Biden's Presidential Style

 This article is really important and not a little "boring." It's about Biden administration efforts to reduce the burden of applying for federal programs that people are eligible for. There are a number of good examples, but I'll pluck out one: Someone who has years of medical documentation of their disability, but Social Security requires them to go to a specific doctor who turned them down after a five minute exam. 

I can speak a bit to this, as I have a CDL to drive school buses at work. The state requires that I get a physical every year to prove that I'm healthy enough to drive. They will not, however, accept the physical that I get every year from a doctor who knows my health history. Instead I go to an overworked urgent care facility and get run through a bullshit set of tests. It's not a ton of work, but it takes a couple of hours every year to do this and that couple of hours is pretty unpleasant. And I'll have to do it again next year.  And the year after that. 

That - as the article notes - is a time tax. I'm actually well-positioned to pay that time tax, because I can do the physical exam in August before school starts, but what if I had a 9-5 job that docked my pay while I waited to get my exam? These little burdens add up. My wife is trying to use frequent flier miles to bring our youngest home for Thanksgiving and the process is so unpleasant, precisely to keep you from access the benefit. This was part of the Reagan movement to eliminate "fraud" by simply making it harder and harder to access benefits. Add enough red tape, hide the benefits and you eliminate the support legislated for the poor.

What does this have to do with Biden? This initiative came from the White House and was likely a combination of advocacy groups and Biden's long experience in government. Once started, however, it's not like the White House and certainly not Biden himself is going over forms and procedures. Presidents do not micromanage, they should not micromanage. Biden's age is going to be the biggest issue in 2024 as inflation recedes. However, you don't have to be a president who puts in 20 hour days six days a week. You have to a president who says, "Do this" and then provides the support to do that. 

Biden's an old fashioned guy and he's running an old fashioned presidency. He's "doing the work" in ways that make government better. He's not good at rousing speeches. He's not "dominating the news cycle". He's not picking needless fights. But programs like this are exactly what the country needs more of. It is however a tough message to campaign on. I'll certainly grant that.