Not Biden Either

If you asked me whether I prefer to be shot with a 223 or 222 caliber weapon, I would answer that what I want is to live and not be killed.

Last week in this column, I offered my preferences for the United States presidential election, which were more or less aimed in the same direction: neither one nor the other. I want the best. Surprisingly, both on social media and by mail, most practically scolded me for not preferring Joe Biden to Donald Trump. Yet very few told me that I should lean toward the current president, and almost none praised my alternative position. Well, that’s life.

In order to strengthen the country’s institutions, I think Biden should be president, both because he won the election and because Trump’s tantrums are like everything he does: pretentious and histrionic. But I am quite fearful that the new president of the union will be neither a Bill Clinton nor a Harry Truman, but more a Jimmy Carter, timid and disoriented.

It has been estimated that it will take an $11 trillion increase in federal spending to fulfill Biden’s campaign promises. His policies include an increase in minimum wage, an ambitious public works plan and measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and will be carried out with an increase of $3.5 trillion in taxes. At this critical time for the economy, while the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, using these resources would be equivalent to taking oxygen away from a COVID-19 patient before the patient has recovered. Increased health benefits — a favorite subject for Democrats — and protectionist measures are also planned. This “recovery” may resemble Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which turned the panic of 1929 into a recession for more than a decade.

In foreign policy, one can see certain implicit blunders in Biden’s agenda. Everything indicates that he is going to give excessive importance to the fight against global warming, which will lead him to reduce the political and economic pressure on China under the pretext of seeking cooperation on environmental issues.

West Asian allies fear a return to Barack Obama’s ambiguous policy. They are fearful because

They have felt comfortable with Trump, especially during the last two years, unlike Europeans, who found the outgoing president’s style difficult to swallow. Within the United States, the support for Biden’s candidacy by radical movements, such as antifa or Black Lives Matter, will sooner or later take a toll with dangerous consequences.

It must be taken into account that the new president, however kind, is 77, which increases the risk he will be succeeded by his vice president because of death or permanent disability. Kamala Harris has shown herself to be ambiguous on some issues, but in general, she has opted for policies that can be classified as left-leaning, a situation that increases uncertainty.

Trump has been an unpleasant and ineffective president; but that does not mean that we can say anything is preferable instead, and I think we are dealing with anything.