The new President speaks to Congress ….
This is his 9th time at this type of thing….
But this time it’s his…
He’s NOT sitting behind Barak Obama giving his speech….
President Biden is laying out his vision to go BIG with Government something diametrically different that Trump and the Republicans…
Biden is looking to go FDR BIG....
So far he’s doing good in the polls with this…
But one has to remember…
Presidential speeches to Congress are quickly forgotten as the lawmakers sit-down and actually decide what gets finally sent to a President ‘s desk as a bill…
President Joe Biden’s first speech to a joint session of Congress offers him one of his best opportunities to sell an ambitious agenda to the American people — from climate change and infrastructure to his just-announced $1.8 trillion package of investments in schooling, child care and aid to families, backed by tax hikes for the rich.
The address comes as Biden, buoyed by fairly positive but not overwhelming poll numbers, seeks to make the most of his party’s slim House and Senate majorities as his first 100 days in office come to a close. He also faces a host of challenges, including domestic extremism, rising tensions with Russia and China, a fierce debate within his own party about immigration policy, and calls by progressives for stronger actions against systemic racism and gun violence.
Read the transcript of Biden’s speech with our annotations and check out our full coverage here:
I’ll have reaction follow up here a bit later….
Note….
There is simply NO way the American Congress can do ALL of the stuff Joe Biden just mentioned….
But he IS dreaming BIG….
And reaching for the middle to bottom classes of America with a dream to embrace them…
Not possible mostly
But?
It’s GOOD Politics….
image…WashPost
Biden used his address to tout his efforts to get the nation back to normal after the pandemic and the divisive presidency of Donald Trump.
He outlined what he said were the successes of a nationwide vaccination effort and a $1.9 trillion economic relief package singed into law in March.
And he touted new proposals to invest a total of $4 trillion in new legislative proposals to build climate-friendly infrastructure like roadways and broadband as well as child care and family leave programs.
Biden said it was time to acknowledge that the trickle down economics of the Reagan era had failed, proposing major tax hikes on corporations, investment income and wealthy households.
“We have to do more than just build back. We have to build back better,” Biden said. “We have to compete more strenuously than we have….
The Hill…
President Joe Biden on Wednesday night outlined an optimistic vision after a year wracked by a deadly virus and incalculable struggles in America and abroad.
Biden said he “inherited a nation in crisis,” one that is now on the mend.
“America is on the move again,” Biden said. “Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”
“America is rising anew, choosing hope over fear, truth over lies and light over darkness,” Biden continued.
The speech marks an early victory lap for a White House fashioning itself as having one of the most consequential starts to a presidency in American history. It is also an opportunity to build momentum for two proposals — the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan — that, if enacted, would alter the course of the country for decades to come….
Politico…
Wednesday’s speech is one of the president’s most significant opportunities so far to sway members of Congress in favor of his administration’s agenda.
What he’s saying: “I can report to the nation: America is on the move again,” Biden said. “Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”
Biden marketed his American Jobs Plan as a “blue-collar blueprint to build America,” stating, “90% of the infrastructure jobs created in the American Jobs Plan don’t require a college degree.”
“[I]t recognizes something I’ve always said: Wall Street didn’t build this country. The middle class built this country. And unions built the middle class,” the president added.
He further urged Americans to get vaccinated for COVID-19, stating, “We can’t let our guard down now.”….
Axios…
FiveThirtyEight
@FiveThirtyEight
Biden’s speech was well to the left of Obama on economics. It was probably to the left of Obama on racial issues. It was very “Biden,” w/ economic populism for Warren/Sanders people and a broad base, and an emphasis on democracy for “Never Trump” Dems/Rs. https://53eig.ht/3eCmjs1
Los Angeles Times
@latimes
“The Americans Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build America,” Biden said. He applauded the Republican efforts on that front, but he added that doing nothing is not an option.
Jennifer Bendery
@jbendery
President Biden and the First Lady are now meeting with Capitol employees.
Via pool report:
“After the address to a Joint Session of Congress, the President and the First Lady will participate in a photoline with 23 employees of the U.S. Capitol.”
POLITICO@politico
Replying to
@politico
The VP and House Speaker typically sit behind the president for speeches to Congress. This year, for the first time, that’s two women.
Biden says “it’s about time.” https://politi.co/3gMez9j
Los Angeles Times
@latimes
President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act by next month, the anniversary of Floyd’s death
Vox
@voxdotcom
“We have to prove democracy still works,” Biden said in his #JointAddress to Congress.
His challenge is not just to “build back better” after the coronavirus, as his slogan has it, but show that a democracy can still build, period, writes
@germanrlopez
.
President Biden on Wednesday called for the passage of the PRO Act and for a $15 federal minimum wage during his first address before a joint session of Congress.
The PRO Act, a sweeping pro-union bill, passed the House in March. The legislation, which is the top priority of labor unions, remains stalled in the Senate….
The Hill…
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized President Biden’s first joint address to Congress on Wednesday, calling the policies he called for a “radical, socialist agenda.”
“So far, President Biden has successfully outlined a radical, socialist agenda for the next 4 years. That should trouble every freedom-loving American,” Pompeo, also a former congressman, tweeted.
The Hill…
Chris Cillizza
@ChrisCillizza
“Choosing hope over fear. Truth over lies. Light over darkness.” — Joe Biden saying “Trump” without saying “Trump”
President Biden called the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol an “existential crisis,” stressing that while American democracy survived, “the struggle is far from over.”
…
“The insurrection was an existential crisis—a test of whether our democracy could survive. It did,” Biden said Wednesday at his first joint address before Congress.
“But the struggle is far from over. The question of whether our democracy will long endure is both ancient and urgent.”…
The Hill…
He did well, I couldn’t listen to Tim Scott…Got nothing nice to say about him…
Biden is promoting a Different kind of America First…if he can sell it and get it done, maybe the midterm elections won’t be that bad…
He won’t get anything near all done…
But he gets props for countering Trump’s only his rich friends and Rightwingnuts….
I AM SOOOO FUCKING Glad Joe Biden WON
What a relief!
Near Universal Approval from Biden Speech Watchers
A CBS News/YouGov instant poll found that 85% of Americans who watched approved of President Joe Biden’s prime time address, with 78% of all watchers saying the speech made them feel more optimistic about America.
That’s terrific.
We can guess who the 15% are, but 85% has to include at least some owners of MAGA hats.
Several pollsters in 2016, while Trump was running for the nomination,noted the unusual phenomenon that substantial numbers of Trumps supporters ,when asked who their second choice for President was ,said
Bernie Sanders …
Maybe lot of these Trumpites aren’t as afraid of big social programs as Republican orthodoxy would dictate?
Both Trump and Sanders use populist language in their speaches
True THAT Z…..
But Sanders for the betterment of America…
Not just himself
Huh?
Does what does this mean?
Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace praised President Biden’s speech to Congress on Wednesday, predicting the programs and benefits Biden pitched would play well with the American public.
“You know, I think this is going to be a popular speech with the American public,” Wallace said. “He offered a lot of stuff. $4 trillion will buy a lot of stuff, from millions of jobs to child care to community health centers, all kinds of stuff, community colleges.”
The initiatives Biden proposed would mean a massive increase in government involvement and spending. However, Wallace said, with the speech, the Biden administration is betting that a post-pandemic American public has become less wary of the role of government….
More…
(Other Fox talking heads stuck to the party line against the Biden speech )
I’m sure no GOPer is gonna send their stimulus money back either….
Biden IS betting on connecting with a wider section of America voters….
Of course?
Biden isn’t just about ONLY HIS ego and making money for HIMSELF….