Commentary

While President Biden has been a hands-down, clear selection of several past Fool’s Day honors, I couldn’t pass up the strong efforts of his Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, so I decided they would share the recognition for September 1, 2023.

Here’s Why

Regular readers will recall my criticism of Biden taking credit for creating millions of jobs, even those that were the millions who were returning to work after the pandemic.

In his pre-Labor Day remarks Friday, he again chose to lie, saying “we’ve added 13.5 million jobs since I took office.”  But that wasn’t enough.  He had to inflate it and slam former President Trump:

“We created more jobs in two years than any president in a four-year – single four-year term.  We did it in two years.  In fact, my predecessor was the only one of only two presidents in history who entered his presidency and left with fewer jobs than when he entered.”

He couldn’t leave it there; suggesting that “outside experts” have projected that more than 1.5 million jobs would be created by the Inflation Reduction Act over the next decade.

Then There’s This

While the president is taking pride in “making significant investment in clean energy and combatting the existential threat of climate change,” his commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, returned from her visit with the real existential threat – China – where she tried to sway Chinese officials to open their market to foreign investment and buy more American exports.

She went to China seeking to stabilize business ties and boost exchanges with China without walking back the administration’s line on restricting the development of advanced technologies such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

“It is profoundly important that we have a stable economic relationship,” she said. “It’s to the benefit of both our countries and, in fact, what the world expects of us.”

However, like other Biden administration members who recently went to China – Antony Blinken, John Kerry, and Janet Yellen – she came home with no concrete commitments.  Only the plan to restore dialogue between the two countries.

If that sounds familiar, Kerry spoke of “productive conversations” with a commitment to regular meetings.  Blinken talked of a “real conversation, a productive exchange that will “strengthen high level challenges of communication.” Yellen, after bowing to her Beijing counterpart on arrival, noted a “constructive visit,” with “a very substantive series of meetings,” that will be “successful in forging relationships for more frequent contacts.” An obvious exchange of talking points.

No Surprise

Since White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ran a close second in my past Fool’s Day competition, it’s no wonder that she made it this time, even though she is sharing the honor with two others, including her boss.

It was her response to the statement Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made to the New York Times, that immigration is “arguably this administration’s weakest issue,” that did it.

“The president has done more to secure the border and to deal with the issue of immigration than anybody else.  He really has!”  she said Thursday.

“Look, the president has done what he can from here, from the federal government, from the White House, to put forth and manage in a safe and humane way to respect the dignity of every human, as he says all the time, making sure that our communities are safe,” she added.

Of course, we noted that when New York’s Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul came to the White House on Wednesday seeking more funds to help her state manage the influx of thousands of illegals, he was too busy to meet with her.  Jean-Pierre felt obligated to comment that “He has a very good relationship with the governor.”

My belated congratulations to the three recipients.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.