Congressman Smith Capitol Report
Constant Crisis
September 17th, 2021
This Administration can be summed up in one word: Crisis.
In less than a year, as a direct result of his own policies, Joe Biden has turned our country from an economic powerhouse into a perpetual inflation state. Our country is less secure than ever before: our borders have been overrun, our country is dependent on foreign countries for our energy needs, and America’s enemies have been emboldened by our disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. But I fear this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan created the Biden Afghanistan Crisis. Right now, there are still American citizens desperately trying to get out, unable to leave because the Taliban is holding them hostage. The Taliban is in a better position to hold our citizens hostage and control its population by force because the administration abandoned tens of billions of dollars of military hardware in its hasty withdrawal. Our absence has now created a void where we have already seen China send their forces into U.S. territorial waters, while simultaneously threatening to send warships to the coast of Hawaii.
As I have said before, I cannot forgive this. One of the most fundamental responsibilities of the American President is to protect the citizens of our great nation. He should resign on this crisis alone, but it is far from the only one he has mismanaged.
Joe Biden’s addiction to spending and preference for Washington bureaucrats to be in control of Missouri families has led to the Biden Inflation Crisis. First, we passed the Biden Bailout Bill, which included nearly $2 trillion of wasteful spending that has primarily gone to the president’s political allies and donors. Now, he and his Washington Democrat allies are attempting to force through trillions more in socialist spending package written by self-proclaimed Socialist, Bernie Sanders. This package showers the rich with tax subsidies but doesn’t do anything meaningful for the working class.
Because of this addiction to spending, inflation is on pace to be the highest in 40 years. The last time inflation was this high, Jimmy Carter was in the White House. When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, inflation isn’t just a number – it’s a choice between food on your table, medicine in your cabinet, or a tank of gas to get to work. Through his reckless spending and the inflation it causes, President Biden is making it harder for American families to succeed.
This week, we got more bad news on the Biden Border Crisis. Remember, since before he was even elected, Joe Biden caused a massive flood of migrants seeking to enter this country illegally. From the first moments of his presidency, he encouraged illegal immigration – cancelling wall construction, restarting catch and release, and ending the remain in Mexico policy. This week, we learned more than 200,000 illegal immigrants entered our country last month. That brings the total since President Biden took office to over 1,000,000. A few months ago, we were adding a population the size of Springfield, Missouri – but now, we are adding a population the size of Salt Lake City. It’s outrageous!
Make no mistake: the rest of the world listened when Joe Biden made clear he no longer planned to enforce our country’s border security laws. It’s a recipe for disaster, and that’s exactly what we are facing.
One of President Trump’s most significant accomplishments was making the United States energy independent. But Joe Biden was determined to oppose everything done by Donald Trump, so he created the Biden Energy Crisis. On day one, he signed executive orders halting domestic production of gas and oil. Now gas prices are higher than they’ve been in years. In an effort to “fix” this self-made crisis, the Biden White House chose to ask the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia to increase global output instead of allowing American companies to invest in the domestic production of resources and put U.S. workers back in the field.
Whether it’s higher prices for the essential items they need, heat for their homes, secure jobs, or a loved one in harm’s way, every crisis affects Missourians in some way. I’ll fight hard for working class Missourians because, unfortunately, I think the worst may be yet to come.
