Biden Bits: An Early Thanksgiving…

Biden Tweets Christmas Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

It’s Wednesday aka…

Last night the White House said…

Factba.se says that from Wednesday November 24h, 2021, President Biden will remain in Nantucket, Mass., through Sunday November 28th, 2021. There are no public events scheduled.

President Biden has tweeted 2 times for Wednesday aka Thanksgiving Eve…; I’d hoped that he’d possibly take some tweeting time off…

The prerecorded video is 2 minutes and 12 seconds long. I’m gonna skip transcribing the video and move right along to posting the White House’s statement regarding the nominations to the OMB…

Shalanda Young Nominated to Serve as Director, Nani Coloretti as Deputy Director

Today, President Biden announced his intent to nominate Shalanda Young as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Nani Coloretti as Deputy Director. President Biden made the announcement in a *video here

Both Young and Coloretti have been confirmed by the Senate in the past. If they are confirmed again, OMB would be led by two history-making women of color who are experienced and highly qualified. Young, who has served as Acting Director since being confirmed as Deputy Director by the Senate in a bipartisan 63-37 vote on March 23, 2021, would be the first Black woman to lead OMB. Coloretti would be one of the highest-ranking Asian American, Native Hawaiians, or Pacific Islanders serving in government.

Shalanda Young, Director, Office of Management and Budget
Shalanda Young is the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, having been confirmed by the Senate in a bipartisan vote as the agency’s Deputy Director in March. As Acting Director, she serves as a senior advisor to President Biden and plays a critical role in implementing the President’s vision across the Executive Branch.

Previously, Young served as Clerk and Staff Director for the House Appropriations Committee, where she oversaw the $1.3 trillion annual appropriations bills, necessary disaster aid, and major aspects of COVID-19 related spending. She also served as the Deputy Staff Director, Professional Staff Member, and other roles on the Committee. Young started her career as a Presidential Management Fellow at the National Institute of Health.

A native of southern Louisiana, Young holds a Master’s Degree from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Loyola University New Orleans. She lives in Washington, DC with her family, including her newborn daughter Charlie.

Nani A. Coloretti, Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget
Nani A. Coloretti has led public, private and non-profit organizations to achieve outstanding results, with a focus on increasing opportunity for all. She is currently a Senior Vice President at the Urban Institute, an independent policy research organization and think tank dedicated to using evidence, insight, and analysis to advance upward mobility, equity, and shared prosperity all Americans.

Coloretti’s federal government service includes deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Assistant Secretary for Management and Acting CFO of U.S. Department of the Treasury, and Acting COO of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Before joining the Obama Administration in 2009, she served as Policy and Budget Director for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Her prior experience includes work in San Francisco to improve the lives of children, youth, and families; program examiner and Presidential Management Fellow in the Office of Management and Budget and work on the State of Hawaii budget. Ms. Coloretti currently serves as an independent director on the board of the Bank of the West. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, Strategic Advisor to Government Executives with the Partnership for Public Services, and has been independently recognized for innovation and leadership, receiving the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy Special Award for Policy Innovation, the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Alumni Achievement Award and the National Public Service award.

She holds a BA in economics and communications from the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP from the University of California, Berkeley. She was raised in Hawaii and currently lives in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband and together they have a son in college.

White House.gov. 11/24/2021.

*the link from the White House is the YouTube version of the tweeted out video.*

When Biden Bits was published for Tuesday, President Biden had tweeted 4 times. He added 7 tweets giving him a Tuesday Tweeting Total of 11 tweets & 0 retweets.

President Biden announced on Tuesday that the Energy Department would:

After the Energy Department announced the announcement, President Biden announced the same via two tweets; after which he offered remarks on the already announced steps to lower gas prices…

The YouTube is 11 minutes and 16 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.

President Biden: And finally, even as we meet — even as we meet to work out this challenge, it’s important to maintain perspective about where our economy stands today.  The fact is, *America has a lot to be proud of.  We’re experiencing the strongest economic recovery in the world. Even after accounting for inflation, our economy is bigger and our families have more money in their pockets than they did before the pandemic.  And America is the only major economy in the world that can say that.* It’s a testament to the grit and determination of the American people, as well as our unique approach to this recovery and our focus on rebuilding our economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not the top down. Because of that approach, we’re the only leading economy in the world where household income and the economy as a whole are stronger than they were before the pandemic hit.

*the video is 18 seconds long. The text between asterisks is the full text in the video*

The Build Back Better Act tweets…

From the Build Back Better Framework:

Lower prescription drug costs:

  • Finally let Medicare negotiate drug prices. Medicare will negotiate prices for high-cost prescription drugs.  This will include drugs seniors get at the pharmacy counter (through Medicare Part D), and drugs that are administered in a doctor’s office (through Medicare Part B). Drugs become eligible for negotiation once they have been on the market for a fixed number of years: 9 years for small molecule drugs and 12 years for biologics. Medicare will negotiate up to 10 drugs per year during 2023, with those prices taking effect in 2025, increasing to up to 20 drugs per year. The policy will establish a clearly defined negotiation process that is fair for manufacturers, and gets the biggest savings on drugs that have been on the market a long time.  This discourages drug companies from abusing laws to prolong their monopolies, while encouraging investments in research and development of new cures.  Drug companies that refuse to negotiate will owe an excise tax.
  • Impose a tax penalty if drug companies increase their prices faster than inflation.  Starting when this bill becomes law, future drug price increases will be compared to their current prices.  We will finally put an end to the days where drug companies could raise their prices with impunity.  If prices for a drug increase faster than inflation, manufacturers will owe a tax penalty, holding down prices for Americans with all types of health insurance.
  • Directly lower out-of-pocket costs for seniors. Today, there is no cap on how much seniors and people with disabilities have to pay for drugs, and millions of seniors pay more than $6,000 a year in cost-sharing.  This proposal puts an end to this burden, and ensures that seniors never pay more than $2,000 a year for their drugs under Medicare Part D. The plan will also lower insulin prices so that Americans with diabetes don’t pay more than $35 per month for their insulin. Lawmakers have also agreed to lower seniors’ cost-sharing for all types of drugs and they are working expeditiously to finalize legislative text that will save seniors money at the pharmacy counter without increasing premiums.

Universal preschool

  • Offers universal and free preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds, the largest expansion of universal and free education since states and communities across the country established public high school 100 years ago. Preschool in the United States costs about $8,600 per year. The Build Back Better framework will enable states to expand access to free preschool for more than 6 million children per year and increase the quality of preschool for many more children already enrolled.  Importantly, parents will be able to send children to high-quality preschool in the setting of their choice – from public schools to child care providers to Head Start. The program will lead to lifelong educational and economic benefits for children and parents, and is a transformational investment in America’s future economic competitiveness. In fact, research shows that every $1 invested in high-quality early childhood care and education can yield $3 to $7 over the long-run, as they do better in schoolare more likely to graduate high-school and college, and earn more as adults.

Affordable child care

*This is a guess*

  • Extends the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for around 17 million low-wage workers. Before this year, the federal tax code taxed low-wage childless workers into poverty or deeper into poverty — the only group of workers it treated this way. The Build Back Better framework will extend the American Rescue Plan’s tripling of the credit for childless workers, benefiting 17 million low-wage workers, many of whom are essential workers, including cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and childcare providers. For example, a childless worker who works 30 hours per week at $9 per hour earns income that, after taxes, leaves them below the federal poverty line. By increasing her EITC to more than $1,100, this EITC expansion helps pull such workers out of poverty.7

Lower health care costs

  • Strengthens the Affordable Care Act and reduces premiums for 9 Million Americans. The framework will reduce premiums for more than 9 million Americans who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace by an average of $600 per person per year. For example, a family of four earning $80,000 per year would save nearly $3,000 per year (or $246 per month) on health insurance premiums. Experts predict that more than 3 million people who would otherwise be uninsured will gain health insurance.
  • Closes the Medicaid Coverage Gap, Leading 4 Million Uninsured People to Gain Coverage. The Build Back Better framework will deliver health care coverage through Affordable Care Act premium tax credits to up to 4 million uninsured people in states that have locked them out of Medicaid through. A 40-year old in the coverage gap would have to pay $450 per month for benchmark coverage – more than half of their income in many cases. The framework provides individuals $0 premiums, finally making health care affordable and accessible.
  • Expands Medicare to cover hearing benefits. The Build Back Better framework will expand Medicare coverage to cover hearing coverage, so that older Americans can access the affordable care they need.

Historic investments on climate

  • Delivers substantial consumer rebates and tax credits to reduce costs for middle class families shifting to clean energy and electrification. The consumer rebates and credits included in the Build Back Better framework will save the average American family hundreds of dollars per year in energy costs. These measures include enhancement and expansion of existing home energy and efficiency tax credits, as well as the creation of a new, electrification-focused rebate program. The framework will cut the cost of installing rooftop solar for a home by around 30 percent, shortening the payback period by around 5 years; and the framework’s electric vehicle tax credit will lower the cost of an electric vehicle that is made in America with American materials and union labor by $12,500 for a middle-class family. In addition, the framework will help rural communities tap into the clean energy opportunity through targeted grants and loans through the Department of Agriculture.
  • Ensures clean energy technology – from wind turbine blades to solar panels to electric cars – will be built in the United States with American made steel and other materials, creating hundreds of thousands of good jobs here at home. The Build Back Better legislation will target incentives to grow domestic supply chains in solar, wind, and other critical industries in communities on the frontlines of the energy transition. In addition, the framework will boost the competitiveness of existing industries, like steel, cement, and aluminum, through grants, loans, tax credits, and procurement to drive capital investment in the decarbonization and revitalization of American manufacturing.
  • Advances environmental justice through a new Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator that will invest in projects around the country, while delivering 40% of the benefits of investment to disadvantaged communities, as part of the President’s Justice40 initiative. The framework will also fund port electrification; facilitate the deployment of cleaner transit, buses, and trucks; and support critical community capacity building, including grants to environmental justice communities. In addition, the framework will create a new Civilian Climate Corps – with over 300,000 members that look like America. This diverse new workforce will conserve our public lands, bolster community resilience, and address the changing climate, all while putting good-paying union jobs within reach for more Americans.
  • Bolsters resilience and natural solutions to climate change through a historic investment in coastal restoration, forest management, and soil conservation. The framework will provide resources to farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners, supporting their efforts to reduce emissions. At its peak, the increased investments in climate smart agriculture alone could reach roughly 130 million cropland acres per year, representing as many as 240,000 farms. Farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners have long demonstrated leadership in environmental stewardship with strategies that provide benefits for the farm, the environment, and the public. These investments will help meet the demand from the farming community for conservation support and enable producers to realize the full potential of climate benefits from agriculture.

Thanksgiving Eve Tweet:

His full statement:

This morning, we received two pieces of economic news which underscore that our recovery is continuing to progress at a historic pace.

Last year, there were 21 million unemployment insurance claims before the Thanksgiving holiday. Today, there were 2.4 million. This is a historic jobs recovery:  5.6 million jobs created since I took office and an unemployment rate of 4.6% — two full years earlier than experts predicted was possible. More Americans are getting back to work and more Americans have money in their pockets, thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the vaccination campaign.

And, the U.S. economy grew at a faster rate in the first three quarters of the year than in any year in nearly 40 years. In fact, according to the OECD, the U.S. is the only major economy that has exceeded its pre-pandemic level of gross domestic product.

We have more work to do before our economy is back to normal, including addressing prices increases that hurt Americans’ pocketbooks and undermine gains in wages and disposable income. That’s why yesterday I announced steps my Administration is taking to bring down the cost of gas for American families and my Administration remains laser focused on implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will ease supply chain bottlenecks across the economy. And it’s why it’s so critical that the Senate pass the Build Back Better Act, which, according to leading economists, will cut costs for American families without adding to price pressures. Build Back Better will cut the cost of prescription drugs, health care, child care and housing for tens of millions of middle class families and seniors – while extending critical middle class tax relief that is helping working families make ends meet.

Today’s data reinforce the historic economic progress we are making and the importance of building on that progress in the weeks ahead.

White House.gov. 11/24/2021.

Google says:

Google. 11/24/2021.

The Other Tweets…

As seen in last Wednesday’s Biden Bits, President Biden sent a letter to the FTC asking them to investigate whether or not oil companies were engaging in “anti-consumer behavior.”

The YouTube is 8 minutes and 49 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.


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