Thursday, March 28, 2024

Day 45: Biden Loves His Bowl of Ice Cream And ‘Injects Inadvertent Inaccuracies’ into Speeches.

On passing the second-biggest stimulus package in history with zero Republican support: “They’re going to be good. I’m going to succeed,” Biden says.

American Rescue Plan Is A Done Deal.

President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan was approved by the Senate on Saturday, and the House held a final vote and saw the bill signed into law this week. No bipartisanship in sight; Contrary to Biden’s “unity” aims, the bill received zero Republican votes. 

In remarks, Biden recognized Sen. Chuck Schumer with comments befitting of an act of valor: “Senator Chuck Schumer, when the country needed you most, you led, Chuck, and you delivered. Neither I nor the country will ever forget that. And it’s not a moment too soon.”

When asked “Why do you think you didn’t get a single Republican vote, and what does the drama of the last 24 hours, including with Senator Manchin, tell you about the next four years?,” Biden replied, “They’re going to be good. I’m going to succeed. We’re going to succeed moving forward.”

Biden Style Files.

Breaking from the White House residence: Biden prefers Breyers.

“The new U.S. president starts his days with an early morning workout in the gym of the White House residence, watching MSNBC or CNN, and ends them at a reasonable hour often with a bowl of Breyers chocolate chip ice cream,” Jennifer Epstein reports.

(“A bowl” sounds like a generous helping, but using two scoops of ice cream as a cudgel against the president went out of style in January 2021.)

But behind the low-key exterior, Epstein writes, lies a “desire to dramatically reshape the country—ambitions that extend well beyond simply erasing Trump’s legacy or reviving Barack Obama’s agenda,” including the second-largest stimulus package in history, a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, and new tax code.

Epstein also notes, however:

  • “While aides less than half his age insist that Biden outworks them, the president sometimes misreads his teleprompter or injects inadvertent inaccuracies into his remarks.
  • “Biden twice said that additional U.S. actions to punish the kingdom would be coming ‘Monday.’ An administration official clarified that the only thing coming Monday were more details about the sanctions that had already been announced.”
  • “Biden has not shown much progress on a core promise of his presidential campaign: what he described as a singular ability to work across the aisle.”
  • “Biden’s advisers have sought to define bipartisanship broadly, pointing to polls that show many Republicans in support of the pandemic relief bill in addition to most Democrats. What’s important to voters, they say, is not a show of cooperation with Biden’s political opponents but rapid results.

Texas Pushes Back On Open Borders.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott took aim at Biden’s open border policies on Saturday as he announced a new initiative called “Operation Lone Star” to combat drug and human smuggling across the southern border.

“The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden Administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration,” Abbott said. “Texas supports legal immigration but will not be an accomplice to the open border policies that cause, rather than prevent, a humanitarian crisis in our state and endanger the lives of Texans. We will surge the resources and law enforcement personnel needed to confront this crisis.”

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