It’s Friday.
For Friday, September 24th, 2021, President Biden has received his daily brief. He’s already delivered remarks on the coronavirus vaccine and admin response to the coronavirus pandemic (those remarks were totally not on the schedule last night). After his late scheduled remarks President Biden has participated in a bilateral meeting with Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of the Republic of India. This afternoon he will host the first-ever in-person Quad Leaders Summit with The Honorable Scott Morrison MP, Prime Minister of Australia, His Excellency Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Republic of India, and His Excellency Suga Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan. After the Quad Leaders Summit the President will with Suga Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan. This evening President Biden will travel to Camp David.
The White House released the background press call on the Quad Leaders Summit and the bilateral meeting with India:
Senior Administration Official 1:
So, President Biden is looking forward to his separate bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi in the Oval Office on Friday morning ahead of the Quad summit.
President Biden has spoken with Prime Minister Modi on the phone a number of times and has been in virtual summits, but this is their first in-person meeting and will cover a number of priority issues that India is really front and center of, including pandemic response, their response to climate change. Will talk about technology issues, economic cooperation and trade, as well as Afghanistan and new areas of cooperation that both governments have been discussing.
White House.gov. 09/24/2021 (09/23/2021).
Senior Administration Official 2:
I do want to underscore that the Quad is an unofficial gathering, although we have a number of working groups and we are deepening cooperation on a very daily basis. It is also the case that it is not a regional security organization. We are going to address particular issues associated with the challenges confronting the Indo-Pacific in the current environment. And I think that’s what the leaders want to focus on tomorrow.
I think it’s also the case that, you know, I think President Biden believes that too oftentimes, these kinds of discussions are scripted, and he really wants to be able to sit down and have a deeper conversation with all leaders in an environment where they can really share perspectives on what’s important to each of them as they go forward.
I don’t want to go on too long, but I do want to just underscore a critical point. I think all of you will have seen or heard the President’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week when he underscored that, you know, we are coming out of a period of really long and consequential conflicts, and we are now doubling down on diplomacy.And what we are seeing is this is a clear and emblematic indication of that strategy. It also indicates that the Biden administration understands that the challenges of the 21st century will largely play out in the Indo-Pacific, and we are doubling down on our efforts.
This Quad is part of a larger fabric of engagement that you will see — that you’ve already seen evidence of with very high-level bilateral engagements with security partners, other steps that we’ve taken. And we believe that the Quad will be a key and critical format and forum for discussion and joint purpose as we head into a challenging period ahead.So, all the leaders have arrived, and we’re very much looking forward to the discussion tomorrow.
[one reporters question]:
Q Hey, guys, thanks for doing this call. And I guess I am interested in some of those deliverables, especially as Bloomberg. On the economic front, I know that there was talk during that virtual meeting of working together on semiconductors. So I’m wondering if there’s deliverables on that front, but more broadly, what we can look forward to being announced tomorrow.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure. Well, let me just say: On semiconductors, we will be announcing a supply chain initiative, and the effort is really a detailed joint initiative to map overall capacity; identify, you know, respective vulnerabilities; and to take critical steps to bolster supply chain security, particularly for semiconductors and all their vital components.
I think the goal is to help ensure Quad partners help take their steps to support at least a somewhat diverse and competitive market that produces secure, critical technologies that are essential for digital economies globally.
We’re also going to announce a 5G deployment and diversification effort. And this is to support the critical role of Quad governments in fostering and promoting a diverse, resilient, secure telecommunications ecosystem. And we’re launching an effort — sort of a 1.5 industry dialogue — on Open RAN development and adoption. So this is actually a quite well-articulated game plan about how the four countries will work together.
I’ve already talked a little bit about the Quad fellowship. This fellowship is sponsored by private donors. We will bring 100 students per year — 25 from each Quad country — to pursue either a master’s or doctoral degree at a leading STEM graduate university in the United States. I think that’s a big deal for us, and that’s a signature initiative designed to indicate that we want and encourage Quad countries to send their best students to work with us and to build those lines of communication and coordination with young people.
We’ll have an initiative on space. I think all four countries are determined to work on joint efforts.
We’re going to share information on illegal fishing, on issues associated with maritime domain awareness.
And, you know, we’ll also take steps to help monitor climate change and promote a variety of issues associated with estuaries and fisheries — fishing more generally.
We have a robust cybersecurity effort underway with the State Department that’s going to be enhanced at the leader level. We’re going to try to take steps to bolster critical infrastructure resilience against cyber threats — something that’s plagued all four of our countries. And we are advancing a very high-level group on specific capabilities and technologies.
We’ve got, you know, some specific steps that we’re taking in climate: green shipping network. And this has to do with how to decarbonize what we call the shipping value chain. And we’re also taking specific steps to work with ports in each of our countries to ensure that best practices are followed with respect to decarbonizing efforts there as well.
I think we have a few things on infrastructure and health that we’re going to wait until tomorrow. And obviously, the vaccine deliverable will be rolled out tomorrow afternoon.
White House.gov. 09/24/2021 (09/23/2021).
President Biden has tweeted 3 times so far for Friday.
See above…
More on this and other Friday events will be covered most likely on Monday, though Sunday is a possibility.
When Biden Bits was published for Thursday, President Biden had tweeted 1 time. He added 5 tweets giving him a Thursday Tweeting Total of 6 tweets and 0 retweets.
If you guessed they are all about his Build Back Better Agenda?
Tax Cut:
With Children:
One third of all adults with children struggle to pay their usual expenses. The American Rescue Plan increased the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child for children six and over and $3,600 for children under six. The Build Back Better Agenda will extend the Child Tax Credit expansion in the American Rescue Plan, providing nearly 40 million households. This tax cut is the single largest contributor of the plan cutting child poverty nearly in half.
Without Children:
The President’s agenda extends the American Rescue Plan’s increase to the Earned-Income Tax Credit from $543 to $1,502. This will benefit roughly 17 million low-wage workers, including cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and child care providers.
Build Back Better Agenda.
Lower Health Care and Child Care Costs:
The Build Back Better Agenda would reduce health insurance premiums, saving 9 million people an average of $50 per person per month, and add dental, vision, and hearing coverage to Medicare. By closing the Medicaid gap for low-income Americans, the President’s plan would help 4 million uninsured people gain coverage. President Biden’s agenda would also expand home care for older and disabled Americans, while improving the jobs and the pay of the home care workers who care for them.
For 57 percent of children under six, there are no good choices for child care where they live. Only 44 percent of four-year-olds are served by public preschool programs. Nearly four in five private sector workers have no access to paid family leave. The President’s plan would ensure that no middle-class family pays more than 7 percent of their income for high-quality child care up to age 5—and that working families most in need won’t pay anything—saving the average family $14,800 per year. President Biden will also make universal preschool a reality, partnering with states to offer every parent access to high-quality preschool for 3- and 4- year-olds in the setting of their choice. Fully implementing this investment is projected to benefit five million families and save the average American family $13,000 per year. And the Build Back Better Agenda would institute 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, to help improve the health of new mothers and reduce wage loss.
Build Back Better Agenda.
“Free” Community College:
Education beyond high school is increasingly important to succeed in the 21st century economy, even as it has become unaffordable for too many families. The Build Back Better Agenda would provide two years of free community college—boosting the earnings of low-wage high school graduates by nearly $6,000 per year. President Biden’s plan will also increase the maximum Pell Grant award by almost $1,500, and invest billions in subsidized tuition for low- and middle-income students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and minority-serving institutions. The plan also invests in evidence-based strategies to strengthen completion and retention rates at institutions that serve high numbers of low-income students, particularly community colleges.
Build Back Better Agenda.
Universal Preschool:
President Biden will also make universal preschool a reality, partnering with states to offer every parent access to high-quality preschool for 3- and 4- year-olds in the setting of their choice.
Build Back Better Agenda.
The article posted by the White House; What Is the Average Federal Individual Income Tax Rate on the Wealthiest Americans?
Opening Snip:
Abstract: We estimate the average Federal individual income tax rate paid by America’s 400 wealthiest families, using a relatively comprehensive measure of their income that includes income from unsold stock. We do so using publicly available statistics from the IRS Statistics of Income Division, the Survey of Consumer Finances, and Forbes magazine. In our primary analysis, we estimate an average Federal individual income tax rate of 8.2 percent for the period 2010-2018. We also present sensitivity analyses that yield estimates in the 6-12 percent range. The President’s proposals mitigate two key contributors to the low estimated rate: preferential tax rates on capital gains and dividend income, and wealthy families’ ability to avoid paying income tax on capital gains through a provision known as stepped-up basis.
When an American earns a dollar of wages, that dollar is taxed immediately at ordinary income tax rates.[1] But when they gain a dollar because their stocks increase in value, that dollar is taxed at a low preferred rate, or never at all.[2] Investment gains are a primary source of income for the wealthy, making this preferential treatment of investment gains a valuable benefit for the wealthiest Americans. Yet the most common estimates of tax rates do not fully capture the value of this tax benefit because they use an incomplete measure of income. This analysis asks: what was the average Federal individual income tax rate paid by the 400 wealthiest American families’ in recent years, determined using a more comprehensive measure of income?
White House.gov. 09/23/2021.
I um, found something amazing, trying to find something to put here…
I knew I was forgetting something. At 2:00 p.m. D.C., time the President hosts the first-ever Quad Leaders Summit.
The daily press briefing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. D.C., time. Today’s briefing will feature special guest the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
This morning during President Biden’s COVID-19 remarks:
I’m pretty sure that is how come the DHS Secretary is going to address the press this afternoon.
This is an Open Thread.
