How America Is Doing 1 Year Into Biden’s Presidency

President Joe Biden has been in office for just over a year, and Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., says the nation would be better off without him at the helm. 

If Biden “went home, back to Delaware to his beach house … and never came out, the country would be much better off,” Good says. “Everything he’s done has been harmful to the country.”

As America’s national debt hits $30 trillion, Good joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain the greatest challenges facing the nation and how the Biden administration should address rising prices and the crisis at the southern border.

Also on today’s show:

• Defense Department press secretary John Kirby announces Biden’s plans to deploy 2,000 troops to Germany and Poland.
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calls for state governments to stop requiring masks for children in schools.
• Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania, is in troubled waters.

Listen to the podcast below or read the lightly edited transcript.

Virginia Allen: We are one year into President Joe Biden’s presidency. How is the country doing under Biden’s leadership? Well, here with us to answer that question is Congressman Bob Good of Virginia. Congressman, thank you so much for being here.

Rep. Bob Good: Thank you, Virginia. Great to be with you.

Allen: So, we’re a year in, how is President Joe Biden doing? Is America stronger today than we were one year ago?

Good: It’s really incredible, his poll numbers are historically low, and you’ll see numbers saying he’s maybe 35% approval. Who are those 35%?

I was in a meeting with a group of Republicans and Democrats from my home state not too long ago, right before the Virginia elections, and I asked my colleagues across the aisle, “What would you point to? Where are things going well? What policies are working? How would you validate the Nov. 20 election?” And they had no answer.

They looked at me quietly, silently, just like you’re looking at me now, and didn’t try to persuade me that there was anything that was going well under this administration.

Many of us thought he would be a bad president. We didn’t know how good he would be at doing a bad job. And this is a president that makes [former President Jimmy] Carter look competent and [former President Barack] Obama look moderate, which is really incredible.

Allen: When it comes to the issues that Americans are really concerned about and focused on, there was a Pew Research study done in 2021 that asked Americans that question: What are you most worried about? And among those top three, one of the answers that Americans gave was the deficit. People are really concerned about our national deficit that’s just hit $30 trillion.

Good: That’s right.

Allen: Now, where are we improving on that? What are you seeing from the Biden administration? Are they taking any action steps to get that deficit under control?

Good: No, they’re doubling down their spending. You’re right. We crossed the $30 trillion threshold, it was just announced yesterday, which equates to $91,000 per American citizen. So say, a family of three, that’s $273,000 that they owe, their share of the national debt.

It’s already the third-largest budget item with these artificially low interest rates just to pay the debt. It’s crushing us and it’s growing at a rapid pace, as we know. It’s mortgaging or bankrupting our kids’ future, and the Democrats are showing no concern for it.

Matter of fact, we just came from a conference meeting this morning, and I won’t call him out, let him speak to himself, but one of my colleagues in the House Freedom Caucus called out our own party on leadership: What are we going to do about the national debt? Because we all talk about it being an issue. And when I ran, I identified it as one of the three greatest threats to the country, was our national debt, that’s why I wanted to be on the Budget Committee.

But our Republican Study Committee, on the task force for that, we put out a balanced budget a year ago. We’d like the whole conference to adopt that as our official Republican position, it would balance in five years. We’ve got to be honest with the American people and preserve Medicare and Social Security, quite frankly, by reforming it so that it saves it for the future.

Allen: On that honesty with the American people, I think that’s key because right now, it seems like, from those on the left and even maybe some on the right, there’s this sense of, “Oh, it’s not a big deal. It’s not a big deal to keep on spending,” but I’m sensing that it is. At some point, the shoe’s going to drop, right?

Good: Yes. And every increase by one point in the interest rates—the fed is talking about increasing interest rates now [to] try to head off this massive inflation that the Biden policies are causing. Every one point increase in the interest rate rather cost an additional $300 billion a year just to service the debt.

So it takes a bigger bite out of the apple that causes the deficit to grow even further, because we’re obviously borrowing to pay the debt to begin with.

But it is crushing, it is serious, it is a great threat to the country. And we, Republicans, have to come together and agree to balance the budget, make the tough decisions, earn their trust with the American people that we’re being honest with them, and we’re going to save them, the country fiscally.

Allen: And you mentioned that you serve on the Budget Committee, I know spending is important to you. It’s a big deal. Of course, inflation, as you say, it’s on all of our minds right now. Every time you go to the grocery store, every time you fill your car up with gas, we’re all feeling that. Can we blame President Biden for that inflation? Or was he just dealt a bad hand when he entered office amid the pandemic and the labor shortages, on and on?

Good: Well, quickly, the answer is that, we didn’t have inflation before he became president. This is a 40-year high. This goes back to the Jimmy Carter era. These inflation levels that we’re seeing—and it’s gas prices, as we know, which is a direct reflection of his energy policies, or lack thereof.

Gas prices are up about 60% since he took office, which crushes low-income, middle-income Americans, fixed-income folks. They fill up the gas tank. But as we also know, everything is shipped, so it drives up the cost of everything else. Housing prices are way up, auto prices are way up, and of course, grocery prices are way up as well. And this is a hidden tax on the American people because of the policy of Joe Biden.

Allen: Is there light at the end of the tunnel for inflation?

Good: There’s light in the fact that at least in November, we can take back control on the legislative side of this government because the Democrats are doubling down. I fear they will say, “Hey, we’re going to do as much harm as we can for the time that we have left.” There is no recognition on their part that they need to reverse cards.

Some will say, “Oh, we need to message better and explain to the American people how well our policies are working.” Well, you can’t tell the American people—whether it’s crime, whether it’s the border, whether it’s inflation, whether it’s energy costs, and our diminished standing on the national stage, you can’t fool the American people.

Allen: So, of course, there’s so many issues that we could talk about. But just big picture, as we look back over the past year, what do you think are maybe one of President Joe Biden’s successes and what do you think is his biggest failure?

Good: Honestly, I can’t point to any successes. Sometimes I’ll get asked that when I’m doing a town hall-type discussion or a meeting with folks: “Hey, where do you agree?” And I’ll say, “Well, would you point to the issue where you think he’s doing well or where you think we ought to compromise and help him?” The truth is, he’s doing very poorly on every issue.

The country would be better off if, on Jan. 20, he went home back to Delaware, to his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, and never came out, the country would be much better off.

Everything he’s done has been harmful to the country. None of it’s working and it’s all going poorly. You wonder about this State of the Union address that’s scheduled for about four weeks out now. They’re saying they’re going to give each party 25 seats to be in the House Chamber for it. I bet the Democrats are not lining up to be identified with Joe Biden. They’re in the House Chamber to hear the speech.

Allen: Well, I know one of the issues that you are consistently speaking out on is the issue of education. You serve on the Education and Labor Committee. Talk a little bit about this moment that we face in American history. I know so many individuals have pulled their kids out of public schools because they’re nervous about, “What is my child going to be learning?” What is your message to the American people? And how are you serving your constituents in Virginia on the issue of education? How are you promoting a strong education future for our kids?

Good: Yes. And when I ran in 2020, I identified the three greatest threats to the country were our immigration border situation, our national debt and our spending, and then education, how we were losing generations, philosophically, ideologically, culturally because of our failure in education.

The one positive from the China virus situation and the shutdowns that government mandated, with schools being closed and remote learning, let’s call it remote learning, is that parents saw what was happening. Parents saw what’s happening in these government schools and what’s happening, whether it’s [critical race theory], radical ideology, whether it’s radical transgender policies going on, or whether it’s just general shutdown in putting teachers ahead of kids.

We will be judged harshly in history by how we sacrifice children during this China virus situation, during this health situation. We put teachers and teachers unions ahead of kids. We put government ahead of kids. And the kids, how do we ever make up two years of learning?

We have been to numerous, numerous school board meetings to try to encourage those parents who were showing up and making their voices heard, encouraging parents to take back their school boards.

We saw in our district some conservatives win and beat incumbents to take back control of their school boards, encouraged by [Virginia Gov.] Glenn Youngkin. We encourage him to do that, to rescind the mass mandates in the schools. We need to also stop the vaccinating, forcing vaccinations upon children who are at almost no risk for the virus. We need to have accountability on what’s taught in the schools, how the teachers are trained.

I’m on the Ed and Labor Committee, and the Biden administration is trying to tie federal dollars to the teaching of 1619 Project and other [critical race theory]-type ideology in our schools to indoctrinate our kids with a view that is dishonest, it’s divisive, and it does not recognize the progress that’s been made.

We also have our choice bill, which would allow federal dollars that parents receive allocated for their education for their kids in the public schools to be allocated toward the private school or the homeschool expenses or the public school outside of their area of their choice. And it would be particularly weighted toward low-income, middle-income families that really need help to put their kids in the best educational situation.

Allen: Yeah. That option of school choice is critical. It’s something our folks here at The Heritage Foundation talk a lot about and have done so much research on. And when you look at the information, it just sort of makes sense that those dollars should follow a child.

Good: It’s an 80% issue. All parents, just about, are in favor of school choice. And we have almost no school choice in Virginia. I’m glad that new Gov. Youngkin believes in that, and he’s going to fight on that in the state level as well.

Allen: Absolutely. Now, of course, one of the other issues that has been on the minds of many Americans in recent years is that of election integrity. And you have recently introduced a bill called the One Citizen One Vote Act. Talk a little bit about that piece of legislation, what’s in it, why it’s important.

Good: Everybody ought to want election integrity, everybody should want to. That should be bipartisan that we want to store faith and trust in our election system, integrity in our election system, which we know has come under scrutiny and challenged and has been a divisive issue for the past couple of years.

But our bill, One Citizen One Vote Act, would say that the federal dollars that are allocated to states and localities, that they would not be eligible to receive those funds—there’s five things—if they don’t have voter ID. Everybody should be in favor of voter ID. And that’s an 80%-ish. Everybody wants to make sure the people who vote are who they say they are.

Secondly, they would not allow them to get funding if they allow unsolicited mass mail balloting. So in other words, you have a mass mail ballot sent to anyone who’s ever been registered at that address. So you could have a college kid who’s moved away, someone who’s deceased, or someone who used to live there, what have you. That is fraught with opportunities for fraud.

Also, if there’s ballot harvesting or drop boxes outside of polling places. And then finally, if they allow noncitizens to vote, like they’re trying to do in New York City.

Allen: So, out of all these different issues that we’ve covered today, and I know you are working on in the House, if you had the opportunity to sit down with President Biden this afternoon and have lunch with him and he said, “Congressman, what do you think I need to be focused on?”, what would you say to the president?

Good: Well, I’ve signed on impeachment articles last year because of the border alone. Never in the history of our country has our own president done more harm intentionally to the United States than he has done with the border.

The 2 million illegal border crossings in the last year, all of the resources that he has applied to the border situation has been to facilitate more illegal crossings. They’re flying individuals from 160 countries in the dark of night all over the country, without even a requirement to have a court date to report. They’re not stopping them based on criminal record, based on health situation.

It’s a national security issue. It’s a health security issue. It’s a social services issue. It’s an education issue if schools are required to take in people who don’t even speak English and to educate them in our schools. It is a travesty what he’s done.

I’ve been in the border three times. I don’t think he’s been yet. We don’t have any documentations he’s ever been to the border. I plan to go again here in the first quarter for the fourth time in my first year because it’s such an important issue.

It’s an invasion on our southern border. These are unregistered Democrat voters, and these are also trying to transform the country. These are globalists who don’t believe in American sovereignty. Others have said, “Hey, we care about the sovereignty or the border in Ukraine, but we don’t care about our own southern border.”

So, how can you do this to our own country, President Biden? How can you do this? It’s doing irreparable harm to our country and it’s a travesty. He deserves to be impeached for it.

Allen: During those trips that you’ve taken to the border, what have you seen?

Good: Well, I’ve met with ranchers who live on the border and suffer from immediacy of the invasion. The policies, again, are making every town, every city, every state a border city, border town, border state.

But those who live there, local law enforcement—we’ve met with Border Patrol who are not allowed to do their job. They’re essentially day care workers. They’re essentially processing citizens into our country, along with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], and they’re not stopping them. The morale of the Border Patrol is extremely low.

We met with a rancher family that lost a family member to murder from an illegal alien who came across. While we were there, the last time I was there, we had a shooting that took place between Border Patrol and [illegal aliens] coming across.

You learn and see that everyone and everything that comes across the border comes under the control of the Mexican crime cartels. They’re making hundreds of millions of dollars in profit a month from sex trafficking, human trafficking, child trafficking.

Everyone who comes across comes as an indentured servant that owes thousands of dollars to the Mexican cartels, who will kill you at home, kill your family, I should say, at home if you don’t pay the debt that’s owed to you. Or instead of owing the debt, they can traffic drugs across for the cartels. And because of the profit that they bring to the cartels, that’s how they pay the debt that they’re owed. It is unbelievable.

I’ll just end with this. When I was flying from McAllen, Texas, the last time I was going back through Dallas, on my flight from McAllen to Dallas, we had dozens of [illegal aliens] on the flight, again, I saw upfront and personal, who were being flown without ID, by the way.

As a congressional member, I have to present ID to get on the flight, just like every other citizen does. And that’s how it should be. But these [illegal aliens] don’t even have government-issued IDs, and they’re flying at taxpayers’ expense wherever they want to go without a requirement even to appear in court.

Allen: So, when I hear these kind of things, it is a little bit discouraging. And you think about the future of our country. Are you concerned for the future of America?

Good: Very concerned. The border policies, you just carry that over four years. We’re one year in with 2 million. This president has assigned the vice president to be the border czar, and she doesn’t go either. And she says, oh, she’s trying to figure out root causes. I’ll tell you what the root cause is. The root cause is America’s the greatest country in the world. Everybody wants to come here. So then, she’s going to visit other countries, see what the root cause is.

We cannot elevate those countries to the United States. We cannot make them as prosperous, as freedom-loving, as democratic as the republic that we have here. We can’t make them like us. But what their policies will do, carry to its conclusion over four years and then beyond, would be to reduce America to make it like the rest of the world. And I think that’s their goal.

So I believe the American people will reject to that in Virginia here in November. And you saw a reaction to brutal, raw, unchecked Democrat control here in Virginia, and people are going to reject it, I think, from across the country here when they get to the ballot box in November. That is the bright light.

Allen: Congressman, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it. Congressman Bob Good of Virginia, thank you.

Good: Thank you. Great to be with you.

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