We are getting some bonus Christmas Eve Eve Friday music at the end of today’s Biden’s Bits….
President Biden’s public schedule for Christmas Eve Eve Friday, December 23rd 2022:
| 9:00 AM | In-Town Pool Call Time The White House In-Town Pool |
| 4:00 PM | The President and The First Lady depart the White House en route Children’s National Hospital South Grounds In-Town Travel Pool |
| 4:15 PM | The President and The First Lady arrive at Children’s National Hospital Children’s National Hospital In-Town Travel Pool |
| 5:05 PM | The President and The First Lady make a holiday visit to Children’s National Hospital Children’s National Hospital In-Town Travel Pool |
| 5:45 PM | The President and The First Lady depart Children’s National Hospital en route the White House Children’s National Hospital In-Town Travel Pool |
| 6:00 PM | The President and The First Lady arrive at the White House South Grounds In-Town Travel Pool |
President Biden has tweeted…
It’s 3 tweets so far for Christmas Eve Eve…
Gas Buddy Guy said yesterday:
Snips from the article:
The numbers: A key gauge of U.S. prices rose just 0.1% in November, marking the fifth month in a row in which inflation eased after peaking at a 40-year high over the summer.
The yearly rate of inflation, meanwhile, slowed to 5.5% in November from 6.1% in the prior month, based on the personal consumption expenditures index. That’s the smallest increase since October 2021.
Key details: The PCE index is viewed by the Federal Reserve as the best measure of inflation, especially the core gauge that strips out volatile food and energy costs.
The core index rose 0.2% last month, matching Wall Street’s forecast.
The increase in the core rate of inflation in the past 12 months relaxed to 4.7% from 5%. That’s also the lowest level since October 2021..
Unlike it’s better-known cousin, the consumer price index, the PCE gauge takes into account how consumers change their buying habits due to rising prices.
They might substitute cheaper goods such as ground beef for more expensive ones like ribeye to keep costs down. Or buy no-name denims instead of more fashionable jeans.
The CPI showed inflation rising at a 7.1% yearly rate in November.
Big picture: The rate of inflation is coming down, but not fast enough for the Fed.
Market Watch. 12/23/2022.
President Biden’s full statement:
Once again, we are seeing signs of our economy recovering and remaining resilient. Today’s report shows that incomes are up and inflation is coming down – while our job market remains strong. Christmas arrives with gas prices down and grocery store prices showing the lowest increase in a year. Coming the day after we saw unemployment claims remain low and estimates of economic growth revised upward, it is a winning streak for America’s families, businesses, and farmers. There will be more ups and downs in the year ahead, but we are making progress building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out and I’m optimistic for the year ahead.
White House.gov. 12/23/2022.
When the post was posted for Thursday, President Biden had tweeted 1 time. He added 8 tweets giving him a Thursday Tweeting Total of 9 tweets and 0 retweets.
The YouTube is 8 minutes and 2 seconds long.
His full remarks:
Good afternoon. “How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is given.”
There is a certain stillness at the center of the Christmas story. A silent night when all the world goes quiet and all the glamour, all the noise, everything that divides us, everything that pits us against one another, everything — everything that seems so important but really isn’t, this all fades away in stillness of the winter’s evening.
And we look to the sky, to a lone star, shining brighter than all the rest, guiding us to the birth of a child — a child Christians believe to be the son of God; miraculously now, here among us on Earth, bringing hope, love and peace and joy to the world.
Yes, it’s a story that’s 2,000 years old, but it’s still very much alive today. Just look into the eyes of a child on Christmas morning, or listen to the laughter of a family together this holiday season after years — after years of being apart. Just feel the hope rising in your chest as you sing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” even though you’ve sung the countless times before.
Yes, even after 2,000 years, Christmas still has the power to lift us up, to bring us together, to change lives, to change the world.
The Christmas story is at the heart of the Christmas — Christian faith. But the message of hope, love, peace, and joy, they’re also universal.
It speaks to all of us, whether we’re Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, or any other faith, or no faith at all. It speaks to all of us as human beings who are here on this Earth to care for one another, to look out for one another, to love one another.
The message of Christmas is always important, but it’s especially important through tough times, like the ones we’ve been through the past few years.
The pandemic has taken so much from us. We’ve lost so much time with one another. We’ve lost so many people — people we loved. Over a million lives lost in America alone. That’s a million empty chairs breaking hearts in homes all across the country.
Our politics has gotten so angry, so mean, so partisan. And too often we see each other as enemies, not as neighbors; as Democrats or Republicans, not as fellow Americans. We’ve become too divided.
But as tough as these times have been, if we look a little closer, we see bright spots all across the country: the strength, the determination, the resilience that’s long defined America.
We’re surely making progress. Things are getting better. COVID lon- — no longer controls our lives. Our kids are back in school. People are back to work. In fact, more people are working than ever before.
Americans are building again, innovating again, dreaming again.
So my hope this Christmas season is that we take a few moments of quiet reflection and find that stillness in the heart of Christmas — that’s at the heart of Christmas, and look — really look at each other, not as Democrats or Republicans, not as members of “Team Red” or “Team Blue,” but as who we really are: fellow Americans. Fellow human beings worthy of being treated with dignity and respect.
I sincerely hope this holiway [sic] se- — this holiday season will drain the poison that has infected our politics and set us against one another.
I hope this Christmas season marks a fresh start for our nation, because there is so much that unites us as Americans, so much more that unites us than divides us.
We’re truly blessed to live in this nation. And I truly hope we take the time to look out — look out for one another. Not at one — for one another.
So many people struggle at Christmas. It can be a time of great pain and terrible loneliness. I know, like many of you know.
It was 50 years ago this week that I lost my first wife and my infant daughter in a car accident, and my two sons were badly injured, when they were out shopping for a Christmas tree. I know how hard this time of year can be.
But here’s what I learned long ago: No one — no one can ever know what someone else is going through, what’s really going on in their life, what they’re struggling with, what they’re trying to overcome.
That’s why sometimes the smallest act of kindness can mean so much. A simple smile. A hug. An unexpected phone call. A quiet cup of coffee. Simple acts of kindness that can lift a spirit, provide compo- — comfort, and perhaps maybe even save a life.
So, this Christmas, let’s spread a little kindness.
This Christmas, let’s be that — that helping hand, that strong shoulder, that friendly voice when no one else seems to care for those who are struggling, in trouble, in need. It just might be the best gift you can ever give.
And let’s be sure to remember the brave women and men in uniform who defend and protect our nation. Many of them — many of them are away from their families at this time of year. Let’s keep them in our prayers.
You know, and I believe Christmas is a season of hope. And throughout the life of this country, it’s been during the weeks of December — even in the midst of some of our toughest days — that some of the best chapters of our story have been written.
It was during these weeks back in 1862 that President Lincoln prepared the Emancipation Proclamation, which he issued on New Year’s Day.
At Christmas 1941, in the week — weeks after Pearl Harbor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt hosted Winston Churchill in this White House. Together, they planned the Allied strategy to defeat fascism and autocracy.
And it was 1968 that the most terrible year — of years — a year of assassination and riot, of war and chaos — that the astronauts of Apollo 8 circled the Moon and spoke to us here on Earth.
From the silence of space, on a silent night on a Christmas Eve, they read the story of Christmas — Creation from the King James Bible. It went: “In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
That light is still with us, illuminating our way forward as Americans and as citizens of the world. A light that burned in the beginning and at Bethlehem. A light that shines still today in our own time, our own lives.
As we sing “O’ Holy Night” — “His law is love, and His Gospel is peace” — may I wish you and for you, and for our nation, now and always, is that we’ll live in the light — the light of liberty and hope, of love and generosity, of kindness and compassion, of dignity and decency.
So, from the Biden family, we wish you and your family peace, joy, health, and happiness.
Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. And all the best in the New Year.
God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. Thank you.
White House.gov. 12/22/2022.
AP’s expanded tweet:
From the article:
Shrugging off rampant inflation and rising interest rates, the U.S. economy grew at an unexpectedly strong 3.2% annual pace from July through September, the government reported Thursday in a healthy upgrade from its earlier estimate of third-quarter growth.
The rise in gross domestic product — the economy’s output in goods and services — marked a return to growth after consecutive drops in the January-March and April-June periods.
Still, many economists expect the economy to slow and probably slip into recession next year under the pressure of higher interest rates being engineered by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation that earlier this year reached heights not seen since the early 1980s.
AP News. 12/22/2022.
Since I’m one of those last minute shoppers I will report on how well the shelves are stocked tomorrow and on Saturday (pray that it’s not Saturday too!).
The video is 1 minute and 2 seconds long. The footage was taken 12/13/2022 when President Biden signed H.R.8404 the Respect for Marriage Act into law. The YouTube is 23 minutes and 14 seconds long. The voice-over is snips taken from his remarks.
President Biden: Today is a good day. (Applause.) A day America takes a vital step toward equality, toward liberty and justice, not just for some, but for everyone — everyone. (Applause.) Toward creating a nation where decency, dignity, and love are recognized, honored, and protected. (Applause.)
President Biden: My fellow Americans, the road to this moment has been long. But those who believed in equality and justice, you never gave up — many of you standing on the South Lawn here. So many of you put your relationships on the line, your jobs on the line, your lives on the line to fight for the law I’m about to sign.
President Biden: And now, the law requires that interracial marriages and same-sex marriage must be recognized as legal in every state in the nation. (Applause.)
President Biden: It’s one thing — it’s one thing for the Supreme Court to rule on a case, but it’s another thing entirely for elected representatives of the people to take a vote on the floor of the United States Congress and say loudly and clearly: Love is love. Right is right. Justice is justice. These things are fundamental things that America thinks matter.
President Biden: Thank you to everyone on the hard-fought victory generations in the making. It’s been a long road, but we got it done. And we’re going to continue the work ahead, I promise you. God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. And now, let me sign the Respect for Marriage Act into law.
The White House YouTube channel posted the following musical performances:
Joy Oladokun:
Sam Smith:
Cyndi Lauper:
04/11/2022, the White House posted the following fact-sheet; The Biden Administration Cracks Down on Ghost Guns, Ensures That ATF Has the Leadership it Needs to Enforce Our Gun Laws
Today, President Biden and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco will deliver remarks in the Rose Garden to announce additional steps the Administration is taking to combat gun crime.
Ensuring that ATF has the leadership it needs to enforce our commonsense gun laws and fight gun crime.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is our top federal law enforcement agency responsible for enforcing our commonsense gun laws. Today, the President is nominating Steve Dettelbach to serve as Director of ATF.
Dettelbach is a highly respected former U.S. Attorney and career prosecutor who spent over two decades as a prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice. He has received bipartisan praise and support from law enforcement for his work. In 2009, he was unanimously confirmed for his position as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. He has a proven track record of working with federal, state, and local law enforcement to fight violent crime and combat domestic violent extremism and religious violence – including through partnerships with the ATF to prosecute complex cases and take down violent criminal gangs. Dettelbach also worked closely with local law enforcement and community leaders to develop and implement data-driven and neighborhood-based efforts to prevent and fight violent crime. His leadership and his record of innovation in fighting crime and violence make him ready from day one to aggressively and creatively address these pressing issues at the Director of ATF.
Cracking down on ghost guns – the weapon of choice for many violent criminals
Today, the President and Deputy Attorney General will also announce that the U.S. Department of Justice has issued a final rule to rein in the proliferation of “ghost guns” – unserialized, privately-made firearms that law enforcement are increasingly recovering at crime scenes in cities across the country. Last year alone, there were approximately 20,000 suspected ghost guns reported to ATF as having been recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations – a ten-fold increase from 2016.[1] Because ghost guns lack the serial numbers marked on other firearms, law enforcement has an exceedingly difficult time tracing a ghost gun found at a crime scene back to an individual purchaser.
This final rule bans the business of manufacturing the most accessible ghost guns, such as unserialized “buy build shoot” kits that individuals can buy online or at a store without a background check and can readily assemble into a working firearm in as little as 30 minutes with equipment they have at home. This rule clarifies that these kits qualify as “firearms” under the Gun Control Act, and that commercial manufacturers of such kits must therefore become licensed and include serial numbers on the kits’ frame or receiver, and commercial sellers of these kits must become federally licensed and run background checks prior to a sale – just like they have to do with other commercially-made firearms.
The final rule will also help turn some ghost guns already in circulation into serialized firearms. Through this rule, the Justice Department is requiring federally licensed dealers and gunsmiths taking any unserialized firearm into inventory to serialize that weapon. For example, if an individual builds a firearm at home and then sells it to a pawn broker or another federally licensed dealer, that dealer must put a serial number on the weapon before selling it to a customer. This requirement will apply regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts, kits, or by 3D-printers.
This rule builds on the Biden Administration’s prior executive action to rein in the proliferation of ghost guns. In February 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative, which is training a national cadre of prosecutors and disseminating investigation and prosecution tool to help bring cases against those who use ghost guns to commit crimes. As President Biden said during an event at the New York Police Department headquarters, if you use a ghost gun to commit a crime “not only are state and local prosecutors going to come after you, but expect federal charges and federal prosecution as well.”
Additional executive action to reduce gun violence
Today’s final rule includes two additional actions to make our communities safer.
First, the final rule ensures that firearms with split receivers are subject to regulations requiring serial numbers and background checks when purchased from a licensed dealer, manufacturer or importer. Decades ago, ATF issued a regulation defining the “frame or receiver” of a firearm as the part that is regulated by the Gun Control Act – meaning that is the part that triggers federal serialization, background check, and other requirements. At that time, many firearms in the United States were single-framed firearms, like revolvers, that house key components in a single structure. However, we have seen the increasing popularity of firearms using split or multi-part receivers that house key components in multiple structures. Some courts have recently interpreted decades-old regulatory text in a way that, if broadly applied, could mean that as many as 90 percent of firearms in the United States today would not have a frame or receiver subject to federal regulation. The final rule updates the regulatory definitions of “frame” and “receiver” to ensure that firearms using split or multi-part receivers continue to be covered by our common-sense gun laws.
Second, the final rule requires federally licensed firearms dealers to retain key records until they shut down their business or licensed activity. At that time, these dealers must transfer the records to ATF, just as they are currently required to do at the end of licensed activity. Previously, these dealers were permitted to destroy most records after 20 years, making it harder for law enforcement to trace firearms found at crime scenes. According to ATF’s National Tracing Center, on average more than 1,300 firearms a year are untraceable because the federally licensed firearms dealer destroyed the relevant records that were more than 20 years old.
Implementing the President’s comprehensive gun crime reduction strategy
This final rule is part of the President’s comprehensive gun crime reduction strategy. President Biden made more progress on executive actions to reduce gun violence than any other President during their first year in office. You can read more about the Administration’s whole-of-government approach to reduce gun crime here.
President Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget calls on Congress to deliver the funding needed to implement the President’s comprehensive strategy to reduce gun crime and make our communities safer. These additional resources will fund accountable policing, including by putting more police officers on the beat, and making essential investments in crime prevention and community violence intervention.
Congress needs to do its job by passing this budget and other essential legislation to reduce gun crime, including legislation to require background checks for all gun sales, ensure that no terrorist can buy a weapon in the United States, ban the sale and possession of unserialized firearms — ghost guns, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and repeal gun manufacturers’ protection from liability.
White House.gov. 04/11/2022.
On 06/25/2022, President Biden signed into law S.2938 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
| 06/24/2022 | Resolving differences — House actions: On motion that the House agree to the Senate amendments to the House amendment Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 234 – 193 (Roll no. 299).(text: CR H5895-5903) |
| 06/23/2022 | Resolving differences — Senate actions: Senate concurred in the House amendment to S. 2938 with an amendment SA (5099), and an amendment to the title by Yea-Nay Vote. 65 – 33. Record Vote Number: 242.(text: 06/21/2022 CR S3034-3042) |
| 05/18/2022 | Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 230 – 190, 1 Present (Roll no. 212).(text: 05/17/2022 CR H5089) |
| 03/30/2022 | Failed of passage/not agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 238 – 187, 1 Present (Roll no. 95).(text: CR H3992) |
The expanded Yahoo News tweet:
Editorial note: The following op-ed was submitted by Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States.
Americans have been through a tough few years, but I am optimistic about our country’s economic prospects. Americans’ resilience has helped us recover from the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, families are finally getting more breathing room, and my economic plan is making the United States a powerhouse for innovation and manufacturing once again.
We entered this year with inflation still too high and families concerned about prices. Tackling inflation and giving families more breathing room was and is my top economic priority. We are making important progress transitioning from historic recovery to stable, steady growth. For the last several months wages have been increasing faster than prices, gas prices are at their lowest levels since last summer, and year-over-year inflation has been slowing.
As I have said, it’s going to take time to get inflation back to normal levels, and we may see setbacks along the way. The Federal Reserve has a primary responsibility to control inflation, and I have appointed highly qualified people to lead that institution, given the critical importance of its dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices. But Americans should have confidence that my plan is working.
We are seeing the results. The economy has created more than 10 million jobs since I took office, and the unemployment rate is near a 50-year low. The unemployment rate for Black Americans and Hispanic Americans is near historic lows. The number of Americans filing for bankruptcy is half its pre-pandemic rate. 2021 and 2022 are on track to be the best and second-best years for small business applications on record.
I ran for office not just to address the economic crisis we faced in January 2021, but to rebuild the middle class and grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out. The heart of my economic strategy to strengthen the middle class is to rebuild the backbone of our economy — our nation’s industrial strength. To be a country where we make things, where we continually innovate at the cutting edge, and help create new products at lower costs for our economy and the world. To bring back the forgotten places in this country with jobs that pay a good salary and don’t all require a four-year college degree. To make everyday life more affordable, because if Americans have just a little bit of breathing room, the middle class can grow and build the strongest economy in the world.
For too long, we were told that the best way to grow our economy was for government to cut taxes for the wealthy and cut regulations for big corporations. That trickle-down vision never worked for working people; it made our economy more unequal and our supply chains more vulnerable to disruptions.
I have a different vision for our economy. A vision based on the simple idea that, when we grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not only do the poor and the middle class have a ladder up, the wealthy do too.
The economic legislation I have signed into law since becoming president is proving that when we invest in America — especially in our infrastructure, clean energy and high-growth industries that are central to our economic and national security — we can make this vision a reality, of growing our economy, creating good-paying jobs you can raise a family on and lowering costs.
Thanks to the economic agenda I have signed into law, Americans are getting to work rebuilding our roads and bridges, connecting every household to high-speed affordable internet and removing lead pipes across the country. American workers are manufacturing fiber-optic cable and steel for infrastructure projects coast to coast. We are fighting the climate crisis and creating good-paying manufacturing jobs for the clean energy future. We are investing in semiconductor manufacturing, bringing back critical supply chains from overseas, and lowering the prices of everything from cars to dishwashers. Businesses are investing billions of dollars across the country in new manufacturing lines, creating thousands of good-paying jobs.
Thanks to the hard work we’ve put in over the past year, we are lowering costs for American families. We are lowering health care premiums and prescription drug costs — including a new $35 cap on the cost of insulin that will take effect next month. We are eliminating the junk fees that increase the price Americans pay on everything from airfare and hotel rooms to banking and concert tickets, saving people money and making it easier for innovators to bring new business models to market. We are making hearing aids available over the counter, saving families as much as $3,000 per pair.
We have accomplished this while also asking the super-wealthy and profitable corporations to pay their fair share, and ensuring that no one making under $400,000 per year pays a penny more in taxes.
I recently traveled to Phoenix, where the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company announced that it is building another factory to produce advanced, cutting-edge chips for tech companies like Apple. TSMC’s investment is one of the largest in the history of the United States — what policymakers call foreign direct investment — and it is a direct result of my economic legislation, and because companies around the world know that American workers can do the job. While in Phoenix, I was joined by workers who will construct the new TSMC facility and engineers who will be employed there when the new factory opens. And I was joined by Paul Sarzoza, the owner of a cleaning business whose biggest customer is TSMC. He currently employs over 100 Americans and, thanks to the semiconductor deal, he plans on hiring more in the new year. Economists call that a “multiplier effect.” I call it my economic plan at work.
There’s no denying that it’s been a rough few years, with a global pandemic and global inflation that have lasted longer than almost anyone expected. But as we look back on 2022 — and look forward to what lies ahead — I have never been more confident about what the American people and the American economy can achieve.
YahooNews.com. 12/22/2022.
As Christmas Eve and Christmas are happening over the weekend; I’m telling you all now to have a great Christmas weekend. Hard to believe when we meet again there will only be a handful of days left in 2022!
Love you all, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and look forward to ringing in 2023 with you!
Bonus Christmas Songs…
This is an Open Thread.
