Biden’s leadership in troubled times appreciated by all Americans

As President Joe Biden toured the damage created in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Fiona, the death toll from Hurricane Ian crossed over 100. Both hurricanes were tragedies whose wake will be felt for generations to come.

To his credit, Biden has risen to the occasion and demonstrated remarkable leadership in the face of the disasters — leadership for all Americans, regardless of political stripe.

In Puerto Rico, he set aside the fact that Puerto Ricans, despite being full-fledged American citizens, lack representation in Congress or any voting delegates to the Electoral College and promised immediate large-scale assistance.

In Florida, he didn’t even wait for Ian to make landfall before declaring a disaster and unlocking millions in federal aid. This was despite the fact that Florida Gov. Ron Desantis previously referred to Biden as the “American Nero” and voted against providing disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey while serving as a congressman nine years ago.

When asked about his 2013 vote, Desantis claimed he voted against the measure because it was too large, contained too much “pork,” and wasn’t targeted enough. It’s not clear whether Desantis located his vision of “pork” in the $50 billion Democratic aid package or the smaller $9 billion Republicans proposed. But no matter, Desantis voted against any aid for Sandy victims and never offered his own ideas on how to help them — he was content to let them suffer alone.

It shouldn’t take a Category 4 hurricane almost hitting Desantis’ house to remind Republicans that meeting the needs of Americans is more important than saving a buck or winning an election.

Yet, similar voting patterns from Republicans like Sen. Mitch Mcconnell of Kentucky — who only votes in favor of federal spending when it goes to his state — demonstrate that the Republican Party leadership’s claims of caring about life, liberty and property are nothing but a farce — a political theater that uses human suffering as a prop for personal gain. Their claims of compassionate conservatism are a mask for a distorted and immoral bastardization of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that places money and personal power above human life.

How else can Desantis and his Republican colleagues justify their vote in 2017 to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with legislation so ill-conceived that they then proposed an amendment to exempt themselves and their families from the new health care system they were proposing the rest of America should live under?

How else can they justify their failed attempt to block benefits for 9/11 first responders and veterans exposed to toxic burn pits?

How else can Desantis and his Republican colleagues justify their failure to denounce members of their own party who publicly accused a 10-year-old girl of lying about being raped to serve a political goal? Or their failure to denounce a president who called veterans and POWS “losers?”

Setting all of the politics aside, each of these examples points to the inhumanity and immorality of current Republican leadership. They’ve failed to defend Americans whose lives were on the line because they got sick, or lost their homes and livelihoods to disasters, or were raped, or were fighting to defend our country.

Veterans and unhoused people need mental health care and stable supportive transitional housing options. Farmers need solutions to the aridification of the West before more of their crops dry up and die. Middle-class homeowners need a plan to address climate change before more of their lives and their belongings burn in wildfires, dissolve in floodwaters, or get washed away by the storm surge of hurricanes — just to name a few.

These are big problems that will require big investments.

When Democrats fail on these issues, it’s often because they’re dreaming so big that they struggle to craft a single piece of legislation that meets everyone’s needs without leaving anyone behind.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the Republican Party aren’t even trying because their commitment to “no new taxes” for the wealthy clouds their better judgment and common sense. They’re discussing how unfair it is for wealthy “job creators” to pay more in taxes, how unfair it is that wealthy parents don’t get taxpayer-funded government handouts to help them pay for private schools and how unfair it is that a teacher making $40,000 a year got $10,000 in student loan forgiveness.

They’re discussing dollars and cents instead of lives and livelihoods. For that matter, they refuse to discuss a future for America where everyone is included and there is a thriving middle class driving a great economy focused on sustainable growth.

Voters must remember this at the polls next month: Because of the spiritual decline of the Republican Party when the chips are down, it’s up to Democrats and blue states to solve the problems the country faces while Republicans snarl from the sidelines with their ugly culture wars and divisiveness. Today’s GOP cannot be trusted to solve America’s problems, as much as we might wish these latest disasters could be a learning moment for them.

Which is why this week, we offer kudos to Biden. He stepped up and proved that he is a president for all Americans. While he may not succeed in making every American happy or giving all of them everything they want or everything they think they deserve, he demonstrated that he will put doing what is right ahead of doing what is most profitable.

In Florida, he didn’t even wait for Ian to make landfall before declaring a disaster and unlocking millions in federal aid.