Biden Bits: “Keep Fighting to”…

It’s Monday…

EXACTLY 1 WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! 🌟🎄🎅

👇👇 Visit our website to see the LIVE countdown
🕒 https://t.co/08kJVAWqc2 🎄🎅 pic.twitter.com/5ivNpCUkHG

— Your Christmas Countdown (@christmas_clock) December 18, 2023

President Biden’s public schedule for 12/18/2023:

6:00 AM	Out-of-Town Pool Call Time Out-of-Town Pool
11:00 AM Presidential Daily Brief	The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing Closed Press

Ukraine Tweet

From Friday…

The entire world is watching what we will do.

Let’s show them who we are and what we stand for.

America stands for freedom today, tomorrow, always.
American stands against tyranny and oppression.
America stands with the people of Ukraine.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 15, 2023

From the White House…

12/12/2023:

• Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine

• Readout of Vice President Harris’s Meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine

• Remarks by President Biden and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine Before Bilateral Meeting; the YouTube 4 minutes and 45 seconds long.

• Remarks by President Biden and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine in Joint Press Conference; the YouTube is 26 minutes and 36 seconds long.

House Republicans/Economy/”Bidenomics” Tweets

From Friday…

After wasting weeks trying to find a new Speaker of the House and expelling their own members, House Republicans have left for the holiday without funding the government.

The American people deserve better.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 15, 2023

From Saturday…

I don’t look at the economy through the eyes of Wall Street or Park Avenue. I look at it through the eyes of the people I grew up with in Scranton, PA, and Claymont, DE.

Here's how we've been lowering costs so hardworking Americans get the breathing room they deserve:

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

The tweets in the thread are a look back set of tweets…

Junk fees may not matter to the wealthy, but they matter to working Americans.

We've cracked down on hidden junk fees to lower the cost of everyday living.

Now you’ll notice differences this holiday season with more upfront pricing. pic.twitter.com/XKEi7L7pPr

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

The above 1 minute and 40 second tweeted video was first posted to Twitter on 11/18/2022:

Junk fees cost Americans tens of billions of dollars every year. Weighing down family budgets and making it harder for people to pay their bills. Imagine, like millions of Americans this time of year, you’re planning to take your family on a trip to visit your grandparents for the holidays.

First, you go to book your flight and search for the best price. But you later find out the airline charges you an extra 50 bucks, so you can sit next to your child on a flight. Or an additional $50.00 because you need to check a bag.

Second, you go online to buy a ticket for a holiday show the whole family’s been waiting to see. When you go to pay for it you’re charged an additional hundred dollars in fees on top of the list price for the tickets. That’s another $100.00.

Third, you realize that grandma and grandpop need better internet service to send videos they took of their grandkids. You go online and find a better internet plan, but because you still have time left on the internet contract you originally had, you get hit with a $100.00 early termination fee.

Fourth, you go to check out at the hotel you’ve been staying at, only to find out that hotel has tacked on a resort fee to your bill. That’s another $100.00.

Fifth, you go to drop off the rental car at the end of the trip and you see you’ve been charged $100.00 in airport and other fees you had no idea about.

These surprise fees that your family didn’t plan for. And that’s why my administration is taking action to eliminate and reduce these so-called “junk fees”. We’re requiring airlines and travel sites, and internet companies to do a better job of disclosing the prices and fees up front. And calling out companies that rely on these types of fees.

@POTUS Tweet. 11/18/2023.

My Administration has also taken action to protect consumers from being misled or exploited.

We've made it clear that bank fees for services like checking your account balance are illegal.

And I announced we’re cracking down on junk fees in retirement investment advice. pic.twitter.com/h1Uz2Y9kzo

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

The video clip is 37 seconds long.

Remarks by President Biden on Protecting Americans’ Retirement Security; The YouTube is 19 minutes and 16 seconds long (10/31/2023):

Today, the Department of Labor is proposing a new rule, meaning that when you pay someone for retirement advice, they must give you advice that’s in your best interest, not whether it gets them the best payday.

[snip]

If they don’t, if they breach their fiduciary duty, they could face serious penalties, including having to pay restitution and additional financial penalties.  

[snip]

It will protect seniors from being exploited.  It will protect many trustworthy financial advisors out there who are doing the right thing from unfair competition.  Now they won’t be undercut by competitors willing to use deception or underhanded tactics to make a profit.

White House.gov. 10/31/2023.

From the Department of Labor…

10/31/2023:

• US Department of Labor announces proposed rule to protect retirement savers’ interests by updating definition of investment advice fiduciary

From the White House…

10/31/2023:

• FACT SHEET: President Biden to Announce New Actions to Protect Retirement Security by Cracking Down on Junk Fees in Retirement Investment Advice
• Remarks by President Biden on Protecting Americans’ Retirement Security; the YouTube is 19 minutes and 16 seconds long.

Every American deserves peace of mind that if illness strikes or an accident occurs in their family, they can afford the care they need.

We lowered health care premiums for millions of families covered by the ACA.

That’s an average saving of $800 a year for 15 million people.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

From the White House…

12/14/2023:

• FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces Dozens of Pharma Companies Raised Prices Faster than Inflation, Triggering Medicare Rebates

• The Congressional Republican Agenda on Prescription Drugs: Giveaways to Big Pharma and Higher Costs for Seniors and Families

• Remarks by President Biden on Progress to Lower Prescription Drug Costs; the YouTube is 15 minutes and 52 seconds long.

This year, I was proud to announce the first 10 drugs eligible for negotiation.

These medications provide critical help for folks with diabetes, blood cancers, arthritis and more.

Reducing the cost of these 10 drugs alone would help more than 9 million Americans. pic.twitter.com/J5Orncmzhm

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

From the White House…

08/29/2023:

• FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces First Ten Drugs Selected for Medicare Price Negotiation

08/30/2023:

• WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Elected Officials, Labor Leaders, Aging Advocates, Health and Advocacy Groups, And More Applaud Administration’s Prescription Drug Announcement 

I signed an Executive Order and my Admin took action so now you’ll see hearing aids on store shelves – saving folks as much as $3,000 per pair.

That’s life changing for Americans like Don, and for the 30 million who stand to benefit from making hearing aids more affordable.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

From the White House…

07/09/2021:

• FACT SHEET: Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy

• Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy

For more info on the Competition Council visit White House.gov.

I’m fighting every day and calling on corporations to pass on savings to consumers.

These actions we took this year are part of my larger economic vision for the country.

It's about growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up – not the top down.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

*end thread*

We need to continue our progress on the economy and make sure inflation keeps going down and job growth keeps going up.

That means avoiding self-inflicted economic crises like the government shutdown Republicans in Congress are driving us toward.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

While Congressional Republicans fight for the wealthy and big corporations, leaving hardworking families to pay the price, I’ll keep fighting to bring down costs and grow our economy with a strong middle class.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

I’m a capitalist.

I have no problem with companies making reasonable profits.

But not on the backs of seniors and working families.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 16, 2023

From Sunday…

Instead of fighting to lower costs for families, Republicans in Congress are fighting to increase profits for Big Pharma.

They’re fighting to lower taxes for the wealthy and corporations.

And they're fighting to cut Medicare and Social Security.

That’s just wrong.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 17, 2023

Imagine trying for decades to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid instead of working with us to lower the costs of insulin and prescription drugs.

That's Congressional Republicans.

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 17, 2023

The laws that = “Bidenomics”…

American Rescue Plan (03/11/2021).
Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (11/15/2021).
Inflation Reduction Act (08/16/2022).
CHIPS and Science Act (08/09/2022).

SAFER Grant Tweet

From Sunday…

After the Philly Fairmount fire, I told city officials I would do everything I could to bring Ladder 1 back into service.

As of this week, the neighborhood once again has a ladder company on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to keep them safe.

I kept my promise. pic.twitter.com/WTY5pLvDZR

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 17, 2023

The video clip is 45 seconds long.

Remarks by President Biden on the City of Philadelphia receiving a SAFER Grant Award to Fund the Philadelphia Fire Department | Philadelphia, PA; the YouTube is 21 minutes and 52 seconds long. President Biden begins his remarks at the 13 minute and 35 second mark:

Look, before I begin, I have to make an admission and full disclosure: I — I would not be here were it not for my local fire company in Wilmington, Delaware.  They saved my life.  I had a cranial aneurysm.  I wasn’t ex- — it was the middle of a snowstorm.  Not a joke. 

[snip]

During the pandemic, we invested $350 billion in [from] the American Rescue Plan and — and my administration.  States and cities could use it to keep firefighters on the job, including here in Philly.

I also signed a budget providing $360 million each for both the Assistance to Fire Fighters Grant Program and the SAFER Grant Program for hundreds of emergency response vehicles and thousands of protective equipment called “turnout gear.”

[snip]

And helped put almost 1,200 more local firefighters in the field and across the country.

[snip]

And starting today, for the first time in nearly 15 years, this neighborhood once again has a ladder company on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year ready to keep them safe.

[snip]

And I promise you: We’re not stopping here.  We’re going to keep going.

White House.gov. 12/11/2023.

This is an Open Thread.