Billy Long: If Trump were president we would not have 13 dead service members

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

While campaigning for president, Joe Biden promised he would not be Donald Trump. This may have been the most honest thing he has ever said. 

Since taking office, whenever given the chance, President Biden has sought to overturn every successful pro-American policy implemented by President Trump. The end result is that in seven short months, America has become unrecognizable to the country we once knew. 

To paraphrase FDR 'January 20, 2021 is a date that will live in infamy.' Keystone XL Pipeline gone, border wall halted, foreign policy - embarrassing on the world stage, inflation rampant, gasoline prices - higher than a cat’s back. 

Before he started forgetting everything, President Biden was bound and determined to forget and erase everything the 45th President had accomplished. You can rest assured that if Trump was still at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, we would not have abandoned our Bagram Air Base before evacuating our Embassy personnel and all Americans that wanted to leave as we exited Afghanistan. There also would not be 13 dead service members and thousands of Americans and our allies still trapped behind enemy lines.

I'm sure you've noticed that the cost of everything from gas to groceries to lumber has shot through the roof since January 20. Over the last several months, key inflation indexes have continued to hit record highs. 

From an economic standpoint, this should come as no surprise. This is all very reminiscent of 1979 when we had the second worst President in American history. Now we have the worst, and the liberal progressive democrats in DC are partying without masks like it's 1979. President Biden and Congressional Democrats have gone on a wild spending spree and are asking all of us to pay the bill. 

President Biden says that no one making less than $400,000 a year will see a tax increase, and if you believe that I have some ocean front property in Arizona you might be interested in. Rising cost of goods due to bad economic policies is a tax on everyone, particularly on lower and middle-class Americans. President Biden campaigned on repealing the Trump Tax Cuts, and that is exactly what he intends to do. Increasing both spending and taxes will only make inflation worse.

While inflation is spiking, another crisis rages at our southern border. Since January, there has been a record number of illegal border crossings, with the number increasing every month. July saw more than 212,000 apprehensions by Border Patrol, a 21-year high. 

We were told that the numbers would fall again once the summer months arrived but unfortunately this was not the case. These numbers have increased because President Biden threw out President Trump’s strong border policies. New wall construction was halted almost immediately after President Biden took office and the absurd catch and release policy was reinstated. 

The result was a swift upswing in illegal crossings. If we are going to control the border, we need to bring back these Trump era policies. The only thing lower than Biden's approval numbers is the morale among the brave public servants of the once proud Border Patrol. Being babysitters and paper pushers is not what they signed up for and they are quitting in droves.

President Biden is not just reversing President Trump’s policies at home but abroad as well. Last year, President Trump negotiated the most significant Middle East peace deal in 30 years. He was able to do this by standing strong with Israel and against Iran. President Trump took an unconventional approach to foreign policy, and guess what, it worked. On the other hand, President Biden has decided to return to the status quo on Israel and Iran, which will only serve the interests of the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.

These are just a few areas where President Biden has completely reversed the accomplishments of the last four years. It's not about protecting President Trump's legacy as much as it's about protecting and restoring his policies that were moving the country in the right direction. After four years of moving the ball forward, we cannot sit idly by while this president takes his ball and goes home to his basement while leaving innocent Americans stranded behind enemy lines overseas.