It’s Friday…
President Biden’s public schedule for 02/09/2024:
| 9:00 AM Presidential Daily Brief | The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing The White House Closed Press |
| 10:00 AMPool Call Time | In-Town Pool Call Time The White House In-Town Pool |
| 1:00 PM Press Briefing | Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby James S. Brady Press Briefing Room |
| 1:30 PM | Out-of-Town Pool Call Time The White House Out-of-Town Pool |
| 3:00 PM Bilateral Meeting | The President hosts Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany for a bilateral meeting at the White House Oval Office In-House Pool Spray |
| 5:10 PM | Supplemental Pool Call Time New Castle National Guard Base |
| 5:40 PM Leaves the White House | The President departs the White House en route to New Castle, Delaware South Lawn Open Press |
| 6:35 PM Arrives in New Castle | The President arrives in New Castle, Delaware New Castle National Guard Base Out-of-Town Pool |
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and John Kirby @1:00 p.m. D.C., time:
VP Harris is Cool/Black History Month Celebration Tweets
From Thursday…
We are so fortunate to have a real leader, a true friend, and a historic Vice President in Kamala Harris.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 8, 2024
We couldn’t do this without you, Kamala. pic.twitter.com/WbZAACWuye
From Friday…
All of us are created equal in the image of God.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 9, 2024
And while we’ve never fully lived up to it – we’ve never fully walked away from it either. pic.twitter.com/cGv4xR97GF
The video clip is 39 seconds long.
Remarks by President Biden at a Reception in Recognition of Black History Month; the YouTube is 15 minutes and 30 seconds long.
Kamala just talked about the power of Black history that is an American history. Black excellence, culture, resilience. Heroes known and unknown who inspired a nation.
But as Kamala described, you know, as you — all of you know, that proud history has always been shadowed by sinister forces — always — trying to erase our history, trying to deny freedoms to — those who seek to dim the brilliance of our nation’s North Star.
That’s the very idea of America — the very idea of America. And you know that we’re all created equal, in the image of God, deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. We’ve never fully lived up to that, but we’ve never walked away from it before — because of you and your ancestors before you and because of all of the progress we’ve made together, building a democracy that recognizes the inherent dignity of all of us.
White House.gov. 02/06/2024.
House Democratic Caucus Tweet
From Thursday…
Tune in as I deliver remarks at the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference. https://t.co/N9cAB8o1oZ
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 8, 2024
The YouTube is 24 minutes and 33 seconds long. President Biden’s remarks begin at the 7 minute and 34 second mark. The White House has not posted his remarks at this time.
Affordable Connectivity Program Tweet
From Thursday…
One in six American households is saving $30-$75 each month on their internet bills because of our Affordable Connectivity Program.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 8, 2024
If it expires, millions may no longer be able to get online at a lower cost.
We can't let that happen.
From the White House…
02/06/2024:
As part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, a key component of Bidenomics, the Biden-Harris Administration has made historic progress towards lowering costs – including internet costs – for American families across the country. The Affordable Connectivity Program, enacted under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as the largest internet affordability program in our nation’s history, is now helping 23 million households – 1 in 6 households across America – save $30-$75 each on their monthly internet bills. And, because the Biden-Harris Administration worked with internet providers to offer high-speed internet plans that are fully covered by the Affordable Connectivity Program, most eligible households can now get high-speed internet for free.
However, without action from Congress, this program will sunset this spring and millions of Americans may no longer be able to afford high-speed internet service. On October 25, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration sent Congress a supplemental request for $6 billion to extend funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program. Tomorrow, the FCC will be pausing new enrollments in the program. This means that households that can’t afford high-speed internet and haven’t yet signed up will stay stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide—unless Congress acts. The Biden-Harris Administration continues to call on Congress to pass legislation that would extend free and discounted high-speed internet for eligible households through 2024.
In the 21st century, affordable, reliable high-speed internet is critical in order to access education, healthcare, and work, engage in precision agriculture, and keep in touch with loved ones. Still, too many are left without high-speed internet because they lack the infrastructure or are inhibited by high costs. In particular, these inequities impact underserved communities, rural communities, veterans, and older Americans where the lack of affordable, reliable high-speed internet contributes to significant economic, health and other disparities.
Thanks to the Affordable Connectivity Program, the Administration has made historic progress toward closing the digital divide for communities that have been left behind for too long.
White House.gov. 02/06/2024.
Key stats on enrollment include the following:
- Nearly half of the households benefitting from ACP are military families.
- Four million seniors and 10 million Americans over the age of 50 benefit from this program every month.
- 1-in-4 households participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program are African American and 1-in-4 households are Latino.
- The Affordable Connectivity Program provides an enhanced monthly subsidy to 320,000 households on Tribal lands, where high-speed internet is generally more expensive.
They end the fact-sheet with a break down of those benefiting from the program by state. I did not copy the links over.
Special Counsel Report Released Tweet
From Thursday…
Join me as I deliver remarks. https://t.co/evtJ6wk4nF
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 9, 2024
The YouTube is 12 minutes and 38 seconds long. The White House is behind in posting transcripts.
President Biden’s full statement on the Hur Report:
The Special Counsel released today its findings about its look into my handling of classified documents. I was pleased to see they reached the conclusion I believed all along they would reach – that there would be no charges brought in this case and the matter is now closed.
White House.gov. 02/08/2024.
This was an exhaustive investigation going back more than 40 years, even into the 1970s when I was a young Senator. I cooperated completely, threw up no roadblocks, and sought no delays. In fact, I was so determined to give the Special Counsel what they needed that I went forward with five hours of in-person interviews over two days on October 8th and 9th of last year, even though Israel had just been attacked on October 7th and I was in the middle of handling an international crisis. I just believed that’s what I owed the American people so they could know no charges would be brought and the matter closed.
Over my career in public service, I have always worked to protect America’s security. I take these issues seriously and no one has ever questioned that.
As y’all know Special Counsel Robert Hur released his report on President Biden’s handling of classified material. The PDF of the report is 388 pages long.
I’ve not finished my reading of the report.
The only take away I have so far, is Hur starts the report saying President Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified material” while a “public citizen”. That happens on pg. 5. We when get to PDF pg. 204 of the report Hur says…
He continues to say President Biden as private citizen Biden willfully retained classified documents but then on PDF pg. 208 section III headline reads: THE EVIDENCE FALLS SHORT OF ESTABLISHING MR. BIDEN’S WILLFUL RETENTION OF THE CLASSIFIED AFGHANISTAN DOCUMENTS BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT…
Hur also explains starting on PDF pg. 14 the differences between President Biden’s case and Twice Impeached 45’s case…
I’m gonna end it there, since I still haven’t read the whole thing…
Welcome German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Tweet
From Friday…
Looking forward to welcoming my friend German Chancellor Olaf Scholz back to the White House today for a bilateral meeting.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 9, 2024
Nothing regarding the meeting will be posted until later today.
“New” from the White House…
02/08/2024:
- Remarks by President Biden at a Campaign Reception | New York, NY
- Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, February 8, 2024; the YouTube is 44 minutes and 32 seconds long.
02/09/2024:
- FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Over $5 Billion from the CHIPS and Science Act for Research, Development, and Workforce; the YouTube is 34 minutes and 56 seconds long.
This is an open thread
