{"id":114222,"date":"2021-02-05T22:20:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T06:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=114222"},"modified":"2021-02-05T22:20:11","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T06:20:11","slug":"president-biden-on-state-of-the-economy-need-for-the-american-rescue-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=114222","title":{"rendered":"President Biden on State of the Economy &#038; Need for the American Rescue Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you for your patience.  We had a very good but long meeting with the chairpersons of the House of Representatives in the Oval, and it went a little longer, but it went very well.  Thank you all for being here.  I\u2019m accompanied by the Vice President and the Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen, and I want to talk today about our plan. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hh1cjpS1wbA\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And the January jobs numbers came out today.  And while we are grateful for everyone who found work and is earning a paycheck, it is very clear our economy is still in trouble.  We added just 6,000 private sector jobs in the country last month.  Overall, we added 49,000 jobs.  And this at a time when we have more than 10 million people out of work, 4 million people have been out of work for six months or longer, and 2.5 million women have been driven from the workforce.  Fifteen million Americans are behind in their rental payments.  Twenty-four million adults and twelve million children literally don\u2019t have enough food to eat.<\/p>\n<p>These aren\u2019t Democrats or Republicans \u2014 they\u2019re Americans.  And they\u2019re suffering.  And they\u2019re suffering not because of anything they did.  Through no fault of their own, they\u2019re suffering.  A once-in-a-century virus has decimated our economy, and it\u2019s still wreaking havoc on our economy today.  And so much of it is still about the virus.  We\u2019re still in the teeth of this pandemic.  In fact, January was the single deadliest month of the whole pandemic.  We lost nearly 100,000 lives.<\/p>\n<p>I know some in Congress think we\u2019ve already done enough to deal with the crisis in the country.  Others think that things are getting better and we can afford to sit back and either do a little or do nothing at all.  That\u2019s not what I see.  I see enormous pain this country.  A lot of folks out of work.  A lot of folks going hungry, staring at the ceiling at night wondering, \u201cWhat am I going to do tomorrow?\u201d  A lot of folks trying to figure out how to keep their jobs and take care of their children.  A lot of folks reaching the breaking point. <\/p>\n<p>Suicides are up.  Mental health needs are increasing.  Violence against women and children is increasing.  A lot of folks are losing hope.  And I believe the American people are looking right now to their government for help, to do our job, to not to let them down.  So I\u2019m going to act, and I\u2019m going to act fast.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d like to be \u2014 I\u2019d like to be doing it with the support of Republicans.  I\u2019ve met with Republicans.  There\u2019s some really fine people who want to get something done, but they\u2019re just not willing to go as far as I think we have to go. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve told both Republicans and Democrats that\u2019s my preference: to work together.  But if I have to choose between getting help right now to Americans who are hurting so badly and getting bogged down in a lengthy negotiation or compromising on a bill that\u2019s \u2014 that\u2019s up to the crisis, that\u2019s an easy choice.  I\u2019m going to help the American people who are hurting now. <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why I\u2019m so grateful to the House and Senate for moving so fast on the American Rescue Plan.  Here\u2019s what\u2019s in that plan:<\/p>\n<p>First, it puts $160 billion into our national COVID-19 strategy, which includes more money for manufacturing, distribution, and setting up of vaccination sites \u2014 everything that\u2019s needed to get vaccines into people\u2019s arms.  There is simply nothing more important than us getting the resources we need to vaccinate the people in this country as soon, as quickly as possible.  So, job number one of the American Rescue Plan is vaccines.  Vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>The second, the American Rescue Plan is going to keep the commitment of $2,000: $600 has already gone out; $1,400 checks to people who need it.  This is money directly in people\u2019s pockets.  They need it.  We need to target that money.  So, folks making $300,000 don\u2019t get any windfall.  But if you\u2019re a two \u2014 if you\u2019re a two \u2014 if you\u2019re a family that\u2019s a two-wage earner, each of the parents \u2014 one making 30 grand and one making 40 or 50 \u2014 maybe that\u2019s a little more than \u2014 well, yeah, they need the money, and they\u2019re going to get it.<\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s what I won\u2019t do: I\u2019m not cutting the size of the checks.  They\u2019re going to be $1,400.  Period.  That\u2019s what the American people were promised.<\/p>\n<p>And very quickly, here\u2019s the rest of my plan:<\/p>\n<p>It has money for food and nutrition so that folks don\u2019t go hungry.  I think our Republican friends are going to support that.  It extends unemployment insurance, which is going to run out on March 13th of this year, to the end of September of this year, because there is still going to be \u2014 we\u2019re still going to have high unemployment. <\/p>\n<p>It helps small businesses, thousands of whom have had to go out of business. <\/p>\n<p>It has money to help folks pay their health insurance.<\/p>\n<p>It has rental assistance to keep people in their homes, rather than being thrown out in the street.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s got money to help us open our schools safely.<\/p>\n<p>It has money for childcare, for paid leave. <\/p>\n<p>It gets needed resources to state and local governments to prevent layoffs of essential personnel \u2014 firefighters, nurses, folks that are schoolteachers, sanitation workers.<\/p>\n<p>It raises the minimum wage. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s big, and it\u2019s bold.  And it\u2019s a real answer to the crisis we\u2019re in. <\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s one more thing.  And I want to say it very clearly on this \u2014 be very clear on this point: It\u2019s better economics. It not only addresses the immediate crisis we\u2019re in, it\u2019s better for the long-term economic health of our nation and our competitiveness. <\/p>\n<p>My plan creates more jobs, it creates more economic growth, and does more to make us competitive with the rest of the world than any other plan.  Don\u2019t take my word for it.  Just look at what leading economists across the nation have said \u2014 and the world, and across the ocean have said. <\/p>\n<p>Wall Street investment firm, Moody\u2019s, says if we pass the American Rescue Plan, it will lead to 4 million more jobs than otherwise would be created.  The nonpartisan Brookings Institution has looked at the Rescue \u2014 American Rescue Plan and said the GDP of \u2014 will reach pre-pandemic projections by 2021, meaning we\u2019ll have recovered by the end of 2021.  And much sooner, by the way, than if we do nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Look, just this week, the Congressional Budget Office projected that if we don\u2019t take action, it would take until the year 2025 to return to full employment. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also a growing chorus of top economists \u2014 right, center, and left \u2014 that say we should be less focused on the deficit and more focused on the investments we make, and can make now, in jobs, keeping families out of poverty, and preventing long-term economic damage to our nation.<\/p>\n<p>The simple truth is, if we make these investments now, with interest rates at historic lows, we\u2019ll generate more growth, higher incomes, a stronger economy, and our nation\u2019s finances will be in a stronger position as well.  And the payoff won\u2019t just be in jobs but in our global competitiveness as well \u2014 because we\u2019ll be regaining our economic strength faster.<\/p>\n<p>So, the way I see it: The biggest risk is not going too big, if we go \u2014 it\u2019s if we go too small.  We\u2019ve been here before.  When this nation hit the Great Recession that Barack and I inherited in 2009, I was asked to lead the effort on the economic Recovery Act to get it passed.  It was a big recovery package, roughly $800 billion.  I did everything I could to get it passed, including getting three Republicans to change their votes and vote for it. <\/p>\n<p>But it wasn\u2019t enough.  It wasn\u2019t quite big enough.  It stemmed the crisis, but the recovery could have been faster and even bigger.  Today, we need an answer that meets the challenge of this crisis, not one that falls short.  And that\u2019s the issue facing the country right now. <\/p>\n<p>What Republicans have proposed is either to do nothing or not enough.  All of a sudden, many of them have rediscovered fiscal restraint and the concern for the deficits.  But don\u2019t kid yourself \u2014 this approach will come with a cost: more pain for more people, for longer than it has to be.<\/p>\n<p>Secretary Yellen talks about the scarring effect that comes with prolonged economic pain.  We see that scarring effect in economic data.  But more important, we can see it in the lives of people living with long-term unemployment, living in hunger, at wits\u2019 end over how to keep their jobs and take care of their kids.<\/p>\n<p>And then she talks about the need to alleviate long-term suffering in the economy.  We can do that.  We don\u2019t have to wait until 2025 to get back to full employment, which will be the case if we don\u2019t do this.<\/p>\n<p>Again, independent analysis from places like<\/p>\n<p>Moody\u2019s, on Wall Street, the Brookings Institution \u2014 the American Rescue Plan could achieve that by the beginning \u2014 full employment by the beginning of next year.<\/p>\n<p>So, to me, this is \u2014 this is what this moment comes down to.  Are we going to pass a big enough package to vaccinate people, to get people back to work, to alleviate the suffering in this country this year?  That\u2019s what I want to do.  Or are we going to say to millions of Americans who are out of work \u2014 many of whom have been out of work for six months or longer, who have been scarred by this economic and public health crisis \u2014 \u201cDon\u2019t worry, hang on.  Things are going to get better.  We\u2019re going to go smaller, so it\u2019s just going to take us a lot longer\u201d?  Like, until 2025.  That\u2019s the Republican answer right now.<\/p>\n<p>I can\u2019t in good conscience do that.  Too many people in the nation have already suffered for too long through this pandemic and economic crisis.  And telling them we don\u2019t have the money to alleviate their suffering, to get to full employment sooner, to vaccinate America after $8 trillion in deficit spending over the past four years \u2014 much of it having gone to the wealthiest people in the country \u2014 is neither true nor necessary.<\/p>\n<p>We do have the resources to get to full employment sooner.  We do have the tools to reduce a lot of suffering in this country.  We just have to choose to use them.<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s time to act.  We can reduce suffering in this country.  We can put people back to work.  We can control \u2014 gain control of this virus.  That\u2019s what the American Rescue Plan does.  And that\u2019s what I\u2019m determined to do, and that\u2019s what I hope we\u2019re going to be able to do in the near term.<\/p>\n<p>So may God bless you all.  May God protect our troops.  And I truly believe real help is on the way.  Thank you all so very much.  Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you for your patience. We had a very good but long meeting with the chairpersons of the House of Representatives in the Oval, and it went a little longer, but it went very well. Thank you all for being here. I\u2019m accompanied by the Vice President and the Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Fullscreen-capture-252021-101825-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/114224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}