The Inflation Reduction Act is the type of law that Democrats have been trying to pass for years, if not decades. It could also have been so much more.
Take a look at the American plan for employment and the American Families plan, two documents the Biden administration released in the early months of its administration, which outline a host of ideas they hoped to achieve. These include raising taxes on the wealthy, making community colleges and preschools free, and providing paid family and medical leave.
They managed to get some of these programs in place through last year’s trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. But many more have been stripped during months of negotiations between Democratic leaders and Joe Manchin and Cinema Kyrstentwo of the party’s conservative lawmakers whose votes were critical to getting one of their laws through Congress.
Considering there were times when it looked like negotiations would come to nothing, the Cut Inflation Act is a political achievement, even if its attempts to tackle climate change have already been criticized as insufficientand much of what Democrats and the Biden administration have promised is missing. chuck schumerthe Democratic leader of the Senate, seemed to recognize it. In an interview last weekhe pleaded with voters to elect more Democrats, promising that if they did, they would pass the rest of the programs Joe Biden promised to voters when he took office.
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The White House says Jill Biden is currently isolating in South Carolina, where the Bidens had been on vacation.
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Here’s the full press statement:
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#COVID19 PCR test for @FLOTUS is positive and she's experiencing mild symptoms, according to the @WhiteHouse. pic.twitter.com/CXVq5nPToN
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 16, 2022
\n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/W7VOA/status/1559533062890872832″,”id”:”1559533062890872832″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”a97dc693-a54e-439e-8e5c-26077209897e”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1660656761000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”09.32 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1660656972000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”09.36 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1660656884000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”09.34 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”09.34″,”title”:”Jill Biden tests positive for Covid-19″,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 16 Aug 2022 09.56 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 16 Aug 2022 09.00 EDT”},{“id”:”62fb8bf88f08877c40646ff5″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Today is a day Joe Biden has been anticipating since perhaps the start of his presidency. This afternoon, he will sign a marquee spending plan that emerged after a year of stop-and-start negotiations, which at times looked like they would ended up achieving nothing. Dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, the measure marks Washington’s most forceful attempt yet to slash emissions, and is also meant to lower prescription drug prices. The White House hopes it will mark a turning point for Biden’s beleaguered presidency and boost Democrats in November’s midterms.
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Here’s a look at what we can expect today:
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Biden will sign the Inflation Reduction Act at 3.30pm ET in a White House ceremony.
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Alaska and Wyoming hold primary elections today, where Republicans in the latter state will likely end, for now, the political career of congresswoman Liz Cheney, whose condemnation of Donald Trump alienated her from the GOP. In Alaska, former governor and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin could make her return to national politics if she wins the open seat in the House of Representatives.
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Key events
Perhaps the biggest critic of the Cut Inflation Act on the left is Bernie Sanders, who nevertheless voted for it when he appeared before the Senate. In an interview with Lauren Gambinohe explained how Biden’s top White House priority was likely to disappoint voters:
As Democrats celebrate the long-awaited passage of Joe Biden’s sweeping health, climate and economic agenda, Bernie Sanders is not ready to claim victory. Instead, the Vermont senator is sounding the alarm that Congress has failed to meet the moment, with potentially serious consequences for American democracy.
“We live in extremely difficult times,” he said in an interview with The Guardian. “And I worry a lot … that people give up on democracy because they don’t believe their government is working for them.
The legislation, which Biden is expected to sign into law next week, is just a sliver of the ambitious domestic policy initiative that Sanders, as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, helped draft last year. The initial proposal was, according to him, already a compromise. But he thinks it would have gone a long way to solving the widespread economic distress that is undermining Americans’ trust in their government.
Jill Biden’s positive Covid-19 test means president Joe Biden will wear a mask around other people for the next week and a half, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said:
The President tested negative for COVID this morning on an antigen test.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) August 16, 2022
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The president tested negative for COVID this morning on an antigen test.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) August 16, 2022
Consistent with CDC guidance because he is a close contact of the First Lady, he will mask for 10 days when indoors and in close proximity to others. We will also increase the President's testing cadence and report those results.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) August 16, 2022
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Per CDC guidelines, as he is close contact with the First Lady, he will mask up for 10 days indoors and near others. We will also increase the cadence of President’s testing and communicate those results.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) August 16, 2022
Jill Biden tested positive for Covid-19
First lady Jill Biden tested positive for Covid-19, the White House announced. Her husband Joe Biden recently recovered from the virus, after an initial infection which he appeared to overcome, only to test positive again a few days later.
The White House says Jill Biden is currently in isolation in South Carolina, where the Bidens were vacationing.
Here is the full press release:
#COVID19 PCR test for @FLOTUS is positive and she's experiencing mild symptoms, according to the @WhiteHouse. pic.twitter.com/CXVq5nPToN
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 16, 2022
\n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/W7VOA/status/1559533062890872832″,”id”:”1559533062890872832″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”dbe69a2c-f3a6-4e29-8f6b-a70a520afb79″}}”/>
The Inflation Reduction Act is the type of law that Democrats have been trying to pass for years, if not decades. It could also have been so much more.
Take a look at the American plan for employment and the American Families plan, two documents the Biden administration released in the early months of its administration, which outline a host of ideas they hoped to achieve. These include raising taxes on the wealthy, making community colleges and preschools free, and providing paid family and medical leave.
They managed to get some of these programs in place through last year’s trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. But many more have been stripped during months of negotiations between Democratic leaders and Joe Manchin and Cinema Kyrstentwo of the party’s conservative lawmakers whose votes were critical to getting one of their laws through Congress.
Considering there were times when it looked like negotiations would come to nothing, the Cut Inflation Act is a political achievement, even if its attempts to tackle climate change have already been criticized as insufficientand much of what Democrats and the Biden administration have promised is missing. chuck schumerthe Democratic leader of the Senate, seemed to recognize it. In an interview last weekhe pleaded with voters to elect more Democrats, promising that if they did, they would pass the rest of the programs Joe Biden promised to voters when he took office.
Biden aims for victory lap by signing climate and health bill
Hello, american politics blog readers. Today is a day Joe Biden anticipates perhaps since the beginning of his presidency. This afternoon he will sign off on a marquee spending plan that emerged after a year of stop-and-start negotiations, which at times seemed to come to nothing. Dubbed the Cut Inflation Act, the measure marks Washington’s strongest attempt to cut emissions and also aims to lower prescription drug prices. The White House hopes it will mark a turning point for Biden’s beleaguered presidency and boost Democrats midterm in November.
Here’s a preview of what we can expect today:
-
Biden will sign the Cut Inflation Act at 3:30 p.m. ET in a ceremony at the White House.
-
Alaska and Wyoming hold a primary election today, where Republicans in the latter state will likely end the congresswoman’s political career for now Liz Cheneyincluding the conviction of donald trump alienated her from the GOP. In Alaska, former governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Pallin could bring her back to national politics if she wins the open seat in the House of Representatives.