A SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY!
Age: 78
Occupation: The President of the United States of America
Last Seen: The White House
Awarded for: out-presidenting the last guy
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It's official: Joe Biden has done more good not even two days than Drumpf in four years.
Not long after he took the oath of office, Biden signed some incredibly important executive orders, especially ones focused on the environment.
Probably and most importantly, he reversed Drumpf's decision to leave the Paris Accord. When he was the de facto president, Drumpf did hid best not to be allies with the nations on Earth who actually do good. As we all know, the words "Drumpf" and "science" go together like oil and water. Climate change is an incredibly serious issue. Case in point, it's almost the end of January in Grand Rapids and there's hardly any snow on the ground.
President Biden also halted production of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The Drumpfets are all crying that "HE'Z KILLIN' JERBS!" So? The fucking pipeline would go through Native American waterways! Apparently, Drumpf took a page from the pRick Snyder handbook and put the needs of big corporations over brown-skinned people. Bear in mind that the Tough Turd is now facing two misdemeanors over the poisoning of Flint's citizens with the water crisis.
Among the other orders that Biden has signed included pausing funding and building Drumpf's disastrous Border Wall, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, requiring mask-wearing in the work force and for the next 100 days and pausing student loans until September 30.
Just today alone, Biden admitted that America has been soft in terms of combatting COVID-19 and that rollout of vaccines have been too slow. Over 16 million Americans have been vaccinated so far and 36 million vaccines are out. But just today, some 2,700 Americans have died from COVID and 123,000 more have been infected with the disease. By next month, 500,000 Americans will have died from the disease.
Under Biden's plan, all adults should be vaccinated by Spring of next year, which is up from Summer of that year. Biden also admitted that the Drumpf administration had no real plan on how vaccines would be distributed.
But, it's not just the only thing that need a shot in the arm, so to speak.
Before he took office, Biden proposed a stimulus package that would give Americans more money, plus something that hasn't happened since 2009: raising the minimum wage.
Thanks to groups like the Tea Party and other Repukes who don't believe in giving hard-earning American wage increases, the minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Obviously, the price of just about everything has gone up, especially rent.
The other day, I was talking with a woman who moved from Traverse City, not far from where I grew up to Grand Rapids. Why? Because rent up north is more-expensive there than here, plus wages are lower. Growing up, there was an old saying: "a view of the bay is half the pay". It couldn't be more true. It's one giant reason why I moved to Grand Rapids 19 years ago: the lack of good-paying jobs for the training I got growing up.
Look at Traverse City now: During the Drumpf years, the area became overloaded with new retail while older stores were chased out of town. Right now across from the Grand Traverse Resort, there's two abandoned buildings - a Kmart and a former Tom's Food Market - that sit abandoned and may be that way for years to come. Cherryland Mall was thriving until Grand Traverse Mall was built in 1992. It was redeveloped into an outdoor strip in 1999. Over twenty years later, it's in even worse shape with the loss of Sears, Kmart and Younkers. The plaza sits nearly abandoned with very few stores.
Even Grand Traverse Mall - which was nearly full of stores 20 years ago - has seen better days. In recent years, they've lost many stores due to bankruptcy and store reductions, including Payless Shoe Source, Charlotte Russe, PacSun, MasterCuts, Regis, Express, Journey's, Rue21, Hollister and Zale's. Just last week, it was announced that the mall was losing Christopher and Banks as part of their Chapter 11 bankruptcy and H&M, which announced that they were closing 530 locations worldwide.
In fairness, Grand Traverse Mall did gain a few new stores this past year, namely a giant Shoe Dept. store in the formerly-nearly-abandoned Target wing and two ethnic-themed restaurants in their food court: Taste of India and Food Arabia. Otherwise, the mall remains a local passthrough for chains like Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body Works, Hot Topic, TJ Maxx and department stores JCPenney and Macy's.
The sad truth is that when companies keep building expensive housing projects, it creates gentrification for those who work hard and don't get paid as much. My mother is a prime example; she lived in Phoenix in a small, one-bedroom apartment. A few years ago, her complex was sold and her rent was jacked up so high that she had no choice but to move out. So, she moved to Grand Rapids. Today, her rent is only a little more than what she was paying in Phoenix, but then again, she has a spare bedroom now. However, her pay is a little lower than what it was in Phoenix.
(And for you mall nerds, at least the mall close to us, Woodland, is a far-better shape than her old local mall, Paradise Valley, which has already lost Sears, Dillard's and Macy's.)
Folks, We The People need a raise! Hell, I'm pushing 40 and still live in a postage stamp-sized apartment. Hell, I've looked at what I can afford house-wise in Grand Rapids and all I can afford are trailers. No thanks. Same with those who live in cities were the pay sucks. I don't want to hear "oh, it's gonna kill small business!" and "most people on minimum wage are unskilled!" The sad reality is that many people who work in fast food came out of high schools and colleges. Sadly, some of those folks do have families and mortgages. Not only that, many fast food places are understaffed because of the sad reality that they pay their workers shitty wages. It's not a career for most people.
Now, I know. Biden has done some shady shit in the past, such supporting bills to keep blacks in prison and wanting to kill Social Security. But, I think he's evolved. Case in point? Look inside his Oval Office. There's a giant painting of the man who should be his spirit animal: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. While campaigning, Biden visited FDR's "Little White House" in Warm Springs, GA, It was there that he used the power of one of the town's natural springs to help ease his pain from polio. FDR's progressivism helped to cure America from the Great Depression. It was why he was the longest-serving President of this great country.
As somebody who has had to deal with 24 long years of Repukes ruining America, I hope to God that Biden will continue to wanting to know the needs and wants of the people. And guess what? He's off to a ravishing start.
True, as much as I wanted Bernie Sanders to be in the White House right now, at least he's got some comfy mittens. I just hope that Joe doesn't fuck things up to give up his boxing gloves.
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