Five things that brought us together as a country in 2023

1. UAW, WGA, SAG-Aftra strikes

2023 was a historically positive year for labor. Workers won vital gains at the federal policy level and across the private sector. As a result of this worker advocacy, unionization has grown and become more popular. As a result of further unionization, workers have seen notable wage and benefit improvements. 

Nowhere was this worker power more publicized this year than in the saga of striking United Auto Workers (UAW), SAG-AFTRA, and WGA workers. Overwhelmingly, especially with regard to the auto workers, the public supported these striking workers. President Biden, who publicly supported these strikes, made the historic first visit of a sitting president to a picket line when he stood with UAW strikers. Even historically pro-managememt Republican Party politicians were loath to criticize the workers. They claimed solidarity with the workers as they used it as a way to (albeit deceptively, in my humble opinion) attack Biden’s environmental policies. But the big picture takeaway was remarkable: both major political parties and the vast majority of the American public at least *wanted to* be perceived as sympathetic with the workers. 

That is a remarkable social development. Just a decade ago, President Obama’s pro-labor moves, though woefully insufficient, were the subject of routine attacks from his GOP rivals. Today, the political tide winds have shifted in favor of labor. A stronger economy for workers, where employers are competing for workers rather than the other way around, is ultimately best for everyone. 

The gains this year made by labor are also significant as the National Labor Relations Board made it easier to unionize and to hold employers accountable for anti-union activities. At the specific level of UAW and WGA and SAG-AFTRA, these workers secured historic pay increases, better schedules, and more robust benefits. Their livelihoods will be richer because of it. The country is happy for it as well. 

2. Taking on junk fees 

A prevailing anti-corporate mindset from the public was also on display in the hatred of junk fees. This issue gained prominence after the Ticketmaster Taylor Swift tickets debacle online. The Biden administration has now taken several steps to rein in junk fees and to provide more transparency around company fees.

It’s hard to find anyone out there willing to defend these onerous, ridiculous fees. It is an easy issue we have come together on but for good reason. The baseline prices for so many goods and services are already so expensive. These companies, with record profits, don’t need to gobble up even more money. If anything, it turns off people from them. Consumer protection is a vital element of an economy where everyone is valued. The public overwhelmingly agrees. 

3. Taylor Swift 

Taylor Swift was Time’s Person of the Year for 2023 and it is not hard to see why. Swift is an international pop culture sensation. A hugely popular figure, Swift has firmly earned herself a place among music titans like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Her concerts in the Eras Tour broke all kinds of records and even boosted local economies. Her romance with Travis Kelce also continues to be a source of public fixation. Swift’s talents and charms continue to bring all kinds of people together in joy.

 4. Barbenheimer 

The dual release of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” in July was not only a smash box office success but it was also a significant cultural moment of the year. There were so many memes, fascinating takes, and discussions of which movie to see first as part of possible double features. These films also helped bring millions back to the theaters after COVID wreaked havoc on the movies. So little in media brings us together as part of a shared, collective experience. But Barbenheimer was a fleeting moment of millions experiencing monumental movies at the same time in a joyous way. 

5. Pandas

Everyone loves pandas. Therefore, people were quite upset when it was announced late in 2023 that the Chinese government was reclaiming pandas from zoos in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. Panda diplomacy is a very real thing with its origins dating back to President Nixon’s initial thawing of relations with China. The videos too of pandas rolling around at the Smithsonian National Zoo are just so adorable. They are some of the most wholesome content online.

I personally have enjoyed seeing pandas in person at the National Zoo and I was disappointed at this news too. Then, President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in San Francisco in November as part of an effort to improve relations. In the aftermath of it all, President Xi announced that “we are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples.” Indeed, this means pandas may be coming back to San Diego (a wonderful zoo I visited in February) and so we may not be pandaless in the U.S. after all. People rejoiced at this news — and it was even depicted in a “Saturday Night Live” cold open this season — as we love a reason to celebrate cuteness in an often dark world. 

President Biden just announced his reelection campaign. It isn't his age that should worry fellow Democrats.

 

Left: Then-Vice President Joe Biden and I on April 17, 2012 at an Obama/Biden reelection campaign fundraiser at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. 

President Biden just announced his 2024 campaign for reelection to the presidency. At the same time, coverage of the President's announcement has focused significantly on polling that shows that a majority of Americans, including many Democratic voters, do not want Biden to run again. When asked why they do not want Biden to run again, most voters (of those who say they don't want a second Biden run) cite the President's age. 

I do not doubt the sincerity of voters' concern about Biden's age and that that is central to voters' skepticism. At age 80, he is not only the oldest person ever elected and sworn in as president but he also (from day one of his presidency) is older than any president has ever been on any day of the presidency.

There is one problem with this simple explanation of voters' angst regarding a 2024 Biden campaign: Joe Biden was still historically old (for a president) when he won the Democratic nomination in 2020, against many younger rivals, and won the general election later that year.

He was 78 years old for the entire first seven months of 2021 in which his approval rating was still at or above 50% and above water. It is reasonable that one would say that they did not envision, when electing Biden in 2020, that he would run again in 2024 especially since he himself said he only saw himself as a "bridge" to a new generation.

But the reality is that, as with all presidential elections, this election will be defined by the national conditions of the country and perceptions about our economy. Concerns about Biden's age may be genuine, on the part of voters, but they would not be paramount if voters perceived things to be going well in the country. 

The truth is that the real concern for Biden is: prices, prices, prices. Inflation is still stubbornly high and that is why he is still unpopular, not because he is old. This would, as such, be a problem for any incumbent party nominee, not just Biden, because the incumbent party always gets tagged with the praise or blame for conditions. 

Recall that though John McCain was much more popular than George W. Bush in 2008, personal favorability was not enough to save McCain from the wrath of voters' anger at the GOP broadly. One difference though here is Biden is at a still-not-terrible-in-our-climate-45% approval among voters, as opposed to Bush's 27% in 2008, and it is just fine enough that it oddly helps make him seem like the indispensable nominee. He is after all the incumbent with all the advantages, prowess, and trappings of the office, something no other potential candidate can boast as he is a unifying figure for the party coalition and is at least not Bush-level toxic.

What's the clearest example of how the real issue is more inflation than age here though? Consider that when people felt like COVID was in the rearview mirror (it was the "summer of joy") and the economy appeared to be improving, President Biden was enjoying strong approval ratings in the spring and summer of 2021. Was he not still old at that time? Of course he was. 

But it did not matter as much to people because they felt like things were going well. Now, his lowest approval ratings are on the subjects of the economy and inflation and as prices have remained high, Biden's approval has remained low. During the optimistic times of early summer 2021, a majority of voters still thought Biden was handling the economy well and that hopefulness made Biden's overall approval rating solid.

It isn't to say that age is not a potential liability for Biden but rather that the liability is only magnified because people do not perceive things to be going well right now because, mainly, of prices and perceived instability in the markets. When things are perceived as going well on a president's watch, that president's unpopular personality traits and disfavored character qualities that are liabilities take a back seat for voters. When people perceive things as not going well, those liabilities are scrutinized in full force -- and seen as possible reasons why things are not good.

Therefore, fellow Democrats may want to consider that though there is not much the President could be able to do to shake off the public image of him as a classic grandfather, for better or for worse, some aspect of the inflation issue is within his control. What to do about this problem? Policywise, investments, like those Biden proposed in Build Back Better, would have a deflationary impact. But in terms of political messaging, Biden made a compelling theory of the case in the 2022 midterms that was strong enough to help produce impressive swing state Democratic performances last year. 

He ought to reiterate that same case in 2024 as well: 1) that inflation is his "top economic priority," 2) that it was a "global problem" caused by COVID supply chain issues, 3) that his American Rescue Plan had a negligble effect on inflation while it spurred job growth, poverty reduction, GDP growth, and got the virus under control, and 4) that a variety of legislative and executive actions he's taken -- the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, antitrust efforts, regulations against junk fees -- have helped bring inflation down from its peak. 

In making this case, Biden is betting on voters giving him the benefit of the doubt, despite those doubts, because, as he says, it is a "choice, not a referendum" and that he should be compared not "to the Almighty but compare me to the alternative." Putting aside that, if we had followed their course of action, the GOP's 2020 clamor to "reopen" the economy in the midst of COVID may have exacerbated inflation more given the supply crunches, the "alternative" here is not just Donald Trump but also the forces he represents. 

Biden would be wise to harness on themes he laid out in the State of the Union of targeting larger powerful, negative external harms that he is taking on with his leadership as they are the forces that fueled inflation. One early sign that the midterms were going to be OK was that voters correctly blamed COVID, corporate greed, and Putin for high prices (and they knew it was a global problem, something Biden emphasized). Biden should emphasize repeatedly how strongly he is taking on these menaces; that he, though imperfect, is much prefereable to the forces who don't take the virus seriously, who coddle corporate power, and who embrace authoritarians. 

By reframing this more serious weakness (inflation) than his age this way, President Biden can inspire confidence in voters that he has this issue under control -- regardless of how old he is.

I'm a podcast host now! Check out Tax Justice Warriors.

   It should be noted that any views and opinions expressed in other posts on this blog are all my own individual views and opinions in my personal capacity and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. This post is intended to separately, on this convenient forum, promote this podcast and does not advance any view or opinion.

I recently had the honor of being asked to host the Tax Justice Warriors podcast. My colleague, William Schmidt asked me to take over this podcast after he left Legal Aid of Western Missouri to work at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. I previously appeared on the podcast before as a guest and I enjoyed the podcast so much over the years as I learned much as a young, new tax practitioner.

I already recorded and published my first two episodes (a third episode is coming soon!) I could not have done this without my best friend, our podcast producer Zac Harvey, a digital media professional. Zac also took the picture seen here and designed our wonderful new logo. I am so grateful for Zac.

My first two episodes are both interviews that were originally recorded at tax conferences and are both interviews with National Taxpayer Advocates. The first episode is an interview with the current National Taxpayer Advocate, Erin Collins, at the Annual Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Conference in Phoenix in December 2022. Since Collins and I spoke at this conference, there are updates to some of the items we discussed.

Those updates include that President Biden has since signed into law legislation that temporarily increased the maximum low income taxpayer clinic grant to $200,000, from the $100,000 level the grant had been at for decades. Further, Lily Batchelder, the Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the U.S. Treausry Department, informed practitioners recently, at the ABA Tax Section conference in San Diego in February 2023, that we have now gone from roughly 85% of phone calls to live IRS agents being gone unanswered in 2022 to now 85% of such calls being answered. With the hiring of at least 5,000 new IRS employees due to $80 billion in additional funding for the IRS from the Inflation Reduction Act, the experiences of taxpayers and practitioners on the phone may improve. Overall though, this conversation between Collins and I included many topics that she utlimately addressed in her Annual Report to Congress she released shortly after this conversation.

The second episode I published here is an interview I did with former National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson and ABA Tax Section Christine A. Brunswick Public Service Fellow Anna Gooch, an attorney at the Center for Taxpayer Rights (CTR), an organization led by Olson. We discussed the work Olson and Gooch are doing at the CTR and about the focus of Anna's Brunswick fellowship.

I am so excited about this opportunity here to host this podcast. I hope you will subscribe to this podcast and I am eager to publish more episodes soon.