On the night of this Tuesday (07/02), US President Joe Biden made his third speech to Congress, marking the halfway point of his first term and a new phase with Republican dominance in the House.
On the night of this Tuesday (07/02), the President of the United States, Joe Biden, made his third speech to Congress, marking the halfway point of his first term.
The so-called “State of the Union Address” (State of the union) is a pivotal moment for the American president, and Biden delivered a spirited and sometimes combative speech tonight.
The speech came amid preparations for a probable re-election campaign for the Democrat and in the face of a new situation in his presidency: Republican control of the House of Representatives.
Here are the highlights of Biden’s speech, which he addressed to a sharply divided Congress and an audience of tens of millions of Americans.
Biden calls for unity
Joe Biden began his speech by congratulating Republican Kevin McCarthy on being elected Speaker of the House.
The Democratic president spent the first part of his speech in dialogue with this new political reality in Washington. Biden boasted of bipartisan achievements in his first two years in office, citing cooperation in managing infrastructure spending, high-tech investments, military aid to Ukraine, gay marriage guarantees and electoral reform, among other topics. .
“We are often told that Democrats and Republicans can’t work together,” he said. “But in the last two years, we’ve proved the cynics and pessimists wrong.”
Biden acknowledged that there have been times when Democrats have had to “go it alone” — a phrase reminiscent of the fierce partisan battles raging over a trillion-dollar package to fight Covid-19 and the reduction bill. of inflation, which has increased climate and health care spending by billions of dollars.
The president has claimed credit for these accomplishments, but the new reality is that these rousing congressional accomplishments are a thing of the past, at least for the next two years. Every legislative victory won by Biden will now have to be won with Republicans on his side – a formidable obstacle to overcome.
But he gave the Republicans a little nudge…
While Joe Biden did his best to refine the bipartisan relationship in the speech, one of the most pressing challenges facing the White House and Congress in the coming months will be raising the federal loan limit to keep the US from defaulting. on its national debt.
On this matter, Biden and House Republicans are engaged in a heated dispute.
Referring to Republican calls to link a cap increase to spending cuts, Biden said no president has increased the national debt like his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump.
Republicans responded to that speech with boos.
He then tried to tie Republican debt limit calls to some conservative proposals to cut Social Security and Medicare (the government-run health insurance and pension programs).
This led to even more indignant boos.
Biden has said he will present his budget plan and has asked Republicans to propose theirs.
“We can sit down together and discuss both plans,” he said.
Of course, this is kind of a trap. The goal is to get Republican proposals and thus give the Democrats a target to attack.
The debt limit dispute has only just begun, and bipartisan cooperation will likely take a back seat until the storm passes.
Guests gave away exciting moments
Biden announced a number of new or revised proposals during his presidential address, many of which have little chance of becoming law now that one house of Congress is controlled by Republicans.
He spoke passionately about the need for police reform and new gun control legislation, pointing to gallery guests, including the parents of Tire Nichols, a young man killed after a police stop, and a hero of the shooting of Monterey Park.
“All of us here must live up to this moment,” the president said. “We can’t turn around.”
The reality, however, is that none of these efforts have much of a chance of success. If Congress can convene to pass new legislation, it will likely be against the “unnecessary taxes” the president railed against, including bank fees, living expenses, and extra airline seat charges.
“Unnecessary taxes may not matter to the very wealthy, but they do to most people in homes like the one I grew up in.”
In the background China and Ukraine
While the Chinese balloon has been a big story in the United States in recent days, it has barely received a mention from the president.
“As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country,” he said. “And we did.”
The president continued to discuss the challenges posed by China and his administration’s steps to strengthen the US economy and modernize the military.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which dominated last year’s discourse, was also barely mentioned. The president welcomed the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States in the rostrum and announced allied support for Kiev. But he didn’t take the opportunity to announce a new round of support for the war-torn nation, the kind of help that will be difficult with skeptical Republicans in control of the House.
It is said that Americans only care about foreign policy when American soldiers die overseas. Joe Biden, with his focus on the economy and domestic results, appears to have factored this in tonight.
Source: Terra
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