President Biden’s public schedule for 10/24/2024:
| 10:00 AM The White House Closed Press The President receives the President’s Daily Brief |
| 1:10 PM Joint Base Andrews Overhang Out-of-Town Pool Out-of-Town Pool Call Time |
| 1:35 PM Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 2:00 PM South Lawn Open Press The President departs the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews |
| 2:20 PM Joint Base Andrews Out-of-Town Pool The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 3:05 PM Philadelphia International Airport Open Press The President arrives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 3:15 PM Philadelphia International Airport Out-of-Town Pool The President departs Philadelphia International Airport en route to Northeast Philadelphia General Landing Zone |
| 3:30 PM Philadelphia Out-of-Town Pool The President arrives to Northeast Philadelphia General Landing Zone |
| 4:30 PM Philadelphia Open Press The President delivers remarks on his Administration’s historic support for unions |
| 5:30 PM Philadelphia International Airport Out-of-Town Pool The President departs Philadelphia, Pennsylvania en route to Wilmington, Delaware |
| 5:55 PM New Castle National Guard Base Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaThe President arrives in Wilmington, Delaware |
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Gaggle Aboard Air Force One @1:35 PM D.C., time:
Union Pensions Tweet
From Friday…
Folks like Marsha and Roger bust their necks to keep America moving.
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 1, 2024
It's my job to protect the pensions you all worked so damn hard for. And that’s exactly what Kamala and I have done. pic.twitter.com/KD5yqXjgLQ
The video clip is 1 minute and 29 seconds long. He Facetimes with Marsha and Roger. I will not be transcribing the conversation.
From the White House…
11/01/2024:
President Biden travels to Philadelphia to announce over 29,000 union workers and retirees covered by a Pennsylvania-based pension plan will have their benefits protected.
Today President Biden will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to announce that the Biden-Harris Administration has protected more than 1.2 million pensions because of the American Rescue Plan’s (ARP) Butch Lewis Act, according to a new report from the Department of Labor. During the visit, President Biden will announce actions to prevent cuts to the earned pension benefits of 29,000 United Food and Commercial (UFCW) workers and retirees, primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan – which zero Republicans voted for – the Biden-Harris Administration has protected the pensions of over 65,000 Pennsylvanians, 80,000 Michiganders, 78,000 New Yorkers, 73,000 Illinoisans, 63,000 Ohioans, 63,000 Californians, 42,000 Floridians, 38,000 Missourians, 36,000 Texans, and many more to date.
The President’s announcement in Philadelphia comes after the Vice President announced the protection of pension benefits of over 22,500 union workers and retirees under the Detroit Carpenters Pension Fund last month.
Last week, President Biden spoke with Pennsylvania residents Roger Custer, a retired Teamster, and his wife, Marsha. Roger’s earned pension benefits were cut by hundreds of dollars per month in 2019, but because of the American Rescue Plan, Roger’s pension benefits were fully restored and protected for decades to come.
Since they took office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have fought hard to protect union workers and ensure a secure retirement for every American. The ARP’s Butch Lewis Act pension protections – called the Special Financial Assistance program – will provide security for roughly 2 million workers and retirees, ensuring their pensions remain solvent and will be able to pay the full benefits that these workers have earned over the next several decades. Additionally, for retirees who previously suffered cuts to their earned benefits due to their pension plans becoming insolvent, or to avoid future pension plan insolvency, the Butch Lewis Act restores their benefit level and makes them whole for previous losses.
Today’s announcement will save the workers and retirees covered by the UFCW Tristate Pension Fund from an estimated reduction to their earned benefits of 15% on average beginning within four years. Instead, thanks to ARP, the plan will now pay full benefits to workers and retirees into at least the 2050s.
The President also will highlight new data from the Department of Labor’s report showing the historic progress in delivering pension security for union workers and retirees that finds:
FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces 1.2 Million Pensions Protected Under Biden-Harris Administration, Celebrates Historic Support for Unions. 11/01/2024.
- More than 120,000 retirees who otherwise would have continued to suffer or would have seen new reductions in their earned pension benefits have instead received an average of roughly $13,600 each in earned benefits so far that were protected or restored thanks to President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’s American Rescue Plan. The Butch Lewis Act is restoring benefits levels, making retirees whole for previous benefit cuts, and preventing additional cuts that would have resulted from new plan insolvencies suffered through no fault of their own. That includes thousands of Western Pennsylvania Teamster retirees who saw their benefits cut by up to 30% back in 2019.
- Workers and retirees in plans receiving assistance from the Butch Lewis Act had suffered or faced projected average cuts of 41% to their monthly pension benefits, with many facing cuts to earned benefits as large as 70% or more.
- Union workers and retirees across many industries have had their pension benefits protectedto date, including:
- Nearly 620,000 workers and retirees in Teamster pension plans,
- More than 152,000 workers and retirees in UFCW pension plans,
- More than 103,000 workers and retirees in Bakers and Confectionery worker pensions plans,
- Over 89,000 workers and retirees in United Steelworker pension plans,
- Tens of thousands of workers and retirees in Communications Worker of America (55,000), Musicians (49,000), and Carpenters (29,000) pension plans, among many more.
The pension protection legislation included in President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’s American Rescue Plan was named after veteran and retired Teamster Butch Lewis (1951-2015) for his role in fighting to protect union retirees’ pensions from harsh benefit cuts through no fault of their own. Ultimately, the Butch Lewis Act is expected to ensure roughly 2 million workers’ and retirees’ pension plans remain solvent and will be able to pay the full benefits that workers have earned through at least 2051, making its inclusion in the ARP the most significant effort to protect the solvency of the multiemployer pension system in 50 years.
Today’s announcement builds on historic actions President Biden and Vice President Harris have taken to support union workers. While the prior Administration rolled back overtime protections and appointed union busters to the National Labor Relations Board, this Administration has expanded overtime protections for millions of workers, appointed worker advocates to the National Labor Relations Board, and also ensured federal dollars are going to create good jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union and that federal construction projects are built using a project labor agreement. The Biden Administration has also expanded worker protections and safety, made it easier to organize and collectively bargain, provided funding to increase registered apprenticeship programs, and is making sure the Administration’s historic infrastructure investments are built with American-made construction materials and create good jobs. And, the Administration worked to protect and strengthen Social Security and the retirement plans of hardworking Americans, including by taking action to ensure retirement advisors act in the financial interest of retirement savers. The President also signed SECURE 2.0 into law, which encourages more employers to offer retirement plan benefits to their workers and makes it easier for Americans to save for retirement.
Ensuring that union workers and their families enjoy the retirement security they earned through a lifetime of work is just one of the ways that the Biden-Harris Administration has kept its commitment to workers and delivered on being the most pro-union administration in American history.
FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces 1.2 Million Pensions Protected Under Biden-Harris Administration, Celebrates Historic Support for Unions. 11/01/2024.
I omitted the chart that breaks down what each state got.
President Biden Delivers Remarks on his Administration’s Historic Support for Unions @4:30 PM D.C., time:
World Series Tweet
From Thursday…
A season full of heart and total team work, congrats to the @Dodgers on bringing the World Series trophy back to Los Angeles! https://t.co/ITGWE3tIY7
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 31, 2024
Inflation/Campaign Tweets
From Thursday…
Inflation has now fallen to 2.1% – nearly at its 2% target.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 31, 2024
While critics said we needed a recession to lower inflation, we did it while creating 16 million jobs and growing our economy at the fastest rate of any presidential term in the 21st century.
While we fight to lower costs by building millions of homes, lowering health insurance premiums, and making child care more affordable –
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 31, 2024
Congressional Republicans are fighting for billionaire tax breaks and a national sales tax that would cost families $4,000 a year.
From the White House…
Statement from President Joe Biden on September 2024 PCE
Inflation has now fallen to 2.1%—nearly at its 2% target. While critics said we needed a recession to lower inflation, instead inflation has come down while our economy has grown more than 12% over the course of my Administration—the fastest rate of any presidential term in the 21st century. Incomes are up almost $4,000 after accounting for inflation, and gas prices are down to $3.13 per gallon and below $3 in 21 states.
We have more to do. We will keep fighting to lower costs by building millions of new homes, lowering health insurance premiums, and making child care more affordable. Congressional Republicans are fighting for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations, while raising costs on families by nearly $4,000 a year with across-the-board tariffs that would cause inflation to skyrocket. They have a cost-raising agenda—we have a cost-cutting agenda.
Statement from President Joe Biden on September 2024 PCE. 10/31/2024.
From the BEA. gov
10/31/2024:
Personal Income and Outlays, September 2024:
Personal income
Personal income increased $71.6 billion (0.3 percent at a monthly rate) in September, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (tables 2 and 3). Disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $57.4 billion (0.3 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $105.8 billion (0.5 percent).
The PCE price index increased 0.2 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent (table 5). Real DPI increased 0.1 percent in September and real PCE increased 0.4 percent; goods increased 0.7 percent and services increased 0.2 percent (tables 3 and 4).
The increase in current-dollar personal income in September primarily reflected increases in compensation and personal current transfer receipts that were partly offset by decreases in personal interest income and proprietors’ income (table 2).
The $105.8 billion increase in current-dollar PCE in September reflected an increase of $72.1 billion in spending for services and an increase of $33.7 billion in spending for goods (table 2). Within services, the largest contributors to the increase were health care and housing and utilities (led by housing). Within goods, the largest contributors to the increase were other nondurable goods (led by prescription drugs), food and beverages, and motor vehicles and parts (led by new light trucks). These increases were partly offset by a decrease in gasoline and other energy goods. Detailed information on monthly PCE spending can be found on Table 2.4.5U.
Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $106.3 billion in September (table 2). Personal saving was $1.00 trillion in September and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.6 percent (table 1).
Prices
From the preceding month, the PCE price index for September increased 0.2 percent (table 5). Prices for goods decreased 0.1 percent and prices for services increased 0.3 percent. Food prices increased 0.4 percent and energy prices decreased 2.0 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent. Detailed monthly PCE price indexes can be found on Table 2.4.4U.
From the same month one year ago, the PCE price index for September increased 2.1 percent (table 7). Prices for goods decreased 1.2 percent and prices for services increased 3.7 percent. Food prices increased 1.2 percent and energy prices decreased 8.1 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 2.7 percent from one year ago.
Real PCE
The 0.4 percent increase in real PCE in September reflected an increase of 0.7 percent in spending on goods and an increase of 0.2 percent in spending on services (table 4). Within goods, the largest contributor to the increase was other nondurable goods (led by prescription drugs). Within services, the largest contributor to the increase was food services and accommodations (led by purchased meals and beverages). Detailed information on monthly real PCE spending can be found on Table 2.4.6U.
Updates to Personal Income and Outlays
Estimates have been updated for July and August. Revised and previously published changes from the preceding month for current-dollar personal income, and for current-dollar and chained (2017) dollar DPI and PCE, are provided below.
Personal Income and Outlays, September 2024. 10/31/2024.
I will likely have to repeat myself on Monday…
But, the Jobs Report was released today…
From the BLS.gov
11/01/2024:
It basically stayed the same as September…
Total nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in October (+12,000), and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued to trend up in health care and government. Temporary help services lost jobs. Employment declined in manufacturing due to strike activity.
This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note.
[snip]
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for August was revised down by 81,000, from +159,000 to +78,000, and the change for September was revised down by 31,000, from +254,000 to +223,000. With these revisions, employment in August and September combined is 112,000 lower than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)
Employment Situation Summary. 11/01/2024.
Technical Notes:
From the White House…
11/01/2024:
Statement from President Joe Biden on the October 2024 Jobs Report
In October, unemployment was unchanged at 4.1%, but the devastation from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and new strike activity, lowered job growth. Job growth is expected to rebound in November as our hurricane recovery and rebuilding efforts continue. In addition, I want to congratulate the leadership of the Machinists and Boeing for negotiating a new contract proposal that will be voted on by union members. Machinists at Boeing have sacrificed over the years and deserve a strong contract.
America’s economy remains strong, with 16 million jobs created since I took office, including an average 180,000 jobs created each month over the last year—more than the year before the pandemic. We have the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years, our economy has grown more than any presidential term this century, incomes are up $4,000 over prices, and inflation has fallen nearly to its 2% target.
There’s more work to do. We are working every day to lower costs for working families on rent, prescription drugs, health insurance, and child care. Congressional Republicans, however, are proposing a national sales tax that would cost families nearly $4,000 a year, hurt American manufacturing, and cut hundreds of thousands of jobs. They are fighting for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations—we are fighting to grow the middle class.
Statement from President Joe Biden on the October 2024 Jobs Report. 11/01/2024.
Investing in America Tweet
From Thursday…
Baltimore, when you see this port now – cranes in the air, ships and cargo on the move – I hope you feel what I feel.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 31, 2024
Pride.
Pride in your community.
Pride in our country. pic.twitter.com/ngTewykxQS
The video clip is 1 minute and 29 seconds long.
Remarks by President Biden on How His Investing in America Agenda is Rebuilding Infrastructure, Tackling the Climate Crisis, and Creating Good-Paying Jobs | Baltimore, MD; the YouTube is 55 minutes and 42 seconds long.
You know, last spring, in the dead of night, that massive container ship crashed into the Key Bridge. Within seconds, steel beams crumbled into the harbor like toothpicks. Thirty thousand people lost their daily route to work, to school, and to home. Twenty thousand port-related paychecks became at risk.
Six construction workers were killed in the process. All were Marylanders: hardworking, strong, and selfless. I met with their families, as many of you did. And I vowed to them we would never forget the contributions these men made to this city and that we wou- — and we’d do everything possible to reopen this port as fast as it possibly could be.
And I’m proud to say, with all the folks sitting — assembled here and the unions assembled here, you did just that. The Port of Baltimore is back open for business.
[snip]
Let me close with this. When I — when I see this port now — cranes in the air, ships and cargo on the move — I hope and feel what I hope you feel: a real sense of pride. I mean it sincerely. Pride. Pride in your community. Pride in our country. Pride in the capacity of our labor unions.
[snip]
I know because generations of Bidens lived here since the 1850s. My dad was born here. He always told me the true measure of a person is not how often you get knocked down; it’s how fast you get back up. That’s Baltimore. It gets back up fast. (Applause.) That’s Maryland. It gets back up. (Applause.)
Remarks by President Biden on How His Investing in America Agenda is Rebuilding Infrastructure, Tackling the Climate Crisis, and Creating Good-Paying Jobs | Baltimore, MD; the YouTube is 55 minutes and 42 seconds long. 10/29/2024.
Hallo-READ Tweet
From Thursday…
Happy Hallo-READ from Jill and me! pic.twitter.com/JEzp36GiJO
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 31, 2024
The YouTube is 1 hour and 12 seconds long.
From the White House…
10/30/2024:
The President and First Lady Welcome Trick-or-Treaters to the White House for “Hallo-READ!”
The First Lady’s theme, “Hallo-READ!,” highlights the spooktacular thrill of reading
On Wednesday, October 30th, the President and First Lady are hosting a Halloween event that will welcome local students and military-connected children to the White House for trick-or-treating. A teacher for 40 years, including years spent as a reading specialist, First Lady Jill Biden created this year’s theme, “Hallo-READ!,” with the White House’s festive décor featuring famous literary tales and spooky story time. Dr. Biden’s theme encourages families and children to once again grab a flashlight, pick out their favorite Halloween book, and relish in the spooktacular thrill of reading together.
Children will trick-or-treat along the South Lawn of the White House up to the South Portico to receive both candy and books from the President and First Lady, as well as other White House friends and neighbors, including representatives from: Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of the Interior, Department of State, Department of the Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Endowment for the Humanities, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, National Archives, Smithsonian, Executive Office of the President, the White House Medical Unit, and the White House Military Office.
Approximately 8,000 guests will participate in this year’s Halloween event at the White House, with each family receiving candy treats provided by the National Confectioners Association and its member companies. Instacart is providing overall support for the Halloween celebration, in addition to supplying Halloween tote bags and treats to each child. The company will also distribute bookmarks with healthy eating tips in coordination with DC Central Kitchen.
In a nod to this year’s “Hallo-READ!” theme, each family will also receive donated books from Scholastic to read and enjoy. Costumed characters will stroll the South Lawn for the Halloween festivities, including Corduroy, Peter Rabbit, Madeline, Barney, Disney friends Stitch and Angel, Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers, and others.
The White House will be decorated with autumnal foliage, with pumpkins and mums provided by the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA), jack-o-lanterns, stacks of books, and multi-dimensional displays of literary tales. The IFPA will be providing apples and baby carrots to trick-or-treaters as well. Lawn games and a spooky story time corner will be a part of the Halloween festivities again this year, featuring special guests reading their favorite books of the season to children and families, as well as live pumpkin carving demonstrations by Pumpkin Sculptor Deane Arnold. Readers will include First Lady Jill Biden, the Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden, Hocus Pocus actress Kathy Najimy, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre, plus authors and illustrators Jane O’Connor, Robin Preiss Glasser, Pete Oswald, Katie Messner, Dan Santat, Tracey Baptiste, Ana Aranda, Hanh Bui, and others!
The President and First Lady Welcome Trick-or-Treaters to the White House for “Hallo-READ!”. 10/30/2024.
This is an open thread
