It’s Thursday.
For Thursday May 6th, 2021, President Biden will have received his daily brief. As part of the Getting America Back on Track tour the President will travel to Lake Charles, Louisiana. He will deliver remarks on the American Jobs Plan from Lake Charles at 1:25 CDT (that’s 2:25 D.C., time). After his remarks he will tour the Carrollton Water Plant in New Orleans.
On Wednesday as seen in Wednesday’s Open Thread, President Biden had tweeted 2 times and retweeted 0 times. He added 6 tweets and no retweets to give him a Wednesday Twitter total of 8 tweets and 0 retweets.
1:00 p.m. D.C., he shares a 6 second video.
The American Families plan was unveiled on April 28th, 2021, hours before President Biden addressed his first Joint-Session of Congress.
I won’t lie, the “in case you missed it,” made me snort, as if we somehow could miss it, considering that’s almost all he ever tweets about.
2:40 p.m. D.C., time he shares a live feed to his remarks regarding the American Rescue Plan and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
The video is 20 minutes and 55 seconds long. President Biden begins speaking about 43 seconds in, one of the better timed videos. His full remarks can be found here. The timestamp says he spoke from 2:40 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. D.C., time.
2:46 p.m. D.C., time he says that “thanks to the American Rescue Plan, more than 163 million rescue payments have already gone out.”
President Biden (1:27): First is [that “is” should be “it’s” that is a transcribed error not a President Biden error] providing checks in pockets and shots in arms. More than 163 million Rescue payments have already gone out. These are checks — direct payments of up to $1,400 — that, for a typical family of four making about $110,000, means a $5,600 check you’ll get. By the time all of the money is distributed, more than 85 percent of American households will have received a check. The Rescue Plan is also funding vaccine administration and distribution. It’s a big reason why we were able to administer over 220 million shots in my first 100 days — a pace unmatched by any other nation in the world or in prior mass vaccinations in all of American history.
President Biden (5:38): And the vaccinat- — our vaccination progress and our economic recovery is going hand in hand. As that happens, we want to make sure that our restaurants, bars, and other dining establishments can staff back up and they can come back as well.
2:50 p.m. D.C., time he says thanks to “our new Restaurant Revitalization Fund,” we should “be able to help about 100,000 restaurants.
President Biden (9:18): Whether it’s our economy or our sense of community, we’re relying on restaurants to play a big role in our recovery. If we want our economy to recover in a way that deals everyone in, then our restaurants need a seat at the table — no pun intended. That’s what we’re giving them. That’s what this program is about: a seat at the table.
President Biden (7:13): Now, the applications — they hav- — all haven’t been processed yet. But, right now, it looks like we’ll be able to provide help to about 100,000 restaurants and other eligible businesses.
7:18 p.m. D.C., time he shared a 1 minute and 2 second clip from his remarks on Wednesday.
President Biden (5:32): Now, as we vaccinate Americans, customers are coming back. And the vaccinat- — our vaccination progress and our economic recovery is going hand in hand. As that happens, we want to make sure that our restaurants, bars, and other dining establishments can staff back up and they can come back as well. Right now, only about a quarter of the restaurant owners expect to return to normal operations in the next six months. We can do much better than that with the American Rescue Plan. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund — that’s what it’s called, “the Revitalization Fund” — will provide direct relief to restaurants and to hard-hit food establishments: bars, bakeries, food stands, food trucks, and caterers. Businesses that get grants can use it to cover payroll, rent, utilities, supplies, everything they need to start — to stay open and to reopen.
On Wednesday the White House published a fact-sheet regarding the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
Established through the American Rescue Plan (ARP), the Biden-Harris Administration recently launched the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RFF) – a $28.6 billion program to aid restaurants, bars, food trucks and other food and drink establishments. In the first two days of the program:
White House.gov. 05/05/2021.
- 186,200 restaurants, bars, and other eligible businesses in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and five U.S. Territories applied for relief.
- 97,600 applications came from restaurants, bars, and other eligible businesses owned and controlled by women (46,400), veterans (4,200), socially and economically disadvantaged individuals (30,800), or some combination of the three (16,200).
- 61,700 applications came from businesses with under $500,000 in annual pre-pandemic revenue, representing some of the smallest restaurants and bars in America.
In addition to the RRF, in its first 100 days, the Administration approved $31 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, $438 million in COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), and more than $29 million in Targeted EIDL Advance grants to restaurants and bars around the country. The Administration’s national vaccination strategy and direct relief for working families have also helped restaurants and bars re-open, re-hire, and return to normal operations. While the Administration remains focused on helping these restaurants and businesses make ends meet, data suggests that the overall outlook for the industry has improved in recent months:
White House.gov. 05/05/2021
- The restaurant industry has added 450,000 jobs since January.
- The share of restaurant and bar owners planning to hire in the next six months has nearly doubled, from just 30 percent in January to more than 57 percent in mid-April.
- The share of restaurant and bar owners that have returned to normal operations has more than doubled since January and the share expecting to return to normal operations in the next six months has increased from just 17 percent to more than 26 percent.
3:30 p.m. D.C., time he gives thanks to the generations of Mexican Americans that have “served in our military, explored outer space, fed our nation, and created countless jobs.”
For Thursday President Biden has tweeted 1 time and retweeted 0 times so far.
11:19 a.m. D.C., time he triggers me.
Since the President is traveling today, the press briefing will be an Air Force One gaggle.
President Biden’s remarks on the American Jobs Plan are scheduled to begin at 1:25 p.m. Louisiana time that equals 2:25 p.m. D.C., time, I know, cause I Googled to double-check.
This is an Open Thread.
