The State of the Union of President Biden was annotated

The Story of the State of the Union: Kevin Biden and the House Republican Oppositio During the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles

The president is under fire in the polls and there is a chance of a debt default this year, but Americans are still skeptical of him. Republicans may not have a large majority in the House, but it was enough to make Kevin McCarthy the speaker and place a political opponent behind Biden’s shoulder during the speech, an important symbol of the power Republicans now hold in Washington.

Facing a national audience as he approaches a likely reelection campaign, Biden used the State of the Union to tell Americans he’s accomplished more than they may realize with massive investments in infrastructure and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Seated behind Biden, McCarthy is now the top elected Republican in the country and third in line to the presidency. He wields immense power over what can be done. They will have to work together.

Biden offered some niceties for all of the congressional leaders. Jeffries may be the first time Americans hear of him. Read more about him.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

Bipartisan spending and the good, the bad, and the ugly: Creating jobs for the poor in the last two years of the Biden presidency

Democrats lost control of the House in the last elections, prompting Pelosi to step down. It is an entirely new leadership team for the first time in years.

As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs, more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years.

This felt like a reelection pitch, asking people to look past their fears of inflation and the economy and look at the Biden years so far.

As we gather here tonight, we are writing the next chapter in the great American story, a story of progress and resilience. When world leaders ask me to define America, I define our country in one word: Possibilities.

The parties worked together on a number of issues, including much-needed infrastructure spending that had eluded many presidents and the first gun legislation in years. But they remain far apart on other issues that are top of mind, like immigration reform and government spending.

It will be more scrutiny for this type of spending now that the GOP has a majority in the House.

In fact, I signed over 300 bipartisan laws since becoming President. From reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, to the Electoral Count Reform Act, to the Respect for Marriage Act that protects the right to marry the person you love.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

The State of the Economy, the Problem with the Biden Electoral Count Act, and the Implications for the Future of the Middle Class

These are serious issues. The Electoral Count Act is designed to keep insurrection from happening again. Marriage has evolved in a generation thanks to the Respect for Marriage Act.

The people said what they had to say. Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere.

Working together is not just a request. In order to raise the debt limit, fund the government or do much of anything else, Biden will need to work with the Republicans who now control the House.

To create an economy from the bottom up and the middle out. The poor and wealthy both fare well when the middle class does well. We all do well.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

In Search of the Right Jobs: Biden’s Clues to the Federal Reserve about the 2019 Workforce Inflationary Data

A job is about more than money, as my Dad used to say. About your dignity is what it is. It’s about respect. It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, “Honey –it’s going to be OK,” and mean it.

It was a gamble for Biden to brag about the jobs data because the Federal Reserve, by raising interest rates, is actively trying to slow down the job market and raise the unemployment rate as a way to combat inflation.

Biden has claimed that his claims are accurate. The Black or African American unemployment rate was 5.4% in January 2023, just above the record low of 5.3% set in August 2019. The Hispanic or Latino unemployment rate of 4.5% was not as bad as the record low of 4% that was set in September, but it was still higher than the 4.1% rate in December.

Biden’s figures are correct; however, the “good-paying” qualifier is subjective and can’t be independently verified for each of those 800,000-plus positions.

Biden’s claim is correct. He did not mention that the gas prices were still higher when he was in office. Presidential policy doesn’t have a big impact on the price of gas, which is determined by supply and demand factors.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Why American Companies Are Creating More Business Applications in the 2021-2022 Era, and Why We Are Seeing More Jobs

This is true. This is the first year in which the federal government released this data for a full year, and it shows that there were more business applications in 2016 than the previous year. Not every application turns into a real business, but the number of “high-propensity” business applications — those deemed to have a high likelihood of turning into a business with a payroll — also hit a record in 2021 and saw its second-highest total in 2022.

The small computer chips that power everything from cellphones to automobiles, and so much more, are Semiconductors. These chips were created in America.

But in the last few decades, we lost our edge and we’re down to producing only 10%. We all saw what happened during the pandemic when chip factories overseas shut down.

Biden has made a prediction about job creation that is not within the scope of a fact check. The White House provided CNN with a list of the publicly announced investments that companies have made during the president’s time in office. Companies sometimes invest less than they initially announce.

Now we’re coming back because we came together to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest investment in infrastructure since President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System.

Replacing our highways, bridges, railroads, tunnels, ports, airports and clean water are all things that will be done with the help of these projects.

Building Back Better: Why You Shouldn’t Have to Give Up: A New Policy for Restoring America’s Most Congested Freight Route

Meet some of the many lawmakers who have done this in this CNN report from last year. Several of them include: Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and many others.

One of the nation’s most congested freight routes carrying $2 billion worth of freight every day. Folks have been talking about fixing it for decades, but we’re finally going to get it done.

White House officials made a decision to change its name to “build back better,” as Biden’s legislative agenda looked all but dead. It worked. Maybe the correlation wasn’t exactly a straight line, but Biden and his team resuscitated a scaled-back version of the economic and climate proposals that served as the cornerstone of the proposal. Flash forward to Tuesday night, and Biden had a new frame for what that agenda created: “We’re building back pride.”

We’re also replacing poisonous lead pipes that go into 10 million homes and 400,000 schools and childcare centers, so every child in America can drink clean water.

My economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten. Over the last four decades, some people have been left behind and treated as if they are invisible.

Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back, because of the choices we made in the last two years. This blue-collar plan will rebuild America and make a difference in your life.

Biden needs to convince Americans who feel left behind — perhaps the kinds of blue-collar workers who have increasingly abandoned the Democratic Party — that his plan to transition the economy away from fossil fuels and increase government spending on infrastructure will create opportunities.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

The Inflation Reduction Act Protects Families from the Death of a Child with Diabetic Asthma: A Case Study in Texas

Too many of you sleep in bed worried about what will happen if your spouse is diagnosed with cancer or if your child gets sick.

I understand. With the Inflation Reduction Act that I signed into law, we’re taking on powerful interests to bring your health care costs down so you can sleep better at night.

Every day, millions need insulin to control their diabetes so they can stay alive. 100 years ago, Insulin was around. It costs the drug companies a little bit to make a small amount.

There are many Americans who are not on medicare, including 200,000 young people with type I diabetes, who need injections to survive

This is a big issue for many Americans and is being Lobbyed by pharmaceutical companies. A consumer rights advocate and a Texas Democrat wrote that Biden was moving too slowly.

This law also caps out of pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare at a maximum of $2,000 per year if there are many cancer drugs that can cost up to $10,000, $12,000 and $14,000 a year.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

What Did Biden Tell Us About the Recent Majorana Inflation Reduction Act? And Where Did He Herise He Come From?

Biden was talking here about the massive Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Democrats, which Republicans have written off as wasteful spending. Read about what is included in the law.

Most people still get insurance from their employer, but interest in the plans offered to individuals under the new law has gone up.

CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein wrote that it was a great irony of climate change politics that red states felt more pain.

Biden has promised to not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 per year, but he has also promised to get government to do more.

We’ve learned a lot about billionaires avoiding taxes. Calls have grown to fix the tax system, but most tax laws, like the one Trump signed into law, move in the other direction, cutting taxes.

Businesses believe that raising taxes will hurt their investment back into the economy. Further raising a tax on corporate stock buybacks might encourage them to put more investment back in.

Instead of cutting the number of audits of wealthy tax payers, I signed a law that will reduce the deficit by $114 billion by cracking down on wealthy tax cheats.

Biden’s boast leaves out important context. It is true that the federal deficit fell by $1.7 trillion under Biden in the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years, including a record $1.4 trillion drop in 2022 — but it is highly questionable how much credit Biden deserves for this reduction. Biden did not mention that the primary reason the deficit fell so substantially was that it had skyrocketed to a record high under then-President Donald Trump in 2020 because of bipartisan emergency pandemic relief spending, then fell as expected when the spending expired as planned. Biden’s laws and executive orders have had the effect of adding to current and projected future deficits, according to independent analysts.

Republicans are demanding some spending cuts to raise the debt limit now they have power in the House. Economists warn that if the economy goes into a tailspin it could be because of the debt. This will be major drama until June or so, when the debt limit must be raised — or else.

My Republican friends want to take the economy hostage in order to get me to agree to their plans. All of you at home should know what their plans are.

The Republicans shouted, “no” as McCarthy shook his head. These are not the views of most Republicans, and McCarthy has said he won’t cut Medicare and Social Security. But he also must appease fringe GOP members if he wants to remain speaker.

Biden ad-libbed in response to the shouts, “Contact my office, I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.” He said that it isn’t a majority of Republicans, but that it is proposed by some of them. Biden is referring here to a controversial proposal by Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.

“Look, folks, the idea is that we’re not going to be — we’re not going to be moved into being threatened to default on the debt if we don’t respond. So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare are off the books now, right? All right. He said to the crowd that they got unanimity.

The most popular pledge by any American president is this one. Biden kept riffing. “If anyone tries to cut Social Security, which apparently no one wants to do,” he said.

We will have to wait and see what Biden’s plan actually does. Republicans would not say what specific cuts they were going to impose. McCarthy has said he would not cut the safety net programs or the defense budget.

I do not want to raise taxes on people making under $400,000 a year. I am going to make the wealthy and large companies pay their fair share so that I can pay for the ideas I have talked about.

There were multiple examples in this speech of Biden vilifying corporations and the wealthy — and a warning to them that he wants more taxes from them.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

Where I Stand: Babysitters, Low-Dimensional Pay, Early Education, Continuing Education, and Career Opportunities in the United States

Here’s my message to all of you out there: I have your back. We’re already preventing insurance companies from sending surprise medical bills, stopping 1 million surprise bills a month.

Seniors who want to stay in their homes should be given the care they need. There are millions of family caregivers looking after their loved ones.

A long screed against junk fees was probably not on anyone’s State of the Union bingo card. They are an annoyance in modern commerce.

For example, 30 million workers had to sign non-compete agreements when they took a job. So a cashier at a burger place can’t cross the street to take the same job at another burger place to make a couple bucks more.

Let’s also make sure working parents can afford to raise a family with sick days, paid family and medical leave, and affordable child care that will enable millions more people to go to work.

The Child Tax Credit gave parents some breathing room and helped cut child poverty to the lowest level in history.

These were things Democrats wanted to deliver when they were in charge of the House. To think they can do it now that they have less power sounds good in a speech, but is wishful thinking.

Democrats had designs on enacting a new universal pre-K program, but they could not get unanimous support from Democrats, much less defeat a filibuster.

Studies show that children who go to preschool are more likely to finish high school and earn a degree, no matter their background.

Provide students with two years of community college, which is the best in America, and connect them to career opportunities starting in high school, and you have a pathway to a four-year degree.

The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and how we are going to make sure our children have a safe place in the U.S.

Democrats did not create a universal community college program because they lacked the support of Republicans and their party. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who is in a reelection race in four years, became a large part of the speech despite Biden not mentioning him. It was Manchin, along with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who refused to go along with party leaders and pass a more ambitious agenda last year. Manchin did not allow the reform of the filibuster in the Senate.

And folks, in the midst of the COVID crisis when schools were closed, let’s also recognize how far we’ve come in the fight against the pandemic itself.

The total documented Covid-19 death toll in the US is more than 1.1 million. It was still the leading cause of death in the US in 2020 and the life expectancy had fallen by more than two years.

And as we emerge from this crisis stronger, I’m also doubling down on prosecuting criminals who stole relief money meant to keep workers and small businesses afloat during the pandemic.

Let’s triple the number of anti-fraud strike forces, double the statute of limitations on the crimes, and crack down on identity fraud by criminal syndicates that steal billions of dollars from the Americans.

Republicans have also promised to investigate this type of fraud. CNN reported that the benefit fraud is likely to be $60 billion.

Republicans seized on fears of violent crime in an effort to make black Americans feel less safe.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

A Moment in the Push for Gun Control: Tyre Nichols’s Mother and the First Lady Jill Biden (Varaughn & Wells)

Joining us tonight are the parents of Tyre Nichols, who had to bury him just last week. There is no words to explain the pain and grief of losing a child.

The parents of Tyre Nichols received an extended standing ovation during the address, marking an emotional moment in the push for police reform. Here, RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, who came as first lady Jill Biden’s guests, stood up and received bipartisan applause.

In the speech, there was a moving moment in which Nichols’ mother looked on and lawmakers under pressure to revive an attempt at new national policing standards.

Families of victims and civil rights groups supported my order banning chokeholds, no-knock warrants, and other key elements of the George Floyd Act.

Enhancements to background checks for those under the age of 21 and red flag laws that keep guns out of the hands of people who have a history of harming themselves and others are some things that responsible gun owners support.

Emma Tucker looked at gun control laws from the year after 2022, including the federal legislation. The foundation of state gun laws has been called into question by a recent Supreme Court ruling. The gun laws fight is not over.

He wrestled the gun away from the man who had already killed 11 people at a dance studio.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

Reply to Comment on ‘Immigration reform for the poor and working poor’ by President Biden-Sotu’

Efforts by both the Bush and Obama administrations to pass an immigration law failed. This is an issue where there is a will among Republicans and Democrats to act, although they would go in very different directions.

Let’s launch a major surge to stop fentanyl production, sale, and trafficking, with more drug detection machines to inspect cargo and stop pills and powder at the border.

If you won’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border. And a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers.

It sounded like this could happen, with both parties wanting to help the Dreamers and the Republican Party wanting to give a higher priority to border funding.

The Vice President and I are doing everything we can to protect access to reproductive health care and safeguard patient privacy. Over a dozen states are implementing extreme abortion restrictions.

The Senate is unlikely to pass a national abortion ban because it would need a 60-vote supermajority to do so and there are multiple Republicans who support some version of abortion rights.

It is important for us because it keeps the peace and prevents open season for would-be attackers to threaten our security and prosperity. One year later, we know the answer.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

Biden’s Challenges with the U.S.: The Case for the Future of the World and How to Stand Up to China (Ad-Library)

There is majority support to continue support with US weaponry, but there are also skeptics within the new GOP majority. McCarthy has promised that there will be no more checks for Ukraine.

This was important since both the US and China are building their militaries to protect against the other. The downing of a Chinese spy balloon was just a symptom of that larger rivalry, which ranges from trade to military power.

I won’t apologize for investing to make America strong. China is intent on dominating and investing in American innovation will define the future.

There is a clear and growing domestic political divide over how strongly to stand up to China. Many Republicans have criticized Biden for not doing more.

Biden also added an emphatic ad-lib here. “Name me a world leader who’d change places with (Chinese President) He said that he was referring to the man himself, the president of the United States, Xi Jinping. Give me one. Name me one.

It is interesting to see that all of the foreign policy was focused on this. He did not mention the recent devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

America is using its power to meet the challenges that include climate and global health, food-insecurity, terrorism and territorial aggression.

There was a dichotomy in this speech, wherein Biden preached the need for US economic independence but also wanted the US to be the world’s democratic and trade leader.

And bridges are forming between partners in the Pacific and those in the Atlantic. And those who bet against America are learning just how wrong they are.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

Bipartisan Compromise on Big Tech, fentanyl, and mental health: Three Key Issues for Young People and Families

There were two tragic deaths of young people in this speech. There were two deaths in a police encounter in Memphis; one of which was from the drug Fentanyl.

There is definitely room for bipartisan agreement on fentanyl. But it was interesting to hear Biden talk about harsher penalties when in recent years there has been a move toward more treatment for drug abusers.

Second, let’s do more on mental health, especially for our children. We owe young people greater access to mental health care at school when they are struggling with trauma and other issues.

And it’s time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop Big Tech from collecting personal data on kids and teenagers online, ban targeted advertising to children, and impose stricter limits on the personal data these companies collect on all of us.

Is there another area for bipartisan compromise? Republicans want to crack down on Big Tech but are also trying to make sure there is no bias against conservatives.

Third, let’s do more to keep our nation’s one truly sacred obligation: to equip those we send into harm’s way and care for them and their families when they come home.

The VA is doing everything it can, including expanding mental health screenings and a proven program that recruits veterans to help other veterans understand what they’re going through and get the help they need.

Generations Are Calling on to Protect Democracy. An Annotated Fact Checked President Biden-Sotu Addresses a “True” American Moment

The goal is to cut the death rate from cancer by 50% over the next 25 years. Turn more cancers into diseases. Provide more support for patients and their families.

Let this be a truly American moment that rallies the country and the world together, and proves that we can do big things, for the lives we can save and for the lives we have lost.

Twenty years ago we undertook a bipartisan effort in the fight against HIV/AIDS and it was led by President Bush. It has been a huge success.

A few months ago, a person with a big lie unleashed violence in the home of the Speaker of the House. The insurrectionists chanted the same language on January 6th.

We have to speak out. Political violence is not allowed in America. In America, we must protect the right to vote, not suppress that fundamental right. We honor the results of our elections and do not undermine their will. We must uphold the rule of the law and restore trust in our institutions of democracy.

Many of the marquee races featuring election-denying candidates were lost by the Republicans. It will be a test of US democracy to see if the eroded faith in elections begins to repair.

Biden made the effort to protect democracy sound like a war here. The phrase “Generations being called on to protect democracy” has echoes in previous foreign wars.

My fellow Americans, we meet tonight at an inflection point. One of those moments that only a few generations ever face, where the decisions we make now will decide the course of this nation and of the world for decades to come.

We are not bystanders and we are not interested in history. We are not powerless when they try to take us. It is within the control of We the People. The time for choosing is at hand, as we are facing the test of our time.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/annotated-fact-checked-president-biden-sotu/

Toward a Major Surge to Stop Fentanyl Production, Sales, and Drug Distribution at the Border. I. The Case for Pentanyl

That all of us, every one of us, is created equal in the image of God. A nation that stands as a beacon to the world. A nation in a new age of possibilities.

Because the soul of this nation is strong, because the backbone of this nation is strong, because the people of this nation are strong, the State of the Union is strong.

Let’s launch a major surge to stop the production and sale of Fentanyl, with more drug detection machines to check cargo at the border, and to stop pills and powder at the border.