Biden’s First 100 Days; Monday’s Open Thread

Pardon Our Mess. Photo by Marty Mankins.

It’s Monday.

This Monday starts President Biden last week before he reaches 100 days in Office.

Today is President Biden’s 96th in office.

For day-96: President Biden is taking day 96 aka Monday April 26th, 2021, easier than his past Monday’s, by just receiving his daily brief. But as Daniel Dale always notes when he posts the Presidential schedule, “public schedules don’t include all of a president’s activities.”

When last we met on Friday aka day 93, President Biden had tweeted 1 time and retweeted 0 times. To finish Friday he added another 3 tweets, and no retweets to give him a total of 4 tweets and 0 retweets for Friday.

3:41 p.m. D.C., time he says “there is no time to waste” in the fight against climate change.

Last week President Biden held a Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate Change. 40 world leaders attended the Summit virtually. The White House has published a summary of the Summit. The event was broke down into 5 sessions.

Snips:

The United States and other countries announced ambitious new climate targets ensuring that nations accounting for half of the world’s economy have now committed to the emission reductions needed globally to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5-degrees C within reach. Many leaders underscored the urgency of other major economies strengthening their ambition as well on the road to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in November 2021 in Glasgow.

President Biden began Session 1 (“Raising Our Climate Ambition”) by framing enhanced climate action as necessary both to address the crisis and to promote economic opportunity, including the creation of good-paying, union jobs. He told Summit participants that the United States will halve its greenhouse gas emissions within this decade, noting that countries that take decisive action now will reap the economic benefits of a clean energy future. To enshrine this commitment, the United States submitted a new “nationally determined contribution” (NDC) under the Paris Agreement setting an economy-wide emissions target of a 50-52% reduction below 2005 levels in 2030. Secretary of State Blinken conveyed a strong sense of urgency in tackling the climate crisis, noting that this is a critical year and a decisive decade to take action. He noted the U.S. resolve to work with other countries to engage in all avenues of cooperation to “save our planet.” 

Session 2 (“Investing in Climate Solutions”) addressed the urgent need to scale up climate finance, including both efforts to increase public finance for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries and efforts to catalyze trillions of dollars of private investment to support the transition to net zero emissions no later than 2050. President Biden stressed the importance of developed countries meeting the collective goal of mobilizing $100 billion per year in public and private finance to support developing countries. He also announced that the Administration intends to seek funding to double, by 2024, annual U.S. public climate finance to developing countries, compared to the average level of the second half of the Obama-Biden Administration (FY 2013-2016). This would include tripling public finance for adaptation by 2024. President Biden also called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies and announced that his Administration will undertake a series of steps to promote the measurement, disclosure, and mitigation of material climate risks to the financial system.

White House.gov. 04/23/2021.

Session 3 bullet points: Session 3 elevated four specific topics for more focused consideration by government officials and, in some cases, a broader range of stakeholders. 

  • The discussion on climate action at all levels, hosted by U.S. EPA Administrator Regan and including participation from a wide range of governors, mayors, and indigenous leaders from around the world, illustrated the importance of marshalling a multi-level “all-of-society” approach to climate action. The Session showcased States, cities, and indigenous groups that are committed to an equitable vision for advancing bold climate ambition and building resilience on the ground. Participants discussed the critical importance of building just and inclusive societies and economies as they accelerate efforts to transform their communities in line with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
  • The discussion on adaptation and resilience, hosted by Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack and Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas, focused on innovative ways in which countries from a wide variety of regions are responding to climate change in the areas of water and coastal management, food security, and human impacts.
  • The discussion on nature-based solutions, hosted by Interior Secretary Haaland, addressed how achieving net zero by 2050 is not possible without natural climate solutions, such as stopping deforestation and the loss of wetlands and restoring marine and terrestrial ecosystems. She announced U.S. support of a proposal to protect the Southern Ocean through the three marine protected area proposals under the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). 
  • The discussion on climate security was hosted by Defense Secretary Austin. His remarks were followed by remarks from both Director of National Intelligence Haines and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Thomas-Greenfield, who then moderated a panel discussion. Speakers included NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, defense officials from Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Spain, and the UK, as well as the Philippines’ finance minister. A common theme throughout the discussion was how climate impacts exacerbate security concerns and, as a result, affect military capabilities, heighten geopolitical competition, undermine stability, and provoke regional conflicts.

Session 4 (“Unleashing Climate Innovation”) explored the critical innovations needed to speed net-zero transitions around the world and highlighted the efforts of governments, the private sector, and civil society in bringing new and improved technologies to market. Energy Secretary Granholm and Commerce Secretary Raimondo emphasized the economic rewards from investing in innovation as multi-trillion dollar markets for clean technologies emerge in the coming decades and announced reinvigorated U.S. international leadership on innovation.

President Biden began Session 5 (“The Economic Opportunities of Climate Action”)by recognizing the opportunity that ambitious climate action presents to countries around the world to create good, high quality jobs. He noted that countries that prioritize policies that promote renewable energy deployment, electric vehicle manufacturing, methane abatement, and building retrofits, among other actions, would likely reap the rewards of job growth and economic prosperity in the years ahead. The U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Tai, Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, and National Climate Advisor McCarthy underscored that the climate agenda could be a race to the top for countries that are pursuing the most ambitious methods to tackle the crisis, noting the American Jobs Plan that President Biden has proposed. 

White House.gov. 04/23/2021.

As a reminder, this is just a summary of the summary posted by the White House; it does not include all the words shared.

Speaking of climate change…

As many of you probably already know, President Biden did not suggest or attempt to take our red meat away from us. Here’s CNN’s Daniel Dale with the fact-check.

As promised there is a fact-check.

The gist is this, The Daily Mail picked an academic paper written in 2020, before President Biden was the DNC nominee, they linked that paper with President Biden announcing his intent to reduce in the U.S., greenhouse gas pollution. Fox News and some Republican elected officials ran with that story.

The paper, by scholars at the University of Michigan and Tulane University, estimates how greenhouse gas emissions would be affected if Americans hypothetically decided to change their diets in various ways, such as cutting their consumption of beef to four pounds per year. The paper does not suggest a mandatory four-pound beef limit — and, more importantly for the purposes of this fact check, the paper is just not related to Biden’s plans.

The paper was published before Biden had won the Democratic presidential nomination. The paper does not even mention Biden’s name. And Biden has never publicly mentioned the paper.
So…frankly, you can stop reading here if you just wanted to know if it’s true that Biden is trying to take away your sacred right to a rib eye. That claim is complete nonsense.

CNN. 04/26/2021.

5:30 p.m. D.C., time he says it’s “long past time,” corporations pay “their fair share.”

On Friday Axios reported that President Biden “in the next few days will unveil eye-popping new tax rates for the wealthiest Americans —a top marginal income tax rate of 39.6% and a capital gains rate of 43.4%.”

It appears Bloomberg was the first to report the proposal.

President Joe Biden will propose almost doubling the capital gains tax rate for wealthy individuals to 39.6% to help pay for a raft of social spending that addresses long-standing inequality, according to people familiar with the proposal.

For those earning $1 million or more, the new top rate, coupled with an existing surtax on investment income, means that federal tax rates for wealthy investors could be as high as 43.4%. The new marginal 39.6% rate would be an increase from the current base rate of 20%, the people said on the condition of anonymity because the plan is not yet public.

Stocks slid the most in more than a month on the news, with the S&P 500 Index down 0.9% at the close. Ten-year Treasury yields fell to 1.54% from an intraday high of 1.59% before Bloomberg’s report.

Bloomberg. 04/22/2021.

During Thursday’s press briefing White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the reports and the slide in the market on the news.

Q: I want to go back to taxes for a moment because the Dow is down about 350 points on reports that the Biden administration is going to propose doubling, essentially, the capital gains rate for high-income Americans.  Can you tell us any more about that plan?  And do you have any concerns that that would discourage long-term investing?

MS. PSAKI:  Well, we’re still finalizing what the payfors look like.  But I will say that the President’s calculation is that there’s a need to modernize our infrastructure.  There’s a need to invest in childcare.  There’s a need to invest in early childhood education and making our kids and the workers of the next generation more competitive.  And he should propose a way to pay for it. 

His view is that that should be on the backs — that can be on the backs of the wealthiest Americans who can afford it, and corporations and businesses who can afford it.  And his view and the view of our economic team is that that won’t have a negative impact. 

There are alternative views — or there are proposals that don’t exist yet on how to pay for it.  That will be a part of the discussion. 

But he stays firm to his commitment to not raise taxes on Americans making under $400,000 a year, and he’ll have a range of proposals on how to pay for his plans to invest in education and child care.

White House.gov. 04/22/2021.

7:30 p.m. D.C., time he says “it is time for Congress to eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.”

It really isn’t time for Congress to do that, not now, not ever, because the truth is, we can sue the gun makers, however, a gun maker is no more responsible for a mass shooting than a car maker is for a drunk driver killing people, by driving that manufactured car drunk. We can sue them, if the gun malfunctioned, and they have been named in civil wrongful death suits. This is not the way to get people on your side when talking about “common sense gun reform,” this is likely to have the opposite effect.

For Saturday day 94 in office President Biden tweeted 3 times and retweeted 0 times.

10:00 a.m. D.C., time he shares a 2 minute and 42 second video as part of his “weekly conversations,” online series.

This week he is speaking with Louis the President of the local UAW in Michigan about the American Jobs Plan.

President Biden: I’m a union President and I made no bones about that.

Louis: This is where we’re going. This is the future of America.

President Biden: Well it sounds like you read my infrastructure plan.

Luis: My dad used to come home filthy from the foundry. I told myself: I’ll never work in the plant. After 38 years of service, and no clean air protection, my dad died from black lung. I decided to turn my grief into a positive by fighting for workers rights in my dad’s memory. I started on the assembly line, and now I’m President of our UAW local. The industry is changing and I want to make sure we’re protected, respected, and ready. And so does President Biden. I know because he told me.

President Biden: You guys have been the backbone of the country–that’s not hyperbole.

Louis: Thank you so much. As we’re going through, right now, with the automotive industry, a lot of our components are being held up at the border. We are having a hard time to be able to produce daily work. How nice would it be to be able to go to the state next door to get components instead of having to go overseas?

President Biden: The money that I spend as your President to do everything from build aircraft carriers to buy fleets of vehicles–the components have to be made in America. You can have a Buy American proposal with federal funds that are being spent. And we spend over six hundred billion dollars in federal funds in a yearly basis.

Louis: We would love to have more product, more manufacturing here in the United States.

President Biden: You got it. You will–I promise you. It’s estimated if we pass this Jobs Plan, Louis, we’re going to have over a six percent growth rate within a year. It’s about building up manufacturing capacity in America too.

Louis: And with that of course we need help in support on pushing the PRO Act. Yes, making sure we have them out there to organize.

President Biden: I am pushing it hard. We’re going to get that PRO Act passed. The way to grow the economy is from the bottom up and the middle out–not from the top down. When a union employee makes more money, everybody does better.

Louis: I agree.

President Biden: That’s what we’re all about here.

Louis: We appreciate everything that you’re doing–everything to help us out here. Its a big change and we welcome it. We’re here to support you and make sure we keep moving forward as a country.

President Biden: Well if I didn’t do this, all my buddies from Scranton and Claymont would come looking for me.

Louis: Thank you Mr. President. I appreciate everything you do.

President Biden: Stay healthy.

Louis: Yes, sir, you as well.

President Biden: Okay, thanks, bye-bye.

The Pro Act summary says:

Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021
This bill expands various labor protections related to employees’ rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace.

Among other things, it (1) revises the definitions of employeesupervisor, and employer to broaden the scope of individuals covered by the fair labor standards; (2) permits labor organizations to encourage participation of union members in strikes initiated by employees represented by a different labor organization (i.e., secondary strikes); and (3) prohibits employers from bringing claims against unions that conduct such secondary strikes.

The bill also allows collective bargaining agreements to require all employees represented by the bargaining unit to contribute fees to the labor organization for the cost of such representation, notwithstanding a state law to the contrary; and expands unfair labor practices to include prohibitions against replacement of, or discrimination against, workers who participate in strikes.

The bill makes it an unfair labor practice to require or coerce employees to attend employer meetings designed to discourage union membership and prohibits employers from entering into agreements with employees under which employees waive the right to pursue or a join collective or class-action litigation.

The bill further prohibits employers from taking adverse actions against an employee, including employees with management responsibilities, in response to that employee participating in protected activities related to the enforcement of the prohibitions against unfair labor practices (i.e., whistleblower protections). Such protected activities include
providing information about a potential violation to an enforcement agency, participating in an enforcement proceeding, initiating a proceeding concerning an alleged violation or assisting in such a proceeding, or refusing to participate in an activity the employee reasonably believes is a violation of labor laws.

Finally, the bill addresses the procedures for union representation elections, provides employees with the ability to vote in such elections remotely by telephone or the internet, modifies the protections against unfair labor practices that result in serious economic harm, and establishes penalties and permits injunctive relief against entities that fail to comply with National Labor Relations Board orders.

Congress.gov.

The Pro Act passed the House on March 9th, 2021, Office of the Clerk for the U.S., House of Representatives records the vote as; 225 Yea’s, 206 Nay’s, and 1 House member did not vote.

3:00 p.m. D.C., time he says we can “tackle the threat of climate change.”

5:54 p.m. D.C., time he says he’s proud.

For Sunday day 95 in office, President Biden tweeted 5 times and retweet 0 times.

12:21 p.m. D.C., time he says “our best days still lie ahead.”

2:00 p.m. D.C., time he says that the special enrollment period for health insurance is open through August 15th, 2021.

3:29 p.m. D.C., time he says that just as India helped America in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic “we are determined to help India.”

NSC spokesperson Emily Horne offered the following statement on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s call with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval of India.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke by phone today with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, expressing deep sympathy for the people of India following the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. Mr. Sullivan affirmed America’s solidarity with India, the two countries with the greatest number of COVID-19 cases in the world. Building on the seven-decade health partnership between the United States and India —including battles against smallpox, polio, and HIV — they resolved that India and the United States will continue to fight the global COVID-19 pandemic together. Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, the United States is determined to help India in its time of need.

To this end, the United States is working around the clock to deploy available resources and supplies. The United States has identified sources of specific raw material urgently required for Indian manufacture of the Covishield vaccine that will immediately be made available for India. To help treat COVID-19 patients and protect front-line health workers in India, the United States has identified supplies of therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that will immediately be made available for India. The United States also is pursuing options to provide oxygen generation and related supplies on an urgent basis. The U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is funding a substantial expansion of manufacturing capability for BioE, the vaccine manufacturer in India, enabling BioE to ramp up to produce at least 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022. Additionally, the United States is deploying an expert team of public health advisors from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and USAID to work in close collaboration with the U.S. Embassy, India’s health ministries, and India’s Epidemic Intelligence Service staff. USAID will also quickly work with CDC to support and fast-track the mobilization of emergency resources available to India through the Global Fund.

The two National Security Advisors agreed that the U.S. and India would stay in close touch in coming days.

White House.gov. 04/25/2021.

6:30 p.m. D.C., time he asks the folks to get vaccinated.

Do it. It’s time to channel Nike, and just Do It.

7:28 p.m. D.C., time he sends his and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s best wishes to those celebrating Mahavir Jayanti.

DNA India.com explains: Mahavir Jayanti is one of the most auspicious festivals in the Jain community. This year, it is being celebrated on April 25, 2021. The Jains offer prayers, carry out rath yatras and visit temples, to commemorate Mahavir Jayanti. However, this year, Jains will celebrate the festival at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Monday day 96 in office, President Biden has tweeted 1 time and retweeted 0 times, so far.

10:42 a.m. D.C., time he shares a 3 minute and 15 second of people sharing their getting vaccinated stories.

I’m not going to transcribe the whole video as it jumps from unnamed person to unnamed person. The gist, they are very excited, happy, and ask that everyone please go get vaccinated.


The White House press briefing will feature special guest Brian Desse the Director of the National Economic Council.

Live Feed: The White House.

This is an Open Thread.

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About Tiff 2521 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.