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

Pardon Our Mess. Photo by Marty Mankins.

It’s Thursday aka April 1st, 2021.

April Fools Day marks President Biden’s 71st day in office.

For day 71 we turn to factba.se to see that President Biden will receive his daily brief, followed by lunch with his Vice President, Kamala Harris. After lunch President Biden will hold his first in-person Cabinet Meeting.

For Wednesday’s Open Thread President Biden had tweeted 2 times and retweeted 0 times. He added 13 tweets and held at 0 retweets giving him a Wednesday tweeting total of 15 tweets and 0 retweets.

The added Wednesday tweets focus on his newly released Infrastructure Plan aka The American Jobs Plan and his tax plan called the Made in American Tax Plan.

12:15 p.m. D.C., he says that 40 percent of Americans lack access to affordable public transit.

According to the American Public Transportation Associate (APTA) Quick Facts; 45 percent of Americans have no access to public transportation. Google tells me that stat was published on March 17th, 2021 but there is no date on the article itself.

From The American Jobs Plan fact-sheet published by the White House Wednesday morning:

Modernize public transit. Households that take public transportation to work have twice the commute time, and households of color are twice as likely to take public transportation. Our current transit infrastructure is inadequate – the Department of Transportation estimates a repair backlog of over $105 billion, representing more than 24,000 buses, 5,000 rail cars, 200 stations, and thousands of miles of track, signals, and power systems in need of replacement. This translates to service delays and disruptions that leave riders stranded and discourage transit use. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $85 billion to modernize existing transit and help agencies expand their systems to meet rider demand. This investment will double federal funding for public transit, spend down the repair backlog, and bring bus, bus rapid transit, and rail service to communities and neighborhoods across the country. It will ultimately reduce traffic congestion for everyone.

White House.gov. 03/31/2021

In Googling the stat I found little in way of proving it accurate or inaccurate, but I did find a study published in 2008 (ways back machine) by the National Association for State Community Services Programs that said at the time that “only 32 percent of all rural counties have full access to public transportation services and if the 28 percent of communities that have limited access are counted, that leaves 40 percent of rural residents with no public transit options at all.”

1:26 p.m. D.C., time he shares a 12 second video that says power outages cost the U.S., up to 169 billion per year. He says in the tweet that we can modernize it, “make it greener, and create millions of jobs–all at the same time.”

In October 2019 Bloomenergy reported that “for large companies, the cost of an outage can escalate into the millions of dollars per hour of downtime. In fact, the DoE recently estimated that outages are costing the U.S. economy $150 billion annually.”

From the White House.gov., American Jobs Plan fact-sheet:

As the recent Texas power outages demonstrated, our aging electric grid needs urgent modernization. A Department of Energy study found that power outages cost the U.S. economy up to $70 billion annually. The President’s plan will create a more resilient grid, lower energy bills for middle class Americans, improve air quality and public health outcomes, and create good jobs, with a choice to join a union, on the path to achieving 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $100 billion to:

Build a more resilient electric transmission system. Through investments in the grid, we can move cheaper, cleaner electricity to where it is needed most. This starts with the creation of a targeted investment tax credit that incentivizes the buildout of at least 20 gigawatts of high-voltage capacity power lines and mobilizes tens of billions in private capital off the sidelines – right away. In addition, President Biden’s plan will establish a new Grid Deployment Authority at the Department of Energy that allows for better leverage of existing rights-of-way – along roads and railways – and supports creative financing tools to spur additional high priority, high-voltage transmission lines. These efforts will create good-paying jobs for union laborers, line workers, and electricians, in addition to creating demand for American-made building materials and parts.

Spur jobs modernizing power generation and delivering clean electricity. President Biden is proposing a ten-year extension and phase down of an expanded direct-pay investment tax credit and production tax credit for clean energy generation and storage. These credits will be paired with strong labor standards to ensure the jobs created are good-quality jobs with a free and fair choice to join a union and bargain collectively. President Biden’s plan will mobilize private investment to modernize our power sector. It also will support state, local, and tribal governments choosing to accelerate this modernization through complementary policies – like clean energy block grants that can be used to support clean energy, worker empowerment, and environmental justice. And, it will use the federal government’s incredible purchasing power to drive clean energy deployment across the market by purchasing 24/7 clean power for federal buildings. To ensure that we fully take advantage of the opportunity that modernizing our power sector presents, President Biden will establish an Energy Efficiency and Clean Electricity Standard (EECES) aimed at cutting electricity bills and electricity pollution, increasing competition in the market, incentivizing more efficient use of existing infrastructure, and continuing to leverage the carbon pollution-free energy provided by existing sources like nuclear and hydropower. All of this will be done while ensuring those facilities meet robust and rigorous standards for worker, public, and environmental safety as well as environmental justice – and all while moving toward 100 percent carbon-pollution free power by 2035.

White House.gov. 03/31/2021.

2:12 p.m. D.C., time he shares a Power-Point type photo that says the U.S., is ranked 13th overall in infrastructure quality globally. He says in the tweeted text that “we have to invest in America again.”

According to Statista.com based on 2018 figures the U.S., ranked 13th overall with Singapore ranked 1st, with a score of 95.4 on a scale of 0 to 100.

2:45 p.m. D.C., time he says he’s on his way to Pennsylvania to announce his already published American Jobs Plan and the Made in America Tax Plan.

3:15 p.m. D.C., time he shares a 8 second video GIF that says 30 million people lack reliable high-speed internet.

In March of last year The Markup.org, reported that based on a 2018 Federal Communications Commission study that 14 million people had no access to the internet while 25 million had slower less reliable broadband access.

Using the find feature using the word “broadband” I found it mentioned 20 times inside the America Jobs Plan fact-sheet. I’m not sharing all 20 times…

Highlights:

Deliver clean drinking water, a renewed electric grid, and high-speed broadband to all Americans. President Biden’s plan will eliminate all lead pipes and service lines in our drinking water systems, improving the health of our country’s children and communities of color. It will put hundreds of thousands of people to work laying thousands of miles of transmission lines and capping hundreds of thousands of orphan oil and gas wells and abandoned mines. And, it will bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American, including the more than 35 percent of rural Americans who lack access to broadband at minimally acceptable speeds.

Revitalize America’s digital infrastructure:
Generations ago, the federal government recognized that without affordable access to electricity, Americans couldn’t fully participate in modern society and the modern economy. With the 1936 Rural Electrification Act, the federal government made a historic investment in bringing electricity to nearly every home and farm in America, and millions of families and our economy reaped the benefits. Broadband internet is the new electricity. It is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, to participate equally in school learning, health care, and to stay connected. Yet, by one definition, more than 30 million Americans live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds. Americans in rural areas and on tribal lands particularly lack adequate access. And, in part because the United States has some of the highest broadband prices among OECD countries, millions of Americans can’t use broadband internet even if the infrastructure exists where they live. In urban areas as well, there is a stark digital divide: a much higher percentage of White families use home broadband internet than Black or Latino families. The last year made painfully clear the cost of these disparities, particularly for students who struggled to connect while learning remotely, compounding learning loss and social isolation for those students.
The President believes we can bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American through a historic investment of $100 billion. That investment will:

Build high-speed broadband infrastructure to reach 100 percent coverage. The President’s plan prioritizes building “future proof” broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas so that we finally reach 100 percent high-speed broadband coverage. It also prioritizes support for broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and co-operatives—providers with less pressure to turn profits and with a commitment to serving entire communities. Moreover, it ensures funds are set aside for infrastructure on tribal lands and that tribal nations are consulted in program administration. Along the way, it will create good-paying jobs with labor protections and the right to organize and bargain collectively.

Promote transparency and competition. President Biden’s plan will promote price transparency and competition among internet providers, including by lifting barriers that prevent municipally-owned or affiliated providers and rural electric co-ops from competing on an even playing field with private providers, and requiring internet providers to clearly disclose the prices they charge.

Reduce the cost of broadband internet service and promote more widespread adoption. President Biden believes that building out broadband infrastructure isn’t enough. We also must ensure that every American who wants to can afford high-quality and reliable broadband internet. While the President recognizes that individual subsidies to cover internet costs may be needed in the short term, he believes continually providing subsidies to cover the cost of overpriced internet service is not the right long-term solution for consumers or taxpayers. Americans pay too much for the internet – much more than people in many other countries – and the President is committed to working with Congress to find a solution to reduce internet prices for all Americans, increase adoption in both rural and urban areas, hold providers accountable, and save taxpayer money.

Partner with rural and Tribal communities to create jobs and economic growth in rural America. Today, despite the fact that rural and Tribal communities across the country are asset-rich, more than 8 in 10 persistent poverty counties fall outside of a metropolitan area. President Biden’s plan invests in rural and Tribal communities, including by providing 100 percent broadband coverage, rebuilding crumbling infrastructure like roads, bridges, and water systems, providing research and development funding to land grant universities, and positioning the U.S. agricultural sector to lead the shift to net-zero emissions while providing new economic opportunities for farmers. President Biden also is proposing to transform the way the federal government partners with rural and Tribal communities to create jobs and spur inclusive economic growth.  Rural communities often don’t have the same budget as big cities to hire staff needed to navigate and access federal programs. On top of that, they have to navigate a myriad of programs all with different purposes and requirements. As part of his plan to ensure that all communities recover – regardless of geography – President Biden is proposing a $5 billion for a new Rural Partnership Program to help rural regions, including Tribal Nations, build on their unique assets and realize their vision for inclusive community and economic development. This program will empower rural regions by supporting locally-led planning and capacity building efforts, and providing flexible funding to meet critical needs.

White House.gov. 03/31/2021.

4:35 p.m. D.C., time he shares a live feed to his remarks.
4:47 p.m. D.C., time he says “It’s time to build our economy from the bottom up and the middle out–not the top down.”
4:49 p.m. D.C., time he says “It’s big. It’s bold. And we can get it done.”
5:07 p.m. D.C., time he says that 91 Fortune 500 companies paid 0 in federal income taxes on U.S. income.
5:09 p.m. D.C., time he says that “divisions of the moment shouldn’t stop us from doing right by the future.”
6:35 p.m. D.C., time he shares a 1 minute and 11 second clip from his remarks on the American Jobs Plan.
7:30 p.m. D.C., time same thing just a few seconds longer.
9:11 p.m. D.C., time he shares a photo of himself with what appears to be text from his opening remarks from Pennsylvania.

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

Snips based on the above tweets:

And here’s the truth: We all will do better when we all do well.  It’s time to build our economy from the bottom up and from the middle out, not the top down. 

It’s a once-in-a generation investment in America, unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the Interstate Highway System and the Space Race decades ago. Is it big?  Yes.  Is it bold?  Yes.  And we can get it done.

In 2019, an independent analysis found that are 91 — let me say it again, 91 Fortune 500 companies — the biggest companies in the world, including Amazon — they used various loopholes so they’d pay not a single solitary penny in federal income tax.  I don’t want to punish them, but that’s just wrong.  That’s just wrong. 

Historically, infrastructure had been a bipartisan undertaking, many times led by Republicans. So there’s no reason why it can’t be bipartisan again. The divisions of the moment shouldn’t stop us from doing the right thing for the future. 

[Video Clip Text] today, I’m proposing a plan for the nation that rewards work, not just rewards wealth. It builds a fair economy that gives everybody a chance to succeed, and it’s going to create the strongest, most resilient, innovative economy in the world. It’s not a plan that tinkers around the edges. It’s a once-in-a generation investment in America, unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the Interstate Highway System and the Space Race decades ago. In fact, it’s the largest American jobs investment since World War Two.  It will create millions of jobs, good-paying jobs.  It will grow the economy, make us more competitive around the world, promote our national security interests, and put us in a position to win the global competition with China in the upcoming years. Is it big?  Yes.  Is it bold?  Yes.  And we can get it done.

[Video Clip Text] I start with one rule: No one — let me say it again — no one making under $400,000 will see their federal taxes go up.  Period.  This is not about penalizing anyone.  I have nothing against millionaires and billionaires.  I believe American — in American capitalism.  I want everyone to do well. 

But here’s the deal: Right now, a middle-class couple — a firefighter and a teacher with two kids — making a combined salary of, say, $110-, $120,000 a year pays 22 cents for each additional dollar they earn in federal income tax.  But a multinational corporation that builds a factory abroad — brings it home and then sell it — they pay nothing at all.  We’re going to raise the corporate tax.  It was 35 percent, which is too high.  We all agreed, five years ago, it should go down to 28 percent, but they reduced it to 21 percent.  We’re going to raise it back to — up to 28 percent. No one should be able to complain about that.

Two years ago, I began my campaign here in Pittsburgh, saying I was running to rebuild the backbone of America.  And today, I return as your President to lay out the vision of how I believe we do that — rebuild the backbone of America. And it’s time — in this time, we’ll rebuild the middle classWe’re going to bring everybody along.  Regardless of your background, your color, your religion, (inaudible) everybody gets to come along.

White House.gov. 03/31/2021.

CNN Fact-Check Daniel Dale posted two tweets fact-checking President Biden’s comments from yesterday.

President Biden: Trump’s tax bill passed and 83 percent of the money went to the top 1 percent.

President Biden: Millions of Americans lost their jobs last year while the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans saw their net worth increase by $4 trillion.


President Biden hasn’t tweeted for Thursday so far…

Thursday’s daily press briefing was scheduled for 12 p.m. D.C., but according to The White House’s YouTube channel it’s been pushed back to 1:30 p.m. D.C., time. *shrug*

This is an Open Thread.

In other news April 1st also marks the return of baseball.

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About Tiff 2520 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.