State of the Union address: Biden’s tough to-do list

US President Biden delivers his State of the Union address in Congress this evening. It is about the successes of the past year and the plans for the coming months. He will probably have to make some promises again.

Prolonged applause for Joe Biden at the Capitol on March 1, 2022 – a week after Russia attacked Ukraine. Many MPs wore yellow and blue, the Ukrainian ambassador waved tearfully.

The US President asked MPs to stand “as an unmistakable signal to the world that we stand with Ukraine”. Putin believed he could invade Ukraine and the world would fall over. But thanks to his leadership, the United States and its allies stand united and resolutely on Ukraine’s side.

Sanctions, freezing Russian dollar reserves, confiscating Russian oligarch assets: These punitive measures will isolate Putin’s Russia and bring it to its knees economically, Biden promised: “The Russian economy is reeling. And Putin alone is to blame for that.”

Billions in aid for Ukraine

Almost a year later, Biden’s prediction has not come true: Putin has continued to sell his oil and gas profitably despite Western sanctions, and the ruble has stabilized. And even if, according to the International Monetary Fund, the Russian economy shrank by a good two percentage points last year, according to forecasts, it will grow more strongly than Germany’s in the coming year.

The Biden government has more than fulfilled another promise made by the US President: “We are giving Ukraine one billion in direct aid, and we will continue to help the Ukrainians defend their country – and alleviate their suffering.”

In fact, it’s now well over $50 billion – and the US Congress has approved a total of more than $100 billion, most of it for military assistance. This war, in which the USA is officially not further involved, is coming to the US taxpayers at a high cost.

Rising energy costs instead of promised relief

In his speech, Biden promised relief – for example by tapping oil reserves, which didn’t change much, or by the social and climate protection package that was planned at the time and has now been passed, the “Inflation Reduction Act”. According to Biden, this would save the average American family $500 a year in energy costs. In fact, electricity prices have risen by 14 percent. According to a forecast by the US Energy Agency EIA, heating will be a good 30 percent more expensive for most US citizens this winter than last year.

“Too many families barely manage to pay their bills. I get that!” Biden announced in the last State of the Union. “So my top priority is to get prices under control.” Many economic experts blame his multi-billion dollar Covid aid packages for the enormous inflation. Even if the rate of increase is now flattening out again, the reason for this is not so much Biden’s economic policy as the interest rate hikes by the central bank.

The president has also not been able to keep other grandiose promises so far: he wanted to lower the enormous prices for insulin, which are driving many diabetic patients in the USA to ruin, raise the minimum wage and preserve the basic right to an abortion. Sometimes the Republicans thwarted his plans, sometimes senators from his own party, sometimes the courts.

Almost half of the projects implemented

The Washington Post counted that Biden was able to implement almost half of 39 projects. According to broadcaster NPR 2020, his predecessor Donald Trump had only completed a third of his own to-do list from 2019.

Biden will probably make some promises again: police reforms and stricter gun laws, for example. Putin and the war in Ukraine will probably be an issue again, as will the relationship with and competition with China. But many observers are particularly curious to see whether the 80-year-old Biden will make it clear in his speech whether he wants to run again as a presidential candidate in 2024. According to polls, a clear majority of Americans would be against it.