Toward the end of 2021, President Biden’s approval ratings took a dive. Two things in particular need to improve for Biden to make a turnaround — the pandemic needs to lessen and price increases need to let up.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
From control of Congress and the strength of the Biden presidency to potential Jan. 6 committee revelations and the future of abortion rights, there’s a lot at stake in 2022.
We have lots of questions about what’s ahead. Here are six:
1. Can Biden turn it around?
President Biden ended 2021 with the lowest approval ratings of his presidency in the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. The ongoing pandemic, rising inflation, the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal and Democratic infighting over legislation hurt how people see his presidency.
In fact, Americans’ view of how Biden’s handling his job is historically bad. His approval rating at the end of his first year in office is the second worst of any president since World War II, according to Gallup. Of course, we’re now in a more polarized time, and politics isn’t static. Other presidents have hit lows and turned it around — Ronald Reagan was at 35% in 1983, and Barack Obama was at 40% in 2011, but both handily won reelection a year later.
Two things in particular need to improve for Biden to make a turnaround — the pandemic needs to lessen and price increases need to let up.
Toward the end of 2021, Biden made his strongest indication yet that he will run for reelection, but if the 79-year-old’s political fortunes don’t get better, there may be a furious effort to find a Democratic replacement.
2. Will we get back to any sense of normal?
The coronavirus has taken a big bite out of our sense of normalcy for nearly two years. Americans are understandably fatigued from yo-yo-ing restrictions, mask wearing and school shutdowns.
Even if necessary to protect public health, these measures have been emotionally taxing, especially after what looked like the chance to get back to some degree of normal last summer, only to be largely sidelined again because of the delta and omicron variants.
It’s taken a political toll for sure and exacerbated sharp political divisions. Anger and fear are incredible motivators to vote, but an incumbent needs to give people hope to have a chance to win reelection.
3. What, if anything, are Democrats able to pass?
Oh, hello again, Joe Manchin.
For those tired of hearing about the West Virginia senator’s legislative hopes and dreams, we have bad news: They will likely continue to be a topic in Washington for the better part of 2022. He continues to hold the key to Biden’s more expansive legislative agenda. After months of going back and forth with Biden and other congressional Democrats, Manchin jumped ship toward the end of 2021.
There’s a debate going on in Democratic circles over how to deal with Manchin and the party’s legislative agenda. Democrats have to decide whether to try for a further-scaled-down social safety net and climate bill, focusing on a few key parts, like universal pre-K, health care and climate, or to break the measure up into smaller pieces.
There’s a debate going on in Democratic circles over how to deal with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and the party’s legislative agenda.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
What’s more, there is growing pressure on Democratic leaders to address voting rights, which have been scaled back in many GOP-led states. That likely means exploring a carveout of some sort in the legislative filibuster. At any rate, the clock is ticking because Democrats are facing an uphill battle to retain the House.
4. Do Republicans take back control of Congress and, if so, what will they do?
As noted, Republicans are favored to take back the House. The Senate, which is currently 50-50, is also up for grabs, though Democrats appear to be in a better position for now in the upper chamber. But what are Republicans going to run on, and what would they do with that power should they win?
They have been criticized by some as being more the “party of no” than one interested in governing. When they were last in power, they passed budget-blowing tax cuts, but were unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which is growing more popular, because they had nothing to replace it with. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell played into the “party of no” narrative. Axios reports he is firmly against releasing any kind of legislative agenda ahead of the midterm elections.
Others, like House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, disagree with that. He released a “Parents Bill of Rights,” a response to the debate over parental control of schools because of how America’s racial history is taught in classrooms. Does that continue to be a main issue, or will there be another outrage flavor of the season?
By the way, elections are right around the corner, with primaries beginning in March. Those primaries will also give us the first look at the power of former President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging endorsements.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., vice chair of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, faces a primary challenge from a Trump-backed candidate.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
5. What does the Jan. 6 select committee come up with — and when?
The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection will take a more public role this year with hearings and more potential revelations. It had issued dozens of subpoenas toward the end of last year, with some Trump allies willing and others less willing to participate. We will find out, for instance, if the Justice Department will file more contempt charges, like it did for former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
The committee has gathered lots of information, interviewing some 300 witnesses, for example. It could start public hearings in the coming months, with a report expected ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Committee members feel a sense of urgency to get its findings out because if Republicans win the House, they will in all probability shut down the investigation.
Their evidence and documentation of the siege will be key because Americans are as divided as ever. A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll out Monday reveals that while 9 in 10 Democrats see what happened on Jan. 6 as an insurrection and a threat to democracy, just 1 in 10 Republicans do.
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6. Does the Supreme Court severely curtail abortion rights?
In late 2021, the high court certainly looked like it was headed in that direction. Questioning from the court’s majority-conservative justices strongly indicated they were in favor of upholding restrictions in Mississippi, making it illegal to have an abortion later than 15 weeks.
Currently, abortions are legal up to about 24 weeks or the first two trimesters. That was a central holding in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
If the court does uphold the Mississippi law, it could open a floodgate of other restrictions in other states. The decision is expected this summer, just as the midterm elections will be heating up.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
