What did President Biden say during the 2023 State of the Union address?
President Biden wrapped up his second State of the Union address on Tuesday night. With many topics covered, we will take a look at the bigger items.
The state of the union is strong “because the people of this nation are strong,” reported President Biden to bring his second State of the Union address to a close.
The president began his speech by congratulating Republicans for their victory in the House of Representatives. He then went on to praise and the bipartisan bills passed by the previous Congress; three hundred in total.
The economy was the main focus of the first half of the speech. President Biden struck an optimistic tone with regard to the future of the US economy, while still recognizing the hardships caused by inflation.
To help alleviate some of this pain, Biden called on Congress to pass his Junk Fee Prevention Act, which could save families thousands of dollars a year. Calling out airlines, Biden said that they shouldn’t be allowed to “treat your child like a piece of luggage.” Often, parents who want to sit next to their small children on flights have to pay additional fees. The law would ban these sorts of fees, as well as others imposed by banks.
Additionally, the president was hopeful that as infrastructure projects begin, thanks to the bipartisan bill passed in 2021, jobs growth would continue, wages would rise, and inflation would continue coming down.
President Biden and congress “agree” not to cut Medicare and Social Security
Tensions rose when Biden confirmed that some GOP leaders wanted to sunset Social Security and Medicare. Some members of the Republican caucus began to boo. Biden responded that those who did not believe it could get in touch with “his office.”
This rancorous response surprised the president, and who realizing hey were in agreement, said “So folks, we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare off the book.”
Biden’s claim on the creation of 800,000 manufacturing jobs
President Biden claimed tonight that 800,000 manufacturing jobs have been created since he took office. While true, the message is a bit misleading.
In January 2020, there were 12.79 million workers employed in the manufacturing sector. In January 2023, that figure was 12.99 million. The difference between these two numbers is 200,000, not 800,000.
The pandemic decimated the US manufacturing sector, so when President Biden took office, only 12.19 million workers remained employed in the industry. The 800,000 figure represents the difference between the month Biden took office and today.
During Donald Trump’s tenure 400,000 manufacturing jobs were added to the economy, until the pandemic hit and erased these gains. Last year, the economy added 382,000 jobs to the sector, and at that pace, Biden will surpass President Trump’s tally.
Bringing the country together
The State of the Union is a speech for the party in power to motivate their base. This address was no different from that tradition.
It was clear that though focusing on bipartisanship and togetherness, that President Biden wanted to reach beyond Democrats to bring independent voters into the fold. As much as Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, who delivered the GOP response, would like to think Biden a card carrying member of the radical left, the speech showed a very different person. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the approach, the Biden team wanted to reminded the audience of the politics of a different time. This seemed to work in the 2022 mid-terms, with the Democrats maintaining control of the Senate and only losing a few seats in the House.