President Biden Says, “I Didn’t Over-Promise, I have Over-Performed”

By Yehudit Garmaise

After a serving one year in office, President Joe Biden faces high inflation, stalled legislation, such as the Build Back Better Act and voting reform, and 1,500 Americans who are still dying of COVID every day, a reporter at the White House pointed out today.

“Did you over-promise to the American people what you could achieve in your first year in office?” the president was asked.

Joking at the dark view that the reporter was taking of Biden’s first-year performance, the president asked, “Why are you such an optimist?”

Growing serious, the president then responded, "I didn't over-promise, but I have probably outperformed what anybody thought would happen.”

In terms of reducing COVID deaths, the president said that the number was once three times what it is today, however, when the president addressed what he has not yet been successful in doing, he blamed “his Republican friends who need to get in the game of making things better in this country.”

President Biden said that he has been surprised at the “stalwart effort” his opponents in Congress make to ensure that he does not accomplish anything.

“What are Republicans for?” President Biden asked. “Name me one thing they are for.”

Rampant inflation, however, is something that Biden cannot blame on Republicans, so instead, he blamed rapid prices increases on the supply chain complications, without mentioning the ways in which his shockingly increased federal spending can cause inflation.

"The inflation has everything to do with the supply chain [problems caused by worldwide staffing shortages that resulted from the pandemic]," President Biden claimed.

“When a factory shuts down in one part of the world, shipments to homes, businesses and shops all over the world are disrupted,” explained Biden, who said his $1 trillion infrastructure law that was signed into law on Nov. 15, 2021, will “supercharge efforts to upgrade everything from roads and bridges to ports and airports, railways and transit: to make the economy move faster and reduce prices for families.”

Although Biden blamed inflation on the supply chain, at the same time, he said that reports of empty shelves in stores are overblown.

“I often see empty shelves being shown on television, but 89% of shelves are full, which is only a few points below how stocked stores were before the pandemic, when they reported that they were 91% stocked and that 99% of deliveries are being made.

To ensure that elevated prices do not become entrenched, President Biden explained that the US Federal Reserve must “provide full employment and stable prices.”

A more productive economy, with a greater capacity to deliver goods and services, the president said, is the best way to tackle high prices.

“If price increases are what you are worried about, the best answer is my Build Back Better plan,” which the president said would cut in half the cost of childcare, prescription drugs, elder care, and energy costs: “all without raising a penny in taxes on people making under $400,000 a year,” claimed Biden, who also said his plan would reduce the national deficit.

Biden also said he is going to aim to reduce prices by promoting competition, especially in industries, such as meat processing and railroad shipping, where a handful of giant companies have been dominating the market and squeezing out smaller businesses for more than a decade.

“By creating jobs at a record pace, getting inflation under control, and getting COVID-19 under control,” Biden said, “America will thrive in the 21st century.”

Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith)