Biden Loses It Over Dem Incompetence: “This is the United States of America, damn it, what are we doing?”
A desperate Joe Biden stumbled into Scranton Pennsylvania to try to save his agenda and his presidency as the Dems in Congress fight amongst themselves threatening to torpedo Biden if they can’t pass anything.
The pressure seemed to get to Biden when he lashed out: “What are we doing? This is the United States of America, damn it,” Biden said. “These bills are not about left versus right or moderate versus progressive,” he said. “Or anything that pits one American versus another.”
Except that is exactly what this incompetent administration did, and it was his incompetence that led to this situation that may make him a lame-duck before his first year is out.
“Scranton isn’t my home because of the memories it gave me; it’s my home because of the values it gave me,” Biden said before adding,
“This has been declared dead on arrival from the moment we introduced it — but I think we’re going to surprise them,” Biden said.
Biden said: “Try teaching from home. How many people did you see out in McDonald’s parking lots with their kids in their cars — because they get access to the Internet — to be able to help the kid in school? What are we doing?
“This is the United States of America, dammit. What are we doing?
“And both these bills are going to help us meet the moment on the climate crisis in a way that creates good jobs, makes us more economically competitive.
“Sixty-six billion dollars in passenger rail and freight rail. Why do I always talk about passenger rail, and particularly high-speed rail? You realize the Chinese are now building another high-speed rail line that will go up to 300 miles per hour? You say, “What difference does that make, Biden?” Well, guess what? If you can get in a train and go from here to Washington much faster than you can go in an automobile, you take a train. You take the train. We will take literally millions of automobiles off the road — off the road — saving tens of millions of barrels of oil, dealing with cleaning up the air.
“This is not hyperbole; this is a fact. These are facts. Right now, when I went out to Silicon Valley, they showed we’re in a situation where if you put solar panels on your roof — guess what? — when the sun is not shining, you’re in trouble, except they have now battery technology. You can have batteries in your basement, about the size of the width of this podium and about that thick, that keep you going for seven days.
“So, what do we have in this legislation? We have $39 billion to modernize American transit.
“I remember riding the trolley. I lived at the end of the line, as they say, in Green Ridge. Three blocks — the end of the line. And beyond the end of the line were the dumped. And Maloney field was on the right. And the Little League Baseball field I played in was down in the bottom of the hill.
“But the point is: It made to work. Most people live in cities. You know, the vast majority of people now — working people who live in cities — their jobs are out of town, no longer in town. No longer in town. But 65 percent do not own an automobile. They live in a Black or Hispanic neighborhood or a poor neighborhood. And all the time they waste trying to get to work.
“Look, more than $7 billion to build out the national network of electric vehicle charging stations.
“The way my Grandpop got up here — my Grandpop Biden, who died at Mercy Hospital of an aneurysm when he was 46 years old, two months before I was born in Mercy Hospital — he was with the American Oil Company. He was up here opening up gas stations in 19- — that’s how he got here. This was 1942 — late ‘42.
“Well, guess what? The same thing happens. When we build these charging stations — what happens? — communities build up around them. You get everything from the Mc- — the figurative McDonald’s or the Dunkin’ Donuts to the drugstore.
“And $21 billion for environmental cleanup and remediation. Look, it means putting people to work in a good job, prevailing wages, capping hundreds of thousands of abandoned wells in southeastern Pennsylvania and in Ohio. Get the same salary that you paid the mine worker to dig the well. They’ve got to be capped. We have thousands of them that need to be capped.
“In addition to that, we have methane leaks that are all over. And you all understand in Pennsylvania about that. But guess what? It increases the health of the community and provides good-paying jobs.
“My plan also makes a historic investment in clean energy, including a tax credit for people to do things like winterize their homes, install solar panels, develop clean energy products, help businesses produce more clean energy. It’s real — I promise you.
“I won’t be around to see it, but I promise you: Your kids are going to see a time when they’re not, in fact, generating any energy from the homes here in Scranton other than renewable energy. Not a joke.
“And, by the way, one of the things the President put me in charge of my — I want to be clear here: President Obama put me in charge of when I was Vice President — I was able to invest in that legislation that we put together — I put together. We brought down the price of the — of solar and wind cheaper than coal and cheaper than oil on a BTU basis. It’s cheaper.
“Coal built this town and this part of the country, but we got to provide other avenues for people to make the same of kind of living they used to be able to make,” he said.
From The Daily Mail:
Biden gave Democrats an end of the week deadline to come to consensus on a topline number for his ambitious package of programs, including funds for education, healthcare and to combat climate change.
But to break the stalemate between the moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party, the $3.5 trillion plan will be cut nearly in half.
Getting the ax is his proposal for two years of free community college. Other options being considered are cutting back the child tax credit and paid family leave; and removing a clean energy program after Senator Joe Manchin objected to it.
‘There will be something for higher education, but it probably won’t be the free community college,’ said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
A day earlier, Jayapal other progressives met with Biden at the White House as the president tried to bring moderates and liberals to agreement.
They conceded that cuts were inevitable if the measure is to be passed.
‘It’s not the robust vision the president wants or that we wanted,’ noted Rep. Ro Khanna, another liberal.
Biden also held separate meetings with a group of moderate lawmakers and with Senators Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema at the White House on Tuesday as he pushed for Democrats to close a deal.