Biden Leadership In America Today

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

BIDEN TRIED TO PERSUADE SAUDIS TO DELAY PRODUCTION CUT


A report in today’s Wall Street Journal depicts Joe Biden’s Keystone Kops administration in action:

Days before a major oil-production cut by OPEC and its Russia-led allies, U.S. officials called their counterparts in Saudi Arabia and other big Gulf producers with an urgent appeal—delay the decision for another month, according to people familiar with the talks. The answer: a resounding no.
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Saudi officials dismissed the requests, which they viewed as a political gambit by the Biden administration to avoid bad news ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, on which control of Congress hangs.

The Biden administration denies that its urgent request was politically motivated:

Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokeswoman, rejected Saudi contentions that the Biden administration efforts were driven by political calculations. …
“It’s categorically false to connect this to U.S. elections,” Ms. Watson said. “It’s about the impact of this shortsighted decision to the global economy.”

But the political implications of the administration’s request are obvious:

The one-month delay requested by Washington would have meant a production cut made in the days before the election, too late to have much effect on consumers’ wallets ahead of the vote.

This is beyond lame. It is pathetic:

Since the OPEC+ decision, the White House vowed to fight OPEC’s control of the energy market.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

To State The Obvious, Biden Is A Remarkably Bad Negotiator And Doesn’t Understand How The World Works




This week, it was reported that Biden asked Saudi Arabia to postpone cutting petroleum production until after the midterms. OPEC+ declined. Now, Biden is looking at all options, and his Democratic colleagues are calling upon the U.S. to block arms sales with the Middle Eastern nation as payback. “Quid pro quo” legalities aside, why wouldn’t Biden threaten to cut off military support prior to the Saudis’ decision?

It’s like this president does everything backward.

There are never any perfect comparisons in history, but we have a close one to this debacle from President Donald J. Trump’s time in office — with markedly different results.

In the middle of the pandemic in 2020, Saudi Arabia was threatening to increase the oil supply by millions of barrels, which would have cratered the American oil market and resulted in even more economic ruin. Once he caught wind of that plan, Trump told Saudi Arabia that he wouldn’t stop Congress from passing a law to pull U.S. troops out of the Kingdom. If Saudi cut oil production, the troops would stay.

It was an unprecedented threat, but it worked. OPEC didn’t increase production and instead reduced it. Here’s how the left-leaning Reuters described it:

The threat to upend a 75-year strategic alliance, which has not been previously reported, was central to the U.S. pressure campaign that led to a landmark global deal to slash oil supply as demand collapsed in the coronavirus pandemic – scoring a diplomatic victory for the White House.

It would have been nice if Biden used that sort of strategy this time around. Trump secured diplomatic victories while Biden is now scrambling.
 

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....
Trump secured diplomatic victories while Biden is now scrambling.
Foreign countries knew Trump was not mincing words. When he made a threat, they knew he could and would back it up. Today, they just laugh at Biden and the US. Hard to believe we've gone from a self-sustaining super power to a wimpy no-teeth nation looking at a recession in just a couple of years.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
Foreign countries knew Trump was not mincing words. When he made a threat, they knew he could and would back it up. Today, they just laugh at Biden and the US. Hard to believe we've gone from a self-sustaining super power to a wimpy no-teeth nation looking at a recession in just a couple of years.
Trump was used to an environment where two antagonists would negotiate and find some common ground in the middle where both could walk away satisfied with the outcome.

I don't know if it's in "The Art of the Deal" but at least once he said that you BEGIN negotiations with the most lopsided, extreme position you can even hope to get. Your first offer is the worst one - it's where you offer to give nothing and get it all. You come back and each time, you give a little more ground and come closer to agreement - until you arrive at an agreement you were willing to go with from the very start.

THAT is how you make a deal.

But in POLITICS, especially American politics, that's all bass-ackwards. Politicians START with the sweetest deal they can offer, hoping you'll snatch it up right away. In negotiation with foreign entities - that's ridiculous, because THEY all know how the game is played. When you haggle on the street with a vendor, you don't BEGIN with the asking price - heck, you START with a price so absurd, they're ready to walk away.

The problem in politics, especially LATELY, is that politicians are eager to walk away WITH SOMETHING, however bad it is. If you've ever haggled over a car, the worst thing you can do is let the salesperson know you don't plan to walk away. THEY want the sale - heck, if you threaten to walk away and they believe it, they'll try to tell you you won't get a better one elsewhere - the others will be the same ("Fine with me - THEY will get my money, but not YOU").

With Trump, it didn't have to be the end of the world, but he was completely willing to walk away from a deal, because it's how he negotiated his entire life. The *******s in Washington just weren't used to the idea.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

'I Don't Know Where I'm Going...I Get Told'



"I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get out in Nevada. And in Georgia, they asked me to come down. We’re trying to work it out now," Biden said.

"Are you going to go next week?" the reporter asked. "I don’t know where I’m going. I’ve got about 16, 18 requests around the country, so I don’t know who’s going where. I get told," Biden said.

Earlier, as he was leaving the White House, Biden bristled when a reporter asked him why more Democrats haven't asked him to campaign with them.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

Guatemalan President Says Biden Admin Refused To Help Him Deport Illegal Migrants Bound For The US Border



Giammattei told the DCNF that he’d requested that the Biden administration move its deportation planes and buses to Guatemala for the country to use in returning illegal migrants to their home countries before they reach the U.S. He said it would save the Biden administration hefty costs of such large migration waves and allow migrants from far away places to go home immediately.

Guatemala hopes to deter such action by working with the Biden administration to deport them as soon as they can.

“Having all of these people in the United States costs the U.S. government millions and millions of dollars. We have suggested that they should keep the airplanes here, so that we ourselves can deport them back to their countries of origin, be it Haiti or be it whatever the country. If they keep their airplanes here, we can send them back. Otherwise, why wait until the people reach U.S. soil to then spend millions and millions of dollars to then send them back?” Giammattei said.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

The Biden Administration Could Face Audits Over the Billions it Sent to Ukraine




The Biden Administration is in hot water after the billions of dollars it sent to Ukraine in aid is no where to be found.

Republicans are warning the Biden White House that it will audit the administration if the $20 billion in military aid that was sent to Ukraine can’t be tracked down.

The audit would determine how much U.S. money is ending up in the wrong hands of a different country. The Biden Administration had previously attempted to find out where there money is, however, only a fraction of the aid was provided to the country.
 

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....

The Biden Administration Could Face Audits Over the Billions it Sent to Ukraine




The Biden Administration is in hot water after the billions of dollars it sent to Ukraine in aid is no where to be found.

Republicans are warning the Biden White House that it will audit the administration if the $20 billion in military aid that was sent to Ukraine can’t be tracked down.

The audit would determine how much U.S. money is ending up in the wrong hands of a different country. The Biden Administration had previously attempted to find out where there money is, however, only a fraction of the aid was provided to the country.
Start by checking the bank accounts of those that approved and "sent" the funds.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member

Union Allies Turn On ‘Pro-Labor’ Biden For Trying To Prevent Looming Rail Strike



The commander-in-chief said in a Monday evening statement that the possible work freeze, which could begin as soon as December 9, would “devastate” the economy ahead of the holiday season. “As a proud pro-labor President, I am reluctant to override the ratification procedures and the views of those who voted against the agreement,” he remarked. “But in this case — where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families — I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal.”

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division responded in a harsh statement noting that the organization “is deeply disappointed by and disagrees with” the sentiment expressed by Biden. “It is not enough to ‘share workers’ concerns.’ A call to Congress to act immediately to pass legislation that adopts tentative agreements that exclude paid sick leave ignores the Railroad Workers’ concerns,” the group said. “It both denies Railroad Workers their right to strike while also denying them of the benefit they would likely otherwise obtain if they were not denied their right to strike.”

Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen President Michael Baldwin likewise affirmed in an interview with CNN Business that intervention from Congress “prevents us from reaching the end of our process” and “takes away the strength and ability that we have to force bargaining.” The Railway Labor Act, passed in 1926 as the nation became increasingly reliant upon railways, allows Congress to exercise its authority over interstate commerce by preventing rail strikes.
 
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