Links to Biden administration actions that have improved America

July 16, 2024 11:07 AM

Am looking for links about concrete actions that the Biden administration has taken/took since January 20th, 2021 that have improved some aspect of American life or society, with links that go into detail about how and why that improvement occurred. Absolutely not looking for your personal opinion, please and thank you.

Absolutely not looking for your personal opinions, but links to essays, news sources, etc that demonstrate actions taken by the Biden administration that have improved the USA.

Would prefer that it's not a link to any of the Biden administration's official publications or website, as I think third party sources would be better and not quite so biased.

Yes, people may disagree on whether an improvement actually occurred (but please don't do it in this post), but I am looking for sources that essentially say "The administration did X and this will/did improve Y by doing Z."

posted by Brandon Blatcher to Law & Government (11 answers total)

Best answer: Labor/union policies are the first that come to mind. For example, expanding overtime protections.

A lot more on what his administration has done for workers here.
posted by windbox at 11:20 AM on July 16 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Here is a thing from NPR outlining some of the broad strokes stuff he's gotten done.
posted by jessamyn at 11:23 AM on July 16 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Here is Politico’s list.
posted by donut_princess at 11:33 AM on July 16 [1 favorite]

Jessica Craven's substack has a weekly Extra Extra feature that lists all the great things that happened in the preceding week; probably 25-35% of those are specifically Biden administration things. Here's the July 14 Extra Extra; if you type "extra" into the search box at the top of that, you'll see a list of several of the previous weeks.

I was also going to link to the White House Briefing Room, but I see you don't want official Biden administration links, so please ignore that; I'll just leave it here for anyone else who sees your question and is looking for similar info. (Also, depending on your ultimate goal, you could easily start with the White House list and do quick web searches to bring up news stories on any of those items.)
posted by kristi at 12:19 PM on July 16

Best answer: The American Rescue Plan Act included a program to ensure workers and beneficiaries in multiemployer (mostly unionized) defined benefit pension plans will be able to collect their earned pensions at retirement, despite those pension plans being underfunded and approaching insolvency. A few weeks ago the White House announced that the number of participants affected has reached over one million. The "rescue" of those pension benefits (note: paid by taxpayer dollars) will allow many to retain their homes, medical care, and other necessities. Without it, they would have received pennies on the dollar when the federal pension insurance program was projected to go insolvent in 2026 (note: as a result of ARP, that program, run by the PBGC, is expected to remain strong for decades).
White House press release: FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces Over One Million Pensions Protected Thanks to the American Rescue Plan
posted by kinsey at 12:42 PM on July 16 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Appending my previous comment to include non-Administration links on ARP/SFA and pensions:

Fast Times for PBGC Special Financial Assistance

Pension Rescue Law Providing Critical Assistance to Growing List of Plans

posted by kinsey at 12:50 PM on July 16

Best answer: Biden issues blanket pardon to troops expelled from the military for their sexuality

Biden pardons all federal offenses of simple marijuana possession in first major steps toward decriminalization
posted by jessamyn at 1:53 PM on July 16 [5 favorites]

Best answer: This Brookings list is well organized.
posted by Eyelash at 3:09 PM on July 16 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Here's some good info about the Inflation Reduction Act, how it's already creating clean energy success stories, and what you can do to spread the word to people who think we have no power to affect climate change.
posted by oxisos at 9:33 PM on July 16

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2021/08/06/biden-makes-it-easier-for-student-loan-borrowers-to-get-a-mortgage/
posted by Jacqueline at 11:33 PM on July 16

Best answer: Biden’s New H-2A Rule Expands Protections and Increases Oversight for Migrant Workers

"The Biden administration has published several regulations to reign in bad practices while providing migrant laborers more flexibility. In October 2022, DOL published a rule that increased standards for mandatory housing for workers and clarified the liability faced by employers who jointly employ H-2A workers. In September 2023, DHS issued a notice of public rulemaking (NPRM) to provide H-2A and H-2B workers more flexibility when seeking new employment without having to leave the country, and increased consequences for employers who charged workers illegal fees."
posted by jessamyn at 12:59 PM on July 17