Tag: President Biden

Republican circular firing squad in full swing because their attacks on Biden are ineffective

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On Saturday, writing for Business Insider, columnist Eoin Higgins analyzed the fragmenting of the GOP caucus as Republicans fail to come up with a damaging line of attack against President Joe Biden and his agenda.

“Biden, a 78-year-old moderate Democrat, has a job approval rating hovering around 60% of Americans. He’s been buoyed by his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a resurgent economy, and a sense — earned or not — from voters that the new president has a firmer hand on the tiller than his chaotic predecessor,” wrote Higgins. “The result is a floundering GOP as the right-wing party tries to draw a contrast with a president who isn’t nearly as liberal as they try to make it seem. Lacking that contrast, Republicans are lost.”

With Republicans unable to either damage Biden or move on from their support of former President Donald Trump, many of them have been reduced to infighting and purges of their own for perceived disloyalty — including the exile of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from the caucus leadership and censure of Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach the former president for his role in the Capitol riot. Continue reading.

White House unveils plan to donate 25 million vaccine doses abroad

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The Biden administration on Thursday announced it will donate 25 million coronavirus doses abroad, with about three quarters of them allocated to the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative, and the rest donated directly to handpicked countries.

“We are sharing these doses not to secure favors or extract concessions. We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic, with the power of our example and with our values,” President Biden said in a statement.

The White House said it will donate about 19 million doses to COVAX, which purchases and distributes vaccines to low-and middle-income countries. Administration officials said about 6 million doses will go to Latin America and the Caribbean, 7 million doses will go to Asia, and 5 million will go to Africa. Continue reading.

Stimulus Checks Substantially Reduced Hardship, Study Shows

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Researchers found that sharp declines in food shortages, financial instability and anxiety coincided with the two most recent rounds of payments.

WASHINGTON — Julesa Webb resumed an old habit: serving her children three meals a day. Corrine Young paid the water bill and stopped bathing at her neighbor’s apartment. Chenetta Ray cried, thanked Jesus and rushed to spend the money on a medical test to treat her cancer.

In offering most Americans two more rounds of stimulus checks in the past six months, totaling $2,000 a person, the federal government effectively conducted a huge experiment in safety net policy. Supporters said a quick, broad outpouring of cash would ease the economic hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Skeptics called the policy wasteful and expensive.

The aid followed an earlier round of stimulus checks, sent a year ago, and the results are being scrutinized for lessons on how to help the needy in less extraordinary times. Continue reading.

Fact-check busts Republicans for wrongly blaming rising gas and lumber prices on Biden

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans are blaming President Joe Biden for rising gas and lumber prices in the United States. But Associated Press reporters Christopher Rugaber and Hope Yen fact-check those claims in an article published on May 26, pointing out why their claims are misleading.

“Gas prices have risen in recent weeks because a key pipeline was forced to close after a cyberattack,” Rugaber and Yen explain. “And lumber shortages — which existed during former President Donald Trump’s administration — were worsened by an unexpected housing boom.”

The AP reporters go on to analyze some of McCarthy’s recent statements. Continue reading.

Biden order on climate financial risk reaches deep into the economy

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Extreme weather poses risks to supply chains, food and water, housing and energy, according to a two-page fact sheet on the order.

President Joe Biden will direct agencies to mitigate the financial risk of climate change to homeowners, consumers, federal workers, businesses and the government itself in a sweeping executive order signed Thursday.

Extreme weather poses risks to supply chains, food and water, housing and energy, according to a two-page fact sheet on the order. National Economic Council Director Brian Deese called the measure a pivotal moment for the U.S. government.

“Our modern financial system was built on the assumption that the climate was stable,” Deese told reporters. “It’s clear we no longer live in such a world.” Continue reading.

Treasury targets tax cheats, cryptocurrency in proposal it hopes will bring in $700 billion

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Beefing up IRS enforcement may prove politically easier than raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations

The Treasury Department on Thursday announced a plan to raise an additional $700 billion through new tax compliance measures, a potentially key source of revenue for the Biden administration’s multitrillion-dollar spending proposals.

In a 22-page report, Treasury officials identified a number of policies to increase enforcement aimed at closing the “tax gap” between what taxpayers owe to the federal government and what they actually pay. These include increased reporting requirements, new tools for auditors, massively increasing the Internal Revenue Service’s budget, and new rules on cryptocurrency, among other measures.

Some of the changes — such as billions of dollars in additional spending at the IRS — would require congressional approval, and many Republicans have long tried to shrink the agency. But the White House said the proposed investments would pay off by allowing the agency to collect the taxes that are due. Continue reading.

How President Biden’s Agenda Can Help Eliminate Child Care Dilemma Across Minnesota

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Minnesota daycare owner Liz Harris: “If you want a stable economy that is strong, you have to have child care.”

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for Minnesota’s working families, as child care options became even more unaffordable and enrollment decreased. While Minnesota received $325 million in federal funding from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan to support the state’s child care industry amid the pandemic, more must be done — and Democrats in Washington have introduced two historic plans that would invest millions more in Minnesota’s children and families.

“It’s far past time for congressional Republicans to join Democrats and a majority of Americans — including Republican voters — in delivering this once-in-a-century opportunity for hard-working Minnesotans by passing both the American Families Plan and the American Jobs Plan,” said Minnesota DFL Chairman Ken Martin. “The GOP should stop playing partisan politics with our children’s future and support common-sense policies that support Minnesota’s working families.”

Continue reading “How President Biden’s Agenda Can Help Eliminate Child Care Dilemma Across Minnesota”

How the right-wing media has responded to the Biden administration

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If you are not a journalist, you may not be aware that there are a number of right-wing organizations that are largely or entirely focused on revealing purported left-wing bias in the media. Groups like the Media Research Center regularly produce reports that do things like skim network news broadcasts to determine how frequently coverage is positive about Democrats or negative about Republicans.

If you’ve ever seen a Fox News segment about media bias that talks about how overly generous the media is being to President Biden, for example, the odds are that the research undergirding the segment came from one of those organizations.

Recent analysis from the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, though, indicates that such criticisms get the problem precisely backward. Continue reading.

‘Dreamers’ advocates turn up heat on Senate after Biden meeting

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House Democrats help in push on bill to help undocumented immigrants

House Democrats and immigrant advocates are ramping up calls for the Senate to pass legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

The measure, which passed the House in March, would grant permanent legal protections to around 3.4 million undocumented immigrants called “Dreamers,” as well as many Temporary Protected Status holders and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients. But the Senate has not indicated when, if at all, it plans to vote.

The bill would likely face steep odds in that chamber, where 10 Republican votes are needed for a filibuster-proof majority unless Democrats manage to weave immigration provisions into a possible budget reconciliation bill, an option many lawmakers are backing. Continue reading.

Biden backs Gaza ceasefire for first time in call with Netanyahu

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President Biden expressed support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in a call on Thursday evening with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said in a statement.

Why it matters: This is the first time since the beginning of the crisis last Monday that Biden or anyone in his administration has publicly backed a ceasefire. It will increase pressure on Israel to seek an end to the conflict, which Netanyahu has insisted will continue until Hamas’ ability to attack Israel is further degraded.

Between the lines: An Israeli official said the Biden administration hadn’t given Israel a deadline for reaching a ceasefire but had been stressing on Monday that it was reaching the end of its ability to hold back international pressure on Israel over the Gaza operation. Continue reading.