Biden Bits: Investing in America…

Biden Tweets Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.


I won’t lie it’s Monday; I didn’t prep my Biden Bits over the weekend like I should have; frankly, I’m getting more and more bored with covering them. It’s not that they are too much work. They aren’t. Simple fact is context isn’t necessarily needed to understand the words coming out of his thumbs or his interns’ thumbs. They are coherent thoughts almost always “opinions”.

So today, I’ve decided to attempt to bunch like with like and see where that takes us…

Mississippi Tweets:

From Friday…

The YouTube is 21 minutes and 30 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.

From Saturday…

From Sunday…

The video snip is 1 minute and 21 seconds long.

From his remarks:

[Snip]

Multiple tornadoes are — tore through Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee last Friday night. The most powerful came through Rolling Fork.

It stayed here just a little over three minutes. Just imagine. Look it. I mean, I know those you who have been through it know. Three minutes. Three minutes, this neighborhood is basically gone. The stores, everything — gone.

[Snip]

And, folks, I know there’s a lot of pain and that it’s hard to believe, at a moment like this, this community is going to be rebuilt, and rebuilt and built back better than it was before.

The resilience of this community has been remarkable. And I just want you to know, as you fight through this, you’re not alone. The American people will be with you. They’ll help you through it, and so will I.

[Snip]

That’s why I’m here, why your Congress are here, why the governor is here.

We’re focused on — now on making sure you’ve got the place to sleep, food to eat, helping you rebuild your lives in *Rolling Stone [Fork].

[Snip]

That’s why right now we have 300 federal personnel on the ground, including FEMA’s Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams to ensure a well-coordinated response to get you the assistance you need. We’re walking through damaged neighborhoods to find people in need and help them re- — they’re — they’re walking through now — going on, if there’s any doors to knock on or people standing there, just to find out where everyone in that house was or is.

[Snip]

But long term, I know this is your community. This is where you built your lives. And we’re going to make sure you can stay right here.

[Snip]

There’s nothing we can do to heal the hole in your hearts left by the 13 people who passed, many of whom I met their families: Melissa Price [Pierce]. Lonnie Price [Pierce]. Mary Bush. Doris [Deloris] Harris​​. David Moore​​. Phyllis Maxey​​. Daryl — excuse me — Daryl Purvis​​. Linda Herman. Erica Moore. Brenda Odoms​​. April Johnson. Lavette [Lavetta] Herman. And Wendy [Wanda] Kelly.

[Snip]

But I’ve heard incredible stories about the spirit of these families and the resilience and your bravery. The town of *Rolling Stone [Fork] will be back, and we’ll be with you every step of the way.

[Snip]

So, God bless you all. And God bless our first responders. Thank you

White House. 03/31/2023.

*An audience member points out he said Rolling Stone twice*

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Rolling Fork.

THE PRESIDENT: And I — Ro- — what did I say? I did — I said “Rolling Fork.” “Rolling Stone.” I got my mind going here. (Laughter.)

White House. 03/31/2023

From the White House:

Statement from President Joe Biden on Devastating Tornado Deaths in Mississippi (03/25/2023).

Readout of President Joe Biden’s Calls with Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves and Members of the Mississippi Congressional Delegation (03/25/2023).

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Mississippi Disaster Declaration (03/26/2023).

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Amends Mississippi Disaster Declaration (03/31/2023).


Investing in America and Economy Tweets:

From Friday…

His full statement:

We are making progress in the fight against inflation. Today’s report shows annual inflation down by nearly 30 percent from this summer, against a backdrop of low unemployment and steady growth. The fight against inflation isn’t over, and every day my Administration is working to give families more breathing room. After decades of talk in Washington, we are taking historic action to lower prescription drug costs for seniors, capping insulin at $35 and allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices. In February we saw the lowest food inflation in nearly two years.

Just as we are working to bring costs down, we are working to build America up by investing in strong supply chains and good jobs here in America. My Investing in America agenda is creating good-paying jobs for the long term – good jobs in every community whether or not you have a 4-year college degree. These are jobs that we can be proud of as we rebuild the country with modern infrastructure, supply chains, and manufacturing here at home.

We should continue to invest in America from the middle out and the bottom up. This is not the time to turn back to trickle-down economics by cutting American manufacturing and other critical programs American families count on, just to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, Big Pharma, and Big Oil. The last thing our economy needs right now is the reckless threat of a chaotic default. Those threats must be taken off the table.

White House.gov. 03/31/2023.

From Saturday…

The video snip is 55 seconds long.

From Remarks by President Biden at the SBA Women’s Business Summit (03/27/2023).

Last year, I went up to Syracuse, New York, where I went to school.  Micron Technology, a big semiconductor chip manufacturing, is investing $100 billion to build a huge manufacturing facility — a so-called “mega fab.”  Well, guess what?  It’s going to create 9,000 good-paying jobs. 

I met a woman named Shawni Davis.  She studied at Syracuse University.  Her dad introduced her to electrical work.  He was an electrician.  She joined the IBEW — the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, completed her apprenticeship, was the first Black woman in the city to become a master electrician.  Now she owns her own electrical business.  (Applause.)

And with Micron — with Micron making this huge investment in Central New York thanks to the law we passed and pushed, that means more opportunity for her company and her workers.

And here’s what she said.  She said, “I’m a small business now, but I’m not planning to stay a small business.”  (Laughter.)

Well, all of you in this room know that kind of determination.  That entrepreneurial drive is the heart of America’s spirit.  And we have to be unleashing it by helping more women entrepreneurs launch their businesses and achieve their dreams.

White House.gov. 03/27/2023.

From Sunday…

From Monday (today):

American Rescue Plan.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
Inflation Reduction Act.
CHIPS and Science Act.


Gun Tweets

From Friday

It is common sense which is how come you can sue them. Sometimes the lawsuit works, other times it doesn’t. It’s like with car companies–blender makers–McDonald’s…

There is nothing stopping someone from attempting to sue someone.

None of the above means I don’t think something needs done about gun violence. I do think something needs done. It just means that I believe lifting a protection that doesn’t truly exist is the way to do it.

It’s like the way I feel about Section 230–it honestly does almost nothing the right seems to think it does. Removing Section 230 would not in fact give us more freedumbs it would take freedumbs away…

From Sunday…


Transgender Day of Visibility & LGBTQI+ Tweets:

From Friday…

From Saturday…

We covered Transgender Day of Visibility in Friday’s Biden Bits.

H.R.5 – Equality Act

Summary:

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. 02/25/2021.

Actions:

DateActions Overview
02/25/2021Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 224 – 206 (Roll no. 39).(text: CR H634-637)
02/18/2021Introduced in House

The Not Like Each Other Tweets

From Friday…

It’s a 1 minute and 15 second that’s worth hitting the play button. I will ruin it if I transcribe it.


From Saturday…

FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Provides Communities Resources to Bolster Resilience to Wildfires in Advance of 2023 Fire Season (03/20/2023):

U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of the Interior, and other agencies continue government-wide effort to protect communities from the threat of wildfires
 

Today, Vice President Harris, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and White House Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu announced $197 million in funding awards to make communities more resilient to wildfires and strengthen the federal, state and local response.  The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new Community Wildfire Defense Grant program – a $1 billion new initiative funded under the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and derived from legislation the Vice President authored in the Senate.

These funds will help over 100 at-risk communities in 22 states and seven Tribes develop and implement plans to protect themselves from wildfires. Activities funded include developing or updating a community’s Wildfire Protection Plan or implementing projects outlined in a community’s existing plan – such as removing overgrown weeds or dead vegetation from around homes, properly marking evacuation routes in preparation for smoky conditions, identifying invasive species that create fire risk like invasive bamboo, or clearing brush from around power poles.

As the President noted in the State of the Union last month, the changing climate has caused an increase in the number of wildfires that burn across the American West each year – often devastating disadvantaged communities in high-risk areas. In 2022, nearly 70,000 fires burned over 7.5 million acres. In response, the Biden-Harris Administration has directed the federal investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to target the communities at greatest risk. 86 of the 100 grants announced for communities today are also going to areas considered underserved – in-line with the Administration’s commitment to Justice40.

This announcement follows the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) release of $50 million in new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding on March 17th for wildfire management and hazardous fuels treatments this year, which will help limit the severity of wildfires in at-risk areas. This funding will advance collaborative wildfire risk management efforts with private landowners, Tribes, states and local governments, help communities acquire slip-on tank units, support special pay supplements for federal wildland firefighters, and expand remote sensing for wildfire detection. These investments build on the $228 million in fiscal year 2023 funding allocated in December by the Department and $180 million allocated in fiscal year 2022.  

These combined announcements from the DOI and USDA – in addition to the Administration’s efforts to identify priority landscapes for hazardous fuels removal, raise wildland firefighter pay, invest in new technologies through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to better detect and stop wildfires, and strengthen our federal, state, and local capacity to respond to wildfires and remove hazardous materials – are making the communities safer in advance of this fire season. Last year DOI and USDA coordinated to treat over 3.5 million acres in high-risk areas – in line with a 5- and 10-year national strategy – to limit the threat of wildfires to communities. With help from state, local, and Tribal partners, they are on-pace to do even more this year.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act included over $7 billion in funding for the USDA, DOI, and NOAA to enhance our ability to mitigate and respond to wildfires. 

Wildland Fire Resilience & Response a Priority in the President’s Budget
The Biden-Harris Administration remains intensely focused on limiting the damage wildfires have on communities this fire season – and will use all available resources to protect homes, our economy, and the environment from climate-induced natural hazards. As part of the President’s 2024 budget request, he called on Congress to:

White House.gov. 03/20/2023.
  • Permanently increase pay for wildland firefighters – initially supplemented for 2 years through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – and provide them with the health – including mental health – resources that they need to do dangerous jobs. These first responders save lives, protect communities, and serve on the frontlines of our nation’s wildfire crisis;
  • Provide housing for wildland fire personnel, who often struggle to find affordable housing options in hard to reach locations where they fight fires to protect communities;
  • Increase funding for hazardous fuels treatment at the U.S. Forest Service by 28% above 2023 enacted levels; and,  
  • Increase the Department of the Interior’s wildland fire and hazardous fuels management funding 21% above 2023 enacted levels.

Learn More About the Administration’s Approach to Wildfire Resilience

To learn more about the Federal government’s plan to respond to the increasing threat of wildfires, see the Department of Agriculture’s 10 Year Strategy to Confront the Wildfire Crisis – made possible through the fund provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also created the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission and charged it with making recommendations to improve federal policies related to the mitigation, suppression, and management of wildland fires in the United States, as well as the rehabilitation of lands devastated by wildland fire. Learn more about their work and the U.S. Fire Administration here

White House.gov. 03/20/2023.

From Sunday…

His full statement:

Jill and I are praying for everyone impacted by the devastating storms this weekend.

While we are still assessing the full extent of the damage, we know families across America are mourning the loss of loved ones, desperately waiting for news of others fighting for their lives, and sorting through the rubble of their homes and businesses.

I’ve directed my team to bring every element of the federal government together to help with immediate needs and long-term rebuilding. Early this morning, I approved an expedited major disaster declaration to quickly provide Federal assistance to the people of Arkansas. This weekend, I reached out to Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and spoke with Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr., and Wynne Mayor Jennifer Hobbs of Arkansas as well as Governor John Carney of Delaware to let them know that my administration will do everything we can to help, as long as it takes. I also spoke with my FEMA Administrator, who already has teams on the ground and is in Arkansas today to coordinate Federal response and recovery efforts. We are working closely with the state of Indiana and other impacted states as they assess damages, and stand ready to respond to any additional requests for Federal assistance.

There’s nothing we can do to heal the hole left in the hearts of far too many families who lost loved ones this weekend, but we will be there every step of the way as they rebuild and recover.

White House.gov. 04/02/2023.

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Arkansas Disaster Declaration (04/02/2023)

Early this morning, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Arkansas and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms and tornadoes on March 31, 2023.

The President’s action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Cross, Lonoke, and Pulaski.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding also is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work in the counties of Cross, Lonoke, and Pulaski.

Lastly, Federal funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Mr. Roland W. Jackson of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been appointed to coordinate Federal recovery operations in the affected areas. 

Damage assessments are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed.

Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated areas can begin applying for assistance at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362), or by using the FEMA App. Anyone using a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, can give FEMA the number for that service. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV

White House.gov. 04/02/2023.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is being dragged over a tweet. I had debated not posting it, but the tweets screen grab is being shared all over any mention of the horrible storms.

It is real…


President Biden’s public schedule for Monday 04/03/2023:

9:00 AMThe President receives the President’s Daily Briefing
Biden Residence, Wilmington, DE Closed Press
9:45 AMOut-of-Town Pool Call Time
Biden Residence, Wilmington, DE Out-of-Town Pool
11:00 AMThe President departs Delaware Air National Guard Base en route to Hennepin County, Minnesota
New Castle National Guard Base Out-of-Town Pool
12:00 PMPrincipal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton will gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Hennepin County, Minnesota
New Castle National Guard Base Out-of-Town Pool
1:40 PMThe President arrives in Hennepin County, Minnesota (12:40 PM Local)
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Open Press
3:05 PMThe President tours Cummins Power Generation Facility (2:05 PM Local)
Cummins Power Generation, Fridley, MN Out-of-Town Pool
3:35 PM RemarksThe President discusses how his economic agenda has led to the strongest job growth in history, over $435 billion in major private sector investments nationwide, stronger supply chains here at home, and a Made in America manufacturing and clean energy boom (2:35 PM Local)
Cummins Power Generation, Fridley, MN Open Press
5:40 PMThe President departs Hennepin County, Minnesota en route to Joint Base Andrews (4:40 PM Local)
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Out-of-Town Pool

Currently there is no YouTube for the audio only press gaggle.

President Biden’s remarks are scheduled for 3:35 p.m. D.C., time.


This is an Open Thread.

About the opinions in this article…

Any opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this website or of the other authors/contributors who write for it.

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