What Has the President Been Doing?

The highlights of the Biden-Harris presidency

Alecia Scott, Staff Writer

On President’s Day, Joe Biden was in Ukraine to show his commitment to the cause even though America is not technically involved…yet. Many people found this to be controversial because the President was not in the country that he was the President in.

A lot of people saw it as a slight on America, and how Biden does not appreciate the traditions of the country. However, this seemed to be the whole point of going to Ukraine during this time; it was unsuspected. No one could know that Biden was going to the country for the sake it could be seen as an act of war, or the plane could have been shot down in the attempt. This is the first time in American history that a president has gone to another country during their war without us being a part of it. For many of the citizens of Ukraine, Biden visiting and staying there gave them hope.

In light of this controversial action of the president, I thought it would be a good idea to compile all of the things he has done during his presidency. Some may say good. Others may say not so good.

In his first 100 days of presidency, he made 42 executive orders; that is one of the highest in American history. Following this, he started the American Rescue Plan. This is where all the stimulus checks came from; it also included student and mortgage loan relief by postponing it. By April he had distributed 200,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. During this time he was also trying to impeach former president Donald J. Trump. This caused much controversy because the question “Can someone who is no longer a president be impeached?” was raised to the public. It was determined that it was not something that could result in any serious repercussions, so efforts were abandoned. He had also extended the mask mandate and the lockdown length during this time. They were supposed to end sometime in May of 2020; it was not until May of 2021 that that happened. A very controversial order was the ending of the ban allowing transgender people to enter the military. Trump had previously started the ban, but Biden ended it in November of 2021. Unemployment was at a high point during the beginning of Biden’s presidency, but he managed to get the unemployment of citizens to 3.9%. Finally, one of the biggest things he did during his presidency was that he withdrew American troops from Afghanistan and its war. American troops had been there since Obama’s presidency.

At the end of the following year, a $1.7 trillion bill of government spending was signed into law. He had been working the entire year to have this bill approved so it was of the few things that are to show for last year. This bill was an extensive and sweeping one. It covered everything from Ukraine to pregnant workers. To start off he sent $45 billion of federal aid to Ukraine

Ohio Train Derailment The disaster in East Palestine

Drew Williamson, Staff Writer

On February 3, a 141-car Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spilling more than 100,000 gallons of hazardous chemicals, including vinyl chloride. Vinyl chloride, if inhaled, can increase risk of liver cancer wand can also cause explosions if released into the air. Due to the risk of an explosion, authorities issued an evacuation order for a mile radius of the chemical spill. A controlled detonation was performed on February 6 in order to prevent a deadly chemical explosion. After the EPA analyzed water and air samples, the evacuation was lifted on February 8.

In the time since then, there has been no shortage of controversies and conspiracies surrounding this disaster. Fingers were pointed at the Biden administration and even terrorists as conspiracies flooded the Internet. Norfolk Southern, the railway company responsible for the derailment, has largely had the blame for the disaster placed on them for faulty equipment. They have had to pay $5 million to repay fire departments for their contaminated equipment, $1 million to business owners and residents in the area, and $1.4 million to state agencies responding and other NATO countries for relief. He then banned Tik Tok from federal devices. He put in protections against pregnant workers; they cannot be fired for trying to leave for maternity leave and certain rights in the workplace must be maintained. He also created an enhancement to retirement savings rules. It also will provide a boost in spending for disaster aid, college access, child care, mental health and food assistance, more support for the military and veterans and additional funds for the US Capitol Police. This bill was a big part of his legislative actions. to the disaster, as well as many other commitments for financial aid. Many concerns were raised over the safety of Norfolk Southern’s equipment, as the East Palestine incident was the third time one of their trains had derailed in the last three months. Since then, two more have also derailed, causing Norfolk Southern to update their safety policies.

During this entire time he was making civil movements, mostly toward people of color and LGBTQIA+ people. This includes trying to encourage the naming of breastfeeding to chest feeding, pregnant woman to pregnant person, and others were promoted. He also encouraged the act of transgender people participating in sports even though many other politicians did not approve and tried to hinder. He also tried to make reparations for the BLM movement including the creation of Juneteenth. He was not the creator of this, but he did also encourage people to celebrate it.

Joe Biden has done quite a bit during his presidency. Many find him to be a senile old man, and others think that he is a thoughtful progressive person looking to improve the country for the better. Now that you have most of the information, how will you decide?

However, a more pressing issue than who is to blame is the consequences this incident will have on the environment. After the residents of East Palestine returned to their homes after the evacuation, many reported developing rashes and nausea, a terrible chemical smell, and many dead animals in the area, despite being assured that the air was safe. On February 23, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimated that 43,500 aquatic animals had died due to chemicals associated with the derailment leaking into waterways. These unsafe circumstances have caused many to not return to East Palestine, and those that remained have called for Norfolk Southern to pay higher fines for the damages to their hometown.

Although experts have said that the long-term environmental effects of this disaster are unclear, it is certain the consequences and after-effects in East Palestine and the areas around it will remain for many years to come.