How Biden Is Vindicating Obama's Second Term In Office

     The presidency of Barack Obama was a bright spot in modern presidential history; this was proven true when his position in presidential rankings rose from 12th place to 10th, which makes him a "great" leader rather than an "above average" one. Ironically, Donald Trump, who based his entire campaign off Barack Obama "going down as the worst president in American history," debuted in 41st place, or fourth worst. Obama is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient set to be the most admired American man of the 21st century and named as a contender were Mt. Rushmore to ever be expanded. 

     Still, his second term, which saw the GOP control the House from 2013 to 2015 and both houses of Congress from 2015 to 2017, while productive, saw several initiatives of his fail to be taken up. Biden is helping to cover these issues as well as numerous others from the Obama presidency early in his administration. 

     President Biden was a public defender who served as the chair or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1981 to 1997, overseeing six Supreme Court confirmations and passing the Violence Against Women Act, among other achievements. As such, it was a logical move for him to secure funding for increased legal representation at the federal level, especially for people of color, a program that President Obama launched in a series of executive actions between 2010 and 2016. The program, the Legal Access Interagency Roundtable, was never adequately funded for the size of the issue and was gutted by Trump in 2017. President Biden has restored the White House and DOJ initiative and also sought more funding than President Obama secured. President Biden has also endorsed the EQUAL Act: crack-cocaine disparity in sentencing was once 100:1 but was reduced to 18:1 in Obama's 2010 Fair Sentencing Act. The EQUAL Act would make the once-racist ratio 1:1 and give Biden the power to commute all excessive sentences.

     President Biden also saw Merrick Garland confirmed as Attorney General. Garland, a federal judge from 1997 to 2021 who had previously investigated the Oklahoma City Bombing and other major acts of terrorism, has served as a chief weapon in President Biden's arsenal, establishing a moratorium on the federal death penalty and taking actions on gun crime while also laying the foundation for work on police reform and voting rights. Garland was nominated by President Obama to serve on the Supreme Court in 2016 but was blocked by Mitch McConnell. In the end, Garland got the last laugh. 

     On that note, President Biden has made the federal judiciary a priority, unlike President Obama, in a move designed to secure professional, racial, and gender diversity on the bench while undoing the Trump administration's damage. Among the judges already confirmed are several of the others (aside from Garland) that Mitch McConnell refused to confirm. 

     In 2016, Opal Lee gathered more than a million signatures on a petition and marched to the White House in an effort to make Juneteenth a national holiday, an action that was ultimately never taken. In June 2021, president Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, with Lee by his side, doing just that.

     One of President Biden's more significant achievements has been and will be the American Rescue Plan Act, which played a major role in boosting the nation's economy and pulling us toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Included in this bill was $4 billion for black farmers who for decades had been systematically and intentionally discriminated against in the issuance of farm loans to the point that nearly all black farmers have gone out of business. Farmers have been demanding action since the Clinton administration, and, in 2011, a compromise between Democrats and Republicans on the issue failed. This provision is currently in legal limbo as conservative lawyers argue it is discrimination against white people (when, in fact, it is simply a government department correcting a history of discrimination against black people).

     The list goes on. President Biden is continuing President Obama's action on gun violence while working to restore his nuclear deal with Iran and the thawing of relations with Cuba. He rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement while reinstating President Obama's second term environmental regulations and building on this with promises to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 and achieve total carbon neutrality by 2050. 

     On another note: Congressional Republicans blocked a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection of January 6th and voted to acquit Donald Trump for his role. This was an attack deadlier than Benghazi, one that came from within, and one that Trump, unlike Hillary Clinton, was personally responsible for causing. Now, ironically, GOP lawmakers will find themselves in front of a select committee formed by Nancy Pelosi to investigate the attack.

     All told, it seems Moscow Mitch's obstruction did not pay off much in the long run.