President Biden was scheduled to deliver his first major speech on foreign policy Monday. Instead, it was postponed “due to inclement weather.” Apparently, the two inches of snow that fell on the capital this past weekend made travel too risky.
It’s just as well that the speech was rescheduled. After all, Biden doesn’t have much to brag about on the foreign relations front. Indeed, in his first week in the Oval Office, the president seemed determined to elevate partisan politics over good policy.
Here are five of Biden’s first frustrating moves he has made that delight the radical left but bode ill for American prosperity and security.
#1. Canceling the Keystone XL pipeline.
This energy project would have more than doubled the nation’s pipeline capacity to import Canadian crude oil efficiently, economically, and safely via pipeline. Biden blocked it on day one. That’s bad climate policy. The oil will now be transported via alternative means that will create more greenhouse gasses.
♠♠ It’s bad economics. The cancellation will kill thousands of jobs and raise energy costs in the U.S. and Canada.
♠♠ It’s a bad strategy, undermining U.S. energy security.
♠♠ It’s, above all, bad foreign policy — a financial body blow to America’s closest ally. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called the move a “gut punch.”
America can best transition to an environmentally sustainable future by building up our economy and exercising global energy leadership through strength. Killing Keystone XL does none of that.
#2. Clumsy on Climate.
Biden decided to rejoin the Paris climate agreement. The Trump administration had pulled out of the agreement because its provisions did nothing to restrain the world’s biggest emitter, China. Meanwhile, it would have imposed tremendous costs on the United States, without lowering global temperatures by any discernable amount. None of the signatories have come even close to hitting the targets established in the agreement. Indeed, China’s greenhouse gas emissions are now double that of America and higher than when Beijing signed on.
Meanwhile, the United States has made remarkable progress outside the agreement by relying on the power of market forces. Our per capita carbon emissions have declined for the last decade — a record unmatched by any other country. There is simply no good reason to rejoin the pact. In fact, even the United Nations last Friday released a report recommending that the U.S. should NOT rejoin the Accords because of the great strides made by the U.S. in reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions!
There is, however, great danger in rejoining. It all boils down to what winds up in Biden’s “nationally determined contribution” (NDC), a country’s domestic plan to reduce national emissions under the agreement. The NDC is likely to call for centrally-directed government interventions to “green” America faster. And these types of interventions invariably stymie innovation and misallocate taxpayer dollars. Often, they end in scandal. (Who can forget Solyndra and $500 million taxpayer dollars that disappeared under Obama?)
Market-based solutions would better lead a transition to a real “green industrial revolution.” Rejoining Paris is arm-twisting expediency to drive a radical political agenda that will make America less competitive in a highly competitive world.
#3. Nothing New for New START.
The Obama administration struck a nuclear arms control deal with Russia that didn’t really control much of anything. The treaty only covered 45% of Putin’s arsenal. It allowed Russia to build more nuclear weapons (while requiring the U.S. to reduce its nuclear arms). And to cap it off, the treaty featured a very weak verification system. With New START due to expire, the last administration was negotiating for a better deal. The Biden team ignored all that work. Instead, it wants to sign a five-year extension of Obama’s deal.
In a world where both Russia and China are becoming more dangerous nuclear nations, verifiable agreements that reduce threats are more important than ever. Signing up for same-old, same-old sends a terrible signal that the Biden administration is more anxious to honor Obama-era mistakes and the left’s arms control agenda than deliver real arms control.
#4. Irresponsible Immigration Policies.
One irrefutable success of the last administration was securing better control of our Southern border and enforcing immigration laws. Biden is trying to undo all that. Biden WILL undo all that. Biden IS undoing all that.
He halted the building of the border wall, introduced a radical amnesty bill, and immediately began suspending or reversing policies that had led to tighter border security and the enforcement of immigration law. These are open border policies that pose real threats to the safety, health, prosperity, and security of all Americans.
Biden’s pronouncements and actions have already triggered a new rush of illegal immigrants. With strong borders, we can remain a nation of immigrants, grow our economy and protect our citizens. But this wholesale retreat from border security is the clearest sign that Biden is willing to put the left’s politics above the interests of our citizens.
# 5. Muddling the Middle East.
Before the last team left the White House, they had crushed the Caliphate, boxed in Iran, and normalized relations between Israel and the Arab nations. This established the strongest foundation for stability in the Middle East that we have had in a generation. But rather than building on this real success, the Biden team delivered equivocal and confusing messages about returning to the Iran Deal — another example of one-sided, Obama-era “statecraft” that enriched and empowered the greatest destabilizing force in the Middle East.
The White House should be building on policies to promote collective security and economic cooperation that blocks Iran, China, and Russia. That would be good for America. Instead, Biden seems more concerned with resurrecting Obama’s failed Middle East agenda.
Summary
Here’s the scariest thing of all: Joe Biden has not yet even initiated foreign policy measures. Can you imagine what our foreign policy will look like when Biden interfaces with Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Supreme Leader, and what about Kim Jung Un? Everyone else already knows him from his days as Obama’s vice president: “Good Ole’ Uncle Joe!”
- Biden operates with that aura of being just “another good ole’ boy.” He DOES have a past with many of these leaders — not necessarily a good one. The Ukrainian president cannot be too fond of Joe right now. After all, Joe bragged about blackmailing the previous president of their country using a $1 billion loan guarantee as the “deal-closer.”
- Xi Jinping certainly has a bone to pick with this President. Why? They certainly cut some sort of deal when Hunter joined his father on Air Force Two for that meeting in Beijing in which Xi brokered the $1.5 billion deal for Hunter with that Chinese investment company. Remember: Joe is really “Quid Pro Quo” Joe. And Biden probably hasn’t yet given Xi what was promised by the former Vice President and Obama. It’s payback time. And Xi will surely play that card.
- Iran’s Supreme leader surely spent all of the $150 billion that Barack, Joe, and John Kerry surreptitiously slipped “under the door” on their way out of office. In exchange, the leader got kicked to the curb by President Trump when he canceled that Obama deal that, by the way, gave them all that money without anyone in Congress even knowing about it — certainly not the American people. I’d love to be a fly on the wall during that phone call!
- Vladimir, on the other hand, might be an easy fix. Joe and his crew spent four years convincing Americans — at least the U.S. Mainstream Media — that Trump was in Vlad’s pocket. That first meeting or phone call will certainly be brief. They’ll share niceties and then Vlad will jump on in there and ask Joe how much he’ll charge to give Russia complete access to the CIA database.
I know, that’s a bit extreme. And, quite honestly, I hope no American ever has to ponder that as even a possibility. But remember this: there is plenty of evidence in the open marketplace that links President Biden and members of his family to several “We’re for Sale” plans that all came together because of Joe Biden’s lengthy and significant political service in Washington D.C. The Biden Family Syndicate parlayed his name to create massive income.
The only question is: Will we ever know for sure who and how much?
And, don’t forget this — Joe has just gotten started at the “top of the heap!”
