Biden should stop complaining and negotiate on the border
Jay Caruso
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A president cajoling, imploring, scolding, and pleading with Congress is as old as the republic itself. In his first address to Congress, President George Washington asked Congress to take up a variety of issues for the new nation he thought were important for the country to thrive.
When President Joe Biden took office, it wasn’t difficult to find press references to him as the “negotiator in chief.” People used it primarily to poke a stick in the eye of former President Donald Trump, who boasted of his negotiating skills only to see his efforts fail repeatedly.
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Biden wants more money for Ukraine. Most members of Congress, including most Republicans, support Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s efforts against Russia and the invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin. Biden also wants money to assist Israel in its war against Hamas and aid for Taiwan with the shadow of mainland China looming over it. Republicans support that funding as well.
However, Republicans also want additional money for border control and immigration security. Thus, the negotiating process. And this is where the supposed “negotiator in chief” should shine. Instead, he’s engaging in an infantile tactic of “baby want!” He thinks he should get the money he wants without having to give Republicans anything in return. As is common with Democrats, Biden hauled out the “holding such and such hostage” ploy because he is not getting his way.
It was easier for Biden in 2021 and 2022. With the House controlled by Democrats and the Senate having a 50-50 tie and Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaking vote, Biden had to negotiate more often with members of his party than he did the GOP. But Republicans now control the House, and no amount of foot-stomping on Biden’s part will change that.
Of course, as much as the press mentions the “right-wing,” “far-right,” or “hard-right” Republicans, it never mentions the “hard-left” or “far-left” Democrats in Congress and activists pushing Biden to reject any border deal, as they see any attempt at securing the border as too “extreme.” The so-called progressives are Biden’s biggest headache, not Republican leadership in Congress. Biden is already on thin ice with the left wing (and the antisemitic wing) of his party for his support of Israel.
People defending Biden have tried to say Republicans want to tie “unrelated policy goals” such as border security to Ukraine aid. The problem with that defense is twofold.
First, it is an issue about spending money. Congress appropriates money, and this is all about supplemental expenditures outside the overall budget.
Second, Biden created this mess for himself. When he sent the request for more Ukraine aid, he included requests for Israel and border security. Republicans merely reacted by agreeing to tie the two issues together but with priorities they saw as necessary.
Republicans certainly won’t get everything they want in the deal as it relates to border security, and they know it. Thus, what they’re asking for is not an unreasonable compromise. It’s a deal that could have been completed within the last week or two.
The president can’t complain now about negotiating a process he started. Rather than sit on the sidelines, the time has come for him to show the country those “negotiator in chief” skills and get a deal done — one that winds up benefiting Ukraine, Israel, border security, and his own reelection prospects.
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Jay Caruso is a writer and editor residing in West Virginia.