Weekly Columns

Famously displayed on the desk of former President Harry S. Truman and often used by President Joe Biden both in office and on the campaign trail is the motto “The Buck Stops Here,” meant to exemplify one of the most important attributes that leaders at all levels need to possess: accountability.

Last week, Congress finally passed and sent to President Joe Biden’s desk a full-year funding package for fiscal year 2022 that also included supplemental money to support our national security response in the wake of Putin’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.

Last week Vladimir Putin increased his ruthless invasion of Ukraine and gained de facto control over a major city in the country, demonstrating that this unhinged dictator has no intention of letting up. Unfortunately, President Joe Biden has thus far failed to cut off an obvious revenue stream from our country that is currently funding Putin’s war machine, and that is the continued U.S. import of Russian oil.

Last week, the world watched in horror as Vladimir Putin effectively declared war and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Indeed, with Russia’s launch of the largest military operation in Europe since World War II more than 75 years ago, it has become abundantly clear that for decades the United States and our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies have seriously miscalculated the audacity and aggressiveness of this tyrannical bully and thug.

One of my cardinal rules in politics is to never offer anyone unsolicited political advice. It is seldom taken and usually resented. But for once I am going to break that rule and offer President Joe Biden my thoughts on what he ought to say in tomorrow night’s State of the Union address:

On March 1, President Joe Biden will speak before a joint session of Congress and deliver his first official State of the Union address. If he chose to be honest about the true state of national affairs, he would acknowledge the plethora of crises of his own making and outline solutions to address them.

Earlier this month, the U.S. national debt alarmingly surpassed $30 trillion, which means it effectively doubled in just a decade.

Shortly after President Joe Biden was sworn into office, Democrats in Congress rushed to pass a supposed coronavirus relief package with a $2 trillion price tag, calling it the American Rescue Plan. Unfortunately, the partisan legislation was focused more on funding unrelated policies and programs on their radical wish list than actually addressing the ongoing needs of the pandemic.