Anyone who has not spent the last couple of weeks living under a rock knows that Joe Biden performed terribly in the presidential debate in late June. Since that time, there have been calls by some media outlets, and many in his party, to replace him as the Democratic nominee in this year’s presidential election.
During the week of the debate, I had the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C. and meet with several members of Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. The purpose of these meetings was to discuss the efforts by the Joe From Texas movement to save Social Security and bring fiscal sanity back to our nation’s finances.
The night before the presidential debate, I sat down for a live interview with NewsNation’s Leland Vittert in his Washington, D.C., studios. Vittert opened the segment by talking about the rise of our national debt and the fact that politicians continue to kick the can down the road, rather than getting serious about reigning in spending. He could not have been more on target with his assessment. Our national debt is now nearing $35 trillion and the Peter Peterson Foundation reports that the Social Security OASI Trust Fund will run out of money in 2033. Because Social Security is now spending more money each month than it takes in, this means that if nothing is done to fix the program, every Social Security recipient could see a 21%-23% cut in benefits in as few as 9 years.
Vittert’s first question to me was to ask if I think we have a shot at getting politicians to actually do something about Social Security and our debt. I have always been optimistic that we will find a way to solve our fiscal problems. However, on that night, after a day of productive meetings on Capitol Hill, I was more optimistic than ever. I told him that my meetings with members of Congress earlier that day convinced me that there are elected officials who share our concerns and are willing to work with us to solve these problems.
His next question brought us back to the presidential debate that was to be held the following night. Vittert talked about the amount of debt that had been run up in the first terms of each of the candidates and asked whether I believe that either candidate has the ability to solve the Social Security and debt problems. My answer was, “I think one of them is capable of doing the right thing, I question whether the other one is.” When VIttert asked which one I was referring to, my answer was “I think Donald Trump is still plenty sharp, and I think he’s got the backbone to do it.” Whatever your personal feelings are concerning Trump, there is no denying that the man is at the top of his game from a cognitive standpoint.
It is now obvious that the same can’t be said of Biden. Although I had no way of knowing just how bad Biden would be during the debate the following night, I had been observing the same slippage in his cognitive abilities that many of our fellow Americans had been pointing out. I was not buying the White House assertions that the videos from numerous events showing the President’s decline were deepfakes put out by conservative media outlets. Like many others, I felt that members of the White House staff were trying to gaslight us with these deepfake claims.
As the White House spun these stories, Democrat senators and House members remained quiet. It was almost as if they were sleeping through all of this before, suddenly waking up to see Biden’s debate performance. Since that time they have been very vocal, some supporting Biden and others calling for him to step aside.
Although I can’t tell you how all of this will play out for President Biden and the Democrat Party, the one thing that I do know is that we can’t afford to waste time in addressing our problems with Social Security and our debt. This is why I joined former Comptroller General of the United States, David Walker, to draft the “Contract From the American People.” The contract is a short document that offers an opportunity for each of us as citizens to become involved in the effort to push our politicians to address these and other issues facing our nation. We must solve these problems regardless of who wins the election this November. Please visit www.JoeFromTexas.com to read the contract. If you agree with what it says, please sign it and join us in the effort to bring sanity back to our nation’s finances.
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