Roosevelt Forward Statement on President Biden Withdrawing from the 2024 Race

Felicia Wong, president and CEO of Roosevelt Forward, the advocacy affiliate of the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive economic think tank, made the following statement in response to President Biden withdrawing from the 2024 race and as a reflection on the legacy of the Biden-Harris administration: 

The presidency of Joe Biden represents generational change. The Biden-Harris administration, in words and in action, has put to rest the lie of trickle-down economics, reclaimed the importance of governance, and utilized the power of government to shape markets in the service of American families. Joe Biden’s presidency is one of the most worker-centered since the Roosevelt administration. This administration has led a paradigm shift that has been good for every American, and for the American future.

• The American Rescue Plan (ARP) was one of the most effective pieces of economic recovery legislation in the last 50 years.
  • Real US economic growth nearly doubled, reaching 5.7 percent in 2024 —one of the strongest years on record. 
  • Nearly seven million jobs were created in 2021, four million of which were attributable to the passage of the ARP.
  • Average real wages—that is, wages adjusted for inflation—are higher now than when the pandemic began and are now rising faster than inflation.
• The CHIPS and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ushered in the return of industrial policy and significant climate legislation. In the last three years, we have invested in green industries and physical infrastructure to bolster our shared security and take a major step in reaching our nation’s climate goals. The administration has pushed to ensure the jobs created through these investments go to the people who need them most and maintain high standards of pay and safety.
• The administration has demonstrated a renewed commitment to a fairer and freer economy. Leaders in the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are using aggressive enforcement to ensure competitive markets. They are fighting the companies that use their power in the market to underpay workers and overcharge customers.
• The government’s push for full employment is historic, with unemployment averaging under 4 percent over the last 12 months and shrinking the employment gap between Black and white workers. More workers can now reclaim power and collectively renegotiate the terms of their work. Biden was the first president to walk a picket line and has proposed historic rules to create good-paying, clean jobs. Overall support for labor unions is at a level not seen since the 1960s. 

Even last week, the Biden-Harris administration continued to advance important progressive reforms, announcing new proposals to cap extortionate rents by large landlords and to put limits on the Supreme Court. 

Progressive policies under the Biden-Harris administration have ensured that more people have better jobs and have shown us what government is capable of. These achievements represent the work of countless progressive thinkers and advocates, pushing an administration that knew that market supremacy couldn’t deliver what it promised. We at Roosevelt Forward are ready to build on these successes and continue the hard work of fighting for a new worldview that centers public power and equity.

Thanks to the work of the Biden-Harris administration, we have seen that with the right rules, our democracy can become more equal and more inclusive, less beholden to corporations and wealthy individuals, and more responsive to citizens.

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Roosevelt Forward is the advocacy affiliate of the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive economic think tank. Inspired by the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, we reimagine the rules to create a nation where everyone enjoys a fair share of our collective prosperity. We fundamentally believe that until America’s economy and democracy work for all, they are not working.