Biden faces split Congress, unimpressed voters

For President Biden’s sake, his speechwriter had best be padding the State of the Union address with jokes.

Biden will need them.

He faces a tough crowd as he steps up to the podium in the House chamber Tuesday, from both sides of the Congressional aisle and viewers at home.

Many in the progressive wing of the Democratic party see his action on climate change as inadequate, and his recent tacit approval of drilling in Alaska sparked outrage among activists.

As for Republicans, well, referring to the GOP as “fiscally demented” is hardly the actions of a president intent on unity.

As The Hill reported, the GOP majority will press ahead this week on some of its hot-button issues, with two House committees slated to hold hearings on the southern border, alleged “Weaponization of the Federal Government” and Twitter’s decision to limit the spread of a New York Post story in 2020 pertaining to President Biden’s son Hunter Biden.

The wind is not at Joe Biden’s back.

He needs cooperation from Republicans as he’s likely to renew his call for a clean debt ceiling increase. GOP leaders want spending cuts tied to their support for upping the borrowing limit. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg played hype man ahead of the speech, noting that wages were up at the same time that unemployment was at record lows — the U.S. added 517,000 jobs last month.

“And part of what I think you’re going to see on Tuesday, when you see the president’s addressing the nation and the Congress in the State of the Union, is a reminder that this successful approach stands in stark contrast to a strategy that — that would focus on things like preserving tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, looking at cutting Social Security and Medicare, which we’re hearing about from a lot of House Republicans,” Buttigieg said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”

Good luck with that. Not only do Republicans and some Democrats have misgivings about the president, but 62% of Americans say Biden has not achieved much during his first two years in office, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows.

Only 36% of Americans surveyed said they thought Biden had accomplished “a great deal” or “a good amount.”

Thirty-two percent of Americans said Biden has made progress improving roads and bridges in their community and 30% said Biden made progress lowing prescription drug costs. Sixty-percent of respondents said Biden hasn’t made much progress improving roads and bridges and 47% said he hasn’t made much of a dent in prescription drug prices.

Americans had similarly dim views of Biden’s record creating more jobs and making electric vehicles more affordable.

He’s made some bold moves and spent billions to do it. Will Biden put a positive spin on his policies? Count on it.

But judging by the views of his fellow Americans, there’s not much “there there.”