Category: Joe Biden

Labor secretary says gig workers should be classified as employees in ‘a lot of cases’

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Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said that a lot of gig workers are misclassified as contractors on Thursday, sending stocks of tech companies such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash falling amid speculation about the future of the fraught business model in the Biden administration.

“We are looking at it, but in a lot of cases gig workers should be classified as employees,” Walsh told Reuters. “These companies are making profits and revenue and I’m not (going to) begrudge anyone for that, because that’s what we are about in America. But we also want to make sure that success trickles down to the worker.”

The comments, which were pulled from a larger interview with Reuters that was not published in full, were interpreted as signal that the Labor Department could move more aggressively to crack down on the use of contract labor by some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent companies. Continue reading.

GOP Sen. Blackburn offers an odd excuse after she’s caught spreading lies about Biden’s plans

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During his Wednesday night speech before members of Congress, President Joe Biden outlined some proposals of his American Families Plan. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, appearing on Fox Business earlier in the day, wrongly claimed that part of Biden’s proposal included making community college and pre-K mandatory. But her office walked back that claim after being fact-checked by CNN’s Daniel Dale.

Blackburn told Fox Business host Stuart Varney, “Three-year-old pre-K — they’re going to mandate this. Two years of college whether you like it or not. These are the things that take away choices from the American people. They give them a great big fat tax bill that they’re going to pay.”

Varney didn’t challenge Blackburn’s community college and pre-K claims, but he did say that “in an evenly divided Senate,” Biden “is not going to get all of the proposals.” Continue reading.

‘Petulant toddler’ Trump brutally mocked for running to Fox to whine that Biden didn’t acknowledge his ‘accomplishments’

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On Thursday morning, following President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump took to Fox Business and, in an interview with Maria Bartiromo, whined that Biden is being “ungracious” by not acknowledging the “accomplishments” of the Trump administration in his speech.

“Obviously they’re very ungracious people,” said Trump. “I did the vaccine. They like to take the vaccine. But even the fake news isn’t giving them credit for that. We did the vaccine, saved tens of millions of lives throughout the world by coming up with a vaccine.”

Commenters on social media quickly piled on Trump for his tantrum. Continue reading.

GOP Demands “Unity” But Ignores That a Majority of Voters Back Biden’s Proposals

Before and after President Joe Biden’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, Republican lawmakers repeatedly blasted him for allegedly breaking his pledge to unify the country. But the problem may actually lie in the GOP’s concept of “unity.”

Biden has indeed pressed for unity in a number of statements and speeches he’s made before, including in his inauguration speech. Overcoming the challenges presently facing the country “requires more than words,” Biden said on January 20. “It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity.”

Within that same speech, Biden noted he was for “uniting our people” and “uniting our nation.” To Republicans, however, calls for unity appear to only mean acquiescing or compromising with their demands, not the wants and needs of Americans as a whole. Continue reading.

White House: Only couples making more than $509K would see tax hike

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President Biden’s proposed top income tax bracket of 39.6 percent would impact single filers with income above about $453,000 and married couples with income above roughly $509,000, a White House official said.

Biden is proposing as part of his American Families Plan to raise the top rate to 39.6 percent from 37 percent, bringing the rate back to where it was prior to the enactment of former President Trump’s tax law. 

The details about the income thresholds for the 39.6 percent bracket provide further clarity about how Biden’s pledge to not raise taxes on taxpayers making under $400,000 would work. Continue reading.

US troops begin leaving Afghanistan

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The U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan has officially begun in line with President Biden’s order for all U.S. troops to be out by Sept. 11, the White House confirmed Thursday.

“A drawdown is underway,” deputy White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling on Air Force One.

Biden ordered the withdrawal earlier this month, intent on bringing to a close America’s longest war by the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that sparked the conflict. Continue reading.

How Biden’s paid leave proposal would benefit workers, their families and their employers too

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1. How much of a change would this be?

Federal law currently guarantees many employed Americans the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave to care for family members through the Family and Medical Leave Act. Because of eligibility restrictions, less than half of all U.S. workerscan technically access this benefit. Even fewer of those who are eligible can afford to take advantage of it.

The U.S. is truly exceptional in this regard.

Employed women get paid maternity leave in almost every nation in the world. Many countries also provide workers with paid leave to care for their ailing parents, partners or other relatives who need care, which is what the Biden administration is proposing. Continue reading.

Economy grew by 1.6 percent in first quarter, showing signs of boom to come

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The U.S. economic recovery picked up speed in early 2021, with the economy growing 1.6 percent in the first three months of the year amid a coronavirus vaccination campaign and massive stimulus spending from the federal government.

As Americans have begun to emerge from isolation and started spending again, construction surged and businesses invested in expectation of future growth. It appears likely that all coronavirus-era economic losses will be recovered by the middle of this year, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

Some of fastest economic growth in more than four decades occurred from January to March, behind only the initial 7.5 surge last year, when businesses first reopened after pandemic-related shutdowns. Continue reading.

CNN Poll: GOP Efforts To Discredit Biden Are Failing

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Republicans have been adamant that President Joe Biden’s popularity will fall as they vilify his policy proposals, including the coronavirus relief package Congress passed in March and the infrastructure bill congressional Democrats are currently trying to pass.

Yet a new CNN poll released Wednesday found that their strategy has not worked, as Biden — and his policies — remain popular nearly 100 days into his tenure, despite the GOP’s best efforts.

According to the CNN poll, 53 percent of Americans approve of the job Biden has done in his first 100 days in office. That approval rating tracks with Biden’s approval rating average from FiveThirtyEight, which has hovered around 53percent since he was sworn in on January 20 — a level he has maintained despite GOP criticism. Continue reading.

Senate confirms former Obama official Samantha Power to lead USAID

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The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Samantha Power to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Senators voted 68-26 to confirm Power, who served in the Obama administration as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

President Biden is also expected to put Power on the White House National Security Council, where she served during Obama’s first term. Continue reading.