A friend of mine said to me recently that he hears more about President Joe Biden’s good stuff than in the media or from Biden’s campaign. He is most certainly not alone. Which is kind of a problem.

Because Biden has done some good stuff. Great stuff, even. If a pollster asked me if I approve of Biden’s performance, I’d say, all things considered, yes.

I say this despite not being happy at all with the Gaza situation (the current questioning about whether Israel has an end game is yet another parallel to our adventure in Iraq). There are a few other misgivings I have about his presidency, but overall, I have been happy with Joe.

And here’s why.

He has basically smothered neoliberalism in its bed (thankfully). Long considered the Political/Economical Philosophy for the Very Serious and Sensible, Biden has driven a stake in neoliberalism’s heart. It turns out that those silly lefty hippies were right that a policy that rewards the finance industry at the expense of our industrial capabilities and infrastructure was not the best. Not when Taiwan suddenly has taken away our lead in the semiconductor industry and, well, you can babble on all you want about lower taxes and deficits, but you see there’s this thing called entropy that doesn’t care about all that. Bridges actually do crumble. This leads me to…

Biden has passed a helluva lot of investment in things that matter. Despite the efforts of Manic Pixie Dream Senator Krysten Sinema and Professional Fossil Fuel Lobbyist Joe Manchin, Biden managed to get three significant pieces of legislation passed in the two years before The Psychos took over the House. The CHIPS and Science Act is deeply important because Taiwan currently produces more than 60 percent of the world’s semiconductors and over 90 percent of the most advanced chips, while the US accounts for only about 12 percent of global chip output. Given China’s threats, this is not just good for creating more living-wage jobs but is vital to American security. The Infrastructure Package fixes the entropy that has weakened our bridges, roads, utilities, etc. which has been neglected for too long due to short-sighted neoliberal thinking. It also challenges outdated thinking on infrastructure, such as including childcare as part of it (and this is correct thinking!). And the Inflation Reduction Act, despite being a lesser version of Build Back Better thanks to the tantrums of Sinema and Manchin, still includes the largest investment in battling climate change in American history.

He has helped reverse years of policy hostile to workers. For too long, leadership both Democratic and Republican have favored trade policies and other strategies that reward Wall Street and hurt American workers. While “economic anxiety” is mostly bullshit as an excuse for supporting Trump, reversing policies that eliminated American jobs and reduced worker wages is a good thing. And think about this: When we were a nation that was considered one that “built great things” that was also a time when workers were paid well.

Unions are back, baby. This past summer, the UAW and the writers’ and actors’ unions had big wins, making 2023 the best year for unions since the 1970s. And Biden famously joined the UAW picket lines. The wage increases won by the UAW expanded to non-union auto workers as well, who saw their pay increase in many instances as well. This is a real side-effect of unions, a rising tide that lifts all boats. Biden also showed support by meeting with Starbucks union organizers at the White House last July. And PS…unions are popular!

Biden the Trustbuster. As economist Robert Reich is fond of pointing out, monopolies are a big problem, giving examples such as four corporations dominating our meat packing, four airlines dominating domestic air travel, and most of us having next to no choice of Internet providers. The Biden administration, especially the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, have done more to go after monopolies than any president in the last 50 or so years. If you have any doubts this is true, the head of the FTC, Lina Khan, has put the Wall Street Journal on tilt. They are OBSESSED with hating her.

Biden’s proposal on greatly reducing or eliminating bank junk fees. These fees are nothing more than greed by our financial industry, and Biden is taking them on. They are especially cruel because they hurt low-income people the most.

And finally, Biden has guided the American economy out of its greatest threat since the 2008 collapse. The pandemic was a huge shock to the global economy. But the United States under Biden has done much better than its peer nations. Inflation is now largely under control, economic growth continues to defy expectations by being stronger than predicted, the job market is incredible, wages are now growing faster than prices, and the forecasted recession has not shown up. In fact, the idea that to control inflation the Fed must create a recession is rapidly taking on water. Despite all this, Americans were gloomy about the economy, likely due to some combination of inflation, a media that focused on the bad, and misinformation. But that appears to be changing, as the “Vibecession” seems to be receding.

These are just some of what Biden has achieved. Feels like a lot to sell, and a lot to use to contrast himself against Donald Trump’s campaign of being allowed to do what he wants, stay out of jail, and pure unfiltered hate. I mainly focused on economic achievements, but in a future post I will point out how he has had wins in other issues as well.