Jenny Beth Martin: Biden’s Delusional State of the Union

After watching Tuesday’s State of the Union address, I have just one question: Has there ever before in American history been such a clear-cut example of a political figure being so disconnected from reality, so totally, completely, Marie Antoinette “Let them eat cake!” Out of touch?  

In Joe Biden’s world – at least, in the version of Joe Biden’s world that he shared with his fellow countrymen Tuesday evening – all is rosy: the economy is growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to his brilliance; the war on drugs will be won, thanks to his determination; the crisis on the southern border isn’t a crisis at all, and, in fact, has been tamed by the introduction of a new policy; and America’s international adversaries would never think of launching a provocative act against U.S. interests anywhere around the world (let alone against the American heartland!) Thanks to his strength.

In the real world, the American economy – at least, as viewed by American citizens, Biden’s constituents – is still suffering through the worst inflation in 40 years. Inflation has increased by 21% since Biden was elected to office in 2002. 13.5 percent. That’s the equivalent of imposing a huge sales tax on every purchase made in America over the last two years – except that with the “inflation tax,” The additional money is effectively lost to nothing 

Worse, the inflation tax hits everyone who uses money – including all those who make less than $400,000 per year. It devalues the dollar of a man making $40,000 per annum (and therefore has fewer dollars relative to others) in the same way it hits a man earning $40 million per annum (and therefore has more dollars relative to others). This is a harshly regressive tax because it targets the economically less fortunate proportionally more than the more fortunate. 

So much for Biden’s insistence that he has kept his campaign promise never to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 per year. 

It’s no wonder his approve/disapprove numbers on the economy are so bad: According to the RealClearPolitics Surveys average of Biden’s performance on the economy, he’s 20 points upside-down, at 38 percent approve/58 percent disapprove.  

Moreover, in the real world, the war on drugs is … not going well, to put it mildly. The highest The 12-month-end provisional count of deaths from drug overdoses during Trump years was January 2021. There had been 94,788 deaths in the preceding 12 months. This number has risen since Biden became president. It peaked in March 2022, with 107,999 deaths in the preceding 12 months, a 14 percent increase over Trump’s worst year. Nearly a year later, this number has not slowed down and is now more than 100,000 

More alarmingly, we’ve lost control of our southern border, across which flows the deadly fentanyl that’s driving those drug overdose statistics. The average monthly intake of fentanyl was 38,000 in FY 2020. Number Monthly “encounters” on the southwest border – what you or I would call “apprehensions” of illegal immigrants – has risen to about 145,000 in FY 2021 and almost 200,000 in FY 2022.  

That’s a five-fold increase in just two years. 

The result is a massive wave of illegal immigrants surging across our border – 1.7 million in FY 2021, and 2.4 million in FY 2022. And those are the ones we apprehend before allowing them to roam free in the interior of our country; that number doesn’t include the 600,000 It is known “gotaways” Customs and Border Protection believes that the U.S. was invaded in FY 2022.  

And America’s international adversaries? Please. Biden stated in his speech: “But make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.” 

The Chinese Communist Party leadership is laughing right now – and Russia, Iran, and North Korea are taking notes. Chinese communists set up a spy satellite to fly the airwaves across the United States. We still don’t know what its purpose was. It was perhaps to test U.S. Air Defenses to see how long it would take to detect the balloon. Maybe it was to test out the thinking of those responsible for protecting American airspace against foreign intrusions. They could shoot it down immediately or wait for additional evidence of hostile intent. Or maybe they would never shoot it down at all.  

The U.S. military took a week to decide whether or not to shoot down the spy satellite. The balloon’s mission was completed by the time it was finally shot down.  

The world saw a complete failure in presidential leadership. America was made to look foolish on the world stage, as if its leaders either didn’t know its air space was vulnerable to foreign intrusion, or didn’t care.  

It’s no wonder, then. 37 percent Biden is supported by his fellow Democrats.