President Joe Biden triumphantly declared Wednesday that the United States is \u201con the move again\u201d in a rousing speech to Congress, calling for trillions of dollars to rebuild the post-Covid US middle class and give new life to \u201cforgotten\u201d workers.<\/p>\n
Lauding the success of mass vaccination against Covid-19, Biden told Congress and the nation on primetime television that \u201cin America, we always get up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica is ready for takeoff,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are working again, dreaming again, discovering again, leading the world again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden, who was celebrating the eve of his 100th day in office, called the vaccine rollout one of \u201cthe greatest logistical achievements\u201d in the nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
But he quickly pivoted to insisting that this national effort must now focus on rebuilding the economy and fighting inequality with \u201cthe largest jobs plan since World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a line that could have come from his populist Republican predecessor Donald Trump, Biden said working class Americans had been ignored, while the top one percent got richer, and that his plans would give them a chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou feel left behind and forgotten in an economy that\u2019s rapidly changing. Let me speak directly to you,\u201d Biden said, before going on to promise Americans \u201cgood-paying jobs that can\u2019t be outsourced.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 No more solo America \u2013<\/p>\n
In every aspect of the primetime television speech, Biden echoed his almost daily mantra that \u201cAmerica is back\u201d \u2014 both in recovering from the coronavirus disaster and in putting the turbulence of the Trump era behind.<\/p>\n
When it comes to foreign policy, he underlined Washington\u2019s return to international partnerships damaged under Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one nation\u201d can succeed alone, he said, in a rebuke of Trump\u2019s isolationist policies.<\/p>\n
Among his many references to arch-rival China, Biden said that while Beijing is seeking supremacy, \u201cwe welcome the competition\u201d and \u201care not looking for conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n
On domestic issues, Biden made the case for a lengthy Democratic wish list, including police reform, pro-immigrant reforms and gun control \u2014 some of the most sensitive issues in US politics.<\/p>\n
He pleaded with Republicans and Democrats to work together on one of the nation\u2019s most hot button topics, saying \u201clet\u2019s end our exhausting war on immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Yes, new taxes \u2013<\/p>\n
US presidents usually bend over backwards to avoid or at least hide tax increases.<\/p>\n
However, Biden is banking on popular support for his idea of leaning on the super rich to fund his latest new spending proposal, which he unveiled in the speech \u2014 the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan.<\/p>\n
The plan, which will need approval by a deeply divided Congress, would pour money into early education, childcare and higher education.<\/p>\n
To fund this, the top income tax rate would increase from 37 percent, where Trump\u2019s plan put it, back to its pre-Trump 39.6 percent.<\/p>\n
The Biden plan would also end loopholes and capital income tax breaks, while raising \u201cbillions,\u201d according to the White House, in a tightened tax regime for inherited wealth.<\/p>\n
Americans earning less than $400,000 a year, however, would face no extra taxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy fellow Americans, trickle-down economics has never worked. It\u2019s time to grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out,\u201d Biden said. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve proposed is fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed new splurge comes after Congress already approved a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which injected stimulus into almost every corner of the economy, and is now debating a proposed $2 trillion-plus infrastructure plan.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Extraordinary times \u2013<\/p>\n
The setting for Biden\u2019s maiden address to Congress as president reflected the crisis times in which he took office.<\/p>\n
Security has been at top level around the Capitol building since the January 6 riot when Trump supporters rampaged against what the Republican falsely claims was a stolen election.<\/p>\n
Although Covid-19 is on the back foot \u2014 vaccinated Americans were told Tuesday they can now do most things outside without wearing a mask \u2014 the pandemic also loomed heavily.<\/p>\n
Instead of a House chamber crammed with the usual 1,600 or so politicians and guests, Biden looked out on a select group of around 200.<\/p>\n
Of the nine members of the Supreme Court, only Chief Justice John Roberts attended.<\/p>\n
Only the secretaries of defense and state were in the room, meaning that the tradition of nominating a \u201cdesignated survivor\u201d \u2014 someone who could take over the country if the entire government died while inside the Capitol \u2014 was not necessary.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the speech Senior Republican Senator Mitch McConnell urged the White House to \u201cshake off its daydreams of a sweeping socialist legacy,\u201d accusing the Biden team of acting in synch with \u201cthe radical left.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Joe Biden triumphantly declared Wednesday that the United States is \u201con the move again\u201d in a rousing speech to Congress, calling for trillions of dollars to rebuild the post-Covid US middle class and give new life to \u201cforgotten\u201d workers. Lauding the success of mass vaccination against Covid-19, Biden told Congress and the nation on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4","category-14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9769,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9768\/revisions\/9769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deshnews24.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}