{"id":154814,"date":"2023-01-27T08:33:47","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T16:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=154814"},"modified":"2023-01-27T08:34:58","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T16:34:58","slug":"president-biden-on-economic-progress-since-taking-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=154814","title":{"rendered":"President Biden on Economic Progress Since Taking Office"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Springfield, Virginia&#8230;How are you all doing?  Please, take a seat if you have one.  (Laughs.)  I said that  AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you, Joe!  THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  I said that \u2014 when I was seeking the nomination, I said, \u201cTake a seat, everybody.\u201d  And there wasn\u2019t a single chair in the place.  (Laughter.)  And they said, \u201cThat Biden really is stupid.  He doesn\u2019t know\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YC6eS9H_sCY\" title=\"President Biden Delivers Remarks on Our Economic Progress Since Taking Office\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Where\u2019s Doug [Don]?  The congressman.  He\u2019s around here somewhere.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Right here!<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Right here!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, there you are.  Doug [Don], thanks for the passport into town.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Doug [Don] and I have something in common.  We both married way above our station.  (Applause.)  Way above our station. <\/p>\n<p>I want to thank you all very much.<\/p>\n<p>Look, good afternoon to the Steamfitters Local 602.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>And President McManus \u2014 Mark, thank you.  You\u2019ve been a great friend for a long time.  I appreciate it. <\/p>\n<p>And, Megan, thank you for the introduction.  I just got a chance to talk to Megan\u2019s mom.  I think I embarrassed her.  I said, \u201cCall your mom.\u201d  And so, we just talked to her mom, and her mom \u2014 I told her, as they say in southern Delaware, \u201cShe done a good job on this one.\u201d  (Laughs.)  Thank you very much, Megan, for that introduction.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re learning what so many others have found \u2014 that a career in the trades means a lot of stability, but also challenging work and a chance to be part of a strong community.<\/p>\n<p>You know, Congressman Beyer, you\u2019ve \u2014 you\u2019ve been doing a great job for this district, and you\u2019re one of the best in the country.  You really are.  (Applause.)  I don\u2019t want to ruin his reputation, but we vote a lot alike.  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>And thank you, County Chairman McKay, for joining us.  And thanks for the passport into town.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Look \u2014 look, we\u2019ve got a lot to do.  We\u2019ve achieved a lot because of all of you in this room and other rooms around the country.  And \u2014 but I\u2019d like to look ahead at what\u2019s to come, what we\u2019re going to be doing.<\/p>\n<p>Just this morning, we got some very good news about the American economy.<\/p>\n<p>Every three months, the economic outlook of America is laid out on an official report \u2014 a government report that \u2014 on the state of the economy.  It came out today, this morning.  And I\u2019m not sure \u2014 and I mean it sincerely \u2014 the news could have been any better.<\/p>\n<p>Economic growth is up, stronger than experts expected, at 2.9 percent we\u2019re growing.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Jobs \u2014 jobs are the highest in Ameri- \u2014 number in \u2014 the highest in American history.<\/p>\n<p>And wages are up, and they\u2019re growing faster than inflation.  Over the past six months, inflation has gone down every month and, God willing, will continue to do that.<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing jobs continue to go up, stronger than any time in the last 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>And I don\u2019t think it\u2019s unfair to say that this is all evidence that the Biden economic plan, because of you all, is actually working.  It\u2019s working.  (Applause.)  It really is.<\/p>\n<p>And there\u2019s no question \u2014 by the way, I \u2014 if my mother were here, she would have had me say at the outset: I apologize for my back when I\u2019m speaking to you all.  I am sorry. <\/p>\n<p>But, look, we\u2019re moving in the right direction.  Now we\u2019ve got to protect those gains.  We\u2019ve got to protect those gains that our policies have generated \u2014 protect them from the MAGA Republicans in the House of Representatives who are threatening to destroy this progress.<\/p>\n<p>Look, you know, this ain\u2019t your father\u2019s Republican Party.  This is a different breed of cat, as they say.  You know, as hard as it is to believe, they want to pass legislation to do the following things.  And I\u2019ve been saying this \u2014 no one believed it until they started to introduce this stuff.<\/p>\n<p>They want to raise your gas prices.  They want to cut taxes for billionaires who pay virtually only 3 percent [8 percent] of their income now.  Three percent [Eight percent] they pay.  You know, a babysitter pays more than that.<\/p>\n<p>And they want to impose a 30 \u2014 this one I love.  They want to impose a 30 percent national sales tax on everything from food, clothing, school supplies, housing, cars \u2014 a whole deal.  Thirty percent.  No \u2014 oh, you think I\u2019m joking.  What I \u2014 if I did \u2014 if they didn\u2019t see it \u2014 if you didn\u2019t \u2014 if I didn\u2019t see it, I wouldn\u2019t believe it.  I wouldn\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n<p>And, folks, the reason they want to do that \u2014 they want to eliminate the income tax system.  Because guess what?  That\u2019s the only way that millionaires and billionaires have to pay any taxes.  But guess what will happen to all of you all if, in fact, 30 percent sales tax on everything you buy, from eggs to automobiles?  Not a joke.<\/p>\n<p>And one more.  I\u2019ve been saying this during the last campaign \u2014 in the off-year campaign.  Doug knows \u2014 Don. <\/p>\n<p>Look, here\u2019s the deal: They\u2019re going to cut your Socia- \u2014 they want to cut your Social and Medicare.  No, this is the God\u2019s truth.  It\u2019s almost unbelievable.<\/p>\n<p>And beyond that, they\u2019re actually threatening to have us default on the American debt \u2014 the debt that\u2019s been accumulated over 230 years.  Okay?  And the interest on that debt.  We\u2019ve never, ever done that.<\/p>\n<p>So, we have a rhetor- \u2014 I have a rhetorical question: What in God\u2019s name would the Americans give up the progress we\u2019ve made for the chaos they\u2019re suggesting?  I don\u2019t get it.  That\u2019s why the MAGA Republicans deliberately choose to inflict this kind of pain on the American people.  Why?  Why?<\/p>\n<p>This nation has gone through too much.  We\u2019ve come too far to let that happen.<\/p>\n<p>I will not let it happen.  Not on my watch.  I will veto everything they send me.  (Applause.)  Not after all the progress we\u2019ve made and how far we\u2019ve come.<\/p>\n<p>Last week \u2014 last week was the two-year anniversary of the day I was sworn in as President.  And at the time I was sworn in, the pandemic was raging and the economy was reeling.  Millions of you were out of work through no fault of your own.  Millions more kept their jobs, but they saw their hours and their paychecks cut.  Millions of millions of Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed.  Small businesses make up 50 percent of the entire economy.<\/p>\n<p>Schools across the country were closed.  Teachers and first responders were laid off.<\/p>\n<p>For families that relied on a weekly paycheck and not their stock portfolios to put real food on the table, there was real pain for these \u2014 these people.  I mean, for real.  Some of you remember it.  God forbid some of you had to go through it.  Real fear that maybe this time they wouldn\u2019t make it.<\/p>\n<p>But the fear doesn\u2019t start \u2014 didn\u2019t start with the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>For decades, the backbone of America, the middle class, has been being hollowed out.<\/p>\n<p>Too many good-paying jobs in manufacturing were moved overseas by corporate America.  Why?  Because labor was cheaper.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re changing the dynamic, by the way.  We\u2019re sending product overseas and jobs to America.  That\u2019s how we\u2019re doing it.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But think about it, folks: When jobs moved overseas, factories at home closed down.  Once-thriving cities and towns became shadows of what they used to be.<\/p>\n<p>As they were hollowed out, something else was lost: pride \u2014 pride and a sense of self-worth if you lived in those towns and places.<\/p>\n<p>The so-called effects of trickle-down economics and the policies of my predecessor.<\/p>\n<p>You know, they view the world from Park Avenue \u2014 I view it \u2014 where the wealthy, in fact, if you get \u2014 if everything works well for them, all is going to trickle down and help the rest of us.  Well, I come from a background where that never worked.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s another view.  There\u2019s another view \u2014 one that I hold, and the folks from Springfield or cities \u2014 where I was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania; where I grew up in Claymont, Delaware; or thousands of cities like them \u2014 a view that says the backbone of America are the people who get up every morning, put on their shoes, and go to work to make a living.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, I\u2019ve said it many times.  Wall Street did not build America.  The middle class built America.  And \u2014 and unions built the middle class.  (Applause.)  Unions.  Not labor.  Unions build the middle class.<\/p>\n<p>And I ran for President \u2014 God \u2014 I \u2014 my word \u2014 to build the economy from the bottom up \u2014 bottom up and the middle out.  Because when you do that, the poor have a chance to climb up a ladder, the middle class do well, and the wealthy still do very well.  There\u2019s never been a time when the middle class is doing well the wealthy didn\u2019t do well.<\/p>\n<p>So, folks, look, my Dad used to have an expression.  He\u2019d say, \u201cJoey, a job is about\u2026\u201d \u2014 I give you my word to this.  \u201cA job is about a lot more than a cha- \u2014 a paycheck.  It\u2019s about your dignity.  It\u2019s about respect.  It\u2019s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, \u2018Honey, it\u2019s going to be okay,\u2019 and mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The first major legisl- \u2014 piece of legislation we passed, without a single vote from the other team, when I got elected was the American Rescue Plan.<\/p>\n<p>Why?  Because tax bases were way down.  Cities and counties didn\u2019t have enough money to keep things going.  So what did we do?  We gave states and local governments the money they needed to keep cops on the beat, firefighters in the firehall, first responders on the job, teachers in the classroom, nurses in the clinics and hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Literally, they would have to had fired tens of thousands had we not provided the means for that.<\/p>\n<p>Back then, only 3.5 million people had been \u2014 even had their first vaccination, because the other guy and the other team didn\u2019t think it mattered a whole lot.<\/p>\n<p>Now we have fully vaccinated 230 million Americans.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve also reduced the cost of health insurance for average American as well.<\/p>\n<p>We passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure plan \u2014 we did get some Republican votes to get that done \u2014 (applause) \u2014 an infrastructure pan [plan] larger than anything except Eisenhower\u2019s hi- \u2014 national highway bill over 60 years ago.  A once-in-a generation of putting Ameri- \u2014 once-in-a-generation opportunity to put Americans back to work.<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t be the number-one economy or the strongest economy in the world without the best infrastructure in the world.  It\u2019s not possible \u2014 you know, the best trains, plains, airports, and the like.  You can\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n<p>You all know it better than anybody because you\u2019re the ones making it happen.  But think about it.  Not a joke.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, we funded 700,000 [7,000] major construction projects \u2014 700,000 [7,000] all across America.  (Applause.)  From highways to airports to bridges to tunnels to broadband.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of this year, that\u2019s going to be more than 20,000 projects.  Big and small cities \u2014 east, west, north, and south \u2014 all part of it. <\/p>\n<p>Major projects like the bridge between Kentucky and Ohio, where my friend Mitch McConnell and I announced last month, the Brent Smith [Spence] Bridge.  It was built 60 years ago.  It had to close down several times for repairs and making \u2014 causing havoc across the Ohio River.<\/p>\n<p>It was badly in need of repair.  We\u2019ll finally be able to commit over a billion dollars to fix that bridge and build another alongside it.<\/p>\n<p>That bridge carries, every single day, $2 billion worth of freight.  Let me say that right \u2014 right now, it carries $2 billion worth of freight every single day from Florida to Canada.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a major part of our economy, not just in the Midwest but across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Folks have been talking about fixing that bridge for decades, but we\u2019re getting it done now because of that bill.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And next week, I\u2019m visiting Baltimore and New York.  We\u2019re going to replace a 150-year-old tunnel \u2014 the Baltimore and Potomac tunnel under the Potomac River \u2014 which will allow rail traffic to move up and down the East Coast. <\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m probably the only non-rail guy who\u2019s walked that tunnel.  (Laughter.)  No, I\u2019m not joking.  It\u2019s still \u2014 the last time I walked it, they still had lights that were on a string hanging down, leaks in the roof.  Folks, 150 years old; nothing has been done to it.  Everything has to slow down, and there\u2019s a great worry that part of it could collapse.  But, folks, nothing has happened. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to build a new tunnel between New York and New Jersey as well, replacing a tunnel that\u2019s also in desperate need of repair.<\/p>\n<p>This is going to cut commute times, improve safety, and make travel more reliable for 20- \u2014 200,000 people making trips through that tunnel every single, solitary day.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s not all.  We\u2019re going to \u2014 you all are doing it already.  We\u2019re going to replace the poisonous lead pipes, like you read so much about and what you\u2019re doing.  (Applause.)  Not just in Flint, Michigan, but throughout the country. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re replacing lead pipes in 10 \u2014 to 10 million homes and in 40,000 scho- \u2014 400,000 schools and childcare centers \u2014 (applause) \u2014 so every child in America \u2014 every child in America can turn on a faucet at home and drink clean water without fear of damage to their brain or something else happening to them.  Think about that.  (Applause.)  For God\u2019s sake, this is the United States of America.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re making sure that every community, urban and rural, has access to affordable high-speed Internet.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>No parent \u2014 think, during the pandemic, when schools were closed, you\u2019d ride by a McDonald\u2019s; all kinds of cars in the parking lot.  They weren\u2019t buying McDonald\u2019s.  Not a joke.  They were going into their Internet connection so they could do the homework with their kids.<\/p>\n<p>Every farmer \u2014 every farmer in America has the ability to know \u2014 should have the ability to know when it\u2019s profitable to sell their crop, their cattle, their \u2014 on the market.  Only way you know that is through the Internet. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a big deal.  We can\u2019t have people afford to go without Internet \u2014 affordable Internet.<\/p>\n<p>Investing in infrastructure is about creating tens of thousands of new jobs that everyone can access, regardless of whether you have a college degree or not.<\/p>\n<p>No one knows that better than the people sitting in front of me and the people behind me here.  You\u2019re the reason \u2014 and, by the way, if all of the sudden all the investment bankers stopped working \u2014 nothing.  If you all quit, America comes to a standstill.  Not a joke.  Think about it.  Think about it.  Think about it.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine if the IBEW decided to go on strike.  Not a joke.  What happens?  You\u2019re not only important; you\u2019re the backbone of this country.  (Applause.)  You\u2019re the \u2014<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Woo!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, no, no, I\u2019m not \u2014 I\u2019m not trying to be nice.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, in case you were wondering, I\u2019ve been saying this for the last 400 years I\u2019ve been in office.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>And so, folks, look, it\u2019s about investing in America and reinvesting in places that have been forgotten; seeing communities all over America, not just on the coasts, but all over America, reborn.<\/p>\n<p>When we do that, not only will it increase safety and security, it will create thousands upon thousands of good-paying jobs.  We\u2019ll be able to bring pride back to those communities that were once so proud.<\/p>\n<p>So, how many times have you known \u2014 how many people do you know \u2014 relatives around the country \u2014 where their kids go to a decent school, they graduate from high school, and they go, \u201cMom, I got to move.  There\u2019s no jobs here.  There\u2019s\u2026\u201d  Not \u2014 not any exaggeration at all.  \u201cThere\u2019s no jobs here, Mom.  I got to move\u201d from the towns and cities that don\u2019t have to talk to their parents about this anymore, about having to leave home so they can get a decent job.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in a bipartisan way, we actually passed the CHIPS and Science Act that I pushed \u2014 (applause) \u2014 just to make sure that America leads \u2014 not participates \u2014 leads the world in innovation and research and development, especially in the manufacturing of semiconductors.<\/p>\n<p>You all know these are small computer chips \u2014 smaller than the tip of my little finger \u2014 that power virtually everything in our lives, from cellphones to automobiles to artificial intellivence [sic] \u2014 intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, look, a lot of people don\u2019t remember or don\u2019t even know: The United States of America invented these chips.  We invented them.  The first in the world \u2014 we invented them.<\/p>\n<p>It was American innovation that made them smaller, faster, and more powerful.<\/p>\n<p>Over 30 years ago, we, in fact, manufactured 30 percent of the global chip production worth tens of billions of dollars.  But today, we produce only 10 percent \u2014 10 percent.  Instead of the supply chain for these chips starting in the United States, it starts in countries we couldn\u2019t rely on.<\/p>\n<p>Look what happened during the pandemic.  When overseas factories that make these chips shut down, automakers literally shut down \u2014 shut down their production lines. <\/p>\n<p>Fewer cars were made.  Workers on the shop floor were laid off.  One third of the core of inflation in 2021 was because the price of automobiles grew so much because you could not have the 3,000 chips needed for \u2014 to make the system work, producing fewer cars because of the shortage of semiconductors.<\/p>\n<p>One car needs \u2014 I said 3,000 \u2014 300 of these chips. <\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t ever be in a position where American automak- \u2013 auto manufacturers can\u2019t make cars because we don\u2019t make chips in America.<\/p>\n<p>So, I made a decision, and I was very blunt about it.  It\u2019s caused some stir around the world, not just here.  The cost of everything from a refrigerator to a cellphone went up for the same reason, by the way.  We can\u2019t ever let that happen again.<\/p>\n<p>So, what we did: With the CHIPS and Science Law, I made a commitment that the supply chain is going be- \u2014 begin in America, not end in America.  (Applause.)  Really. <\/p>\n<p>And this law is about a lot more than chips.  It\u2019s about science as well.  Decades ago, the United States of America invested 2 percent of its GDP in research and development.  Two percent of the billions of dollars of the GDP we invested in research and development.<\/p>\n<p>You know what we do today?  Less than seven tenths of 1 percent.  We used to rank number one in the world in research and development.  We have the best universities, the best minds in the world.  We stopped investing in ourselves.  Guess what?  We now rank nine in the world, from number one. <\/p>\n<p>China, a decade ago, was number eight in the world.  Now it\u2019s number two in the world.  And countries are closing in on us fast.<\/p>\n<p>With CHIPS and Science Act, we finally convinced our friends to let them know to that it\u2019ll allow us to reclaim our leadership in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Companies from at home and abroad, around the world, have announced more than $300 billion in investments in American manufacturing.  That includes computer chips, manufacturing, science, since \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Look, you know, I asked one of the major investors in the United States of America \u2014<\/p>\n<p>it happened to be a Korean country [sic] \u2014 a South Korean company.  They\u2019re investing billions of dollars.  I said, \u201cWhy the United States?\u201d to the CEO when I was in Korea.  He said, \u201cBecause you have the single-best workers in the world, and you\u2019re the most reliable nation in the world.\u201d  (Applause.)  I swear to God.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re building new chip factories and new good-paying jobs in Ohio; Arizona; Poughkeepsie, New York; Syracuse, New York.<\/p>\n<p>Let me give you an example.  In Ohio, Intel is investing $20 billion.  More than half of it will go to construction of a<br \/>\nstate-of-the-art semiconductor factories, creating 7,000 prevailing wage construction jobs.  Seven thousand.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, the deal?  I said, \u201cYou come.  You pay prevailing wage.\u201d  They pay a prevailing wage. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And of the 10,000 jobs in that \u201cField of Dreams\u201d of a thousand acres, east \u2014 east \u2014 west of Columbus, 3,000 permanent jobs operating in these factories.  By the way, these factories are multiple size of football fields.  I mean, they\u2019re multiples of the football fields, each of them.<\/p>\n<p>You know, those jobs pay an average, in the factory, of $135 \u2014 $135,000 a year.  And you don\u2019t need a college degree.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>We didn\u2019t stop there.  We then passed the Inflation Reduction Act.  We were trying for years to give Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug costs.  You pay, in your taxes, billions of dollars into Medicare so they can help. <\/p>\n<p>Well, guess what?  We pay the highest prescription drug prices of any country in the world.  Let me say it again: the highest of any country in the world.  Because other countries don\u2019t allow that to happen.<\/p>\n<p>So we wanted to give them the same power that the Veterans Administration has used to cut drug prices in half for our military personnel.<\/p>\n<p>Big Pharma is always able to stop us.  I\u2019ve been trying this for 30 years, when I was in the Senate as well.  But we finally got it done.  And thank you, pal.  (Applause.)  Thank you, thank you, thank you.<\/p>\n<p>So, you know what we\u2019ve done?  We said \u2014 and, by the way, the vast majority of the medicines and the prescriptions they, in fact, invent are because of federal investment, federal research, federal development \u2014 your tax dollars \u2014 your tax dollars.  They do good work, but your tax dollars get them off the ground. <\/p>\n<p>Well, here\u2019s the deal: I put a \u2014 we put a cap, and it\u2019s now in effect \u2014 now in effect, as of January 1 \u2014 of $2,000 a year on prescription drug costs for seniors, even if their drugs cost $10,000, $12,000, or 14 [thousand] a year, as some cancer drugs do.  They pay no more than $2,000 a year.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And in addition, we put a $35-a-month cap on insulin for millions of seniors on Medicare instead of a minimum of $400 a month.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>I mean, think about it.  It was here in this county, early on, that I was doing a town meeting, and a young woman \u2014 a mom \u2014 stood up and said, \u201cYou know, I have two daughters with Type 2 diabetes.\u201d  Maybe you were here.  You were shaking your head.  But maybe \u2014 \u201cI have two daughters.\u201d  How many of you know \u2014 you don\u2019t have to say whether you do \u2014 how many of you know someone close to you that has Type 1 or 2 diabetes and needs insulin?<\/p>\n<p>Look around, press. <\/p>\n<p>Well, guess what?  They\u2019re paying between 400 and 1,000 bucks a month.  You know how much it costs to make that drug \u2014 make it and package it?  Twelve dollars.  T-W-E-L-V-E dollars.  And you know what?  The guy who invented it didn\u2019t even patent it because he wanted it available for everybody.<\/p>\n<p>But now, look what they charging.  And they\u2019re making billions of bucks doing it. <\/p>\n<p>Millions of people \u2014 millions of people are going to benefit. <\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what we got to do this year, Congressman.  I initially introduced a bill that said nobody has to pay more than 15 \u2014 more than 35 bucks.  But they knocked out everybody, except on Medicare.  So, all those \u2014 that mom talking about her two daughters when I was here last time?  She\u2019s still paying four to eight hundred bucks a year \u2014 a month.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have really expensive insurance, how do you do that?  Talk about being deprived of your pride!  Look at your child \u2014 your child! \u2014 you know needs it, and you can\u2019t afford to do what you know they need to be sure they can continue to live.  It\u2019s wrong.  It\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n<p>So we got to get it done for everybody this year.  For everybody.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we amended the Affordable Care Act so millions of people \u2014 poor folks, who couldn\u2019t afford the better health insurance \u2014 we were able to save them an average of 800 bucks a year.  Well, we\u2019re making that this year again, to make sure that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, that same piece of legislation contains<br \/>\nthe biggest investment ever to deal with the climate crisis that we face.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, if you hold a second \u2014 if you don\u2019t think we have a climate crisis, come travel with me around the country.  No, I\u2019m not joking.  Go back.  Go back.  And here we are.  Travel around the country. <\/p>\n<p>I have been in the West Coast and the Southwest and the North- \u2014 Northwest, where more timber has burned to the ground than the entire state of Missouri.  You hear me?  The entire state.  We have enormous drought. <\/p>\n<p>Now we have these superstorms in the West.  I just was out in California, in a helicopter with the governor again \u2014 in northern California. <\/p>\n<p>Folks, there is a thing called global warming, and it\u2019s real.  But we can do something about it.  So, what happened?  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Doug [Don], I think you might have been with me when I invited the chairman of the board of the three major automobile companies in America, on the South Lawn.  At the time, the chairman of the board of General Motors, Mary Barra, was suing the state of California because it had a higher standard for exhaust than the rest of the country, arguing that no state can have a higher standard than the federal government. <\/p>\n<p>Well, guess what?  A week or 10 days later, I got a pho- \u2014 a phone call.  She said, \u201cI\u2019m dropping the suit, and we\u2019re committing that we will go all electric by 2035\u201d \u2014 (applause) \u2014 saving billions of gallons of fossil fuels.  Billions of gallons.<\/p>\n<p>And guess what?  The bill we passed \u2014 you know, we\u2019re in a situation where we\u2019re going to be able to save an awful lot of money \u2014 an awful lot of money. <\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, families are going to save more than a hun- \u2014 a thousand dollars a year in tax credits for these vehicles when they purchase one and energy-efficient appliances like refrigerators and washing machines.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re paying for all of this and finally making sure the biggest \u2014 by finally making sure the biggest corporations just begin to pay a little bit. <\/p>\n<p>The days are over when corporations are paying zero in federal taxes.  In 2020, 50 \u2014 2021 \u2014 55 of the biggest corporations of the Fortune 500 made $40 billion.  You know how much they paid in taxes?  Zero.  Zero.  Zero.<\/p>\n<p>So, we passed a law saying they have to pass a \u2014 pay a minimum of 15 percent.  My God, isn\u2019t that awful?  (Laughter.)  Anybody in here me- \u2014 make \u2014 and has a full-time job make \u2014 pay less than 15 percent of your income on taxes?  I don\u2019t think so. <\/p>\n<p>These big laws, we put them all into action because \u2014 because we paid for them. <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s one of my primary objectives this year: to implement what \u2014 and what we wa- \u2014 what we\u2019ve passed.  Both were based on a promise.  And they really begin to doubt the government\u2019s ability to keep a commitment.<\/p>\n<p>All last year, I talked about how, beginning January 1, you\u2019re [not] going to have to pay more than 35 bucks for your insulin.  Now I\u2019m getting thousands of letters going, \u201cGod, it happened.  It happened.\u201d  It didn\u2019t kick in until 2024 \u2014 I mean, 20- \u2014 2023.<\/p>\n<p>And look \u2014 I\u2019m taking too much of your time, and I apologize.  But here\u2019s the deal: You\u2019ve heard \u2014 you know about the President\u2019s Cabinet \u2014 Secretary of State, Defense, all those things.<\/p>\n<p>Well, today \u2014 literally today, I\u2019m creating an \u201cInvestment [Invest] in America\u201d Cabinet.  I\u2019m taking all those Cabinet members, Secretaries \u2014 Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Treasury, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Environmental Protection Agency \u2014 and putting them in a sub-Cabinet.  Their fundamental job \u2014 plus, I\u2019m taking my two senior advisors carrying out the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.  We\u2019re going to bring them together in an element of the federal government to invest wisely.  And they\u2019re going to come up with a plan: how we implement all that we\u2019ve done. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s one thing to have passed it all.  Now we have to make sure we\u2019re ever \u2014 on it every single day.  Not a joke.  Implementing it so people can see what we\u2019ve delivered and give it to them directly. <\/p>\n<p>And in the process, I promise you what\u2019s going to happen: It\u2019s going to attract billions of dollars more in private investment and get the possible best results for American workers and families.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, too many people left behind \u2014 have been left behind in the past, and too many people, like my dad \u2014 well, too many people were treated like they were invisible.  Isn\u2019t it kind of interesting why all of a sudden \u2014 it hadn\u2019t been with my case, but all of a sudden, blue-collar workers \u2014 all the guys I grew up with in Claymont and Scranton \u2014 they vote Republican?  Not a joke.  What\u2019s happened?  I think a lot are because they don\u2019t think we care, we\u2019re not paying attention.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a little bit like what happened when I ran the first time as a 29-year-old kid for the Senate in 1972 and got elected.  We had what we called \u2014 what I called \u201climousine liberals.\u201d  A lot of people wanted to do an awful lot, but they just forgot about my neighborhood.  They forgot about the neighborhood I grew up in.  <\/p>\n<p>We weren\u2019t poor, but we lived in a housing development in suburbia.  I think it was 42 homes, split-level homes, three- and four-bedroom.  We had a three-bedroom, split-level home.  In the process, we had four kids and a grandpop or an aunt living with us all the time.  I look back and I wonder how the hell my parents did it, but we thought it was good.  The walls were very thin.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But remember \u2014 and my dad \u2014 my dad was a hardworking guy.  He\u2019d come home for dinner every night and then go back to work.  Not a joke.<\/p>\n<p>Like \u2014 like millions of \u2014 we weren\u2019t poor.  My dad, were he around today with four kids, he\u2019d probably be making somewhere \u2014 I guess his salary, based on what it was then, would probably be like $85,000 a year.  Enough to get by, but not enough to really, you know, pay for college and all those things. <\/p>\n<p>And they remember, in my old neighborhoods, why the jobs went away, and wonder whether a path even exists anymore for them to be counted in \u2014 these invisible folks that I grew up with.  But I know we can forge that path \u2014 I\u2019m confident we can \u2014 by building an economy where nobody is left behind.  And I mean it: Nobody is left behind.  Nobody.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at the results in just the two years we\u2019ve been in office:<\/p>\n<p>Unemployment is the lowest it\u2019s been in 50 years.  Number one.  (Applause.)  The first two years of my administration, we\u2019ve had the strongest years of job growth ever in American history on record.  (Applause.)  We\u2019ve created nearly 11 million jobs, including 750,000 manufacturing jobs.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Where in the hell is it written that says America can\u2019t lead the world in manufacturing again?  Where is that written?  I don\u2019t know where it\u2019s written.  And it\u2019s not going to be on my watch. <\/p>\n<p>Ladies and gentlemen, we\u2019re getting \u2014 you see I\u2019m getting criticized internationally for my maybe focusing too much on America.  The hell with that.  (Laughter.)  This is real serious.  The supply chain is going to start here.  Those \u2014 those nations that are democracies, they\u2019ll be able to benefit from what we\u2019re doing, and we\u2019ll make sure they have \u2014 the supply chain doesn\u2019t end with us.<\/p>\n<p>The unemployment rate is near record lows for Black and Hispanic workers and the lowest ever recorded for people with disabilities \u2014 the lowest ever in history.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And over the last two years, more than 10 million people have applied to start a small business.  That\u2019s more than any two years in all of recorded American history.  And every time \u2014 (applause) \u2014 every time someone starts a small business, it\u2019s an act of hope.  It\u2019s an act of hope.  And that\u2019s what we\u2019re seeing in these record numbers that we\u2019re breaking now: hope.  Hope. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also seeing American families breathe a little easier again.  More American families have health insurance today than any time in American history.  Fewer families are facing foreclosure or evictions than before the pandemic.  And inflation has fallen every month for the last six months while take-home pay for workers has gone up.<\/p>\n<p>We got more work to do.  I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, as I said, we got good news this morning.  In the last quarter of 2022, the economy grew 2.9 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Last summer, plenty of Wall Street alasty- [sic] were \u2014 analysts were saying that the \u2014 by the end of the year, there\u2019d be a recession.  They\u2019ve been telling me since I got elected we\u2019re going to be in a recession.  (Laughter.)  Every time we\u2019ve gone, we\u2019ve gotten better.<\/p>\n<p>Well, it turns out, thank God, they were wrong.<\/p>\n<p>So is another group: the House Republican leadership.  As I said, it\u2019s not your father\u2019s Republican Party.  It\u2019s a different breed of cat.  I call them \u201cextreme MAGA Republicans.\u201d  Not all Republicans are there, but a distinct minority of 30 to 40 percent of them.  And as I said, they seem determined to be the party of chaos and catastrophe.<\/p>\n<p>Look, I\u2019m ready to work with the Republicans \u2014 as I\u2019ve demonstrated to the chagrin sometimes of my Democratic friends \u2014 who want to make progress for the American people.  And I\u2019m ready to compromise if there\u2019s something good that we want to deal with.<\/p>\n<p>But, like many Americans, I was disappointed to see what the very first bill the House \u2014 new House of Representatives passed, along party lines, added $114 billion to the deficit, reducing taxes on the wealthy.<\/p>\n<p>They campaigned on inflation.  They didn\u2019t say, if elected, they planned to make it worse.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>MAGA Republicans introduced another bill \u2014 it\u2019s hard to believe; check it out \u2014 as my \u2014 used to say early on, \u201cGoogle it\u201d \u2014 blocking action to help lower gas prices to help consumers. <\/p>\n<p>And now these MAGA Republican in the House introduced another bill that\u2019s going to eliminate the IRS, going to eliminate it completely \u2014 the only guys who can go in and look at the complicated tax returns that people have \u2014 and replace the IRS \u2014 which \u2014 that\u2019d be nice; no IR- \u2014 no taxes, right? \u2014 except with a 30 percent national sales tax on everything from if you buy a home to a car to eggs.<\/p>\n<p>Who do you think pays for that?  Who do you think is going to get ripped off?<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s right \u2014 they want to raise taxes on working- and middle-class people in America by passing a national sales tax, taxing every item from groceries, gasoline, clothing, supplies, medicine, even big-ticket items like rent and cars.  Thirty percent sales tax on all of those issu- \u2014 all those pieces.<\/p>\n<p>Do you think \u2014 and, by the way, I thought I heard today on the \u2014 the Speaker of the House says he\u2019s not sure he\u2019s for it now.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Bless me, Father, for he has sinned.  I tell you, I \u2014 (laughter and applause).  There is redemption.<\/p>\n<p>The Republican Speaker says he\u2019s not so sure he\u2019s for it.<\/p>\n<p>Look, do they think this is going to help with inflation?  In the process, cutting taxes on the wealthiest?  You got to be kidding me.  What in God\u2019s name is this all about?<\/p>\n<p>Look, that\u2019s how they\u2019re starting this new term: cutting taxes on billionaires, raising taxes on middle-class families, and making inflation worse.  For real.<\/p>\n<p>And let me be clear: If any of these bills somehow got passed in the House and the Senate, I will veto them.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I was here campaigning in Virginia in the off-year election, pointing out that Republicans wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare.  And you all looked at me like, \u201cCome on, Biden.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Well, guess what?  Americans have been paying into them every single paycheck since you were 16 years old.<\/p>\n<p>Well, I got a better idea.  I want to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, not gut it.  If wealthy Americans \u2014 (applause) \u2014 if wealthy Americans want to keep Medicare and Medicaid growing strong without having to cut anything, if wealthy Americans pay the same rate that you all pay \u2014 for example, up to $139,000, you pay slightly more the more you make.  But it stops there.  And so, if you\u2019re making a billion dollars, you pay the same amount you\u2019re paying if you made $139,000.  I think it\u2019s $139,000.<\/p>\n<p>Well, guess what?  Keep the same percentage or something like it.  Make sure that nobody making more than \u2014 and I\u2019ve said this, and we \u2014 I\u2019ve kept the commitment: As long as I\u2019m President, no one making less than $400,000 will have a single penny of their taxes raised.  Period.  I don\u2019t know many people making $400,000.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, if Republicans want to work together on real solutions and continue to grow manufacturing jobs and build the strongest economy in the world and make sure Americans are paid a fair wage, I\u2019m ready.  But I will not let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>In the United States of America, we pay our debts.<\/p>\n<p>It took 200 years to accumulate that debt.  Let me explain this at a \u2014 look, under my predecessor, the last guy that was President, the deficit in four \u2014 it went up four years in a row, accounting for 40 percent [sic] of the entire 200 years of debt.  You hear me?<\/p>\n<p>No President added more to the debt in four years than my president [predecessor].  I misspoke: 25 percent of our country\u2019s entire debt.  Twenty-five percent, accumulated over 200 years, added to the \u2014 by the last administration in just four years.<\/p>\n<p>On my watch, we\u2019ve taken a different path, with Don\u2019s help.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the last two years \u2014 my administration \u2014 we cut the deficit by $1.7 trillion, the largest reduction in debt in American history \u2014 (applause) \u2014 while doing all the things I just said.  We paid for it all.<\/p>\n<p>And the very notion that we would default on the safest, most respected debt in the world is mind boggling.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not going to get into their reckless threats and take the economy hostage in order to force an agenda that\u2019s going to only limit American workers and weaken us internationally.  I won\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n<p>So, let me close with this.  We have more work to do, but we\u2019re on the right track.  We\u2019re on the right track.  Roads and bridges are being built.  Factories are coming online.  People are back to work.  Families are breathing just a little bit easier, as my dad would say.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve never been more optimistic \u2014 and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, my word as a Biden: I\u2019ve never been more optimistic about America\u2019s future than I am today.  Never. <\/p>\n<p>We just have to remember who in God\u2019s name we are.  We\u2019re the United States of America.  (Applause.)  And nothing \u2014 nothing, nothing, nothing \u2014 is beyond our capacity if we work together.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve never failed to accomplish a goal we\u2019ve set.  Never, never, never.<\/p>\n<p>God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>(The President returns to the podium.)<\/p>\n<p>Folks, apparently there\u2019s a train that has to get through here in 15 minutes and I\u2019ve \u2014 on the way back.  And the worst part of all is, if I don\u2019t, they\u2019ll wait for me, and that\u2019s the last thing I\u2019m going to do \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 is keep the train from going through.<\/p>\n<p>And so, folks, it\u2019s going to be quick.  I\u2019d ordinarily, as you know \u2014 you\u2019re probably happy I\u2019m not \u2014 jump in the crowd with you all and find out what\u2019s on your minds, but I can\u2019t do it right now because of that train.<\/p>\n<p>Not a \u2014 now, it\u2019s real.  You\u2019re not kidding, these guys.  Because if you are, you\u2019re fired.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>So, folks, thank you, thank you, thank you.  Keep doing what you\u2019re doing.  And remember: It ain\u2019t labor, it\u2019s union.  Union.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>3:18 P.M. EST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Springfield, Virginia&#8230;How are you all doing? Please, take a seat if you have one. (Laughs.) I said that AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, Joe! THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I said that \u2014 when I was seeking the nomination, I said, \u201cTake a seat, everybody.\u201d And there wasn\u2019t a single chair in the place. 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