Biden’s speech: President Biden, speaking in a strong voice and occasionally shouting to emphasize his passion for a point delivered his State of the Union address to a joint meeting of Congress last night. Biden showed no sign of tiredness after being on his feet for more than two hours during the Capitol Hill appearance. Biden proposed raising the minimum tax rates for corporations and billionaires, urged the Republicans to join him in fixing problems at the border, and proposed cutting the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans. Biden pledged to reverse the Republican overturning of Roe v. Wade. He also blasted Donald Trump for wanting to see Vladimir Putin win in Ukraine and for telling the Russians to “do whatever the hell they want.” Biden welcomed Sweden to NATO and introduced Sweden’s foreign minister who was sitting with First Lady Jill Biden.
Republican positions: Republicans failed to show support for making corporations and billionaires pay their fair share in federal taxes during last night’s State of the Union address by President Biden. Reports said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson complied with instructions from Donald Trump to make sure Republicans did not show support for any of Biden’s proposals. They included taking action to end gun violence, fixing border problems by adopting legislation that was largely written by conservatives, allowing the president to close the border if necessary, ensuring women’s rights to receive needed health care and expanding care for wounded veterans.
Heckling: Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson failed to take action to silence right-wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene when she was heckling President Biden during his State of the Union address. Greene also had heckled Biden during last year’s State of the Union. Johnson also failed to take action against Greene when she broke House rules by wearing a Trump campaign hat onto the floor of the House of Representatives in violation of House rules. The televised Republican response to Biden’s speech was delivered by Senator Katie Britt of Alabama. Britt spoke from her kitchen and presented a theme that Republicans believe women should be confined to the home and kitchen. She suggested Biden was a diminished old person.
Santos declares: Expelled New York Congressman George Santos showed up at the State of the Union address, using the privilege afforded to former congressmen to enter the House floor. Santos was thrown out of Congress at the height of a scandal related to his lying and indictment on federal charges that include fraud and theft. Santos announced that he plans to run for Congress again, and will try to unseat New York Congressman Nick LaLota who represents New York’s 1st Congressional District. LaLota was a leader of the effort to expel Santos from Congress.
Job growth: Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 275,000 in February while the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 3.9%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, government, food services, social assistance, and in transportation and warehousing. The unemployment rate rose by 0.2% to 3.9% in February, and the number of unemployed people increased by 334,000 to 6.5 million. A year earlier, the jobless rate was 3.6% and the number of unemployed people was 6 million. Follow us and stay informed; we’re Westfair’s Business Journal. Visit westfaironline.com
Steele dossier: A judge in London has ordered Donald Trump to pay $385,000 in legal fees to a former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and his company Orbis Business Intelligence. Trump sued claiming that the Steele dossier damaged him. The Steele dossier became public before the 2016 election and was said to be composed of unverified intelligence reports. The case Trump filed was thrown out of court. Trump had alleged that he was damaged because the Steele dossier alleged Trump had ties with Russia, conspired with Russia to win the 2016 Presidential election and that Russia had negative information about Trump. Steele said that the dossier was never intended to become public.
