Biden Bits: “Is Ironclad”…

April 15, 2024 12:00 pm EDT Tiff Biden Tweets (Open Thread) Comments Off on Biden Bits: “Is Ironclad”…
Biden Tweets Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

It’s Monday…

President Biden’s public schedule for 04/15/2024:

10:00 AM
Presidential Daily Brief		The President receives the President’s Daily Brief
Closed Press
12:00 PM
Bilateral Meeting		The President holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed Shyaa Al-Sudani of the Republic of Iraq
Oval OfficeIn-House Pool Spray
1:30 PM
Press Briefing		Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
3:00 PM
Bilateral Meeting		The President holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic
Oval Office In-House Pool Spray

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre @1:30 p.m. D.C., time:


National Action Network Convention Tweets

From Friday…

Remarks by President Biden to the National Action Network Convention; the YouTube is 12 minutes and 57 seconds long. President Biden begins his virtual remarks at the 5 minute mark.

Met Tanya and Chad/Student Loan Forgiveness Tweet

From Friday…

*Flashback*

We met Tanya and Chad in October of 2023…

From Biden Bits…

10/04/2023:

The video is 2 minutes and 18 seconds long. In the video we meet Tanya and Chad. Tanya in May of this year wrote a letter to President Biden thanking him for his student loan forgiveness program. The text on the screen reads *$73,000 of student loans forgiven*. Tanya was very excited to speak with President Biden.

I will not be transcribing the video.

*End Flashback*

The in person meeting video is 1 minute and 24 seconds long. Like our original meeting, I will not be transcribing the video. Tanya was still very excited to meet President Biden this time in person to give him a hug.

From Monday…

From the White House…

04/08/2024:

Tax Day/Presidential Budget Tweets

From Saturday…

From the White House…

04/15/2024:

FACT SHEET: This Tax Day, the Tax Contrast Couldn’t Be Clearer:

House Republicans Want the Tax Code to Work for the Wealthy; President Biden Wants It to Work for the Middle Class

This Tax Day, President Biden is fighting for hardworking families, while House Republicans continue to side with the wealthy and big corporations. Since taking office, President Biden has made the tax system fairer: cutting taxes for families and workers, enacting a minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations, and investing in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) so that it can better serve taxpayers and crack down on wealthy tax cheats. If Congress enacted President Biden’s tax plan, tens of millions of workers and families would have their taxes cut, nobody making less than $400,000 would pay a penny more in taxes, and the wealthy and big corporations would finally pay their fair share—which would fully pay for the President’s tax cuts and investment agenda.

In sharp contrast, the Republican Study Committee—which represents 80% of House Republicans and 100% of their leadership—just released an extreme budget that sides with the wealthy and large corporations, with $5.5 trillion in tax cuts skewed to the richest Americans, doubling down on the failed approach of the Trump tax cuts. If their extreme proposals became law, millions of families would face higher taxes and higher costs, and receive worse customer service from the IRS. Meanwhile, billionaires and the biggest corporations would get huge tax cuts and get away with cheating on their taxes. House Republicans would help billionaires while hurting families by cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other programs hardworking Americans count on.

FACT SHEET: This Tax Day, the Tax Contrast Couldn’t Be Clearer. 04/15/2024.

President Biden Would Make the Wealthy and Big Corporations Pay Their Fair Share, While Cutting Taxes for Working Families and the Middle Class

The President’s plan would build on his progress to date, including proposals to:

  • Make corporations pay their fair share by raising the corporate tax rate to 28% and the Inflation Reduction Act’s corporate minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations to 21%, cracking down on tax avoidance by large multinationals and Big Pharma, denying corporate tax breaks for multi-million-dollar executive compensation, quadrupling the stock buybacks tax, and cracking down on corporate jet loopholes.
  • Make the wealthy pay their fair share by requiring billionaires to pay at least 25% of their income in taxes, modestly raising taxes on the wealthy to fund the Medicare trust fund permanently, and ending the Trump tax cuts for the richest taxpayers.
  • Cut taxes for working families and the middle class by increasing the Child Tax Credit for 66 million children, which would lift 3 million children out of poverty; cutting taxes for 19 million working-class Americans by strengthening the Earned Income Tax Credit; and making permanent the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that are lowering health insurance premiums by about $800 per year for millions of Americans. These tax cuts are fully paid for by making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share.
  • Make sure the IRS works for Americans by continuing to improve customer service and crack down on wealthy tax cheats. This filing season, the IRS has achieved a 3-minute call wait time, saved taxpayers 1.4 million hours of hold times with expanded call back availability, increased in-person tax preparation support by more than 200,000 returns, and successfully launched a Direct File pilot that lets Americans file their taxes online easily and for free, directly with the IRS. The IRS has also collected more than $500 million in unpaid taxes from around 1,000 delinquent millionaires and billionaires, launched enforcement action against 25,000 millionaires who have not filed a tax return since 2017, and cracked down on high-end tax evasion like deducting personal use of corporate jets as a business expense. President Biden is fighting to continue investing in the IRS, which will enable it to collect hundreds of billions of dollars in additional revenue over the next decade.
  • Ensure no one earning less than $400,000 a year sees a tax increase, while rejecting plans to extend tax cuts or restore tax breaks for those making more than $400,000 a year, and fully paying for all tax cut extensions by making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share, not tax increases on the middle-class or magical growth assumptions.

House Republicans Would Slash Taxes for the Wealthy and Big Corporations, Raise Taxes on Millions of Americans, and Cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

The extreme Republican budget proposes $5.5 trillion in tax cuts skewed to the wealthy and big corporations, including:

  • Cutting taxes for the wealthy by making Trump tax cuts permanent, resulting in an average tax cut of at least $175,000 a year for the top 0.1 percent and costing $3 trillion.
  • Cutting taxes for businesses by more than $600 billion on top of the massive Trump tax cuts, which have completely failed to trickle down to workers.
  • Cutting taxes for billionaires and worsening wealth inequality by eliminating the estate tax, which currently applies to only the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans, those with assets over $13.6 million per person ($27.2 million per couple).
  • Reversing two of President Biden’s major achievements for tax fairness: a 15% minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations and a tax on stock buybacks that encourages companies to invest in their workers and the American economy rather than windfalls for investors.
  • Blocking the President’s global minimum tax agreement in order to keep taxes low for big multinationals, including Big Pharma.
  • Rewarding wealth, not work, by cutting capital gains taxes, overwhelmingly benefitting the wealthiest Americans.
  • Making it easier for the wealthy and big corporations to cheat on their taxes by eliminating the Inflation Reduction Act’s investment in the IRS.

While cutting taxes for billionaires, the extreme Republican budget would make devastating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other programs hardworking Americans count on, and raise taxes on millions of middle-class families, including:

FACT SHEET: This Tax Day, the Tax Contrast Couldn’t Be Clearer. 04/15/2024.
  • Eliminating the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credit would raise the cost of health insurance for millions of Americans by an average of about $800 per year, including older people and self-employed workers.
  • Repealing the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits, which would raise taxes by thousands of dollars for families installing a heat pump or solar panels.
  • Making it harder for honest Americans to pay their taxes by rescinding the funding that has enabled the IRS to reduce phone wait times from 28 minutes to just 3 minutes, answer nearly 3 million more calls than two years ago, and serve 200,000 more taxpayers in person.

From Monday…

From the White House…

03/11/2024:

South Asian Southeast New Year Tweet

From Saturday

Iran Attacks Israel Tweets

From Saturday…

From the White House…

04/13/2024:

Statement from NSC Spokesperson Adrienne Watson on Attacks Against Israel:

Iran has begun an airborne attack against Israel.  President Biden is being regularly updated on the situation by his national security team and will meet with them this afternoon at the White House.  His team is in constant communication with Israeli officials as well as other partners and allies.  This attack is likely to unfold over a number of hours.  President Biden has been clear: our support for Israel’s security is ironclad.  The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.

Statement from NSC Spokesperson Adrienne Watson on Attacks Against Israel. 04/13/2024.

Statement from President Joe Biden on Iran’s Attacks against the State of Israel:

Earlier today, Iran—and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq—launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel. I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms.

At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week.  Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles. 

I’ve just spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu to reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.  I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel.

Tomorrow, I will convene my fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.  My team will engage with their counterparts across the region.  And we will stay in close touch with Israel’s leaders.  And while we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people.

Statement from President Joe Biden on Iran’s Attacks against the State of Israel. 04/13/2024.

From Sunday…

From the White House…

04/14/2024:

G7 Leaders’ Statement on Iran’s Attack Against Israel:

We, the Leaders of the G7, unequivocally condemn in the strongest terms Iran’s direct and unprecedented attack against Israel. Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles towards Israel. Israel, with the help of its partners, defeated the attack.

We express our full solidarity and support to Israel and its people and reaffirm our commitment towards its security.

With its actions, Iran has further stepped toward the destabilization of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation. This must be avoided. We will continue to work to stabilize the situation and avoid further escalation. In this spirit, we demand that Iran and its proxies cease their attacks, and we stand ready to take further measures now and in response to further destabilizing initiatives.

We will also strengthen our cooperation to end the crisis in Gaza, including by continuing to work towards an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas, and deliver increased humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in need.

G7 Leaders’ Statement on Iran’s Attack Against Israel. 04/14/2024.

The video clip is 55 seconds long. I will not be transcribing the video. The gist is he thanks them for their part in helping defend Israel.

From the White House…

04/14/2024:

Readout of President Biden’s Call with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan:

President Biden spoke today with His Majesty King Abdullah II about the situation in the Middle East. President Biden strongly condemned the attack launched by Iran that also threatened Jordan and the Jordanian people. Both leaders noted that they continue to monitor the situation and will remain in close touch over the coming days. They also discussed the situation in Gaza, and reaffirmed their cooperation to increase critical humanitarian assistance to Gaza and to find a path to end the crisis as soon as possible.

Readout of President Biden’s Call with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan. 04/14/2024.

Trilateral Meeting Tweet

From Monday…

The video clip is 1 minute and 6 seconds long.

From the White House…

04/11/2024:

Remarks by President Biden, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Republic of the Philippines, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan Before Trilateral:

 Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, today we mark a historic moment: the first-ever leaders’ summit between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines.  And it’s truly an honor to have you both here as we begin this new era of a partnership.

As you’ve heard me say before, a great deal of history in our world will be written in the Indo-Pacific over the coming years and the three — as the three allies, three steadfast partners, and three proud democracies representing a half a billion people.  And, today, we commit to writing that story and a future together, to building an Indo-Pacific that is free, open, prosperous, and secure for all.

[snip]

Second, we are deepening our maritime and security ties.  This is something I know you’ve discussed with Vice President Harris during her travel to the Indo-Pacific.  And I want to be clear: The United States — The United States’ defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad.  They’re ironclad.

As I’ve said before, any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels, or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our Mutual Defense Treaty.
 
Finally, I’m proud to announce we’re launching an economic corridor in the Philippines as part of the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.  This is the first corridor in the Indo-Pacific.  It means more jobs for people across the entire region.  It means more investment in sectors critical to our future: clean energy, ports, railroads, agriculture, and much more.

[snip]

To put it simply, when we stand as one, we’re able to forge a better future for all.  And that’s what this new trilat is all about, in my view: building a better future for people across the Indo-Pacific and, quite frankly, beyond — around the world.

So, thank you both for being here.  And I look forward to this first summit and many more in the years ahead.

Remarks by President Biden, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Republic of the Philippines, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan Before Trilateral. 04/11/2024.

From the White House…

04/12/2024:

Joint Readout of Inaugural U.S.-Philippines 3+3 Meeting:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, and Philippine National Security Advisor Eduardo M. Año in Washington, DC today. The meeting followed President Biden’s bilateral meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and the historic Japan-Philippines-United States Trilateral Leaders’ Summit on April 11.

The parties reaffirmed their shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and discussed ways to deepen coordination regarding shared challenges in the South China Sea, including repeated harassment of lawful Philippine operations by the People’s Republic of China. Secretary Blinken, Secretary of Defense Austin, and National Security Advisor Sullivan reiterated the United States’ ironclad commitment to the U.S.-Philippine Alliance and recalled that the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.  The parties underscored their determination to increase U.S. support for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to improve interoperability and to achieve our shared security objectives. The parties further decided to explore additional opportunities to strengthen global support for upholding the international law of the sea.

Joint Readout of Inaugural U.S.-Philippines 3+3 Meeting. 04/12/2024.

“New” from the White House…

04/12/2024:

04/13/2024:

04/15/2024:

This is an Open Thread.

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About Tiff 2560 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.