Biden Defends Multi-Trillion Spending, Condemns Trump
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Joe Biden used his first address to Congress as the 46th U.S. president to indirectly condemn his predecessor and sell multi-trillion budget plans for social programs and U.S. infrastructure.
Biden claimed he “inherited a nation in crisis” – describing America as a “house on fire” under previous President Donald J. Trump.
Biden says it helps that that around 220 million coronavirus vaccines have been delivered during his first 100 days in office. “Now, after just 100 days, I can report to the nation: America is on the move again,” he said, adding that America never stays down.
Critics argued that Biden inherited a nation that experienced an economic boom before the coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions were introduced.
Biden told Congress that “America is rising anew. Choosing hope over fear. Truth over lies. Light over darkness. After 100 days of rescue and renewal, America is ready for take-off. We are working again. Dreaming again. Discovering again. Leading the world again.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, and Vice-President Kamala Harris, who served as a California senator before Biden made her his running mate, flanked the president throughout the speech, looking over Biden’s shoulders.
He greeted the two as “Madam Vice-President, Madam Speaker,” and added: “No president has ever said those words from this podium – no president has ever said those words, and it’s about time!”
TAX HIKES
With the economy slowly reopening amid the easing of coronavirus restrictions, Biden already cautioned that taxes will be raised on top incomes. However, commentators fear his plans could also impact smaller businesses.
Biden seeks funding to finance his “once-in-a-generation” multi-trillion dollar plans, including $2.25 trillion on social programs and infrastructure spending.
While negotiations on that package backed by his Democratic Party barely begun with skeptical Republican lawmakers, he also introduced a second expensive and expansive proposal.
That $1.9 trillion packages has been dubbed the “American Families Plan” and is viewed by critics as another Democratic tax-collecting-love-feast.
It is also part of Biden’s controversial green-deal plans after reentering the Paris climate accord, which involves moving away from fossil fuels
President Biden made clear his plans would rely on taxing the rich and insisted Wednesday night that this was fair play. “It’s time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans to pay their fair share. Just pay their fair share,” he said.
Biden has also proposed a global corporate tax saying many companies evade taxes through tax havens from Switzerland to Bermuda to the Cayman Islands. They also benefit from tax loopholes and deductions that allow for offshoring jobs and shifting profits overseas. “That’s not right, Biden said.
COUNTRIES CONCERNED
However, countries such as Hungary have condemned the plans saying it creates unfair competition. The Hungarian government declined to raise Hungary’s corporate tax by 9 percent, the lowest in the European Union.
Biden also addressed what he views as growing racial tensions following the May 2020 death of Black suspect George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. “We have all seen the knee of injustice on the neck of Black America.”
He added: “We won’t ignore what our own intelligence agencies have determined – the most lethal terrorist threat to the homeland today is from white supremacist terrorism.” Biden did not address concerns about his support for defund-the-police calls within his party that critics say impact both white and black Americans.
The president did somewhat defend police that “most men and women in uniform wear their badge and serve their communities honorably” amid rising gun violence that be said should stop. But he claimed work must be done “to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the people they serve, to root out systemic racism in our criminal justice system.”
Biden tried to play down the reported surge in migrants arriving illegally from Mexico. He earlier said an increase in border migration “happens every year… in the winter months”. And on Wednesday, he spoke of the “11 million undocumented folks – the vast majority overstaying visas”. He claimed most undocumented people living in the US initially came into the country legally on visas, which have then expired.
BORDER CONCERNS
However, border guards are concerned.
In January and February 2021, 78,442 and 100,441 people were encountered, official data showed.
That is a significant increase on the figures for the same two months in the previous year, which were each just over 36,000.
Since President Biden claimed the winter impact on migration, the count for March has been released – 172,331, the highest in recent years.
Biden condemned rioters claiming to be Trump supporters storming the Capitol on January 6, calling it “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”
He added: “We have to prove that democracy still works.” However, to most people, the Capitol, the “People’s House” accommodating Congress, seemed out of reach. Since the recent riots, Biden maintained the fortification of the building, surrounded by thousands of U.S. reserve troops.
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