What Joe Biden Knows About America

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

Biden tried an ice-then-court strategy with House Dems. It worked.

The president scored the support he needed to get his debt ceiling deal through the House. Here’s how.

www.politico.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

Monthly inflation rate in the United States from April 2020 to April 2023 Image: Statista

See how US inflation rates have changed since 2020

The inflation rate in the US has been on the rise in recent years, reaching a high of 8.3% in 2022. This chart illustrates the rise of inflation for 2020-23.

www.weforum.org

 

[Sixties Fan]

How do you stumble and yet land stronger than ever? How do you stumble and yet ensure it is your opponents who end up on their butts?

Call it the Biden two-step. Every so often, like each and every one of us, the president makes a misstep. It titillates his opponents. As usual, they zero in on the trivial just as they did yesterday when Biden, just like many of his predecessors before him, while keeping a schedule that would make most of us weep, had a slight mishap during the graduation ceremony at the Air Force Academy.

The media helped those opponents out with copious coverage. “Ahah!” said the talking heads as they reflexively turned the subject once again to the president’s age.

But let’s think that through a minute. Given the outcomes we have seen this week, isn’t the real issue, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, not whether Biden is too old, but that time and time again his opponents appear too callow and inexperienced to keep up with him.

As a momentous week for Biden draws to a close, it is fair to ask what is a bigger story—a momentary incident when someone left a sandbag in the president’s path or is it the fact that Biden surefootedly handled a debt crisis that had the entire world on edge? Is it the silly gotcha mentality of Fox News or is the fact that Biden in a tough negotiation once again turned out to lead the process as deftly and elegantly as Fred Astaire? (Could Fred Astaire have shown the grace Biden did in complimenting the man who caused the crisis, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy?)

Is it more significant that everyone expected, yet again, that Biden would take the fall for the financial hostage crisis manufactured by the GOP, or that the tough-talking MAGA right ended up wondering what hit them, proven impotent in the face of bipartisan agreement to take a more sensible course?

Or turn to a story that is even bigger the debt showdown in the United States. On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a speech in Helsinki, Finland that made it clear that the underestimated Biden had executed a pirouette in U.S. foreign policy that left vaunted master strategist Vladimir Putin flat on his ass.

In the very same country in which Biden’s predecessor had practically fallen to his knees before Putin, slavering praise upon him and criticism on the U.S. national security community, Blinken made it clear that America under Biden had completely reversed Trump’s policies. Trump wanted out of NATO. Biden expanded NATO to now include Finland and very likely to soon include Sweden. Trump had withheld aid from Ukraine. Biden had provided unprecedented financial and materiel support to Kiev. Trump was reviled and ridiculed by our allies. Biden was leading a new, energized global coalition.

As Blinken noted, with the NATO flag now flying over Finland, there had taken place “a sea change that would have been unthinkable a little more than a year earlier.” Where Trump advisors fretted over his plans to bolt from NATO, Blinken observed that “President Biden has focused on rebuilding and revitalizing America’s alliances and partnerships, knowing that we’re stronger when we work alongside those who share our interests and our values.”

Putin expected Biden and the U.S. to be weak as it had been under Trump. But as Blinken pointed out, today, “There is no question, Russia is significantly worse off today than it was before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine—militarily, economically, geopolitically.” A core thrust of his remarks was that Russia has already been strategically defeated.

Blinken noted that the U.S. and its allies “have severely degraded Russia’s war machine and defense exports, setting them back for years to come.” He noted the devastating economic damage done to Russia thanks to the resolve of the Biden-led alliance. He observed that standing up strong to Russia sent a strong message to China not to underestimate us again. He also pledged to help rebuild Ukraine so it and the West would in the future be able to deter Russian threats of further aggression.

Perhaps most strikingly, Blinken explicitly rejected the idea that Russia be able to retain the territory it has gained in the course of this war, now in its tenth year. He rejected the idea of a ceasefire that would “simply freeze current lines and (enable) Putin to consolidate control over the territory he seized.”

“Whenever he puts a foot wrong, he learns from the experience and so do the members of his team.”

At the beginning of the Biden Administration some thought he stumbled with the hurried and sometimes chaotic exit from Afghanistan. Some, like Putin, may have misunderstood what they saw. And now, not only has Russia suffered grievously for that error of judgement, but Biden and American standing have emerged stronger.


(full article online)

Call It the Biden Two-Step: How to Stumble, and Grow Stronger

The real issue, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, is not whether Biden is too old, but that time and time again his opponents appear too callow and inexperienced to keep up with him.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Today, our economy has recovered faster and stronger than any other developed country in the world, we’ve created more jobs in two years than any president in a four-year term, and the unemployment rate is near record lows.

And we didn’t stop there: we kept working to make progress on the issues that matter.

We passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, kicking off a decade of rebuilding our country’s roads, bridges, highways, ports, internet, and railroads.

We passed the most significant gun safety legislation in over three decades.

We took on Big Pharma and won, capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors -- now, the biggest insulin manufacturers are lowering the cost for everyone.

We passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which is bringing down costs for working people and is the largest investment to combat climate change in U.S. history -- because I believe building a clean energy future starts in America.

When I look back at all the things we’ve accomplished together, I feel proud -- and I’m reminded that there’s so much more work for us to get done.


Joe Biden

 

[Sixties Fan]

Biden’s world view, which he has stuck to doggedly since launching his Presidential candidacy, in 2019, is that, even as full-scale partisan warfare rages on social media and cable news, there are still enough reasonable people in Congress, and enough moderate voters in the country, who can be mobilized to keep the show on the road, and even get some constructive things done, such as subsidizing green energy and reducing the cost of insulin for seniors. (The debt-ceiling agreement preserved both of these policies.) Inside the 2020 Biden campaign, this argument got reduced to the mantra “Twitter isn’t real life.” But, to the President himself, fostering bipartisanship is a personal mission. “No matter how tough our politics gets, we need to see each other not as adversaries but as fellow-Americans,” he said in his television address. “Treat each other with dignity and respect. To join forces as Americans, to stop shouting, lower the temperature, and work together to pursue progress, secure prosperity, and keep the promise of America for everybody.”

Admirable sentiments. But the fact remains that the House Republicans recklessly manufactured a crisis to pursue their political ends and ended up achieving some of them. After vowing for months not to negotiate about the debt ceiling, the White House was forced to reverse course and make a series of concessions to reach a deal. As I argued last week, the agreement could have been a lot worse, but the process by which it was reached—extortion, basically—supported Fitch’s argument for staying on high alert, namely that “there has been a steady deterioration in governance over the last 15 years.” [...]

If the Republicans return to power, they are likely to make the fiscal outlook considerably worse by cutting taxes again, especially taxes on the rich, which is what they did during the Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump administrations. When Republicans are out of office, they talk about reducing the deficit; when they have power, they introduce policies that increase it. This is a long-standing pattern, and there’s no compelling reason to assume that it will change soon. Fitch failed to mention this ongoing threat to fiscal stability, but it’s a key feature of the deterioration in U.S.-government finances over the past forty years, and the ratings agencies should be willing to point this out. Financial irresponsibility in Washington isn’t a symmetrical phenomenon.

What Does the Debt-Ceiling Agreement Say About the U.S. Political System?

The bipartisan deal showed that the government is still capable of avoiding a self-inflicted disaster, but a credit-ratings agency warns it is suffering from slow rot.

www.newyorker.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

While Speaker Kevin McCarthy blitzed Fox News and funneled daily doses of spin through the Capitol Hill tipsheets, the White House was publicly saying and doing very little — so little that it felt like basically nothing. Backbench House Democrats, progressive Twitter and liberal advocacy groups exhorted Mr. Biden to insist on a straightforward debt-ceiling increase by the G.O.P. House, but braced themselves for the worst: A tired, timid, too-moderate, too-ineffectual president with his head stuck in the distant past was about to get fleeced by the rabid right.

Yet what emerged from intense talks at the White House was a deal that turned out to be surprisingly — almost shockingly — favorable to Mr. Biden’s supporters. Somehow, the seemingly floundering White House pulled off a negotiating coup.

This happened, at least in part, because Mr. Biden understands something fundamental about congressional politics that’s frustrating to journalists, activists and political junkies: It’s often better to just shut up.


(full article online)

Opinion | It’s Great to Have a President Who Knows When to Shut Up

Politics at its best just isn’t necessarily all that entertaining.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

For decades, people have been wringing their hands and bemoaning the fate of America’s once great industrial empire. They are used to seeing the smokestacks in Youngstown, Pittsburgh, and other industrial cities highlighted silently against the sky. They refer to America’s industrial heartland as the “Rust Belt.” The Inflation Reduction Act has changed all that. Thanks to some actual leadership by President Biden and Democrats in Congress, manufacturing in America is roaring back.

According to Canary Media, in just the first 9 months after its passage, the Inflation Reduction Act (which has virtually nothing to do with inflation) has shifted the economic viability of building clean energy equipment in the US. It has spurred tens of billions of dollars in private investment from both domestic and foreign firms hoping to capitalize on the clean energy boom.

“What has taken place as a result of and since the Inflation Reduction Act can simply not be overstated,” said Aaron Brickman, a senior member of the clean energy team at RMI (formerly known at the Rocky Mountain Institute). “The United States is effectively now the most attractive destination for global capital in clean energy and cleantech.”

Nearly 100 new clean energy manufacturing facilities or factory expansions totaling almost $80 billion in new investment have been announced in the America since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed and signed into law last August. More are being announced every week.

Companies have so far gravitated toward a handful of states to build their production facilities — many of them states once lumped into the Rust Belt category. Almost all of this new economic activity is located in states that are east of the Mississippi River. Almost all of them are so-called red states whose Congressional representatives vigorously opposed the Inflation Reduction Act. There’s more than a little fine irony there.

Battery manufacturing will see an upsurge in those mostly southern states and solar manufacturing is headed to the South as well. The planned factories are concentrated in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, with some also coming to Ohio and solar giant Texas. Another 11 clean energy manufacturing projects that account for more than $7.5 billion in investment have been announced but don’t have a location.

Impressive as this explosion in clean energy manufacturing may be, it’s not happening without some serious help from abroad. In fact, it’s not currently possible for the US to meet its lofty “made in America” goals without relying heavily on clean energy tech and investment from firms based outside of the country, Canary Media reports.

US-based companies account for less than half of the clean energy manufacturing announcements made since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, and just about one-third of the promised investment dollars. Companies based in South Korea have announced more than $30 billion in US clean energy projects since last August, topping the US company total of around $26 billion.

Although several key solar and EV announcements have come from South Korean firms, the country’s impact is felt most when it comes to batteries. That’s because South Korea is one of only three countries with mature battery manufacturing sectors, China and Japan being the others. So if the US wants batteries right now (it does), and if it wants to avoid Chinese battery giants (it really does), it has few options other than purchasing from South Korean firms.

In fact, Panasonic is pretty much the only other game in town. The Japanese company is planning a $4 billion battery factory in Kansas. Last month, it said it would build at least two additional factories in North America by 2030. The key is the production credits baked into the Inflation Reduction Act — $45 per kilowatt-hour for battery packs made in the US, $35 per kWh for the battery cells, and $10 per kWh for battery modules.

“Before the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. was still taking a leadership role on R&D in cleantech and climatetech and clean energy, but oftentimes those technologies could not be commercially scaled here,” said RMI’s Brickman. “That’s changed now. And so instead of looking elsewhere, those South Korean and Japanese companies and those European companies…they’re going to scale up, and they’re going to make their next expansion decisions [and] capital allocation decisions here in the U.S.”

The exception is the deal between Ford and CATL. Ford has stressed that this is not a regular joint venture; instead, the automaker is licensing the tech, meaning that “zero tax dollars will go to CATL.” Four other projects involving Chinese firms are moving forward. Chinese solar panel manufacturer Longi and Invenergy have announced a plant in Ohio they claim will become the largest US solar manufacturing facility.

Three other Chinese companies have announced plans to construct their own plants in the US. JA Solar is building a 2 GW solar panel factory in Arizona (if there is enough water to support production). Hounen Solar is planning a 1 GW solar panel plant in South Carolina. Gotion is building a $2.4 billion battery plant in Michigan.


(full article online)

The Inflation Reduction Act Is Making America Great Again! - CleanTechnica

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, investments in clean technology in America are soaring as companies seek to claim its benefits.

cleantechnica.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

This week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that millions of low-income seniors and people with disabilities will be eligible for an expanded Extra Help Program, which lowers the cost of prescription drugs through Medicare Part D.

Thanks to Extra Help, part of the Inflation Reduction Act, low-income people with disabilities could save hundreds of dollars a year on life-saving medication.

By 2024, seniors and Americans with disabilities that live under 150% of the federal poverty line will pay no deductible, no premium, and fixed lower copayments on drugs.

[Able Dems]

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

The clean energy subsidies that undergird President Joe Biden’s climate agenda have just prompted one Norwegian manufacturer to choose Michigan, not Europe, as the site of a nearly $500 million factory that will produce the equipment needed to extract hydrogen from water. And other European-based companies are being tempted to follow suit, people involved in the continent’s hydrogen efforts say — making the universe’s most abundant substance the latest focus of the transatlantic trade battle on green energy.

The Norwegian firm, Nel, announced its decision in May, nine months after Congress approved Biden’s flagship climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. The move takes 500 new jobs to the other side of the Atlantic, despite the European Union’s efforts to position itself as the obvious place for clean tech investment.

Gas grab riles Europeans​

“There’s not one single driver behind the decision to put it in the U.S.,” Nel CEO Håkon Volldal told POLITICO, pointing to the benefit of being close to customers and partners like General Motors, as well as the financial benefits of the IRA, the Biden-era CHIPS and Science Act that provides funding for technology development, and Michigan’s own grants for green tech.
“If you take the IRA and the CHIPS Act together, we’re talking about more than $400 billion,” Volldal said. “On top of that, you have subsidies for renewable power and so on. Europe is dwarfed by the numbers we see in the U.S.”
The global hydrogen industry was valued at more than $155 billion last year, and the EU plans to produce and import a total of 20 million tons of renewable hydrogen a year by 2030. Supporters say this will help replace natural gas, powering vehicles and generating electricity.

​

Now, though, the U.S. has its sights set on overtaking Europe when it comes to both hydrogen and the electrolyzers that extract it. The IRA introduced a $3-per-kilogram subsidy for green hydrogen and tens of billions of dollars in loans and other incentives for international investors to put money into the industry.


(full article online)

Biden’s hydrogen bombshell leaves Europe in the dust

The EU is investing billions into becoming a green energy superpower. But Washington’s Inflation Reduction Act means it’s the U.S. reaping the rewards.

www.politico.com

 

[surada]

A potted plant has more functioning synapse gaps then sixties fan

This OP has nothing to do with what biden knows about america. Which is a dumb premise in itself

Nah.....sixties fan is just more intelligent and better educated than you.

 

[elektra]

Nah.....sixties fan is just more intelligent and better educated than you.

Hahahaha

 

[Sixties Fan]

[ Thoughts on America today by a former Republican Congressman ]

MSN

 

[Sixties Fan]

Republican lawmakers have made inflation and the economy their top attack against President Biden, but recent reports showing that annual inflation has dropped to 3 percent is forcing them to rethink their political strategy.

The economy is suddenly showing signs of being not a weakness but a strength for Biden and Democrats as inflations falls to a third of its peak and unemployment stands at a near-record low of 3.6 percent.

The anticipated recession that was supposed to hit this year amid rising interest rates hasn’t yet materialized, leaving some Republicans wondering if they need to revise their messaging.

“I think it will diminish as an issue over the course of the year if inflation continues to stay down and continues to go down,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

Republicans repeatedly hit Democrats over inflation ahead of last year’s midterm elections, but it didn’t prove to be especially effective as Democrats responded by attacking Republicans over abortion rights and then expanded their Senate majority to 51 seats.

The GOP did win the House majority but didn’t pick up as many seats as they expected.

Romney acknowledged that wage growth outpaced inflation by 1.2 percent in June, marking the first time since March 2021 that wages are growing faster than prices.

“Having wage growth exceed inflation is a good thing. There’s going to be good news and bad news. Not everything the president does is good, not everything is bad. And of course the president has some responsibility for the economy,” he said.



(full article online)

GOP mulls retooling message as inflation rate plummets

Republican lawmakers have made inflation and the economy their top attack against President Biden, but recent reports showing that annual inflation has dropped to 3 percent is forcing them to rethi…

thehill.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Marjorie Taylor Greene makes ad for Biden’s reelection campaign

The MAGA conspiracist and holder of Kevin McCarthy's puppet strings managed to dodge Jewish space lasers long enough to take the stage at the ultra right-wing Turning Point Action Conference to take shots at President Biden by... checks notes... rattling off a list of ways he's helping the American people. No joke, she attacked Biden for working to "address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and welfare... The largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs. That is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on.” Let's go Brandon!


(full article and video online)

Marjorie Taylor Greene Makes Ad For Biden’s Reelection Campaign

The ultra-conservative Turning Point Action Conference and a speech from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene are not a likely nor ideal pairing for someone trying to create a pro-Biden ad, but that's exactly the combination that lead to the viral clip which has Democrats online imploring...

pocketcastnews.substack.com

 

[Sixties Fan]