Se poi ci aggiungi la balbuzie che ha curato con grande impegno sin da quando era un ragazzo ma che nei momenti di maggiore stress ogni tanto riaffiora allora la consistenza fisica di Joe Biden era non solo per il vostro redattore ma anche per larga parte degli stessi democratici ad ogni livello un grande punto interrogativo.
Il Biden che abbiamo visto ieri recitare e interpretare un lungo discorso di oltre un'ora in occasione dello State of the Union al giro di boa dei primi 100 giorni della sua amministrazione ha meritato un applauso a scena aperta anche da chi come noi per molto tempo ha nutrito perplessità su questo stagionato uomo politico.
Il discorso del presidente in questa occasione molto formale viene giudicato non solo per i punti qualificanti del programma della sua amministrazione ma anche soprattutto per il body language, che nella cultura dell'immagine televisiva è di estrema importanza.
Perché la gente capisce poco ma vede e giudica a tasto.
Il presidente Joe Biden ha recitato il suo discorso in una maniera molto convincente e penetrante, approfittando del fatto che l'audience che aveva di fronte era estremamente ridotta quanto a deputati e senatori perché erano stati imposti i distanziamenti personali causa il Covid.
Joe Biden si è permesso addirittura di lasciare spesso il testo che seguiva sul teleprompter inserendo considerazioni e ricordi personali a braccio.
Dopo quattro anni di sofferenza psicofisica per colpa degli irriverenti comportamenti del clown distlettico mandato alla Casa Bianca grazie anche all'intervento russo nel rimaneggiamento della campagna elettorale, questo anziano signore ha rimessa in carreggiata la credibilità dell'istituzione presidenziale.
Di seguito alcuni spunti di valutazione dell'importante discorso sullo Stato dell'Unione fatta dal presidente Joe Biden.
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Biden says he’ll do everything in his power to protect Americans from gun violence
By Colby Itkowitz (Reuter)
Calling gun violence “an epidemic,” Biden made a forceful case for new gun laws, imploring lawmakers to finally do something to stop the daily American death toll from guns.
“I’ll do everything in my power to protect the American people from this epidemic of gun violence,” Biden said. “But it’s time for Congress to act as well.”
Talking directly to Senate Republicans, he urged more of them to join Democrats in passing universal background checks on purchases of firearms, legislation that has had support from a smattering of Republicans but never enough to pass. He also again called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
“We’re not changing the Constitution; we’re being reasonable,” Biden said. “I think this is not a Democrat or Republican issue, I think is an American issue.”
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By
Aaron Blake (The Washington Post)
President Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, coinciding with the end of his first 100 days in office.
Below are some takeaways from the speech.
1. ‘All of you’: A repeated, fanciful nod to bipartisanship
Listening to parts of Biden’s speech, you wouldn’t necessarily know Congress is stuck in gridlock. While no Republicans supported Biden’s coronavirus stimulus and the party is balking at the size of his infrastructure package — among many other proposals — Biden spoke almost as if Congress had put up a united front.
Biden said that with “the overwhelming support of the American people — Democrats, independents and Republicans — we did act together. We passed the American Rescue Plan, one of the most consequential rescue packages in American history.”
He added of the coronavirus vaccine response: “Senior deaths from covid-19 are down 80 percent since January — down 80 percent, because of all of you.”
And: “We will have provided over 220 million covid shots in those [first] 100 days — thanks to all the help of all of you. We’re marshaling — with your help, everyone’s help — we’re marshaling every federal resource …”
It was an interesting rhetorical tactic. Beyond an appeal to Republicans to support various gun restrictions, Biden didn’t dwell much on his opposition. And even when making that appeal, Biden seemed to almost apologize for his tone, ad-libbing from his prepared remarks: “Look, I don’t want to become confrontational …”
Aspects of the coronavirus response have sometimes been more bipartisan, but that hasn’t been the case during Biden’s presidency. Biden almost seemed to be pretending it were, perhaps reaching out to Republicans by suggesting he would be more than happy to give them credit if they just play a little ball.
2. A conspicuous China focus
This week, I wrote about how Biden’s early agenda is geared toward capitalizing on the partisan barriers former president Donald Trump bulldozed. Trump made Republicans more noninterventionist, more in favor of infrastructure spending and less doctrinaire on many issues. (The unifying principle of the GOP often seemed to be “Trump” rather than any specific ideology.)
Again on Wednesday, there were traces of Biden trying to build upon or recast Trumpism for his benefit. That was particularly the case on China, which he brought up repeatedly.
At one point, he said there was “simply no reason why the blades for wind turbines can’t be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing.”
Biden at two different points recounted conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, pitching China as a formidable foe that must be dealt with (albeit in different ways than Trump did).
“He’s deadly earnest about becoming the most significant, consequential nation in the world,” Biden said of Xi. “He and other autocrats think that democracy can’t compete in the 21st century with autocracies — it takes too long to get consensus. To win that competition for the future, in my view, we also need to make a once-in-a-generation investment in our families and our children.”
Biden added at another point: “Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate and fears that have pulled us apart? America’s adversaries —- the autocrats of the world —- are betting we can’t.”
To oversimplify things a bit: You really want to really get tough on and keep the upper hand on China? Forget trade wars; pass my bill.
3. Hey, big spender
For much of the 2020 presidential campaign, Republicans tried to paint Biden as a radical liberal — or at least an enabler of radical liberals.
It’s too simplistic to say Wednesday’s speech revealed that caricature to be true. Biden used it to propose massive spending — but generally focused more on bread-and-butter issues that have high levels of bipartisan support than the liberal true-believer ideas that conservatives have turned into boogeymen.
But the speech did demonstrate a president who seems less and less concerned about risking that kind of reputation.
While Congress is still considering Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure and jobs bill, Biden detailed a new $1.8 trillion American Families Plan that would include significant expansions of government spending on education and the social safety net. Combined with the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus plan that already passed in Congress, that brings Biden’s proposed spending near $6 trillion.
It remains to be seen how much the still-percolating ideas will be paid for rather than financed through deficit spending. Biden is calling for tax increases on the wealthy and corporations, for example, along with funding the IRS to more aggressively audit their tax returns, which he claims could bring in hundreds of billions. And he’s pitching these ideas as spurring huge growth, rather than simply giveaways. But what’s clear is that he’s proposing a huge expansion of government the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades.
For weeks, stories have described a president who is not content to play it safe in the office he long sought. He has to be especially emboldened by the strongly positive public reviews of the coronavirus stimulus and his early infrastructure proposal, despite the price tags. But even as Americans seem more comfortable with government spending these days — again, with Biden owing some credit to Trump — there’s always a limit.
The proposals also present a challenge for Republicans. The math isn’t really in Biden’s favor, given the 50-50 Senate and the required 60-vote majority for most things. A cynic might suggest he’s putting forward popular ideas that probably won’t pass and challenging Republicans to kill them.
But either way, Wednesday’s speech threw down the gauntlet for the next three years of legislative battles. And a big story line in the coming days, weeks and months will be just how much spending people are prepared to stomach, beyond the trillions used to combat a public health emergency.
4. Setting the terms of the tax debate
Biden devoted a significant chunk of his speech to defending his proposed tax increases, saying over and over again — in several different ways — that they wouldn’t touch anyone but the very wealthy.
“Let’s start with what I will not do: I will not impose any tax increase on people making less than $400,000,” Biden said.
And: “We’re only going to affect three-tenths of 1 percent of all Americans by that action — three-tenths of 1 percent.”
And: “When you hear someone say they don’t want to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent or corporate America, ask them whose taxes you want to raise instead.”
And of the 39.6 percent capital gains rate he’s proposing for top earners: “That’s where it was when George W. [Bush] was president.”
The repeated emphasis on this point was calculated. Biden knows he’ll be called a tax-raiser. He wanted to make sure he’s talking early and often about exactly who will pay those taxes — a promise that he’ll now have to live up to — and challenging Republicans to address that specifically, given polls showing Americans strongly favor those specific types of tax increases.
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Sebastian Smith (Yahoo News)President Joe Biden triumphantly declared Wednesday that the United States is "on the move again" in a rousing speech to Congress, calling for trillions of dollars to rebuild the post-Covid US middle class and give new life to "forgotten" workers.
Lauding the success of mass vaccination against Covid-19, Biden told Congress and the nation on primetime television that "in America, we always get up."
"America is ready for takeoff," he said. "We are working again, dreaming again, discovering again, leading the world again."
Biden, who was celebrating the eve of his 100th day in office, called the vaccine rollout one of "the greatest logistical achievements" in the nation's history.
But he quickly pivoted to insisting that this national effort must now focus on rebuilding the economy and fighting inequality with "the largest jobs plan since World War II."
In a line that could have come from his populist Republican predecessor Donald Trump, Biden said working class Americans had been ignored, while the top one percent got richer, and that his plans would give them a chance.
"You feel left behind and forgotten in an economy that's rapidly changing. Let me speak directly to you," Biden said, before going on to promise Americans "good-paying jobs that can't be outsourced."
- No more solo America -
In every aspect of the primetime television speech, Biden echoed his almost daily mantra that "America is back" -- both in recovering from the coronavirus disaster and in putting the turbulence of the Trump era behind.
When it comes to foreign policy, he underlined Washington's return to international partnerships damaged under Trump.
"No one nation" can succeed alone, he said, in a rebuke of Trump's isolationist policies.
Among his many references to arch-rival China, Biden said that while Beijing is seeking supremacy, "we welcome the competition" and "are not looking for conflict."
On domestic issues, Biden made the case for a lengthy Democratic wish list, including police reform, pro-immigrant reforms and gun control -- some of the most sensitive issues in US politics.
He pleaded with Republicans and Democrats to work together on one of the nation's most hot button topics, saying "let's end our exhausting war on immigration."
- Yes, new taxes -
US presidents usually bend over backwards to avoid or at least hide tax increases.
However, Biden is banking on popular support for his idea of leaning on the super rich to fund his latest new spending proposal, which he unveiled in the speech -- the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan.
The plan, which will need approval by a deeply divided Congress, would pour money into early education, childcare and higher education.
To fund this, the top income tax rate would increase from 37 percent, where Trump's plan put it, back to its pre-Trump 39.6 percent.
The Biden plan would also end loopholes and capital income tax breaks, while raising "billions," according to the White House, in a tightened tax regime for inherited wealth.
Americans earning less than $400,000 a year, however, would face no extra taxes.
"My fellow Americans, trickle-down economics has never worked. It's time to grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out," Biden said. "What I've proposed is fair."
The proposed new splurge comes after Congress already approved a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which injected stimulus into almost every corner of the economy, and is now debating a proposed $2 trillion-plus infrastructure plan.
- Extraordinary times -
The setting for Biden's maiden address to Congress as president reflected the crisis times in which he took office.
Security has been at top level around the Capitol building since the January 6 riot when Trump supporters rampaged against what the Republican falsely claims was a stolen election.
Although Covid-19 is on the back foot -- vaccinated Americans were told Tuesday they can now do most things outside without wearing a mask -- the pandemic also loomed heavily.
Instead of a House chamber crammed with the usual 1,600 or so politicians and guests, Biden looked out on a select group of around 200.
Of the nine members of the Supreme Court, only Chief Justice John Roberts attended.
Only the secretaries of defense and state were in the room, meaning that the tradition of nominating a "designated survivor" -- someone who could take over the country if the entire government died while inside the Capitol -- was not necessary.
Ahead of the speech Senior Republican Senator Mitch McConnell urged the White House to "shake off its daydreams of a sweeping socialist legacy," accusing the Biden team of acting in synch with "the radical left."
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