Biden’s First 100 Day’s; Tuesday’s Open Thread

Pardon Our Mess. Photo by Marty Mankins.

It’s Tuesday.

This Tuesday marks President Biden’s 69th day in office.

For day 69 President Biden will receive his daily brief. At 2 p.m. D.C., time President Biden will sign the PPP Extension Act of 2021.

H.R.1799 –PPP Extension Act of 2021 extends the Paycheck Protect Program through June 30th, 2021. The program was set to expire on March 31st, 2021.

Congress.gov records the House vote as 415 Yeas and 3 Nays. It passed the House on March 16th, 2021.

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 415 – 3 (Roll no. 80). (text: CR H1373).

congress.gov.

Congress.gov records the Senate vote as 92 Yeas and 7 Nays. It passed the Senate on March 25th, 2021.

Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate, under the order of 3/24/2021, having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 92 – 7. Record Vote Number: 140.

congress.gov.

For Monday’s tweeting as I suspected the first tweet was a live feed to his remarks regarding the coronavirus response and state of the vaccines. He ended up with 7 tweets and 0 retweets for Monday.

2:30 p.m. D.C., time.

His full remarks can be found @ White House.gov.

CDC Dr. Walensky said in Monday’s coronavirus briefing that the U.S., has seen in the last 7 days a 10 percent increase in coronavirus cases when compared to the prior 7 days. She went on to say that hospitalizations have also increased. She goes on to urge everyone to continue mask wearing, hand washing, and social distancing. Basically, she’s saying even as more people get vaccinated that we shouldn’t let our guard down.

Her comments start at the 3 minute and 51 second mark using the tweeted live feed for the briefing.

At 3:03 p.m. D.C., time he shared a tweeted related to the remarks he made regarding the deadly pandemic.

From his remarks:

 I’m pleased to announce that at least 90 percent of all adults in this country will be eligible to be vaccinated by April the 19th, just three weeks from now, because we have the vaccines.

For the vast, vast majority of adults, you won’t have to wait until May 1.  You’ll be eligible for your shot on April 19th.  Finally, 10 percent will be eligible no later than — the final 10 percent will be eligible no later than May 1. 

And as I just said, due to the steps we’re taking today, 90 percent of Americans will be within five miles of a location where they can get a shot as of April the 19th. 

So we’re moving toward “90/90” by April 19th.  That is, by April 19, three weeks from today, 90 percent of adults — people over 18 and over — will be eligible get vaccinated.  Ninety percent of all Americans will be living within five miles of a place they can get a shot. 

White House.gov. 03/29/2021.

4:50 p.m. D.C., time he continues sharing snips from his earlier remarks.

Snip:

Over the last three days, we’ve had a record number of shots in arms with over 10 million shots recorded in the weekend.  Over 10 million shots in three days — that would have been inconceivable in January.

White House.gov. 03/29/2021.

At 6:33 p.m. D.C., time he uses urges the American people not to let their guard down regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

The above tweet is not copied text for text from his earlier remarks, but he did use similar language.

Snips:

New variants are spreading. And sadly, some of the reckless behavior we’ve seen on television over the past few weeks means that more new cases are to come in the weeks ahead.

We can and will do this, but don’t let up now.  Don’t let up now. 

Wash your hands, stay socially distanced, wear a mask as recommended by the CDC, and get vaccinated.  Get your friends and family vaccinated when you can help. 

Now is not the time to let down.  Now is not the time to celebrate.  It is time to do what we do best as a country: our duty, our jobs; take care of one another; and fight this to the finish. 

White House.gov. 03/29/2021.

His last tweet regarding the coronavirus directly was posted at 8:30 p.m. D.C., time.

Snips: [I used the find a word or phrase feature my keyword was “three weeks”].

So to make it easier for Americans to get vaccinated as the supply grows and vaccination eligibility expands, I’m directing my COVID team to ensure there is a vaccine site within 5 miles of 90 percent of all Americans by April 19th — three weeks from today.

Look, we’re going to do this by growing from having 17,000 pharmacies giving out vaccination shots to nearly 40,000 pharmacies doing it within the next three weeks.  That will more than double the number of pharmacies where you can go get vaccinated.  But we aren’t stopping there. 

In the next three weeks, we’ll add 12 more federally run mass vaccination sites.  Every day at these sites, tens of thousands of people are able to drive up, get a vaccine shot while in their car, and leave in less than an hour.  And over 60 percent of the shots given at these sites goes to minority communities because they’re in minority communities.  We have to reach out.  They’re the ones most affected by the vacci- — by both the vaccine, but also by the pandemic.

I’m pleased to announce that at least 90 percent of all adults in this country will be eligible to be vaccinated by April the 19th, just three weeks from now, because we have the vaccines. 

So we’re moving toward “90/90” by April 19th.  That is, by April 19, three weeks from today, 90 percent of adults — people over 18 and over — will be eligible get vaccinated.  Ninety percent of all Americans will be living within five miles of a place they can get a shot. 

And, of course, it will take time for everyone to get their appointment.  It’s a big country.  And as fast as we’re going, and we still have a long way to go to finish this vaccination effort.  In fact, we aren’t even there — we aren’t halfway yet.  But being at 90/90 just three weeks from today should give hope to the country. 

White House.gov. 03/29/2021.

At 8:07 p.m. D.C., time he posted a photo of himself, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, and a third person, I don’t know from the Vietnam War Memorial in D.C..

AP reporter Jonathan Lemire tweeted on Monday that the unannounced visit to the Vietnam War Memorial came on National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

And because we can’t go a day without the American Rescue Plan being mentioned…

At 9:01 p.m. D.C..

On March 12th, 2021, VA.gov outlined some provisions inside the American Rescue Plan that will aid the VA.

  • $14.5 billion for COVID-19 related health care, including information technology and facility requirements, ensuring access for 9.2 million enrolled Veterans who may have delayed care or have more complex health care needs as a result of the pandemic, as well as resources for Veterans currently receiving housing support and an estimated 37,000 homeless Veterans. 
  • $1 billion for debt forgiveness related to copayments or other cost sharing Veterans paid for VA health care and to reimburse Veterans who paid a copay or other cost sharing, for care and prescriptions provided from April 6, 2020 through Sept. 30, 2021. 
  • $750 million for both construction grants ($500 million) and payments ($250 million) to State Homes to greatly improve the living conditions of our most vulnerable Veterans who reside in these facilities.  
  • $386 million to initiate a COVID–19 Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program that provides up to 12 months of training and employment assistance for unemployed Veterans to enter high demand occupations. 
  • $262 million to reduce the backlog of compensation and pension claims, which has grown from 76,000 in March 2020 to more than 212,000 in March 2021. The ARP funding will enable the Veterans Benefits Administration to reduce the claims backlog to around 100,000 by September 2022. 
  • $100 million to facilitate the modernization of VA’s badly antiquated supply chain system by accelerating the Department’s transition to the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support.    
  • $80 million to establish the Department of Veterans Affairs Employee Leave Fund, which provides funds for paid leave for COVID-19 related causes. 
  • $10 million to decrease the Board of Veterans’ Appeals hearing requests (currently 87,499) and intake (35,000 appeals) backlogs. These efforts help Veterans economically by resolving their VA appeals and allowing them to begin receiving compensation and services. 

They also noted the following items:

  • Veterans experiencing unemployment and other financial hardships may also qualify for further assistance in the form of extension of unemployment insurance benefits and eligibility, stimulus checks, or expansion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits. 
  • Veterans with children could benefit from additional stimulus payments, an increased child tax credit and expanded childcare tax credits. 
  • Veterans are prioritized for the $28.6B Restaurant Revitalization Grants in the Small Business Administration’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund. During the initial 21-day period in which the Small Business Administration (SBA) awards grants under this program, SBA will prioritize awarding grants to eligible entities that are owned and controlled by Veterans. 
  • Helps small businesses in economically disadvantaged areas keep front line state and local public workers on the job and paid and help public transit agencies avoid layoffs and service reductions.
  • Assists communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, many of which are Veterans living in diverse communities across the country. Women and racial/ethnic minorities are becoming the fastest-growing populations of Veterans, as the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding economic crisis have hit communities of color and women particularly hard. 
  • Provides emergency funding for community investments to ease challenges experienced by many American Indian/Alaska Native Veterans and their families and provide much needed relief to embark on the long road to healing in the aftermath of tremendous losses during the pandemic.
  • Closes what is known as the “90/10 loophole” to protect the integrity of the GI Bill and Veterans in receipt of their well-earned educational benefits.

The daily White House press briefing is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. D.C., time.

Live Feed: The White House.

Couple of notes relating to the press briefing.

In Monday’s press briefing White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced infrastructure week…

Psaki’s Opening remarks in part: Okay, this Wednesday, the President will be laying out the first of two equally critically — critical packages to rebuild our economy and create better-paying jobs for American workers.  He’ll talk this week about investments we need to make in domestic manufacturing, R&D, the caregiving economy, and infrastructure.

White House.gov. 03/29/2021.

For today’s press briefing, she will likely announce the already announced names of the 11 people nominated as Judicial Candidates.

White House.gov., said that it was President Biden’s intent to nominate 10 individuals to serve as Federal Circuit and District Court Judges. One person has been nominated to serve as a Superior Court Judge for the District of Columbia.

The names:

  • Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 
  • Tiffany Cunningham: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 
  • Candace Jackson-Akiwumi: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. 
  • Judge Deborah Boardman: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. 
  • Judge Lydia Griggsby: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. 
  • Julien Neals: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. 
  • Judge Florence Y. Pan: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. 
  • Judge Zahid N. Quraishi: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. 
  • Regina Rodriguez: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. 
  • Margaret Strickland: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. 
  • Judge Rupa Ranga Puttagunta: Nominee for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

President Biden offered the following statement regarding his nominees:

This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession. Each is deeply qualified and prepared to deliver justice faithfully under our Constitution and impartially to the American people — and together they represent the broad diversity of background, experience, and perspective that makes our nation strong.

White House.gov. 03/30/2021.

This is an Open Thread.

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About Tiff 2519 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.