Right now we seem to be obsessed with telling college students that their right to protest only applies if they are perfect in every way and only protest in ways a middle-aged white suburban person would approve of. This seems to be sucking all the oxygen out of the room: For example, the Hit MSNBC Marriage Comedy Morning Joe was obsessive with it today, reminding me of how obsessed they were about NYC crime leading up to the 2022 election (and probably helped New York become the only place where the Red Wave happened, great work, folks).

But I want to at least give a little air to something that unfortunately is not being discussed much, and that is about the good things that Biden has done, and the good things he plans to do in the second term. Despite the eyeballs-rolling-up-into-the-head hysteria about the protests, these are things that will have much more influence on our lives than a Columbia student being upset about dead children, and in a very good way.

First off, the achievements of the Biden administration are many. He managed to get a lot of important legislation passed, more than most presidencies and more than the previous one, which had one big piece of legislation passed – a tax cut for the wealthy. One example is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and let’s focus on just the climate stuff.

Last week an announcement of over 7 billion dollars had been earmarked for industrial decarbonization, which is one of the biggest things that has ever happened in the fight against climate change. This is mainly because up until recently, industrial decarbonization was considered a fool’s errand, too difficult to even consider. Industry’s contribution to our carbon footprint such as steel smelting and concrete production is highly significant, so this was great news.

$20 billion was also recently targeted for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which supports carbon reduction and clean energy projects in disadvantaged communities. These are often communities that need carbon reduction and a cleaner environment the most but are often forgotten. In addition, last week $7 billion was sent out to disadvantaged communities that have high energy cost burdens to invest in solar energy. This is a program that not only helps the environment but helps people.

These are all big deals on their own, and there are over 20 of them in the IRA. In addition, last Thursday, the EPA dropped new pollution rules on power plants, which is also a big deal, even if they do not get the press they deserve. It is notable that many of them are things that a mere 10 years ago centrists were lecturing us progressives to forget about them because they were not doable. Turns out, they are in fact doable.

In addition, Biden has made strides on climate change and environmental issues by rejoining the Paris Agreement and ambitious renewable energy projects in the infrastructure bill that Biden passed.

Another example of Biden’s achievements is passing the American Rescue Plan Act, which helped so many during the pandemic and sparked interest in programs such as the child tax credit. This was allowed to expire despite how many children it lifted out of poverty, and Biden hopes to renew it in a second term.

In addition, in a time of hysterics coming from the right about DEI and wokeness, Biden has offered initiatives on criminal justice reform and ideas to close the racial wealth gap. While Republicans offer book bannings, Biden has proposed universal Pre-K and increased funding for public schools. These are all ideas that at one time were considered foolish and unattainable. That Biden is offering them now is proof that he is smothering the worst parts of neoliberalism in its bed.

Looking ahead, there is a lot to like about a Biden second term.

A major focus is healthcare reform, with Biden proposing a public option to expand access to affordable healthcare coverage. Joe Lieberman rolls around in grave and I suggest he spins faster and burrows all the way to China. It’s the right, decent thing to do.

Additionally, the administration wants to continue addressing climate change through ambitious infrastructure plans, including new investments in renewable energy and efforts to transition towards a clean energy economy. Biden has also made protecting women’s healthcare from the right’s assault on it a priority of a second term.

As important to what he wants to do is protecting what he has already done. Without a doubt, Trump would roll back progress on climate change, likely kill the IRA and CHIPS Act out of nothing more than spite, and create an immigration plan right out of a white nationalist handbook. Biden is obviously interested in fixing immigration, and we need to fix it. It is operating on a system created in 1990 and obviously needs to be updated. But we also need immigrants.

These are reasons for progressives like myself to vote for Biden. Not just Orange Man Bad (which is a legitimate reason to vote for Biden as well!) but also some real deal achievements of his administration that should make progressives happy.

The last word goes to Earth, Wind and Fire: