As a friend said during a lunch date Wednesday, “Why is anyone surprised that Biden is doing exactly what we all told them he would do if he won the election?” The only thing somewhat surprising is the speed at which he’s enacting his (or Jill’s, or Kamala’s) totalitarian agenda.
Since many of the individual pieces of the Democrat party’s wet dream wish list of brutal legislation can’t pass on their own (specifically, PRO Act). The Hologram’s decided to roll them into a massive “infrastructure” bill. That bill faces a tough road in the House, where Dems can only lose two votes and still pass a bill without GOP support — making both extremists like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and centrists in swing districts extremely powerful. Its status in the Senate, should it get there, is also on extremely shaky ground thanks to “moderates” like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and because of a “Jim Crow” remnant, the filibuster.
So, it was clear that the nation needed an energetic prime-time speech to Congress from that picture of vim and vigor, Joe Biden, to rally support for “infrastructure” and a few other key (but struggling) bills.
That speech occurred Wednesday night, and while time doesn’t permit me to fact-check or mock every idiotic thing he said, I’ll hit some highlights here.
Per usual, Biden started out with a series of fallacies.
100 days since I took the oath of office, lifted my hand off our family Bible, and inherited a nation in crisis. The worst pandemic in a century.
Well, I suppose those sentences are true.
The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.
Where was he on September 11?
Now, after just 100 days, I can report to the nation: America is on the move again. Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.
“On the move again” the day the 9th Circuit issues a ruling that will severely impact the independent trucking industry in the country. Ironic.
He then shamed those who didn’t want to get vaccinated, wagging his finger in our faces and demanding that we get vaccinated now.
Everyone over the age of 16, everyone – is now eligible and can get vaccinated right away. So get vaccinated now.
"Everyone over the age of 16 — everyone — is now eligible to get vaccinated. Right now, right away," said President Biden, touting his administration's Covid response. "Go get vaccinated, America. Go and get the vaccination." https://t.co/CZ9AkHH0EM pic.twitter.com/mKsiHwaKVQ
— CNN (@CNN) April 29, 2021
Why should we get vaccinated? The three people in that video have been vaccinated, yet they’re still wearing masks. The chamber was nearly vacant due to unnecessary social distancing requirements — unnecessary, because all of the members have either had COVID or been vaccinated. So, why are they still acting as if there is any sort of risk?
In addition to offering “a shot of hope” (gag me) to the nation, Biden’s administration is also handing out the Benjamins.
What else have we done these first 100 days? We kept our commitment and we are sending $1,400 rescue checks to 85% of all American households. We’ve already sent more than 160 million checks out the door.
They’ve kept their commitment? Wasn’t that commitment $2,000? Or who knows? As soon as Warnock and Ossoff won their elections, whatever amount was promised was immediately memory-holed.
And then Biden turned his attention to the PRO Act. Regular RedState readers know that this bill is California’s AB5 on steroids, meaning, it doesn’t have the exceptions that AB5 had. Under the PRO Act, everyone’s assumed employment status is employee, not independent contractor, unless the employer can prove that the proposed contractor’s services are exempt by using the ABC Test — a test which is virtually impossible for any arrangement to meet. And, all employers are required to give employee contact information, including address, phone number, and email, to union organizers so organizers can contact them directly. To anyone who’s witnessed the bullying tactics unions employ, that is terrifying.
But here’s how Biden (or whoever wrote his speech) spun it:
The American Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build America. And, it recognizes something I’ve always said. Wall Street didn’t build this country. The middle class built this country. And unions build the middle class. And that’s why I’m calling on Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act – the PRO Act — and send it to my desk to support the right to unionize.
I’m sorry, but without Wall Street investment, the middle class couldn’t build the country. And, everyone has the right to join a union or seek a unionized workplace. They’re rejecting it in droves. What people want is the right to work, the right to earn income in the ways that make sense for their family and for their lifestyle. If we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, we’ve learned that flexible, remote work is feasible on a large scale, and more and more working parents are seeking these arrangements. The PRO Act vision for the American economy is going back to a mill/factory town paradigm.
The Hologram continued:
By the way – let’s also pass the $15 minimum wage. No one should work 40 hours a week and still live below the poverty line. And we need to ensure greater equity and opportunity for women.
If someone works 40 hours a week and still lives below the poverty line, they need to upgrade their skills. Period. And do you know what ensures greater equity and opportunity for women? The ability to be their own boss, to set their own hours, to negotiate contracts, and be a self-employed independent contractor. Which the PRO Act outlaws.
He also crowed about an entirely stupid expansion of the child tax credit — which will only incentivize people to have more kids that they can’t take care of.
In March we expanded a tax credit for every child in a family, up to a $3,000 Child Tax Credit for children over 6 — and $3,600 for children under 6. With two parents, two kids, that’s up to $7,200 in your pocket to help take care of your family. This will help more than 65 million children and help cut child poverty in half this year.
Of course, this will all be possible by making everyone pay their “fair share” in taxes.
We take the top tax bracket for the wealthiest 1% of Americans – those making $400,000 or more – back up to 39.6%. We’re going to get rid of the loopholes that allow Americans who make more than $1 million a year pay a lower rate on their capital gains than working Americans pay on their work.
Hmm… the dollars they used to invest in the things that eventually gave them capital gains were already taxed. Of course, they should pay a lower rate on that income than income from employment — that is, if you buy into the notion that we should have employment taxes or capital gains taxes at all, which I don’t.
And the most laughable claim of the night?
And the IRS will crack down on millionaires and billionaires who cheat on their taxes.
Hahahaha… let’s start with Hunter, okay?
He then blames the job losses from the pandemic on “CEOs,” because sure, they shut down the economy.
According to one study, CEOs make 320 times what their average workers make. The pandemic has only made things worse. 20 million Americans lost their jobs in the pandemic – working- and middle-class Americans. At the same time, the roughly 650 Billionaires in America saw their net worth increase by more than $1 Trillion.
Biden is absolutely not curious about the reason for that. But all of our readers understand perfectly.
The most terrifying part of his speech, and the Democrats’ agenda, is HR1, the “For the People Act,” which takes the most hideous parts of California’s voting laws (universal absentee ballots, extended early voting, ballot harvesting, same-day registration) national. It’s not hyperbole to say that if this bill is passed and fully enacted, it would guarantee permanent Democrat Party rule.
And if we are to truly restore the soul of America – we need to protect the sacred right to vote. More people voted in the last presidential election than ever before in our history – in the middle of one of the worst pandemics ever. That should be celebrated. Instead, it’s being attacked. Congress should pass H.R. 1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and send them to my desk right away.
Those who have fight left in them must fight these proposals with every fiber of their being. Take it from one who’s living under most of it in California.
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