(STEFANI REYNOLDS / AFP)
"Already before the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the US had an inflation problem that was going to force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to get inflation under control," Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow at the think tank American Enterprise Institute, told Xinhua. "Higher international oil prices could exert considerable inflationary pressure and force the Fed to be more aggressive on interest rates."
Biden introduced on Tuesday night a new plan to help lower costs for Americans, including making more goods in America and strengthening supply chains, reducing the cost of everyday expenses, promoting fair competition to lower prices, and eliminating barriers to well-paying jobs, among other things. He also announced the United States is releasing 30 million barrels from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds delivered the Republican Party's response after the State of the Union address concluded, alleging that "instead of moving America forward, it feels like President Biden and his party have sent us back in time to the late 70s and early 80s."
Biden didn't bring up that the total national debt of the US had recently surpassed $30 trillion, which The New York Times described as "an ominous fiscal milestone that underscores the fragile nature of the country's long-term economic health."
Biden didn't bring up that the total national debt of the United States had recently surpassed $30 trillion, which The New York Times described as "an ominous fiscal milestone that underscores the fragile nature of the country's long-term economic health."
"America's high and rising debt matters because it threatens our economic future," the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation wrote on its website recently. "The coronavirus pandemic rapidly accelerated our fiscal challenges, but we were already on an unsustainable path, with structural drivers that existed long before COVID."
Attempted revival of domestic agenda
While the Ukraine crisis has recently dominated the headlines and occupied much of Washington's attention, Biden made an effort to publicize his domestic agenda in the State of the Union address, some pieces of which are believed to hold great political significance to the midterm elections in early November.
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He particularly emphasized his nomination of the first African American woman to the nation's Supreme Court, while he signaled disappointment that Republicans on Capitol Hill are blocking his voting rights reform bills.
In addition to highlighting efforts to reduce gun crime and improve the nation's immigration system, Biden also said the United States has reached "a new moment in the fight against COVID-19, with severe cases down to a level not seen since last July" and that "most Americans in most of the country can now be mask free" under new guidelines.
Despite the positive message, the United States is approaching bleak milestones of 80 million COVID-19 cases and 1 million related deaths, as many parts of the nation are easing mask mandates and other restrictions. "We must prepare for new variants," Biden warned.
According to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, Biden's approval rating has hit a new low, with 37 percent saying they approve of the job he is doing and 55 percent saying they disapprove
According to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, Biden's approval rating has hit a new low, with 37 percent saying they approve of the job he is doing and 55 percent saying they disapprove. Overall, 44 percent say they strongly disapprove.
Asked whether they would prefer the next Congress to be in the hands of Republicans acting as a check against the White House or in Democratic hands to support Biden's priorities, 50 percent of adults prefer Republicans in charge while 40 percent say they would rather stick with Democrats.
Nevertheless, Biden declared at the end of his speech that "the State of the Union is strong," a phrase repeated by US presidents for decades on that occasion, while Reynolds said, "I listened as the governor of our state, as a mom and grandmother of 11, who is worried our country is on the wrong track."
Both chambers of Congress and dozens of governorships and state offices are up for grabs this year. History has shown that the president's party usually goes on to lose seats in Congress in midterm elections.
