Master of Disaster
Eight months in, Joe Biden’s presidency is collapsing on every front. Joblessness is still rising, his own border chief is warning of a record-breaking migrant surge and the planned private-sector vaccine mandate is still MIA.
The prez put all his (limited) energy into legislation to transform the nation into Bernie Sanders’ dream welfare state — and that scheme’s imploding, too.
Initial jobless claims have risen three straight weeks, the feds announced Thursday. First filings hit 362,000, up from 351,000 the week before. It was another surprise for economists, who’d expected rosier news.
When the feds announced the economy had added just 235,000 jobs last month, Biden claimed there’s “no question” the Delta variant was responsible. But now joblessness is rising as COVID cases fall. Experts estimate the fourth wave peaked Sept. 13; new daily cases fell 20 percent in the last week.
And the border crisis is set to grow. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas just asked his top officials if they’re ready for a possible 400,000 border crossers in October, two sources told NBC News. That would be nearly double July’s two-decade high of 210,000 migrants.
He fears the larger wave will come if courts insist on narrowing the use of Title 42, which allows blocking migrants due to the pandemic. But the Bidenites already ignored it to let in thousands in a single September week after tens of thousands of Haitian migrants flooded Del Rio, Texas; it deported a very small minority.
Meanwhile, Team Biden can’t even forward its own COVID policies. The prez told the nation three weeks ago that he’d force companies with 100 or more employees to institute a vax mandate via an OSHA order. Business owners desperately want to know the details so they can plan.
But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki still can’t offer any timeline beyond: “Hopefully, we’ll know more in the coming weeks.” Did the White House only start the process after Biden announced it?
The only challenge this administration seems able to handle is keeping the president from facing reporters’ questions.