State of the Union address

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      Biden says US ‘building an economy where no one is left behind’ amid 2024 speculation – as it happened

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      Joe Biden is on a roll in Wisconsin this afternoon, touting the US economy and expanding on his theme at the state of the union address last night that, half way through his term, he wants to “finish the job.”Inflation is still high but most experts believe it’s peaked and the most recent jobs figures, the Democrats’ performance in last November’s midterm elections and the US president’s performance in his address last night were better than expected,“We are building an economy where no-one is left behind,” Biden said.He is pledging to “restore the dignity of work” the “pride and self esteem” that come with well-paid employment.It is now 4pm in DC. Here are the key events that happened across the country today:
      A top White House cybersecurity adviser is set to retire next week, according to reports. On Wednesday, CNN reported that Chris Inglis is expected to depart the White House on February 15. Inglis is currently the National Cyber Director. Inglis, who has over forty years of national security experience, currently heads an office which was created in 2021 by Congress to advise the president on cybersecurity matters and to track how federal agencies manage their cybersecurity.
      The accused Libyan man behind the deadly 1988 Lockerbie bombing which killed 190 Americans has pleaded not guilty to three federal criminal charges in Washington DC. On Wednesday, 71-year old Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud pleaded not guilty to two charges of an aircraft resulting in death and one charge of destruction of a vehicle used in foreign commerce, resulting in death. If found guilty, Mas’ud faces life imprisonment.
      Former senior staff at Twitter began testimony on Wednesday before the House oversight committee about the social media platform’s handling of reporting on Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. The hearing has set the stage for the agenda of a newly Republican-controlled House, underscoring its intention to home in on longstanding and unsubstantiated allegations that big tech platforms have an anti-conservative bias.
      Joe Biden is drew pantomime-type laughs and boos from the crowd in DeForest, Wisconsin as he chuckles about sparring with “my Republican friends” during their heckling when he delivered the state of the union address last night. He spoke on the economy, already touting the low unemployment rate of 3.4%. Biden also talked about the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, passed last year, and how funds from that going into infrastructure are going to refurbish crumbling bridges and other structures in Wisconsin and across the country, boosting jobs and middle class incomes.
      Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has been appointed by House speaker Kevin McCarthy to a select committee investigating the ‘weaponization’ of the government, NBC reports. Gaetz, who was one of the far-right Republicans that opposed McCarthy’s nomination as House speaker, replaced Texas Republican Chip Roy, according to the outlet.
      During a press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden put the Republicans who heckled during his SOTU address last night “on the defense.” “He called members out on live television in front of millions of Americans and effectively put them on the defense… That’s what the president did is put them on the defense.”
      A new proposal in Missouri seeks to ban nearly all discussion of LGBTQ people, making it far more restrictive than Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law passed last year. Republican state senator Mike Moon’s bill would only allow licensed mental healthcare providers to talk to students about LGBTQ issues and gender identity in K-12 public schools, and only if guardians grant permission first.
      A tense exchange between Republican congressman George Santos and Republican senator Mitt Romney was caught on video last night as Biden was due to deliver his address. “You ought to be embarrassed,” Romney told Santos, who is expected to face an investigation by the House Ethics Committee following revelations that the freshman congressman falsified large portions of his biography.
      Joe Biden’s strong performance at the State of the Union address last night was a blow to critics on the right – and within his own party – and seemed a certain boost to the chances of him running for a second term in the White House in the 2024 election. And amid questions over his age as the oldest US president in history, at 80, vice president Kamala Harris praised him as bold and vibrant in an interview this morning, while he boosted her in a celebratory tweet.
      That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as we wrap up the blog for today. We will be back tomorrow with the latest developments in US politics. Thank you.The US Navy has released dramatic photos of the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down on Saturday.In a Facebook post, the US Fleet Forces Command wrote:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023.
      EODGRU 2 is a critical part of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Force that clears explosive hazards to provide access to denied areas; secures the undersea domain for freedom of movement; builds and fosters relationships with trusted partners, and protects the homeland.
      At the direction of the President of the United States and with the full support of the Government of Canada, U.S. fighter aircraft under U.S. Northern Command authority engaged and brought down a high altitude surveillance balloon within sovereign U.S. airspace and over U.S. territorial waters Feb. 4, 2023.
      Active duty, Reserve, National Guard, and civilian personnel planned and executed the operation, and partners from the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Aviation Administration, and Federal Bureau of Investigation ensured public safety throughout the operation and recovery efforts.”A top White House cybersecurity adviser is set to retire next week, according to reports.On Wednesday, CNN reported that Chris Inglis is expected to depart the White House on February 15. Inglis is currently the National Cyber Director.Sworn into office in July 2021, Inglis, who has over forty years of national security experience, currently heads an office which was created in 2021 by Congress to advise the president on cybersecurity matters and to track how federal agencies manage their cybersecurity.In a statement to CNN, Inglis said that the office is “is viable and valuable – in its capabilities, its people, and its influence on issues that matter: protecting our Nation’s critical infrastructure, strengthening and safeguarding our technology supply chain, expanding pathways to good-paying cyber jobs, and so many more.”The accused Libyan man behind the deadly 1988 Lockerbie bombing which killed 190 Americans has pleaded not guilty to three federal criminal charges in Washington DC. On Wednesday, 71-year old Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud pleaded not guilty to two charges of an aircraft resulting in death and one charge of destruction of a vehicle used in foreign commerce, resulting in death.If found guilty, Mas’ud, who is believed by US prosecutors to have built the bomb, faces life imprisonment.The bombing, which occurred on Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988 above Lockerbie, Scotland, killed 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 and another 11 people on the ground. The flight was traveling from London to New York. It is considered one of the deadliest terror attacks in American history.Last month, Scotland and US authorities announced that Mas’ud was in American custody.A detention hearing has been set for later this month.Former senior staff at Twitter began testimony on Wednesday before the House oversight committee about the social media platform’s handling of reporting on Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.The hearing has set the stage for the agenda of a newly Republican-controlled House, underscoring its intention to home in on longstanding and unsubstantiated allegations that big tech platforms have an anti-conservative bias.Recently departed Twitter employees speaking include Vijaya Gadde, the social network’s former chief legal officer, former deputy general counsel James Baker, former head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth and former safety leader Anika Collier Navaroli.The hearing centers on a question that has long dogged Republicans – why Twitter decided to temporarily restrict the sharing of a story about Hunter Biden in the New York Post, released in October 2020.The Post said it received a copy of a laptop hard drive from Donald Trump’s then-personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, that Hunter Biden had dropped off 18 months earlier at a Delaware computer repair shop and never retrieved. Twitter initially blocked people from sharing links to the article for several days, citing concerns over misinformation and spreading a report based on potentially hacked materials.“Americans deserve answers about this attack on the first amendment and why big tech and the swamp colluded to censor this information about the Biden family selling access for profit,” said the Republican committee chairman James Comer ahead of the hearing, referring to Trump’s characterization of the Democratic political establishment as a swamp. “Accountability is coming,” he added.In opening statements on Wednesday, the former Twitter staffers described the process by which the story was blocked, stating that it triggered Twitter’s rules against sharing hacked materials. The article had been greeted with skepticism due to questions about the laptop’s origins, and Twitter policy restricted the sharing of unlawfully accessed materials. While the company explicitly allowed “reporting on a hack, or sharing press coverage of hacking”, it blocked stories that shared “personal and private information – like email addresses and phone numbers” – which the Post story appeared to include. The platform amended these rules following the Biden controversy.Roth, the former head of safety and integrity, said Twitter had acknowledged that censoring the story was a mistake..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“Defending free expression and maintaining the health of the platform required difficult judgment calls,” he said. “There is no easy way to run a global communications platform that satisfies business and revenue goals, individual customer expectations, local laws and cultural norms and get it right every time.”Full story here:Twitter: ex-executives begin testimony on handling of Hunter Biden laptop caseRead moreJoe Biden is drawing pantomime-type laughs and boos from the crowd in Wisconsin as he chuckles about sparring with “my Republican friends” during their heckling when he delivered the state of the union address last night.The US president is referring to the uproar that ensued among Republicans in the House last night when, as he said, “they sure didn’t like me calling them on it” when he referred to some Republican members who want to cut the long-standing benefits programs Social Security and Medicare, the popular retirement and health insurance programs for seniors.There is no doubt that Biden is feeling confident. The event just ended and he stepped gingerly off the platform at the gathering in DeForest. He noticeably walks like a relatively fit 80-year-old – rather slowly – but has had fire in his speech last night and this afternoon.Such are the signs that he is preparing to announce that he’ll run for president again in 2024, surely with vice president Kamala Harris on the ticket once again?Kamala Harris lauds ‘bold, vibrant’ Biden and attacks Republican ‘theatrics’Read moreHe’s now mingling with workers at the event, smiling, chuckling, taking selfies with them.Joe Biden is on a roll in Wisconsin this afternoon, touting the US economy and expanding on his theme at the state of the union address last night that, half way through his term, he wants to “finish the job.”Inflation is still high but most experts believe it’s peaked and the most recent jobs figures, the Democrats’ performance in last November’s midterm elections and the US president’s performance in his address last night were better than expected,“We are building an economy where no-one is left behind,” Biden said.He is pledging to “restore the dignity of work” the “pride and self esteem” that come with well-paid employment.Joe Biden is speaking now in DeForest, Wisconsin, on the outskirts of the state capital Madison.The US president is on a high after a strong performance at the state of the union address last night.He’s speaking on the economy, already touting the low unemployment rate of 3.4%.He’s also talking about the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, passed last year, and how funds from that going into infrastructure are going to refurbish crumbling bridges and other structures in Wisconsin and across the country, boosting jobs and middle class incomes.Hello again, it’s been a lively day so far in US politics news as the ripples from Joe Biden’s state of the union address, and the Republicans’ response, continue across the reflecting pools of Washington and the sensibilities of the nation.The US president is due to make a fresh speech in Wisconsin at the top of the hour, where he will talk about the economy. We’ll have that for you live so stick with us.Here’s where things stand:
      Right-wing Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has been appointed by House speaker Kevin McCarthy to a new select committee created since the GOP won a slim majority in the House, investigating the ‘weaponization’ of the government.
      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden put the Republicans who heckled during his SOTU address last night “on the defense.”
      A new proposal by Missouri Republicans seeks to ban nearly all discussion of LGBTQ people, making it far more restrictive than Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law passed last year.
      A tense exchange between Republican congressman George Santos and Republican senator Mitt Romney was caught on video last night as Biden was due to deliver his address. The Utah senator thinks con artist Santos should be tossed out of congress.
      Joe Biden’s strong performance at the State of the Union address last night was a blow to critics on the right – and within his own party – and seemed a certain boost to the chances of him running for a second term in the White House in the 2024 election – with vice president Kamala Harris on the ticket, too.
      Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has been appointed by House speaker Kevin McCarthy to a select committee investigating the ‘weaponization’ of the government, NBC reports.Gaetz, who was one of the far-right Republicans that opposed McCarthy’s nomination as House speaker, replaced Texas Republican Chip Roy, according to the outlet.Roy said that he spoke with McCarthy last night after Biden’s State of the Union address.“We had a conversation. I thought it made sense for me to balance my life and to do what I need to do,” Roy said, NBC reports.“I would like to be on it but I’ve got just way too much going on… I decided it would be better for everybody and for the cause to free that up,” he said.Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Gaetz told NBC that he “is honored to serve on the Weaponization Subcommittee and will be working very hard.”During a press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden put the Republicans who heckled during his SOTU address last night “on the defense.”“He called members out on live television in front of millions of Americans and effectively put them on the defense… That’s what the president did is put them on the defense,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to several Republicans who jeered at Biden’s assertions that Republicans want to slash social security and Medicare costs.“They keep saying they want to cut Medicare and social security. They want to put it on the chopping block. And so he’s going to defend it with them on the defense again,” she said.In response to criticisms from public health advocates who felt that Biden did not thoroughly address the opioid crisis and threat of fentanyl in his address, Jean-Pierre said:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“You heard last night a powerful call to action…for members of both parties to step up, come together and fight the flow of fentanyl…which is something that you’ve seen from this president…
      He understands we have homework to do…but this cannot be a political issue. It’s a matter really, truly, as we’re seeing in communities, a matter of life or death. So that includes additional actions to go after traffickers, tougher penalties, expanding access to life-saving treatments…
      But what we saw from Republicans was jeers and casting blame and Republicans…should come together to find solutions to can to tackle the same exact issues the president wants to tackle.”A new proposal in Missouri seeks to ban nearly all discussion of LGBTQ people, making it far more restrictive than Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law passed last year.Republican state senator Mike Moon’s bill would only allow licensed mental healthcare providers to talk to students about LGBTQ issues and gender identity in K-12 public schools, and only if guardians grant permission first.“This is protecting vulnerable children and attempting to protect them from conversations that need to be had with the approval of the parent and potentially at home,” Moon told a Senate education committee, the Associated Press reports.Meanwhile, North Carolina senators on Tuesday passed their own limits on LGBTQ education in schools. Under the new bill, public school teachers would be required in most circumstances to notify parents before they address a student by a different name or pronoun.Georgia Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who heckled at Biden last night pushed back against claims that far-right Republicans took the apparent bait from Biden whose calls for political unity was met with boos.“I didn’t take any bait… As a matter of fact, I got so many messages from people in my district and people across the country, it was like I won my election again. You know what, people are pissed off,” she told CNN this morning.During Biden’s SOTU address last night, Greene booed Biden and called him a “liar” following his assertion that some Republicans have proposed to cut social security and Medicare.“I didn’t take any bait,” MTG told me of heckling and calling Biden a liar during SOTU. “As a matter of fact, I got so many messages from people in my district and people across the country, it was like I won my election again. You know what, people are pissed off” pic.twitter.com/orCq4kkmag— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 8, 2023
      During her interview with GMA on Wednesday morning, vice president Kamala Harris defended Biden’s actions towards China’s high-altitude balloon, which has been criticized by numerous Republicans..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“We invite competition with China, but we do not seek conflict. We do not seek confrontation. What the president did…it’s consistent with our perspective and our commitment, which is we are prepared to compete, but at the same time, if there’s any violation of our sovereignty, we’re going to act. And that’s what the president did,” she said.Republicans have fired at the Biden administration over its wait to shoot down the Chinese balloon, arguing that the delay jeopardized US security and could have potentially endangered American citizens.In response to a question about the prospect of bipartisanship amid tense relations with the GOP, Harris said, “The president, it’s his nature and it’s his commitment to the American people to work across the aisle. That’s not going to stop even if some people are cynical about it.”Following Biden’s SOTU address last night where he called for universal preschool and teacher raises, the president tweeted on Wednesday, “Let’s give public school teachers a raise.”Let’s give public school teachers a raise.— President Biden (@POTUS) February 8, 2023
      During his address last night, Biden said:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“Restoring the dignity of work also means making education an affordable ticket to the middle class.
      When we made 12 years of public education universal in the last century, it made us the best-educated, best-prepared nation in the world.
      But the world has caught up.”The country is currently facing a teacher shortage as a result of low wages, high stress and an increasingly divided educational culture war following conservative pushback against topics such as American history, racism, gender and sexuality, among others.A tense exchange between Republican congressman George Santos and Republican senator Mitt Romney was caught on video last night as Biden was due to deliver his address.“You ought to be embarrassed,” Romney told Santos, who is expected to face an investigation by the House Ethics Committee following revelations that the freshman congressman falsified large portions of his biography.’You ought to be embarrassed’: Mitt Romney exchanges heated words with George Santos – video https://t.co/kizX9eFh3y— The Guardian (@guardian) February 8, 2023
      Romney later told reporters that Santos “shouldn’t have been there…”“Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and being quiet instead of parading in front of the president,” he said.Asked Mitt Romney if he’s disappointed that Speaker McCarthy hasn’t called on George Santos to resign.“Yes,” he said. Santos “should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the President and people coming into the room,” Romney said. pic.twitter.com/obpaYD8v1x— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 8, 2023
      Joe Biden’s strong performance at the State of the Union address last night was a blow to critics on the right – and within his own party – and seemed a certain boost to the chances of him running for a second term in the White House in the 2024 election.And amid questions over his age as the oldest US president in history, at 80, vice president Kamala Harris praised him as bold and vibrant in an interview this morning, while he boosted her in a celebratory tweet.The whole show appeared to amplify the steady drumbeat that Biden will run again – and put Harris on the ticket with him as he did in 2020.The president presented his administration’s achievements at last night’s speech including record job growth. He also called on Republicans to help him “finish the job” of ensuring economic recovery and healing sociopolitical divides across the country.“To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress,” said Biden, adding, “Pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years.”Biden also addressed other major issues including US-China relations, threats to social security and Medicare, police violence, gun control, reproductive rights, and political violence.Notable guests at the address included Tyre Nichols’ family, Monterey Park shooting hero Brandon Tsay, U2 singer Bono, Paul Pelosi and Ukraine’s ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova.Harris praised Biden, saying that he “did a great job.”Good morning, US politics readers. We are coming off the back of Joe Biden’s State of the Union address last night where he presented his administration’s achievements since taking office in 2021 and condemned Republicans seeking to cut social security and Medicare – to which a few responded with boos and heckling.During what some saw as a “soft launch for his 2024 campaign,” Biden also addressed the US being in the “strongest position in decades” to challenge China, called for the need of meaningful policing as Tyre Nichols’ family watched on from the audience, and condemned rightwing threats to democracy.In response to Biden’s address, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered her own speech, calling the president “crazy” and “unfit to serve.” The former president Donald Trump’s White House press secretary also condemned his Democratic supporters, calling them the “woke mob” and “radical left”.As we bring you the latest on today’s US politics, here’s what we can expect today:
      Biden will deliver remarks on the economy later this afternoon in Madison, Wisconsin.
      Vice-president Kamala Harris will travel to Atlanta, Georgia to participate in a conversation on climate change.
      Three former Twitter executives will testify at the House oversight committee over the social media platform’s handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
      ‘Pride is coming back’: Biden touts victories on jobs and climate in State of the Union addressRead more More

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      Biden’s State of the Union speech was in stark contrast to Britain’s dearth of economic ideas | Martin Kettle

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      Biden’s State of the Union speech was in stark contrast to Britain’s dearth of economic ideasMartin KettleThe US president’s strategy is a world away from anything the Tories have to offer. Labour needs to learn from it01:19:16Like every State of the Union address by every US president before him, Joe Biden’s speech to Congress on Tuesday was aimed squarely at the domestic audience. The United States may be a global superpower, but the rest of the world counts for little when the president makes his annual winter journey up to Capitol Hill. The Beltway rituals of the evening – the obligatory hallowed phrases, the namechecks of the guests in the gallery, the breaks for standing ovations (and this week some heckling) – all combine to label this as a 100% American occasion.Watching from across the ocean, the temptation may be to discuss a State of the Union as if we are Americans, too. Some in the British political class slip readily into the garb of voyeur participants, weighing how the Democratic president’s agenda will play in the Republican-controlled Congress, talking about Donald Trump and culture wars, speculating on the next election, and offering views on whether the 80-year-old Biden ought to run again.These are all real questions for Americans. Yet for this country they are, at best, vicarious issues. Nevertheless, for once, Biden’s message did not stop at the Atlantic’s edge. This time it vaulted across the ocean. It is hard to recall any State of the Union address this century – even in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks – in which the resonances for Britain were louder.Biden’s speech centred on a profound issue that also faces Britain. It was built around the absolutely fundamental question that confronts all modern political economies today. How, in the wake of Covid and at a time of European war, can a government in an advanced capitalist society make the economy generate growth, greater security, greater fairness and environmental sustainability?Biden’s answers were a world away from the ones that are currently aired in British politics and media. In part, that’s simply because the US and Britain are different countries. The issues look different in the UK, with an economy on the edge of recession, suffering high inflation and rising interest rates, to the way they look in the US, where inflation is falling, employment expanding and in which consumer confidence is improving.In some fundamentals, however, the two have started from the same places. Both have faced the economic shocks of Covid and high energy prices. Before the pandemic and the Ukraine war, both also faced a post-industrial working-class electorate that felt abandoned by government and the financier class, and voted for Brexit and Trump.Under Biden, however, a real difference has emerged. Although both the US and the UK responded to Covid and the energy price spike with measures to protect families, only Biden has tried to bring the full power of government to bear on the wider economic decline and to reverse it with a strategy of investment-led growth.It is not a story of unblemished success, and there have been political battles along the way, including with his fellow Democrats, but on Tuesday Biden was able to celebrate the impact of measures such as his Infrastructure Act, with its 20,000 job-creating projects in transport, utilities and cabling, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which bears down on health and energy costs and marks a major strategic response to the climate crisis.Here’s what Biden said in Tuesday’s speech about that. “I ran for president to fundamentally change things, to make sure the economy works for everyone so we can all feel pride in what we do. To build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down. Because when the middle class does well, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do very well. We all do well.”And here’s what Biden said about raising taxes to pay for these programmes. No one earning less than $400,000 a year should pay more. But no billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a school teacher or a firefighter. Oil companies should not be able to make billions of dollars out of an energy crisis. “We pay for these investments in our future by finally making the wealthiest and the biggest corporations begin to pay their fair share. I’m a capitalist. But just pay your fair share.”These are words in a speech, not yet nailed-down achievements in the life of the nation. The Republicans will use Congress to stop much of it in its tracks. As words, as a strategy and as a story so far, however, Biden’s message is a world away from anything that Britain’s leaders have attempted or embraced.Liz Truss, of course, would oppose everything that Biden stands for. She stands for a top-down not a bottom-up or middle-out economic approach, and for tax cuts for the wealthiest people and the richest corporations. The contrast helps explain why Britain is still in economic distress and the US is starting to recover. But it isn’t just Truss. No British Conservative leader of the past decade and a half would have said the things Biden said this week.More importantly, perhaps, would any Labour leader now say them either? Keir Starmer has hinted, in his energy policy commitments, that he is open to responding big in the Biden manner. Like Biden, he is a consensus-builder by nature. But Starmer is at a different place in the political cycle, operates in a very different political and economic environment, and most of his strategic thinking has not been revealed or tested.The Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne suggested this week that Joe Biden is a quiet revolutionary, slowly turning the US away from the neoliberal economic assumptions that took hold in the 1980s. Biden’s State of the Union speech, with its commitment to growing the economy for everyone, seems to bear that out. It is not guaranteed to succeed. But it is hugely in the Labour party’s interests that it should, and that Labour is able to learn from it.
      Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist
      TopicsState of the Union addressOpinionJoe BidenUS economyUS politicscommentReuse this content More

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      Key moments from Biden's State of the Union address – video

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      Joe Biden gave a forceful defence of his presidency in his second State of the Union address, delivered at the midpoint of his first term and just weeks after the Republicans retook control of the House. Some key moments included being heckled while accusing some Republicans of wanting to do away with popular government healthcare and retirement programs, announcing he would sign and executive order to aid in for police reform, a call to ban assault rifles, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the countries relationship with China.

      Biden’s State of the Union address: key takeaways
      Feisty Biden offers bipartisan vision while still triggering Republicans
      Opinion: Biden’s State of the Union unofficially kicked off his re-election campaign More

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      Wednesday briefing: Five key takeaways from Biden’s rowdy State of the Union

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      Wednesday briefing: Five key takeaways from Biden’s rowdy State of the UnionIn today’s newsletter: US president uses unity message to attack his opponents – and set up bid for a second term

      Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition
      Good morning. “Finish the job,” Joe Biden said nearly a dozen times in a speech to a joint session of Congress in Washington DC a few hours ago. His combative State of the Union address was designed around both halves of that equation: persuading Americans that he has achieved a lot so far, and asking them to agree that he should keep going – with a nudge towards the idea that the Republicans are getting in the way.Biden is a pretty confusing political figure at the moment: on a downward trajectory in the polls, with even most members of his own party not wanting him to stand for re-election – but with better-than-expected midterm results in his favour, and a chaotic and extreme opposition who many voters like even less.Last night, Biden made a case to blue-collar voters that sounded awfully like a pitch for a second term. And he repeatedly drew contrasts with his Republican opponents, who heckled throughout even as their leader shushed them. Today’s newsletter, with Guardian US political reporters David Smith and Lauren Gambino, takes you through all of it. Here are the headlines.Five big stories
      Turkey-Syria earthquake | Anger has mounted in Turkey over what was described as a slow and inadequate response by authorities to the earthquake that also hit neighbouring Syria, as the death toll passed 8,000 and chances of finding survivors narrowed.
      Crime | The death of Epsom College headteacher Emma Pattison, her daughter and her husband is being treated as a homicide, Surrey police have confirmed. Detectives, who have recovered a firearm, are examining the possibility George Pattison killed his wife and daughter before killing himself.
      UK politics | Rishi Sunak appointed trade minister Greg Hands to replace Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative party chair in a mini-reshuffle to stamp his authority on his fractured party. As part of a sweeping Whitehall restructure that created four new government departments, Grant Shapps takes over the new department for energy security and net zero.
      Police | Former Metropolitan police officer and serial rapist David Carrick has been sentenced to life in prison and must serve a minimum term of 32 years, before he can be considered for release. At Southwark crown court, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Carrick had taken “monstrous advantage” of his position as a police officer to coerce and control women.
      Climate | David Nixon, a 36-year-old care worker and Insulate Britain activist, has been jailed for eight weeks for contempt of court after disregarding a judge’s order to not to mention the climate crisis as his motivation during his trial for taking part in a road-blocking protest.
      In depth: ‘A soft launch for Biden’s 2024 campaign’At last year’s State of the Union, shortly after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, Joe Biden had Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic then-speaker of the House of Representatives, standing behind him leading bipartisan applause.This time around, things looked different. Instead of Pelosi, there was Kevin McCarthy, a Republican. Biden was repeatedly booed. And the midterm defeat in the House, although narrower than expected, significantly constrains his power.He still talked about unity: “If we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress.” In reality, “most of Biden’s policy initiatives are not going to pass,” Lauren Gambino said. “Republicans are more focused on investigations into him, his family, the administration.” Paradoxically, though, that may help him make unity a dividing line.“This was a good night for Joe Biden,” said David Smith. “It was a soft launch for his 2024 campaign, and a speech that some are describing as the best of his presidency.”Here are five key takeaways.1. Biden led with an argument that his policies are helping blue-collar voters“As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs,” Biden said, “more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years.” That was one of many appeals to voters who are worried about the economy, like boasts about taking on inflation, a call to “reward work, not wealth” with a new tax on billionaires’ investments, and a protectionist call to “buy American”.NBC News said that he spent 17 minutes speaking on the economy, infrastructure, and taxes – and those were the dominant threads in the speech. He called it a “blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America”.“He spent a lot of time talking about initiatives he’s already passed,” Lauren said. “Poll after poll shows that people don’t feel he’s achieved very much, despite having done a lot legislatively. He’s going to spend the next two years trying to convince Americans that those policies will make a difference in their lives.”2. He talked less about foreign policy, abortion, and the climate crisisBiden’s preferred emphasis was evidenced as much in what he left out as what he put in. “These speeches are often checklists,” Lauren noted. “But there wasn’t a ton of time on Ukraine, and there was no mention of the Chinese spy balloon except to talk tough and say if China ever threatens us we’ll respond as we did.”The Ukraine section came at the back end of his speech, and was relatively brief; abortion rights and the overturning of Roe v Wade were the subject of just four sentences, the climate crisis about the same. That reinforced the sense that this was a speech intensely focused on pocketbook issues on which many swing voters will make up their minds.3. He made an emotional appeal for change in policingIn another long section of the speech, Biden quoted RowVaughn Wells (above), the mother of Tyre Nichols, a Black man killed last month in Memphis by police officers who now face murder charges: “Something good must come of this.”He invited Wells and Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, who were in the gallery, to stand as he told the audience: “What happened to Tyre in Memphis happens too often. We have to do better.” In a rare section heard in something like silence, he noted that like the other white people in the room, he had never had to have “the talk” with his children about what to do if stopped by the police.It was not a radical appeal: while he demanded that police departments do more to hold officers accountable, he was also careful to note that “police officers put their lives on the line every day, and we ask them to do too much”. But it felt like a sharper message than he gave in 2022, when he said that “the answer is not to defund the police, it’s to fund the police”.4. He was repeatedly heckled by Republicans – but leaned inThere was a time when a single Republican congressman shouting “You lie!” at Barack Obama was deemed, as the Guardian put it in 2009, “an extraordinary breach of political protocol”. That looked pretty quaint last night, when an unruly Republican caucus became so caught up in jeering and shouting that McCarthy had to try – in vain – to shush them.At one point, far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (who actually brought a balloon with her?) called Biden a liar as many of her colleagues booed his assertion that some Republicans have proposed cutting social security and medicare programmes (which is, in fact, true, but exaggerated as a real threat).If anything, though, Biden appeared to relish the confrontation – getting into a spontaneous back-and-forth which he then presented as consensus.“So folks, as we all apparently agree, social security and Medicare is off the books now,” he said. “They’re not to be touched? All right. We’ve got unanimity!” You can watch the exchange here.“That was very unusual,” David said. “It felt like Biden had won the bout, and done so in a very down-to-earth, human way, not crowing or getting into poisonous arguments as Trump would.”Again, using unity as a dividing line felt like a precursor to what we might see over the rest of Biden’s term. As he said to McCarthy, with obvious enjoyment: “Mr Speaker, I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you.”5. He seems intent on running againskip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionOnly 22% of voters, and 37% of Democrats, say they want the 80-year-old president to seek a second term – well down on where those figures stood before the midterms. But it appears increasingly clear that despite his age, he fully intends to run again, and believes he is the best placed candidate to beat Donald Trump, should he win the Republican nomination.There were plenty of features of last night’s speech that seemed to point in that direction. And while there’s often a sense in Biden’s speeches that you’re waiting to hear him falter, last night’s 72-minute address was energetic, combative and largely howler-free.“It will quell the discontent within the Democratic party,” David said. “After this, it’s looking more unlikely than ever that we will see a serious challenger.”What else we’ve been reading
      The natural next step for our collectively dwindling attention spans was, of course, the hyper-short date. Elle Hunt surveys a new study that suggests the average person can only manage 51 minutes of a date that is not going well. Hunt writes that on some occasions you might want to give the date a bit longer, to remind yourself to be “open to possibility, to being surprised and potentially swept off your feet”. Nimo
      Don’t ask why Rich Pelley spent the day as Mr Blobby (above) – although it’s actually pretty interesting that there appears to be a spate of costumes on sale online that claim to be Noel’s House Party originals. Just enjoy his account of life as a “giant novelty condom”, and the Blobby experts he met along the way. Archie
      Recycling is one of those things that we all wish we were better at (or maybe I’m projecting). Emma Beddington’s piece on how to get wise when it comes to taking out your rubbish is informative and extremely helpful. Nimo
      There’s an amazing piece on the Afghan Analysts Network made up of five interviews with members of the Taliban about how they’ve found life in Kabul. From traffic troubles to complaints about colleagues corrupted by visits to hookah bars, it’s full of remarkable, granular insights. Archie
      I absolutely loved this list of the best and worst TV endings of all time by Guardian staff – I’m still confused and upset by Sex and the City, and it ended in 2004. Nimo
      SportFootball | Non-league Wrexham’s FA Cup run was ended in a fourth-round replay by Sheffield United, who scored twice in injury time to win 3-1. There was controversy after the game when United’s Billy Sharp (above) accused Wrexham of being “disrespectful”. Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson said: “My message to Billy is: you’re better than that.”Cricket | Yorkshire has reached an agreement with the ECB after admitting to four charges of bringing the game into disrepute. As a result, it will no longer have to take part in the Cricket Discipline Commission hearings into allegations of racism and discrimination at the club. The news comes as former bowling coach Richard Pyrah joined the list of charged individuals who have pulled out of the proceedings.Football | As Manchester City reel from 101 charges of breaking Premier League financial rules, Jamie Jackson writes that the question for Pep Guardiola – who has said he would leave the club if he was lied to about its affairs – may now be: “Is this your last chance to win the Champions League with City?”The front pagesThe Guardian front-page splash is “‘Monstrous’: rapist ex-Met officer jailed for life after years of attacks”. The Telegraph says “Met rapist’s ‘lenient’ sentence to be reviewed”. The Metro calls David Carrick and his crimes “A scar on our police” and says “Met rapist gets 30 years”. The Financial Times has “Sunak breaks up business department to sharpen focus on energy and science”.“Race to find survivors” – that’s the i leading on the Turkey and Syrian earthquake. “Life and death under the ruins” – the Times shows a baby born in the earthquake rubble, the rest of whose family died. “Born in earthquake hell,” says the Daily Mirror, above a picture of the baby’s rescue – its lead story though is about “BP’s spoils of war” as the oil company stands accused of profiting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The top story in the Daily Express is “Distressed call … then school head and daughter shot dead”, about the Epsom College killings. “Now even God could be going gender neutral” – the Daily Mail on how the Church of England might stop “referring to the almighty as ‘He’”. “Fawlty Towers returns” – Basil is coming back, 44 years on, says the Sun.Today in FocusWhy are more people in the UK turning to private healthcare?The NHS turns 75 this year, but as waiting lists for appointments grow, increasing numbers of patients are looking elsewhere for healthcare. Denis Campbell reportsCartoon of the day | Martin RowsonThe UpsideA bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all badThe early days of motherhood proved tricky for Freya Bennett. A long labour and an emergency C-section left her in shock and she found herself grieving her baby-free life. A growing sense of disconnection from the outside world spurred Bennett on to sign up for a parenting group that changed her first year of motherhood.It was in this group that she met Kristen. In the following weeks and months, the two saw each other everyday, babies in tow, sharing their life stories and commiserating over sleepless nights and the other challenges of new parenthood. Their daughters have become like sisters to one another, and even after Kristen’s maternity leave ended and their daily dates were replaced by organised catch-ups, Bennett found a version of sisterhood for herself that proved to be extremely important to her as a new mum.Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every SundayBored at work?And finally, the Guardian’s crosswords are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
      Quick crossword
      Cryptic crossword
      Wordiply
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      Biden’s State of the Union unofficially kicked off his re-election campaign | Moira Donegan

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      Biden’s State of the Union unofficially kicked off his re-election campaign Moira DoneganThe president touted many of his greatest achievements. But there are some areas he still needs to work on It was President Biden’s first address to Congress since Republicans won control of the House, and unofficially, it was the start of his 2024 re-election campaign. Biden faced a newly adversarial audience at his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, a group of empowered Republicans clustered on the right side of the House chamber, each one eager to perform outrage for the cameras.The speech, a strictly choreographed bit of political theater, was as much a competition of affective performance between the president and his Republican rivals as it was a set of policy proposals. Mostly, Biden won. The Republicans heckled and booed. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon conspiracist from Florida, bellowed at Biden in a big, fluffy fur coat, like Cruella De Vil; Kevin McCarthy, newly elected speaker after a long and humiliating Republican leadership contest, sulked pointedly in a chair behind the president. But Biden countered their flustered outrage with a cool, almost irreverent indifference.Only once did he seem to lose control of the room, at a moment in his remarks on the debt ceiling where he accused the Republicans, accurately, of holding the national economy hostage in order to secure unpopular cuts to social security and Medicare. The Republicans booed and jeered mightily at this accusation; they would do no such thing, they implied. Flustered, Biden needed a moment to collect himself. But then he turned their denial into a bargaining chip. So were they saying that they would take social security and Medicare off the table in the coming debt ceiling negotiations? There was jeering, cheers – the Republicans seemed divided and confused. It was that rarest of events in a State of the Union speech: an exchange that could, conceivably, actually affect policy.But for the most part, Biden’s speech was a tour of his economic achievements, a sort of pep-rally review of everything he had accomplished in his first two years in office, while his party controlled Congress. He touted better-than-expected jobs numbers and historically low unemployment; he touted his legislation that fosters competition with China in the manufacturing of semiconductor chips, and he announced a new rule requiring all federal construction projects to use American-made materials.He bragged about a deal to cap insulin prices for Medicare patients, and called on Congress to make the cap universal. He bragged about his Inflation Reduction Act, and its climate investments in clean energy and natural disaster preparedness. The president tried to thread a delicate needle, arguing both that he had been tremendously successful and effective, and also that there was still more to be done. The refrain of the speech, repeated every few paragraphs like a prayer, distilled his case for re-election in the anodyne, pithy language of a bumper sticker: “Let’s get the job done.”Repeatedly, Biden spoke not just of the surprisingly robust economy, but of the kind of lives Americans aspire to achieve within it. The theme was job creation, but to Biden’s credit, he distinguished that not just any jobs will do; working people, he claimed, needed jobs with dignity.Biden is not an eloquent speaker, and he lacks the penchant for soaring rhetoric and moral aspiration that defined the speeches of his one-time boss, Barack Obama. But on this point he made himself clear in unusually moving terms.He spoke of his father, who told him that work was not just about money, but about self-respect. He highlighted a union construction worker who was in the audience as his guest, a woman who had worked for decades in a job that gave her a living wage and personal esteem. Work has become undignified for many Americans, pushed as the working class has been into service sector jobs that surveil workers, demand obsequiousness from them, damage their bodies, and don’t pay enough to live on. These people’s malaise and resentment, their sense that the future has been stolen from them, has shaped American political life for years now, and it was rare to see a politician of such great mainstream success dignifying these people with a sense of empathy and equality, appealing not to their most base angers but to their highest aspirations. “Jobs are coming back,” Biden said. “Pride is coming back.” This president is not a great speech giver, but to some of us, this sounded like poetry.The economy is Biden’s preferred ground, and the area in which he can most reasonably claim success. But Biden spoke at great length about his past accomplishments from his first two years in office in part because he is unlikely to achieve much else for the rest of his first term. The Republican-controlled House has already initiated a flurry of investigations against the president; their conspiracy-mongering and jockeying for attention is likely to consume much of the next two years.And even the president’s past accomplishments can look meagre when you consider what he promised. Noticeably absent from Biden’s speech were any mentions of the universal childcare and pre-K plans that had been a cornerstone of his domestic agenda at the outset of his term – plans that were scuttled by opponents, and de-prioritized by the administration, in favor of more macho, politically palatable public infrastructure goods, like roads and bridges.And there were elephants in the room. Several US supreme court justices were in attendance, including Jackson, Kagan, Roberts and, bizarrely, retired-but-still-alive Justices Anthony Kennedy and Steven Breyer. Their robed appearance lent a morbid futility to all Biden’s talk of his domestic agenda, as if the justices were a bunch of grim reapers: they served as a reminder that, no matter what Biden tries to do, the unelected, unaccountable Court at One First Street will strike down anything they do not like.Indeed, that court’s most memorable and impactful action, the elimination of the abortion right in last month’s Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health, barely merited a mention in Biden’s speech. In the now almost eight months since the ruling, countless women have been endangered and insulted, their organs made not their own. Many have been placed in danger of death or disfigurement because of the Republican party’s fantasies about their bodies; all of them have suffered the harm of being made into second-class citizens, their lives and their health commandeered from them, as if they were not adults.It was the outrage over this decision that delivered the Democratic party their unexpected and unearned good performance in the midterms. Biden devoted three sentences to it; his tirade against “junk fees” got 19. Biden was clearly launching his re-election campaign with the State of the Union. If he wishes to win it, he might want to pay more attention to women voters.
      Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist
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      Feisty Biden offers bipartisan vision while still triggering Republicans

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      Feisty Biden offers bipartisan vision while still triggering Republicans The president hailed successes and even got the GOP cheering for entitlement programs in what looked like an unofficial re-election campaign launchNo cascade of lies. No speaker of the House of Representatives ripping up the speech of a recently impeached president. Almost no face masks or Covid restrictions or sad empty seats in the public gallery.Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in Washington was basically normal. If someone had built a time machine in 2010 and travelled forward to 2023, they would have felt in pretty familiar territory. It’s been quite a while since you could say that.Biden’s State of the Union address: key takeawaysRead moreHere was a president midway through his first term, confidently touting achievements and sounding positive about the future. Biden, slayer of Chinese spy balloons, was in a feisty mood, wearing his 80 years lightly and doing enough to silence doubters within his own party about an imminent re-election campaign (“Mr President, that was awesome!” was the raw reaction of Jamaal Bowman, a member of the leftwing “Squad”).Here, also, was a president seeking to strike bipartisan notes. He began by congratulating Kevin McCarthy, the new speaker of the House of Representatives, giving Republicans an excuse to roar in support of their own (and quipping, “Speaker, I don’t want to ruin your reputation but I look forward to working with you”). Then he did the same for the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, giving Democrats the same liberty.Biden went on to name-check Republican Mitch McConnell (“Where are you Mitch?”) and Democrats Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. It was a Bill Clinton-esque touch of charm designed to leave everyone feeling happy.It’s easy to forget now that, after failed runs for president in 1988 and 2008, and after Barack Obama was less than encouraging in 2016, Biden’s political career seemed all washed up. He has said he was motivated to run again in 2020 to heal the soul of a nation traumatised by his predecessor, Donald Trump. He came to office facing interlocking climate, coronavirus, economic and racial justice crises.Two years later, Biden is, suddenly and unexpectedly, a historically consequential president. This was his “We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby” speech, making the case that the worst is over, order is being restored and he is making America sane again. He reflected: “Two years ago, our economy was reeling. As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12m new jobs, more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years.“Two years ago, Covid had shut down our businesses, closed our schools and robbed us of so much. Today, Covid no longer controls our lives. And two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the civil war. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken.”This was Biden’s first State of the Union address to a divided Congress, following midterm elections in which Republicans gained a slender majority in the House. It was therefore McCarthy, not Nancy Pelosi, sitting him behind him alongside Vice-President Kamala Harris on the dais.But Biden came bearing an olive branch, noting that he has signed more than 300 bipartisan laws since becoming president. “To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress,” he said.When he announced new standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America, there were bipartisan cheers. When he spoke of an America that can still do big things, citing the Republican president George W Bush’s Pepfar effort against HIV/Aids, there was bipartisan clapping for activist and musician Bono in the public gallery. And when he acknowledged guest Paul Pelosi, husband of former speaker Nancy Pelosi, recovering from a vicious hammer attack, again there was bipartisan applause.He thanked Republicans who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure law. He then teased: “And to my Republican friends who voted against it but still ask to fund projects in their districts, don’t worry. I promised to be the president for all Americans. We’ll fund your projects. And I’ll see you at the ground-breaking.”Elise Stefanik, a leading Republican who has already endorsed Trump for president in 2024, sat stony-faced at that. Steve Scalise, the House majority leader, could not prevent a smile dancing across his lips.In such moments the rancor and division of the past eight years did not, for once, seem an inescapable death spiral. But you did not have to look hard for reminders. Sitting on the end of a row, wearing an orange tie and live-tweeting on his phone, was George Santos, the con artist who personifies the Republicans’ current divorce from truth.And of course there were skirmishes, especially over the looming standoff over raising the debt ceiling. Biden said: “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and social security to sunset. I’m not saying it’s the majority.”Uproar. McCarthy shook his head as many Republicans shouted “No!”.Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, dressed in an elaborate white fur that would make Norma Desmond blush, yelled: “You lie! You lie! Liar!” Biden ad-libbed: “Anybody who doubts it, contact my office, I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.” He was too polite to name names, he added, and as the heckles died down, he said: “As we all apparently agree, social security and Medicare are apparently off the books now … We’ve got unanimity!”Somehow he had tricked Republicans into joining Democrats in standing and applauding entitlements. Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman, tweeted: “Joe Biden sparring with the crowd and winning wasn’t something I expected.”Despite the interruptions, Biden never lost control, blending sorrow for the parents of Tyre Nichols in the balcony with anger as he demanded change. “Let’s do what we know in our hearts we need to do. Let’s come together and finish the job on police reform. Do something.”As he so often does, the president described this as “an inflection point” in American history. There’s no denying that. Russia is reportedly gearing up for a massive new offensive in Ukraine. Trump is back on the campaign trail like a horror movie villain who refuses to be vanquished. Biden’s own future is in question as opinion polls suggest that even a majority of his own party do not want him to run again.But Biden also loves to say it’s never been a good bet to bet against America. It’s also never been a good bet to bet against Joe Biden. His still unofficial campaign for the White House in 2024 is off to a strong start.TopicsUS newsThe US politics sketchState of the Union addressJoe BidenUS politicsfeaturesReuse this content More

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      Bullish Biden hails achievements in combative State of the Union address – as it happened

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      Biden has wrapped up his speech by declaring, “The soul of this nation is strong, because the backbone of this nation is strong, because the people of this nation are strong. The state of the union is strong.”“I’m not new to this place. I stand here tonight, having served as long as about any one of you have ever served here,” he continued, drawing laughter, considering he’s been an elected official in Washington since 1973.“I’ve never been more optimistic about our future, about the future America. Just remember who we are. We’re the United States of America. And there’s nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. If we do it together.”Joe Biden gave a forceful defense of his presidency in his second State of the Union address, delivered at the midpoint of his first term and just weeks after the Republicans retook control of the House. The speech was lively and rancorous, with Biden occasionally being heckled and at one point getting into an unusual back-and-forth with Republicans after accusing them of wanting to do away with popular government healthcare and retirement programs. But the drama didn’t stop at the House dais. Congressman and fabulist George Santos had words with Senator Mitt Romeny on the House floor before the speech began, in an incident that we’ll probably hear more about in the days to come.Here’s a rundown of the night’s events:
      From Donald Trump to Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Ronna McDaniel, Republicans were no fans of Biden’s speech.
      Progressives thought the address was a pleasant surprise.
      Who was the designated survivor? Labor secretary Marty Walsh sat the speech out to ensure the government survived if the worst happened.
      A farmworker who survived a recent mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, California, was among the guests invited by lawmakers.
      Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has delivered the Republican rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union speech, and struck a much more confrontational tone compared to the president.“Being a mom to three young children taught me not to believe every story I hear, so forgive me for not believing much of anything I heard tonight from President Biden,” began Sanders, who was press secretary in Donald Trump’s White House from 2017 to 2019. “From out-of-control inflation and violent crime to the dangerous border crisis and threat from China, Biden and the Democrats have failed you. They know it, and you know it, and it’s time for a change.”She continued by remarking on Biden’s age. “I’ll be the first to admit President Biden and I don’t have a lot in common. I’m for freedom, he is for government control. At 40, I’m the youngest governor in the country, and at 80 he is the oldest president in American history. I’m the first woman to lead my state, and he’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is,” Sanders said. The last remark was a reference to awkward attempts by rightwing lawmakers to trip up Biden’s supreme court pick Ketanji Brown Jackson.She concluded her remarks with a note of warning, saying, “The America we love is in danger. President Biden and the Democrats have failed you. And it’s time for a change. A new generation of Republican leaders are stepping up not to be caretakers of the status quo, but to be changemakers for the American people.”Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, applauded Joe Biden for calling out some Republicans’ calls to overhaul Medicare and social security in his State of the Union speech.“As the president made clear, this year Democrats will also need to hold the line against Republican extremism, including guarding against any attempts to force a default on the debt limit, gut social security, Medicare and other critical programs,” Jayapal said. “We will be a strong opposition party against these extreme Maga Republican ideas that would hurt Americans everywhere. But the president today made clear that Democrats are always a party of not just opposition, but also of proposition.”Jayapal celebrated the wins that progressives scored over the course of the first two years of Biden’s presidency, including the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. She simultaneously emphasized that her caucus will continue advancing proposals to build a more equitable economy, such as ensuring wealthy Americans pay their fair share of taxes and providing more affordable healthcare and childcare to working Americans.“Tonight, the country heard the President lay out his vision for a better America backed by the powerful results of a progressive agenda put into action over the last two years,” Jayapal said. “If we continue on this path – taking on corporate power, investing in working families, and embracing equitable policymaking – we will continue to deliver.”Whatever was said between George Santos and Mitt Romney on the floor of the House this evening, the freshman representative isn’t letting it go:Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT! https://t.co/ANxiQPxAua— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) February 8, 2023
      According to Semafor, Santos says Romney called him “an ass”.Rep. George Santos describes, to me, his exchange with Sen. Mitt Romney during the State of the Union tonight:Mitt: You don’t belong here.Santos: Go tell that to the 142K that voted for me.Mitt: You’re an ass.Santos: You’re a much bigger asshole.— Kadia Goba (@kadiagoba) February 8, 2023
      Romney has yet to comment.Progressives voiced a note of cautious optimism in response to Joe Biden’s second State of the Union speech.While emphasizing that more action is needed to address gun violence, the climate crisis and immigration policy, progressive groups expressed a commitment to work with Biden to realize the goals he outlined tonight.Here are a few comments from progressive leaders:Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, president of the youth voting group NextGen America:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Earlier this month, NextGen America and 20 coalition partners sent President Biden the Youth Agenda, a list of legislative priorities outlining young peoples’ hopes and vision for the future. After watching his address tonight, it is clear he is listening to us and willing to continue fighting for our movement.Peter Ambler, executive director of the gun safety group Giffords:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}President Biden has been a stalwart leader on gun safety, from pushing ATF to regulate ghost guns to signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law, but more must be done. Tonight, President Biden called on Congress to act and save lives. Bipartisan success is possible, and it is urgent that Congress comes together.Varshini Prakash, executive director of the climate group Sunrise Movement:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}President Biden’s right – we’ve come a long way, but the job’s not done. Truthfully, we’ve heard a lot of good things tonight, but if the President wants to keep his promises and energize young voters ahead of 2024, he must act on his words, use his full executive authority to stop the climate crisis and deliver for our generation.“Here’s the real State of the Union.” Thus begins Donald Trump in a video rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union address.He then airs a number of familiar grievances concerning his White House successor, including plenty of misinformation. For instance, Trump says, “Under Biden the murder rate has reached the highest in the history of our country.” It hasn’t.This right here is the meat of Trump’s message:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}But the good news is we are going to reverse every single crisis, calamity and disaster that Joe Biden has created. I am running for President to end the destruction of our country and to complete the unfinished business of Making America Great Again. We will make our country better than ever before, and we will always put America First.You can watch the rest of the video here.Republicans didn’t find a lot to like in that speech.While House speaker Kevin McCarthy and some GOP lawmakers joined in the applause occasionally, they are by and large no fans of Biden’s policies. Here are a few of their objections, as articulated by Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Biden doubled down on his disastrous and polarizing agenda which has left working families behind. Instead of taking responsibility for the multiple crises he and Democrats created, Biden blamed everyone but himself for historic inflation, skyrocketing crime, and a porous southern border. Biden once again proved he is the divider-in-chief.Biden has wrapped up his speech by declaring, “The soul of this nation is strong, because the backbone of this nation is strong, because the people of this nation are strong. The state of the union is strong.”“I’m not new to this place. I stand here tonight, having served as long as about any one of you have ever served here,” he continued, drawing laughter, considering he’s been an elected official in Washington since 1973.“I’ve never been more optimistic about our future, about the future America. Just remember who we are. We’re the United States of America. And there’s nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. If we do it together.”It appears that the “liar” remark directed at Joe Biden moments ago came from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, an extremist Republican from Georgia.Greene stood and shouted at Biden as he accused Republicans of targeting the Medicare and social security programs as the party looks to cut federal spending.President Biden: “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I’m not saying it’s the majority.”Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Liar!” pic.twitter.com/OFUglFuBxC— CSPAN (@cspan) February 8, 2023
      Although a number of Republicans have rejected proposals to overhaul Medicare and social security, some members of the party, including Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, have suggested that the programs should instead be subjected to annual approval. Such a policy could result in the programs being eliminated.Greene’s heckling of Biden may remind viewers of Barack Obama‘s 2009 address to Congress, when Republican congressman Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” at the then-president.The congresswoman’s outburst comes after the House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, promised that members would abide by the chamber’s code of ethics during Biden’s State of the Union address.More rancor in the House chamber.Biden was talking about the toll fentanyl has taken on drug users, noting, “Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year.” Shouts of “point of order” rang out, with someone yelling, “it’s your fault.”It’s not clear who was doing the shouting, but Republicans have sought to blame the Biden administration for poor border security that they say has allowed illicit fentanyl into the United States.When they crossed paths on the House floor before Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, senator Mitt Romney told George Santos “you don’t belong here,” CNN reports:NEWS: I’m told Sen. Mitt Romney said to Rep. bill George Santos: “You don’t belong here,” according to a member who witnessed the tense exchange. https://t.co/Kjvollt6gz— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) February 8, 2023
      The Republican senator from Utah, Romney was the GOP’s nominee for president in 2012. Santos is a freshman GOP House representative from New York, who lied repeatedly about his resume and is the subject of several investigations.Biden drew fury from Republicans when he accused some GOP lawmakers of wanting “to take the economy hostage” and planning to cut social security and Medicare.“Some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage … unless I agree to their economic plans,” Biden said. That was a reference to the GOP’s insistence that they won’t agree to raise the debt limit unless Democrats back lowering government spending.Then came the remark that drew fury: “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans … want Medicare and social security sunset.”Aimed at seniors and people with disabilities, the healthcare and retirement programs are both expensive and popular. Democrats have vowed to protect them, and accused Republicans of wanting to abolish them, an allegations the party denies. Thus, the president’s comment prompted GOP lawmakers to protest, with at least one shouting “liar!” at the president. Biden appeared to respond to their heckling, saying he wasn’t going to name the individual lawmakers who have proposed cutting the programs, but insisting some have.Then, sensing an opportunity, he asked, “So, folks, as we all apparently agree, social security, Medicare is off the books now?” Lawmakers applauded, leading the president to remark, “all right!”Now Biden’s getting into controversial territory, at least when it comes to the priorities of the House Republicans.He’s blaming Donald Trump for America’s sizable budget deficit, saying “Under the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row … nearly 25% of the entire national debt that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by just one administration alone, and the last one. They’re the facts, check it out.”Then he leaned on Congress to increase America’s borrowing limit, which it will have to do by around June in order to prevent the country from defaulting. Biden said that under Trump, Congress “did the right thing that led to the debt ceiling three times without preconditions or crisis … let’s commit here tonight that the full faith and credit of the United States of America will never, ever be questioned.”Biden just made his first veto threat, warning Republicans not to attempt to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, particularly its provisions aimed at lowering prescription drug costs for people on Medicare.“Some members here are threatening, and I know it’s not an official party position, so I’m not going to exaggerate but … to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act,” Biden said. “That’s OK, that’s fair. As my football coach used to say lot’s of luck in your senior year.“Make no mistake, if you try anything to raise the costs of prescription drugs, I will veto it.”Biden just recapped his economic policies, including the 2021 infrastructure overhaul that will pour $1tn into fixing roads, bridges, airports, pipes and other capital works across the country.The president said he wanted to “thank my Republican friends who voted for the law, and my Republican friends who voted against it as well … I still get asked to fund the projects in those districts as well. But don’t worry. I promised I’d be a president for all Americans. We’ll fund these projects, and I’ll see you at the groundbreaking.”Here’s a dynamic to watch in the speech: who claps and who doesn’t, and when.For instance, Biden just said that, “Two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken.” That’s a reference to the January 6 attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters.Democrats stood and applauded that line, but few, if any, Republicans moved their hands at all. More

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      ‘Hot air’: Marjorie Taylor Greene in State of the Union balloon stunt

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      ‘Hot air’: Marjorie Taylor Greene in State of the Union balloon stuntRepublican extremist appears to reference Chinese surveillance dirigible by parading halls of Congress with white balloon Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to tee up a State of the Union stunt on Tuesday, patrolling the halls of Congress with a large white balloon in reference to Republican criticism of Joe Biden over his handling of a flight over US territory by a Chinese surveillance dirigible.Now the Chinese ‘spy balloon’ is down, the question is: what was it for?Read more“Just an innocent white balloon everybody,” the Georgia extremist said, hours before Biden’s address to Congress, attempting to keep aloft the balloon saga which ended when it was shot down off the Carolinas on Saturday.Greene did not discuss the Pentagon disclosure that three Chinese balloons passed over the US during the presidency of Donald Trump, only for the Trump administration to fail to spot them.Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters earlier improvements to surveillance under Biden “enhanced our capacity to be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect”.Greene’s promenade with a balloon prompted widespread criticism.Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat, said: “She has to do something with all that hot air.”But Greene is nothing if not a dedicated conspiracy theorist and controversialist. Elected in 2020, she was ejected from committees for threatening behaviour in 2021 but last month restored to key panels as an ally of Kevin McCarthy, the new Republican speaker.President Biden: “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I’m not saying it’s the majority.”Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Liar!” pic.twitter.com/OFUglFuBxC— CSPAN (@cspan) February 8, 2023
      US officials have explained that Biden wanted to shoot the balloon down three days before it was eventually popped with a missile, but was persuaded not to order the operation while it was over land, and might cause injury or destruction on the ground when brought down.China claims the balloon was for civilian meteorological research. Its downing stoked a confrontation with Beijing, as Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, cancelled a trip for talks.McCarthy – who has recently praised Greene – reportedly told Republicans not to plan any stunts in response to Biden’s speech.Greene did not have her balloon with her in the chamber. But she did make her mark when Biden accused Republicans of threatening social security and Medicare.“Liar!” Greene was seen to shout.TopicsState of the Union addressJoe BidenBiden administrationUS politicsUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesRepublicansnewsReuse this content More