'Our nation is starving for more than empty platitudes...'
President Joe Biden declared called for a massive expansion of federal programs in an effort to broadly extend the social safety net on a scale not seen in decades, which every time it has been tried has destroyed incentives for private citizens to create wealth for themselves.
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Biden’s nationally televised address to Congress, his first, demanded massive structural changes, marking his first 100 days in office by proposing a $1.8 trillion “investment,” which in actuality is a wealth transfer from who work — in other words, socialism.
“In addition, in his first 100 days in office, the President has proposed spending an unprecedented $6.1 trillion on unapologetically far-Left priorities through a lethal combination of deficit spending and tax increases that will crush the economy and jeopardize our ability to respond to future challenges,” said Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho. “What the President did tonight was lay out a comprehensive vision for how to transition our society from capitalism to socialism. We must not be swept up in this current.”
Biden is governing with the most slender of majorities in Congress, and even some in his own party have blanched at the price tag of his proposals.
At the same time, the speech highlighted Biden’s fundamental belief in the power of government as a force for good, even at a time when it is so often the object of scorn.
“I can report to the nation: America is on the move again,” he said. “Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”
While the ceremonial setting of the Capitol was the same as usual, the visual images were unlike any previous presidential address. Members of Congress wore masks and were seated apart because of pandemic restrictions, even though the ending resulted in members closing in on Biden to congratulate him.
“America is ready for takeoff. We are working again. Dreaming again. Discovering again. Leading the world again. We have shown each other and the world: There is no quit in America,” Biden said.
This year’s scene at the front of the House chamber also had a historic look: For the first time, a female vice president, Kamala Harris, was seated behind the chief executive. And she was next to another woman, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The first ovation came as Biden greeted “Madam Vice President.” He added, “No president has ever said those words from this podium, and it’s about time.”
The chamber was so sparsely populated that individual claps could be heard echoing off the walls.
Yet Biden said, “I have never been more confident or more optimistic about America. We have stared into an abyss of insurrection and autocracy — of pandemic and pain — and ‘We the People’ did not flinch.”
Biden repeatedly hammered home that his plans would put Americans back to work, restoring the millions of jobs lost to the virus. He laid out an extensive proposal for universal preschool, two years of free community college, $225 billion for child care and monthly payments of at least $250 to parents. His ideas target frailties that were uncovered by the pandemic, and he argues that economic growth will best come from taxing the rich to help the middle class and the poor.
Biden’s speech also provided an update on combating the COVID-19 crisis he was elected to tame, showcasing hundreds of millions of vaccinations and relief checks delivered to help offset the devastation wrought by the virus. He also championed his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, a staggering figure to be financed by higher taxes on corporations.
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He spoke to members of Congress as a peer as much as a president, singling out Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republicans’ leader, to praise him and speaking as one at a professional homecoming.
The GOP members in the chamber largely stayed silent, even refusing to clap for seemingly universal goals like reducing childhood poverty. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said, in the Republicans’ designated response, that Biden was more rhetoric than action.
“Our president seems like a good man,” Scott said. “But our nation is starving for more than empty platitudes.”
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