President Biden’s public schedule for Monday 02/13/2023:
| 9:00 AM | The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing The White House Closed Press |
| 9:30 AM | In-Town Pool Call Time The White House In-Town Pool |
| 1:00 PM | Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre James S. Brady Press Briefing Room |
Press Briefing:
President Biden has tweeted…
He’s posted 3 tweets so far for Monday…
All three can be found in his State of the Union remarks 02/07/2023…
President Biden: Third, let’s do more to keep this nation’s one fully sacred obligation: to equip those we send into harm’s way and care for them and their families when they come home. Job training, job placement for veterans and their spouses as they come to — return to civilian life. Helping veterans to afford their rent, because no one should be homeless in America, especially someone who served the country. (Applause.)
Note: He tweeted the same thing on Friday.
President Biden: Democracy must not be a partisan issue. It’s an American issue. Every generation of Americans have faced a moment where they have been called to protect our democracy, defend it, stand up for it. And this is our moment.
This 3rd tweet is only partly related to his State of the Union but I’m running late and yeah…
President Biden: Folks, we all know 12 years of education is not enough to win the economic competition of the 21st century. (Applause.) If we want to have the best-educated workforce, let’s finish the job by providing access to preschool for three and four years old. Studies show that children who go to preschool are nearly 50 percent more likely to finish high school and go on to earn a two- or four-year degree, no matter their background they came from. Let’s give public school teachers a raise. (Applause.)
When the post was posted for Friday, President Biden had tweeted 4 times. He added 8 tweets giving him a Friday Tweeting Total of 12 tweets and 0 retweets.
The pair offered remarks before their bilateral meeting. The YouTube is 13 minutes and 2 seconds long.
Their full remarks:
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Mr. President, I’m honored to welcome back to the White House — welcome you back. It’s a great pleasure having you here.
Both our nations’ strong democracies have been tested of late — very much tested — and our institutions are put in jeopardy. But both in the United States and Brazil, democracy prevailed.
When we spoke in January, I affirmed my commitment to our relationship. And when we spoke about our mutual agendas, they sound very similar.
I affirmed the United States’ unwavering support for Brazil’s democracy and respect for the free will of the Brazilian people.
We’re the two largest democracies in the hemisphere. Brazil, the United States stand together, we reject political violence, and we put great value in our democratic institutions.
And I believe, as we said at the time, together, that we have to continue to stand up for democracy — for democratic values that form the core of our strengths, not just in our hemisphere but around the world.
And the rule of law, freedom, and equality, these are the core principles we both believe in.
Our shared values and our strong ties between our people make Brazil and the United States, especially here in the big, global challenges, they put us on the same page, but particularly, especially climate — the climate crisis.
And thank you, Mr. President, for your commitment to advancing our partnership. This is an important moment for both our countries, in my view, and for the world, quite frankly.
And I’m looking forward to spending some time with you.
Thank you for being here.
PRESIDENT LULA: (As interpreted.) Well, Mr. President Biden, besides repositioning Brazil in a new world of geopolitics — because Brazil isolated itself for four years — I have three things to say to you, sir.
First of all, to thank you very much for your solidarity and for acknowledging my — when I was sworn into office.
Second, I want to acknowledge your posture in the defense of democracy.
And last but not the least, to congratulate you because of your speech in the State of the Union two days ago. It would fit very well if that speech was made in Brazil.
You know, Mr. President, that Brazil self-marginalized itself for four years. The former president didn’t enjoy to keep international relations with any country. His world started and ended with fake news — in the morning, afternoon, and at night. It seems that he despised international relations.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Sounds familiar. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT LULA: (As interpreted.) And Brazil is a country that has no (inaudible) — any litigation with any country in the world.
Brazil is a country that people enjoy peace, democracy, work, and Carnival, and samba, and a lot of joy.
This is the Brazil that we’re trying to reposition in the world.
The U.S. represents a lot of — has a lot of meaningful relations with Brazil. It’s an extraordinary relationship — political relationship, economic, and trade — a strong trade relationship, and very much so in the cultural relationship.
Now we have some problems, some issues that we have to work together.
First of all, never more allow that there should be a new chapter written again on the Capitol invasion here. And never more should happen what happened in Brazil, with the invasion of the National Congress, the President’s Palace, and the Supreme Court building.
The second thing that we can work together — we should work together — is to fight inequality, the racial issue. And I see that, once in a while, this is practiced — racism — in the U.S. and many other countries in the world, and in Brazil too, especially the youth — the Black youth that live in the periphery in Brazil. Many times, they are victims of the lack of government intervention and support of the state.
The violence that exists in the periphery, it’s the absence of the state government with public policies — so that we can guarantee some dreams for the youth.
The third issue is the climate change issue. We do have a commitment since 2009, in Copenhagen, when I participated in the COP15, and we took the pledge to reduce deforestation in Brazil in 80 percent, to diminish the greenhouse emissions effect in 39 percent. And we have fulfilled that promise during my term and during President Dilma’s term.Well, in the last years, the rainforest in the Amazon was invaded by political lack of rationality — human irrationality — because we had a president that would send people to deforest. Gold-diggers — illegal gold-diggers entry Indigenous People’s reserves. Gold digging — illegal gold digging in Indigenous People’s reserves — reserves that exist in the rainforest, in the Amazon.
White House.gov. 02/10/2023.
And I took a pledge that, until 2030, we will reach zero deforestation in the rainforest, in the Amazon. We will take all the endeavors to transform the Amazon, not a shrine for the humanity, but a center for research, shared with all the rest of the world so that we can benefit of the wealth and biodiversity that exists in the Amazon, so that we can transform this wealth in the improvement of the lives of the people that live in the Amazon rainforest.
So that is to say: To take care of the Amazon rainforest today is to take of the planet Earth. And to take care of the planet Earth is to take care of our own surviving. And that’s why, all of us, we have the obligation to leave to our sons and daughters and grandsons a better world than the one we received.
So a tree that is there for 300 years, no one owns that tree; no one can cut that tree. It’s an asset of the humanity. That tree is there to guarantee the survival and subsistence of the planet.
So that’s why we are going to take very seriously this policy.
Mr. President, I’d like to say one more thing. It’s necessary that we establish a new kind of conversation so that we can build a world governance that would be more stronger, because the climate change issue, if we don’t have a strong global governance that can make decisions and that all countries should abide to — if we don’t do that, it’s not going to work.
I don’t know what form this will happen. I don’t know if it’s at the U.N. or it’s at the G20 meetings or the G8 meetings, but something we have to try so that we can oblige the countries, our national domestic Congress, our business actors, that they should abide to the decisions that we make at global levels.
If this doesn’t happen, Mr. President, all our discussions on climate change will suffer great harm — damage. And I don’t think we have much time. It’s urgent. We need to take an attitude.
In Brazil, we’ll do whatever it’s possible to be done.
I can reassure you, Mr. President, that the U.S. and the rest of the world can count on Brazil in the fight for democracy and the fight for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest.
This is not a government program. This is a faith commitment of someone that believes in humanism, someone that believes in solidarity.
I don’t want to live in a world where humans become algorithms. I want to live in a world where human beings are human beings. And for that, we have to take care very carefully what God gave us: that is the planet Earth.
Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Thank you.
The White House posted the following joint-statement:
Today, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. of the United States and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Federative Republic of Brazil met in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, the two leaders reaffirmed the vital and enduring nature of the U.S.-Brazil relationship and underscored that strengthening democracy, promoting respect for human rights, and addressing the climate crisis remain at the center of their common agenda.
White House.gov. 02/10/2023.
As leaders of the two largest democracies in the Americas, President Biden and President Lula pledged to work together to strengthen democratic institutions and welcomed the second Summit for Democracy to be held in March 2023. Both leaders noted they continue to reject extremism and violence in politics, condemned hate speech, and reaffirmed their intention to build societal resilience to disinformation, and agreed to work together on these issues. They discussed common objectives of advancing the human rights agenda through cooperation and coordination on such issues as social inclusion and labor rights, gender equality, racial equity and justice, and the protection of the rights of LGBTQI+ persons. They also committed to reinvigorating the U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality to mutually benefit marginalized racial, ethnic, and Indigenous communities, including people of African descent, in both countries.
Both leaders are determined to place urgent priority on climate change, sustainable development, and the energy transition. They recognize the leading role Brazil and the United States can play cooperating both bilaterally and multilaterally, including under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. Presidents Biden and Lula recalled the Joint Initiative on Climate Change established in 2015, which created the high level United States-Brazil Climate Change Working Group (CCWG). They decided to instruct the CCWG to reconvene as early as possible to discuss areas of cooperation, such as fighting deforestation and degradation, enhancing the bioeconomy, bolstering clean energy deployment, strengthening adaptation actions and promoting low carbon agriculture practices. As part of these efforts, the United States announced its intent to work with Congress to providefunds for programs to protect and conserve the Brazilian Amazon, including initial support for the Amazon Fund, and to leverage investments in this critical region. The leaders also expressed their determination to fight hunger and poverty, enhance global food security, foster trade and remove barriers, promote economic cooperation, and strengthen international peace and security.
They also discussed their interest in intensifying bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, energy, health, science, technology and innovation, defense, education and culture, and consular affairs, through a results-oriented approach that benefits both societies. Recognizing the importance of supply chain resilience, especially at the present global juncture, they committed to continue cooperation in this field with focused public-private dialogues.
The two leaders also discussed a wide range of global and regional issues of mutual concern. They deplored the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine by Russia and the annexation of parts of its territory as flagrant violations of international law and called for a just and durable peace. They expressed concern about the global effects of the conflict on food and energy security, especially on the poorest regions of the planet and voiced support for the full functioning of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. President Biden and President Lula affirmed their intention to strengthen cooperation in multilateral institutions, particularly in the context of the upcoming Brazilian presidency of the G20. The two leaders expressed their intent to work together toward meaningful United Nations Security Council reform, such as expansion of the body to include permanent seats for countries in Africa and in Latin America and the Caribbean in order to be more representative of the broader UN membership and enhance its ability to more effectively address the most pressing matters of global peace and security.
President Lula invited President Biden to visit Brazil, and President Biden accepted the invitation. The two leaders committed to broaden their dialogue and to pursue deeper cooperation in the lead-up to the celebration of the bicentennial of U.S.-Brazil diplomatic relations in 2024.
The next 3 tweets come from the State of the Union 02/07/2023.
The photo was taken on 02/08/2023 when President Biden visited Wisconsin to offer remarks on the economy.
President Biden: I ran for President to fundamentally change things. To make sure the economy works for everyone so we can all feel that pride in what we do. To build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down. Because when the middle class does well, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do very well. We all do well. (Applause.)
President Biden: You know, this is, in my view, a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives at home. (Applause.)
The 56 video snip also comes from his State of the Union.
President Biden: As many of you personally know, there’s no words to describe the heartache or grief of losing a child. But imagine — imagine if you lost that child at the hands of the law. Imagine having to worry whether your son or daughter came home from walking down the street or playing in the park or just driving a car. Most of us in here have never had to have “the talk” — “the talk” — that brown and Black parents have had to have with their children. Beau, Hunter, Ashley — my children — I never had to have the talk with them. I never had to tell them, “If a police officer pulls you over, turn your interior lights on right away. Don’t reach for your license. Keep your hands on the steering wheel.” Imagine having to worry like that every single time your kid got in a car.
President Biden: It’s up to us, to all of us. We all want the same thing: neighborhoods free of violence, law enfircement [sic] — law enforcement who earns the community’s trust. Just as every cop, when they pin on that badge in the morning, has a right to be able to go home at night, so does everybody else out there. (Applause.) Our children have a right to come home safely.
President Biden: Democracy must not be a partisan issue. It’s an American issue. Every generation of Americans have faced a moment where they have been called to protect our democracy, defend it, stand up for it. And this is our moment.
The National Governors Association Winter Meeting took place on 02/10/2023.
The President and Vice President offered remarks. The YouTube is 23 minutes and 20 seconds long. Their full remarks can be found here.
The day before the meeting President Biden appointed two new members to the President’s Council of Governors:
Today, President Biden announced his intent to appoint Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to the Council of Governors for two-year terms. The Council of Governors is comprised of 10 bipartisan Governors from across the country and serves as the lead forum to increase coordination around preparedness, resilience, and response between the Federal government and state governments, and strengthen the Federal-State partnership that’s critical to protecting our nation from threats to our homeland security. The Council of Governors serves as the lead forum for communication and collaboration between the States and the Federal government on homeland defense, civil support, synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States, and matters of mutual interest pertaining to the National Guard. This year, the Council of Governors will for the first-time discuss supply chain resiliency and Federal-State cooperation to mitigate risks to defense critical infrastructure.
White House.gov. 02/09/2023.
The Council includes leaders across the Federal government: the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, the Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the Commander of U.S. Northern Command. Other key Federal officials such as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are regular participants.
Governors Holcomb and Lujan Grisham will replace Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee who completed their terms on the Council of Governors.
Governors Holcomb and Lujan Grisham will join eight members of the Council of Governors who were appointed by the President in July 2021.
Members of the Council of Governors:
- Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Co-Chair
- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Co-Chair
- Delaware Governor John Carney
- Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb
- Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards
- Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
- New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
- Utah Governor Spencer Cox
- Vermont Governor Phil Scott
- Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon
Governor Eric J. Holcomb
Eric J. Holcomb currently serves as the 51st Governor of the State of Indiana. Elected by his fellow Hoosiers to a second term in 2020, he received the most votes for governor in Indiana history. Under Holcomb’s leadership, Indiana’s economy is strong, the state’s finances are honestly balanced, and the state is streamlining government services and returning dollars to Hoosier taxpayers, while simultaneously delivering significant investments and advancements in infrastructure, education, workforce, quality of life, and public health. During Holcomb’s terms, Indiana employees and employers are enjoying consecutive record-breaking years of job commitments. Holcomb serves on the Executive Committee of the Republican Governors Association and previously served as its policy chairman. In 2018, The Hill named him one of 10 governors shaping the future of politics.
White House.gov. 02/09/2023.
He is a graduate of Pike High School in Indianapolis and Hanover College in southeastern Indiana. Prior to his election as Governor in 2016, following an unprecedented 106-day campaign, Holcomb served as Indiana’s 51st Lieutenant Governor.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
Michelle Lujan Grisham currently serves as the thirty-second governor of the state of New Mexico, the first Democratic Hispanic woman to be elected governor in U.S. history. Under Lujan Grisham’s leadership, New Mexico has implemented a series of evidence-based policies aimed at transforming New Mexico’s public education system, expanding the state’s economy to include more high-quality employment opportunities, and preserving New Mexico’s air, land, and water. Lujan Grisham is building a comprehensive cradle-to-career education system, expanding cost-free child care to more New Mexico families than ever before and establishing the most expansive free college program in the country. She has prioritized economic diversification, leading the state’s booming film and television industry to record-breaking growth and bringing the state’s unemployment rate to a fifteen-year low. Prior to serving as governor, Lujan Grisham served three terms in Congress representing New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District.
White House.gov. 02/09/2023.
Lujan Grisham is a graduate of St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe and the University of New Mexico where she received her undergraduate and law degrees.
About the Council of Governors:
The Council of Governors was authorized in 2008 by the National Defense Authorization Act and formally established by then-President Obama’s Executive Order 13528 issued on January 11, 2010. The Council focuses on matters of homeland security; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of state and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest, including those involving the National Guard. Federal-State cooperation is critical to protecting communities given the evolving challenges and threats facing our country, which range from extreme weather to domestic and international terrorism to a global pandemic.
White House.gov. 02/09/2023.
The day after the meeting the White House posted the following meeting readout:
Yesterday, senior officials from the White House, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security participated in the 26th plenary meeting of the Council of Governors to discuss upcoming initiatives and priorities. Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks, White House Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall, and Senior Advisor to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Julie Chavez Rodriguez, provided opening remarks along with Co-Chair of the Council of Governors, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who welcomed two new Governors that President Biden announced on February 9, 2023 will join the Council: Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
The Council of Governors members provided and received updates on cybersecurity, emergency management and disaster response, military matters, and workforce development. The Council additionally received an overview of strategic budget trends from Undersecretary of Defense Michael McCord. The Council also discussed State and Federal cooperation to mitigate risks to defense critical infrastructure from Assistant Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Executive Director Brandon Wales, and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technology, Steve Kelly.
For the first time, Council members also received a briefing on supply chain resiliency and Federal-State cooperation to mitigate risks to defense critical infrastructure from Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Ronnie Chatterji, Undersecretary of the Department of Defense Dr. William LaPlante and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly.The Council of Governors was authorized in 2008 by the National Defense Authorization Act and formally established by then-President Obama’s Executive Order 13528 issued on January 11, 2010. The Council focuses on matters of homeland security; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of state and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest, including those involving the National Guard.
White House.gov. 02/11/2023.
The Council of Governors includes:
- Governor Tim Walz (MN), Co-Chair of the Council of Governors
- Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Co-Chair of the Council of Governors
- Governor John Carney (DE)
- Governor Eric Holcomb (IN)
- Governor John Bel Edwards (LA)
- Governor Gretchen Whitmer (MI)
- Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM)
- Governor Spencer Cox (UT)
- Governor Phil Scott (VT)
- Governor Mark Gordon (WY)
Saturday’s Tweets…
8 tweets were posted for Saturday.
State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: Folks, I know I’ve been criticized for saying this, but I’m not changing my view. We’re going to make sure the supply chain for America begins in America — the supply chain begins in America. (Applause.)
State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: In the last two years, my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion –- the largest deficit reduction in American history. (Applause.) Under the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row. Because of those record deficits, no President added more to the national debt in any four years than my predecessor.
Twitter users added context:
The first link: Fiscaldata.treasury.gov.
U.S. Deficit by Year
Since 2001, the federal government’s budget has run a deficit each year. Starting in 2016, increases in spending on Social Security, health care, and interest on federal debt have outpaced the growth of federal revenue.
From FY 2019 to FY 2021, federal spending increased by about 50 percent in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Second link CNN.com 02/08/2023…
Cutting the deficit; Biden claimed his administration cut the federal deficit by “more than $1.7 trillion.”
Facts First: Biden’s boast leaves out important context. It is true that the federal deficit fell by $1.7 trillion under Biden in the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years, including a record $1.4 trillion drop in 2022 – but it is highly questionable how much credit Biden deserves for this reduction. Biden did not mention that the primary reason the deficit fell so substantially was that it had skyrocketed to a record high under then-President Donald Trump in 2020 because of bipartisan emergency pandemic relief spending, then fell as expected when the spending expired as planned. Independent analysts say Biden’s own actions, including his laws and executive orders, have had the overall effect of adding to current and projected future deficits, not reducing those deficits.
Dan White, senior director of economic research at Moody’s Analytics – an economics firm whose assessments Biden has repeatedly cited during his presidency – told CNN’s Matt Egan in October: “On net, the policies of the administration have increased the deficit, not reduced it.” The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an advocacy group, wrote in September that Biden’s actions will add more than $4.8 trillion to deficits from 2021 through 2031, or $2.5 trillion if you don’t count the American Rescue Plan pandemic relief bill of 2021.
National Economic Council director Brian Deese wrote on the White House website in January that the American Rescue Plan pandemic relief bill “facilitated a strong economic recovery and enabled the responsible wind-down of emergency spending programs,” thereby reducing the deficit; David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds, told CNN in October that the Biden administration does deserve credit for the recovery that has pushed the deficit downward. And Deese correctly noted that Biden’s signature legislation, last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, is expected to bring down deficits by more than $200 billion over the next decade.
Still, the deficit-reducing impact of that one bill is expected to be swamped by the deficit-increasing impact of various additional bills and policies Biden has approved.
From CNN’s Daniel Dale
CNN.com 02/08/2023.
Third link FactCheck.org. 02/08/2023…
Deficit Down Due to Expiring COVID-19 Relief:
Biden boasted that he has reduced the deficit by a record $1.7 trillion.
“In the last two years, my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion – the largest deficit reduction in American history,” Biden said.
The amount of the two-year drop in deficits is accurate. The FY 2020 deficit was $3.13 trillion and the FY 2022 deficit was $1.375 trillion. That translates to a roughly $1.7 trillion drop. But the deficit in FY 2022 is still nearly 41% higher than it was in FY 2019, before the pandemic hit.
As we wrote back in April, most of the reduction in deficits is the result of expiring emergency pandemic spending. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in February 2021 — shortly after Biden took office and before any of Biden’s fiscal policies were enacted — that due to expiring pandemic relief, the combined deficits in FY 2021 and FY 2022 would total $3.31 trillion, a big decline considering that in FY 2020 the one-year total alone was $3.13 trillion. But the deficits for FY 2021 and 2022 ended up totaling $4.15 trillion. In other words, the deficits for those years ended being about $840 billion more than expected.
Biden argues that growth in the economy as a result of his policies are the reason why deficits dropped, but the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that doesn’t add up.
“100% of the deficit reduction, on net, was the result of waning COVID relief,” Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told us via email. “That’s because while higher revenue (due to inflation as much as growth!) did reduce deficits even further, additional legislative and executive actions (especially student debt cancellation, which they weirdly recorded in FY2022) and higher interest rates pushed in the other direction.” (Biden’s student debt cancellation program was paused by a District Court judge in November, and its fate will now be determined by the Supreme Court.)
In a blog post on Oct. 21, at the end of the 2022 fiscal year, CRFB said that deficits fell more than expected last year “due to a combination of lower unemployment, faster economic recovery, and higher inflation, partially offset by higher interest rates.”
But, CRFB warned, “while economic changes reduced the deficit by $310 billion in FY 2022, they will actually increase deficits by over $1.5 trillion between 2023 and 2032 under [the Congressional Budget Office’s] baseline. Factors such as higher inflation tend to increase revenues in the near-term but increase spending and push up interest costs over time. Economic changes are likely to boost deficits even further when including more recent economic data, since interest rates are now much higher and economic growth much weaker than CBO projected in the spring.”
“All said, the decline in the deficit over the past fiscal year is more than entirely the result of waning COVID relief and not of historic deficit reduction by President Biden as the White House claims,” CRFB wrote. “In fact, the President’s actions to date have increased deficits by $4.8 trillion through 2031.”
FactCheck.org. 02/08/2023.
The fourth link New York Times.com. 02/07/2023; it’s a before the Union fact-check.
WHAT MR. BIDEN SAID
“The two years since we’ve been in power, we’ve reduced the national debt, so far, $1.7 trillion in two years. The debt — $1.7 trillion. And we still grew the economy. But we did it because we paid for everything. We paid for everything, and we grew the economy at the same time.”
— in a speech on Tuesday in New YorkThis is exaggerated. Mr. Biden was referring to the federal deficit, not debt. The total debt has actually increased from $27.8 trillion on his inaugural to about $31.5 trillion as of Tuesday. But the federal deficit did decrease by $1.7 trillion, from $3.1 trillion in the 2020 fiscal year to $1.4 trillion in the 2022 fiscal year, though Mr. Biden’s fiscal policies are not the sole factor.
In fact, much of that decline can be attributed to the expiration of pandemic-era spending, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which advocates lower levels of spending. In February 2021, before the Biden administration enacted any fiscal legislation, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the deficit would have reached $1.1 trillion in the 2022 fiscal year — less than what ended up happening.
Counter to Mr. Biden’s claim that “we paid for everything,” coronavirus stimulus funding added nearly $1.9 trillion to the deficit over 10 years, the C.B.O. estimated. The budget agency also estimated that the infrastructure package added $256 billion to the deficit, though supporters disagreed with the analysis. The Inflation Reduction Act, which was the only significant piece of legislation to reduce the deficit, trimmed it by $238 billion over the next 10 years.
New York Times. 02/07/2023.
State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: Folks, the story of America is a story of progress and resilience, of always moving forward, of never, ever giving up. It’s a story unique among all nations. We’re the only country that has emerged from every crisis we’ve ever entered stronger than we got into it. Look, folks, that’s what we’re doing again.
From White House.gov/The Record…
President Biden took action to lower the cost of health care for millions of Americans. Right now, four out of five people who sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act can find health care coverage for $10 a month or less and millions of Americans on Obamacare are saving an average of $800 a year. Since he took office, there has been a combined 50 percent increase in enrollment in states that use HealthCare.gov and the nation’s uninsured rate is historically low at 8 percent. Over 16 million Americans signed up for quality, affordable health coverage, the highest number ever produced in an open enrollment period.
White House.gov/The Record.
The photo was taken during his trip to Florida to talk about social security and medicare. The tweet text comes from the State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: We have to reward work, not just wealth. Pass my proposal for the billionaire minimum tax. (Applause.) You know, there’s a thousand billionaires in America — it’s up from about 600 at the beginning of my term — but no billionaire should be paying a lower tax rate than a school teacher or a firefighter. (Applause.) No, I mean it. Think about it.
The proposal was posted by the White House on 03/28/2022:
For too long, our tax code has rewarded wealth, not work, and contributed to growing income and wealth inequality in America. Under current law, when an American worker earns a dollar of wages, that dollar is taxed as they earn it. But when a billionaire earns income because their investments increase in value, that gain is too often never taxed at all.
America’s imbalanced tax code means that many millionaires and billionaires end up paying lower tax rates than middle class workers. In 2021 alone, America’s more than 700 billionaires saw their wealth increase by $1 trillion, yet in a typical year, billionaires like these would pay just 8 percent of their total realized and unrealized income in taxes. A firefighter or teacher can pay double that tax rate.
President Biden is a capitalist and believes that anyone should be able to become a millionaire or a billionaire. He also believes that it is wrong for America to have a tax code that results in America’s wealthiest households paying a lower tax rate than working families. President Biden has long called for taxing capital gains as ordinary income and for eliminating the stepped-up basis loophole that enables the capital gains of the very wealthy to go untaxed forever. As part of his fiscal year 2023 budget, President Biden is calling on Congress to pass legislation requiring the wealthiest American households to pay a minimum of 20 percent on all of their income, including unrealized investment income that currently is untaxed.
President Biden’s Billionaire Minimum Income Tax will make America’s tax code fairer and reduce the deficit by about $360 billion in just the next decade. This will put the United States Government on firmer financial footing, building on the progress the Administration has made to reduce the deficit by over half by the end of this year compared to President Trump’s last year in office. Through the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax and other measures, the President’s budget will reduce the deficit by another $1 trillion over the decade.
The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax will require America’s wealthiest households to pay as they go, just like everyone else:
The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax will ensure that the very wealthiest Americans pay a tax rate of at least 20 percent on their full income, including unrealized appreciation. This minimum tax would make sure that the wealthiest Americans no longer pay a tax rate lower than teachers and firefighters.The tax will apply only to the top one-one hundredth of one percent (0.01%) of American households (those worth over $100 million). Over half of the revenue will come from households worth more than $1 billion.
If a wealthy household is already paying 20 percent on their full income – standard taxable income plus unrealized income – they will pay no additional tax under this proposal. If tax-free unrealized income allows a wealthy household to pay less than 20 percent on their full income, they will owe a top-up payment to meet the 20 percent minimum. As a result, this new minimum tax will eliminate the ability for the unrealized income of ultra-high-net-worth households to go untaxed for decades or generations.
The proposal allows wealthy households to spread initial top-up payments on unrealized income over nine years, and then five years for top-up payments on new income going forward. Stretching payment over multiple years will smooth year-to-year variation in investment income, while still ensuring that the wealthiest end up paying a minimum tax rate of 20 percent. Illiquid taxpayers may opt to pay later with interest.In effect, the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax payments are a prepayment of tax obligations these households will owe when they later realize their gains. This approach means that the very wealthiest Americans pay taxes as they go, just like everyone else, and eliminates the inefficient sheltering of income for decades or generations.
White House.gov. 03/28/2022.
The 30 second video snip’s voice-over was taken from his remarks prior to his meeting with the President of Brazil.
President Biden: Both our nations’ strong democracies have been tested of late — very much tested — and our institutions are put in jeopardy. But both in the United States and Brazil, democracy prevailed.
President Biden: And thank you, Mr. President, for your commitment to advancing our partnership. This is an important moment for both our countries, in my view, and for the world, quite frankly.
President Biden: We’re the two largest democracies in the hemisphere. Brazil, the United States stand together, we reject political violence, and we put great value in our democratic institutions.
State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: Look, the Inflation Reduction Act is also the most significant investment ever in climate change — ever. (Applause.) Lowering utility bills, creating American jobs, leading the world to a clean energy future.
The photo and text come from remarks he gave in Wisconsin 02/08/2023…
President Biden: My American plan — my economic plan is for the middle- and working-class Americans that get up every morning and go to work and bust their necks just trying to get an honest living.
Sunday’s Tweets…
8 tweets were posted for Sunday.
State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: And as we emerge from this crisis stronger, we’re also — got to double down prosecuting criminals who stole relief money meant to keep workers and small businesses afloat. (Applause.)
State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: But let’s also pass — let’s also pass the bipartisan Equality Act to ensure LBG- — LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender young people, can live with safety and dignity. (Applause.)
H.R.5 – Equality Act passed the House on 02/25/2021:
| Date | Actions Overview |
|---|---|
| 02/25/2021 | Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 224 – 206 (Roll no. 39).(text: CR H634-637) |
| 02/18/2021 | Introduced in House |
The summary says:
This bill prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system. Specifically, the bill defines and includes sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation.
The bill expands the definition of public accommodations to include places or establishments that provide (1) exhibitions, recreation, exercise, amusement, gatherings, or displays; (2) goods, services, or programs; and (3) transportation services.
The bill allows the Department of Justice to intervene in equal protection actions in federal court on account of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The bill prohibits an individual from being denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual’s gender identity.
Congress.gov.
State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: Look, I’m a capitalist. I’m a capitalist. But pay your fair share. I think a lot of you at home — a lot of you at home agree with me and many people that you know: The tax system is not fair. It is not fair. (Applause.) Look, the idea that in 2020, 55 of the largest corporations in America, the Fortune 500, made $40 billion in profits and paid zero in federal taxes? Zero. [AUDIENCE: Booo] Folks, it’s simply not fair. But now, because of the law I signed, billion-dollar companies have to pay a minimum of 15 percent. God love them. (Applause.) Fifteen percent. That’s less than a nurse pays. (Applause.)
State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: Look — look, look, here’s — here’s the deal. They aren’t just taking advantage of the tax code, they’re taking advantage of you, the American consumer. Here’s my message to all of you out there: I have your back. We’re already preventing Americans who are [from] receiving surprise medical bills, stopping 1 billion dollar [1 million] surprise bills per month so far. (Applause.)
State of the Union 02/07/2023…
President Biden: We’ve written a bill to stop it all. It’s called the Junk Fee Prevention Act. We’re going to ban surprise resort fees that hotels charge on your bill. Those fees can cost you up to $90 a night at hotels that aren’t even resorts. (Laughter and applause.) We — the idea that cable, Internet, and cellphone companies can charge you $200 or more if you decide to switch to another provider. Give me a break. (Applause.) We can stop service fees on tickets to concerts and sporting events and make companies disclose all the fees upfront. And we’ll prohibit airlines from charging $50 roundtrip for a family just to be able to sit together. Baggage fees are bad enough. Airlines can’t treat your child like a piece of baggage. (Applause.) Americans are tired of being — we’re tired of being played for suckers. So pass — pass the Junk Fee Prevention Act so companies stop ripping us off.
It was a good game. I enjoyed Rihanna’s performance. After the performance Rihanna’s rep confirmed she is indeed pregnant with her second child.
This is an Open Thread.
