Joe Biden Has a Bidenomics Problem

American President Joe Biden has a

problem

. So what's most important to you right now before the election? Increased cost of living. When I go to the supermarket, I scream. People struggle to pay rent. Driven by low unemployment and slowing inflation, the president's signature policies are attracting more jobs and private sector commitments. But those investments don't necessarily translate into how voters feel about the economy, perhaps the most important issue in November's elections. My economic plan is to bring supply chains home. We build American. We buy American. And we are Americans. A vote for Trump is a vote to keep those manufacturing jobs in America and add lots of jobs.

Both Biden and former President Donald Trump are preaching the gospel of an American manufacturing renaissance. That's important in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. People here love to fly their presidential flags. We hung a large Biden flag on our porch. Voter sentiment in Northampton County, where Biden won by less than 1 percent in 2020, could reveal a national trend. What topics are important to you? The economy. Make sure inflation is under control. Everyone has a job. Obviously the economy is doing very well. But not everyone feels like they are doing well. We just arrived outside of Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

It's just one of 25 counties in the country among thousands that have voted for the winner of the presidential race in every cycle since 2008. It's exactly the kind of place President Biden talks about winning over with his manufacturing policies. President Biden's U.S. investment agenda revolves around what he calls building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up. The main elements are four laws he signed during his first two years in office. The Infrastructure and Employment Law that promotes the construction of roads and bridges. The Chips and Science Act, which subsidizes microchip manufacturing within the U.S.

The Inflation Reduction Act, funds clean energy projects. And the American Rescue Plan, which provided cities with emergency post-pandemic stimulus. The four initiatives combined are expected to generate more than $1 trillion in federal spending over the next decade. West Broad Street is one of the busiest streets in Bethlehem, the largest city in Northampton County. The city was able to get nearly $10 million to improve the road thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. They will add crosswalks and bike lanes. This is Mayor Reynolds. He was elected in 2021 and says the city has been trying to make this road safer for years.

Being able to find $10 million in the city would have taken us 15 or 20 years without the infrastructure bill. It's just going to completely change this corridor in terms of our small businesses, in terms of opportunities for dynamism, in terms of safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. And it's not just about roads. Our new TSA checkpoint. Lehigh Valley International Airport received more than $40 million in federal funding for its expansion. That's just a small portion of the roughly $4 billion in benefits the state received thanks to Biden's policies. Although it may seem like a lot, it pales in comparison to the 62 billion that went to New York.

Some states like Texas and Arizona received even more. When the government invests in infrastructure, whether it be roads, bridges or airports, it allows the private sector to continue investing, growing and creating jobs. Are you happy with the amount of investment Pennsylvania has gotten from all the bills passed and from Congress? Very happy, but we are always looking for more. Are you worried that voters won't see the long-term impact you're talking about? I think people are seeing it little by little. People won't really have a full idea of ​​these investments and the benefit to communities and families until there is publicity.

And that's what campaigns are for. The promise of Bidenomics for cities like Bethlehem is a return to a time when America's industrial growth rivaled that of its competitors. Bethlehem Steel once reigned as the world's second-largest steelmaker until its closure in the 2000s. Former mayor-turned-CEO Don Cunningham helped engineer a turnaround. I come from a family of steelworkers and my message was: steel is going to disappear and we are going to have to reinvent ourselves. Even though I was young, it gave me credibility. The Bethlehem steel plants built the structural steel for New York's skyscrapers. Golden Gate Bridge.

Golden Gate Bridge. You already know the Manhattan bridges. In the early 1980s, when the American steel crisis broke out, imported steel began arriving in the United States. They lost jobs in American steel. In western Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh, for example, everything hit like a tsunami. The Belén plant remained and had a decline of about 15 years. So in the '90s it was a reality that there might eventually come a day when Bethlehem Steel would not exist. We would have to evolve and there would have to be life after steel if we wanted our children to have a future here.

In fact, Bethlehem has evolved, diversifying its manufacturing to include everything from medical devices to trucks. But life here still includes the steel industry and the union workers who power it. Simply place it facing forward. So I do it like this. Pass your arms. Well. You got it? As a husband and father, my dream is for this little guy to have a life when I'm old and gray and he's just starting to enter the workforce. And looking back over the last four decades, I don't see that trend happening at all. The average man like me who works for my family makes less than $40,000.

And most of that, right now, what we're seeing hurt is we're seeing a reduction in full-time hours. So we've seen an overall reduction to about 32 hours per week. We are making less money now, even with the 5% wage increases due to reduced hours. Do you think Biden has been a strong supporter of unions? He's definitely a union guy. He knows it for sure. I think the way the economy is going, I think he's getting better. I think things are going in the right direction. I think they will support Biden because of that. Do you think the manufacturing sector is healthy right now in this area?

I think he is very healthy. It is booming and people are looking for workers. Companies are looking for workers left and right. I'm independent. What President Biden has done for workers, without a doubt, is, in my opinion, far above any other legislation we have seen in recent history. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more people work in manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley under the Biden administration than at any time since 2005. Manufacturing is a major driver of growth. But a Bloomberg News and Morning Consult poll found that 55% of voters in Pennsylvania said Biden's manufacturing investments have had little or no impact on them or their communities.

While only 46% said it had some or significant impact. Do you think President Biden has invested enough in his policies in the area? Biden's policy is working from scratch. Eventually, if you give it four more years, people will see the results. I don't see these economic policies affecting us, at least in a positive way. I still see poor people, people struggling to get food. And while voters may be divided on

biden

omics, tech companies are lining up to take advantage of the CHIPS Act. The legislation offers tax breaks and research subsidies to companies hoping to compete with Asia.

So you are still in the process of applying for CHIPS funding. What do you hope to get out of it? It would allow us to dramatically accelerate many of the activities we have underway today, bringing in more talented people, to engage more broadly from a manufacturing or development partner perspective. One of the big benefits of the CHIPS Act has been the attention now paid to the semiconductor industry. And that led to the proliferation of new opportunities. People started investing private money, started focusing on supply chains and that created more opportunities for us. And I think that's what we hope will happen with the CHIPS Act, is that the entire ecosystem will be revived.

It cannot be denied that Bidenomics offers opportunities. Come November, we'll see if voters register. Making that connection on Election Day is something that will take a little time. And I think the job from now until Election Day is to knock on doors and remind people of that. According to the latest poll from Bloomberg News and Morning Consult, Biden and Trump are neck and neck in Pennsylvania. I think there's a lot more interest in Donald Trump now. I don't think a lot of people like Biden, specifically in our county right now. Every voter processes these things differently and we tend to want to look at this rational decision making of voting for people because they're better for you or because you've added all these things together and thrown out a formula that's the most logical.

But unfortunately that's not how elections work.