By William DeMartinis
Sarah Silbiger / Getty Images file
Last week, I was confronted with the idea of there being zero news in the US. Now, one week later, that idea is irrelevant. Over the span of one week, Georgia became a political hotcake, Joe Biden’s signature policy may die like a deer being hit by a car going nascar speeds, and maybe the US won’t destroy the world economy: US politics in a nutshell.
Georgia:
Since 2016, Georgia has rapidly gone from a strong Republican state to arguably the most competitive state in the nation. It will be nothing short of that in 2022 with the past weeks worth of announcements when it comes to the Georgia governor’s race. To start off, Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Democratic nominee and hero of the 2020 presidential election (For Democrats) announced her run for Georgia governor last week. Stacey Abrams came incredibly close to defeating Brian Kemp (R) in 2018 in what was the third closest gubernatorial race of that year. After her loss, she went on to become a major voting rights activist, and her efforts were credited for creating the turnout & conditions needed for Joe Biden to win the state of Georgia in 2020, and for Democrats to secure both senate seats from the state of Georgia in 2021. So who would she be facing? Well, it’s either going to be incumbent governor Brian Kemp, or a man that she arguably caused the defeat of, former Senator David Perdue. Brain Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams in 2018 by a margin of 1.2%, but his popularity with his party has declined after 2020 for one reason: Trump. Kemp certified the electoral results of Georgia in 2020 amidst Trump’s “voter fraud” claims. It does not look the best for Kemp when one of the closest states in 2020 certifies the results and going against Trump. Since then, Trump’s hatred for Kemp has been a poorly-kept secret. So who has the best chance of defeating Kemp? Former senator David Perdue. That’s right, the former CEO of Dollar General and U.S Senator from 2014-2021. His 2020 senatorial campaign, which became one of the Senate Democrats’ prime targets, took place alongside fellow Senator Kelly Loeffler’s race. Now, by now, those races’ outcomes are an undisputed fact. You may have heard of the man who defeated David Perdue last January, Jon Ossoff. But now, Perdue sets his eyes on Georgia’s gubernatorial seat. He received the endorsement of Trump the same day he announced. So far, the primary seems competitive, but time will tell if Trump’s cards were dealt right, or if Brian Kemp can roar back as the nominee for 2022.
Build Back Better:
Biden’s signature policy is at a standstill. At the time of writing, the BBB bill (BBB= Build Back Better for future reference) has yet to impress senators Joe Manchin (D- WV) or Kyrsten Sinema (D- AZ), two crucial senators who determine the bill’s success in the Senate. The bill has gone through rigorous negotiations over the past months, going from 6 to 3.5 to 2 trillion dollars in cost. Senator Manchin argues that BBB could have unforeseen consequences on U.S’s inflation woes, and how it would affect the deficit. Kyrsten Sinema… is Kyrsten Sinema. Honestly, no one really knows why she doesn’t support it. In any case, Joe Biden’s signature policy has been stalled in the senate for months. The senate is supposed to hold a vote this week (The week of December 13th-20th), but that’s yet to be seen. If Manchin and Sinema hold the line and vote down the bill, along with every Republican senator, the bill would fail 48-52, or 47-53 (With Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer voting against the bill so BBB could be brought up without needing another separate house vote). If the bill fails to pass, or is postponed, it can’t be understated just how much of a disaster for Joe Biden and the Democrats would be. Joe Biden’s approval rating desperately needs something new to juice it up with his numbers falling behind, and the Democrats prospects for 2022 are okay at best. BBB basically decides the fate of Joe Biden’s career, as it could very likely be the last major Democratic proposal before 2022 when Republicans could retake the Senate and House.
The Debt Limit
This past week, the House, Senate, and President all acted quickly to raise the US debt limit by over 2 trillion dollars. The US currently has over 29 trillion dollars in national debt (Thanks to a range of decisions. The 2008 recession, wars in the Middle East, and legislation are the largest explanations for the US’s large debt). But, if this hadn’t passed, the US would’ve defaulted on its debt (Default means that the country will be unable to pay its debt). If that happened, the entire world economic recovery from COVID would basically collapse. The US economy would basically destroy itself, and it would send shockwaves the economy hasn’t seen since the Great Depression. Yes, it could’ve been that bad. And it’s not an understatement either. Thankfully, the helms of the US government managed to pass a bill averting an economic crisis. While it’s not a permanent fix, it gives the government more time until it probably has to raise it, again.And remember, that all happened in one week. And there was more, ranging from the Supreme Court, Omicron, a school shooting, and even some NY gubernatorial race drama. But, unless this article is gonna encompass half the newspaper, I cut it down to the interesting, juicy stuff. In any case, thank you for reading.
