Biden to the nation: We’re ‘turning peril into possibility’

President Biden used his first joint address to Congress to declare the nation is “turning peril into possibility, crisis into opportunity,” urging a $1.8 trillion investment in children, families and education that would fundamentally transform roles the government plays in American life.

Biden is marking his first 100 days in office as the nation emerges from a confluence of crises to bring his plans to the public.

In the nationally televised ritual of a president standing before Congress, Biden proposed a sweeping agenda that includes 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 will make the case that economic growth would best come from taxing the rich to help the middle class and the poor.

“I can report to the nation: America is on the move again,” Biden said, according to excerpts released by the White House ahead of the speech. “Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”

For Biden, whose moment has been nearly a half century in the making, his speech also provides an update on progress in 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 a virus that has killed more than 573,000 people in the United States.

He also championed his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, a staggering figure to be financed by higher taxes on corporations.

Seizing an opportunity born of calamity, Biden has embraced momentous action over incremental change. But he’s threading the needle between Republicans who cry government overreach and some Democrats who fear he won’t go big enough.

The Democratic president’s strategy is to sidestep the polarization and make his appeal directly to voters.

“We have to prove democracy still works. That our government still works and can deliver for the people,” Biden was to say, according to the excerpts. “In our first 100 days together, we have acted to restore the people’s faith in our democracy to deliver.”

This year’s scene at the front of the House chamber had a historic look: For the first time, a female vice president, Kamala Harris, will be seated behind the chief executive. And she will be seated next to another woman, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The setting will be unlike for any of his predecessors, with members of Congress spread out and many Republicans citing “scheduling conflicts” to stay away.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, “President Biden ran as a moderate, but I’m hard pressed to think of anything at all that he’s done so far that would indicate some degree of moderation.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3vondz5