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With ample sun, wind and land Republican states are benefitting from the investments in their states from Biden's climate change investment legislation. Legislation which they opposed.

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Joe Biden only the second US president after John F Kennedy to visit the Vatican, says "its good to be back" as he talks with the Pope for well over 75 minutes. Biden is a devout Catholic and never misses Sunday Mass. He thanked the Pope's advocacy for the world's poor and for ensuring vaccine supplies for all the world's people.

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Mike Pence's recent comments show that the US Capitol attacks were a traumatic event for Pence and the country. Former Vice President Pence said- "President Trump was wrong. I had no right to overturn the election and his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable." Pence said it was a disgrace, and it mocked decency to portray it any other way. President Biden's speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia talked about this situation that democracy faced in America, over 150 years after Abraham Lincoln made a similar speech in Independence Hall at the onset of the conflict that led to the emancipation proclamation.  Biden said- "We must never forget: We the people, are the true heirs of the American experiment that began two centuries ago." Speaking of the flame of liberty that was lit at Independence Hall Biden also said- "That sacred flame also burns now in our time, as we build an America that is prosperous, free and just." ...

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Viewing people as "pass throughs for units of fiscal stimulus" that is no longer an option, no longer wise, no longer possible. Brian Deese, US president Biden's economic adviser, uses this sentence as he describes the approach of president Biden in putting together a $2 trillion plan to invest in infrastructure and in the people of America. He compares 2009 to 2021 and talks about the differences then and now after the pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic exposed all the weak spots in the American fabric and society and in the way national life was organized. Today the pain is felt in socio economic groups throughout the country.    US president Biden wants to make a decisive impact with large investments in infrastructure, education, health and jobs. In American manufacturing competitiveness and in America's technological advancement. The investments made in 2009 were in simple recovery mode, this time the investments are intended to bring America back to its position in the world after 1945, the hope and the optimism for a better future. ...

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"Once social change begins it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate a person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate a person who feels pride." The United Farmworkers union was formed by migrant farm workers Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta to bring decent wages and good working conditions for farm labour in the US, with most of the work done in California farm areas. March 31st is now Cesar Chavez Day in the US with a Biden proclamation. His niece is shown in the adjoining article as an adviser in the White House and now campaign manager for 2024. She is a softspoken Latina who grew up around Chavez in the fields and farm pickup trucks of the sixties and seventies, as shown in the Washington Post on this page. Biden has proposed an overtime rule for farmworkers, and ensuring farm workers get a fair wage and decent working conditions is the goal of the White House- including recovering $21 million in back pay and wages ensuring 26,000 farm workers get the wages they earned. And remaining steadfast says Biden to ensure workers get paid sick leave, good working conditions. ...

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President Biden's scorecard for the first year- 3.9% unemployment down from 6.4% in January 2021. Created 6.1 million jobs the most since 1939. $ 1 trillion infrastructure building plan approved in Congress with support from Republicans, the money going quickly and directly to specific much needed rebuilding projects all over the USA for the first time.  73% of the population of American adults fully vaccinated with two shots. And $1.9 trillion relief to Americans to restore their finances. Suspended student loan payments during the pandemic. Action on climate change, children's education, help to women, held up in Congress by two Democratic senators joining the Republicans opposed to Biden. It could be said that more was accomplished in 1 year than at any time since the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the thirties and forties. And this comes in the middle of the pandemic of coronavirus with 853,000 Americans dead from the virus. Biden puts is faith not in the polls but in getting things done.   ...

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There are four pillars to this fight Biden and Harris are now waging. Biden tackled infrastructure by getting the Congress to pass the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act to put trillions of dollars into rebuilding aging and dilapidated American roads, bridges, airports, ports, rural internet. This also tackled Manufacturing and factory jobs in the US neglected for 3 decades, the second pillar. The third pillar for Biden was getting American wages that had fallen behind to catch up by supporting labor in wage negotiations.  Something was missing as Cost of Living for housing, childcare, remained. This is where Harris has stepped in with Jerome Powell of the Fed. Powell cutting interest rates to make housing more accessible and Harris putting in $25,000 for first time homeowners for a down payment, build 3 million new homes, $6000 for childcare for parents, and $50,000 for small businesses to start. Specific programs at specific targets in FDR type "bold, persistent experimentation" activity. Put together the four pillars mean giving strength to the US economy which Powell says is "in solid shape." ...

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US president Biden's plan for building back better, building an economy that works for America's working families is discussed here by Rev. Barber and Karen Dolan.

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India's challenges in securing $1.3 trillion in capital over 5 years for infrastructure spending. This is needed including capital from the private sector to support government funding, so that India can build the infrastructure to create new manufacturing hubs that compete with China as the world's manufacturing workplace. The Biden administration's determination to compete effectively with China using is own supply chain in Asia, and the EU's plan to follow what the Biden administration does, is likely to create a new kind of environment by 2024-2025 that will create a steady flow of capital to India and other parts of Asia to finance this effort for rebuilding its supply chain. The Biden administration is seeking to build a culture change from the old culture pushed by Reagan type free marketers that delivered lost decades in manufacturing and jobs in manufacturing for the US. Biden's State of the Union message was clear- "Folks we're just getting started. We're just getting started." By 2024-2025 the Adani story may just be a footnote to this story as other manufacturers and investors pick up the infrastructure challenges facing the US, EU and India for a new supply chain for the Free World built around self-reliance. The Ukraine war and China incidents such as one that happened recently, will accelerate the rebuilding of the new supply chain on the part of the US and the EU with partners in Asia. And change decades old assumptions and trade relationships over months, not years. ...

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Biden's plan for joint military exercises with Japan and South Korea and a Camp David Summit meeting with prime minister Kishida of Japan and president Yeol of South Korea.

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Some Republicans are saying that it is time to give up the conceit that increasing the incomes of the upper classes will bring benefits to all Americans, and whether making individual tax cuts the priority is a policy that no longer works and can even bring disaster as it did for British prime minister Liz Truss recently. In this camp are Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and think tank American Compass. Others including Marc Rubio no longer favor globalization and see it important for the US to bring back American manufacturing at every opportunity with incentives and government action as the Biden administration is currently doing. This is creating new faultlines in the Republican party between the people who support the party of Reagan and its priorities and others who are questioning whether Reagan is relevant anymore. The fight that delayed the election of Speaker McCarthy also brought out some of these fissures as a subsection of the party felt strongly that it was important to go after entitlement programs and other social spending by the Biden administration. This is creating a new situation in American politics and in world trade and economics as the Biden Administration is not meekly accepting the detours of so called Third Way Democratic and Labour politicians of the US and Britain such as Tony Blair, Clinton and Obama who let the traditional backing of the Democratic Party in the working class wither with ties to Big Tech and acceptance of Reagan type free trade policies for manufacturing that ignored American working class communities. Biden's recent success in fighting for railway trade unions in restoring fairness in vacation and sick leave is only one of the battles that Biden has shown he can fight for American workers. Republicans now face the prospect of appearing divided and ambiguous in their support of working class, and overdependent on cultural issues for working class support. A recent British study on Labour's prospects showed that a slight shift on cultural issues can create a strong shift and have a large impact in Labour forming a new government with a secure majority in parliament.   ...

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Higher exports and lower imports boosted GDP growth by 1.59%, higher investment in equipment and AI related intellectual property investments, and consumer spending on healthcare services, pushed US GDP up to 4.5% for third quarter 2025. The annual rate of growth was pushed up to 2.5% matching the 2.4% growth in GDP for 2024 under the Biden administration. As the benefits of the rebuilding of American manufacturing, the benefits of the rapid depreciation of equipment and plant investments under the BIg Beautiful Bill are still in the future the GDP number is expected to be higher for 2025 and 2026. The formula for GDP estimates is to take total domestic spending and minus imports which are part of domestic spending in the US on imports, and to add the exports number, as these are goods produced in the US. An administration such as DJT administration today that promotes US exports, takes strong action such as tariffs against unfair trade goods pushed into the US, promotes US jobs and growth, ensures fair trade prevails, and invests in the US, is far more likely to get better GDP growth and jobs growth results. ...

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The $369 billion Biden climate change and tax bill moves forward with renewable energy but also keeps incentives in place for oil and gas drilling for the transition period now that there is an embargo on Russian fossil fuels. US now exports LNG to Europe with the cutoff of gas supplies from Russia and gas rationing in the EU. In this new situation Senator Schumer has come up with a new approach and is preparing to take this through the US Congress. It puts president Biden within reach of his climate goals for 2030 for 50% reduction of carbon emissions by 2030. This bill could accomplish 40% of that reduction.

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The $1.8 trillion Biden Families Plan for workers, students and families takes on the unfinished work for the New Deal, says Binyamin Applebaum in the NYT. Women were not out in the workforce in the way they are today under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930's and US president Biden is making them and childcare a big part of his Families Plan. Women have been hit harder than men during the pandemic shouldering a greater burden of the home and childcare. Healthcare and education are essential for quality of living- never has there been a greater realization of this than today after years of underinvestment in infrastructure and the foundations of democratic society.

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Closely contested seats in Long Island, an area just east of New York city could decide the control of Congress. Republicans see their messaging on crime and immigration deflected by recent reports for a freshman Congressman in the area. In 2020 New York issues on crime affected control of Congress for Biden. Since then New York Governor Hochul and others have paid strong attention to this and crime is down in New York and across the country in 2024.

Hochul, Walz and Whitmer are some of the governors who have a strong committment to Biden's program for infratructure and investments in industry to create jobs in the Nation.

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The head of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention Brent Leatherwood calls president Biden's act of withdrawal from the race for president a "selfless act."

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1.1 million EVs were sold in US in 2024, compared to 1.4 million hybrids. Hybrids have made a comeback as sales of electric cars are slowing in US in 2024. Constraints being lack of enough charging stations, price of electric cars still high, driving range limited before recharge. Hybrid car sales are surging helping Toyota after a too cautious entry into EV's. Now the Biden administration is looking at the targets and how to make the transition smoother. Toyota is pushing back on strict environmental rules that expect 67% of cars to be electric by 2032.  The 2021 executive order by president Biden was for 50% target by 2030 and this included hybrids.  The gradual shift would make it less costly for the public to replace the cars and help first time buyers wanting to try it out do this with hybrids as an option. As a quick guide 12000 pounds of carbon dioxide for global warming are given out by gasoline only cars, half or 6000 pounds by hybrids like Toyota's, and half again 3000 pounds of carbon dioxide by all electric like BYD China's or Tesla/GM/VW. The actual numbers are confirmed by Dept of Energy 2022, and MIT 2019 studies- 2727 pounds all electric, 6898 pounds hybrid, and 12594 pounds all gasoline. ...

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After 3 decades the US is finally offering the scale and scope of infrastructure investment overseas that is needed. President Biden says $200 billion will be invested in infrastructure overseas over 5 years at meetings of the G-7 in the Alps south of Munich in Germany. Along with its partners and with government and private investments the size of the investment will reach $600 billion over 5 years to 2027. This will include projects such as $2 billion for solar energy in Angola, and a $600 million submarine telecommunications cable connecting France to Singapore.

It is a combination of direct government aid and private investment. President Biden sees Build Back Better World as the overseas version of his Build Back Better America for workers and families in the US for which Congress has authorized $1 trillion in infrastructure and climate change initiatives in the US.

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BBC cites a report from ProPublica site that shows US billionaires pay little or no taxes. BBC has not confirmed this, yet it comes at a time when president Biden's plan is for American recovery with $1.8 trillion in spending on infrastructure, education and healthcare, services for elderly. This Biden plans to finance with taxes for people with the highest incomes. Earlier reports have shown some large corporations pay only a fraction in taxes that they normally would pay under a fair tax code. In some cases such as tech companies the tax code has not been updated, in others companies have used overseas tax locations. Much of the American public is unaware of how this affects the overall shape of society and the condition of America's infrastructure, the state of its educational system and its healthcare system, and of public services, the conditions for the elderly and children. The affluent have simply looked the other way.

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No man steps into the same river twice, says Jack Shafer in Politico. Mr. Trump is not the same person, and Twitter under Musk is not the same site. Much has changed since 2016. Many of the debates of 2016 are a thing of the past, as the nation has learned from that period and is moving ahead in a new direction under the Biden economic plan- for an economy that works for working people and families. This is critical for the task of building an America that reduces the huge disparities in America that have built up after decades of outshoring factories and jobs. The task that Mr. Biden has taken up with federal investment with business in key industries, cost of living actions, building a modern infrastructure for the US, and efforts to raise income and wages of workers and their families. 

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The Biden administration is asking agencies of the government to strengthen anti-corruption activities.

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Atacms used by Ukraine in attacks on Russia-short range missiles with range of 160 miles. These missiles were approved by the Biden administration, then stopped by DJT, and now approved. DJT is following a two pathway approach to Ukraine, one pathway to pressure Russia to come to the negotiating table, and the other to find common ground for settlement of the Ukraine conflict.

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Photos of leaders from US, Europe and Japan at the G-7 meeting on the coastline at Cornwall, UK. Scathing humor from Hannah Jane Parkinson with the photos as The Guardian looks at the other side of these meetings.  Some of this humor- About Merkel- she may be looking forward to taking a break from keeping control of this kindergarden of people who run the world. Justin Trudeau- looks like he has morphed into Llewelyn-Bowen a British television personality who does home renovation, and the suggestion that Johnson could have had Trudeau do his $200,000 home renovation for much less.  Biden and Boris Johnson with Biden's hand over Johnson's shoulder- probably Jane Parkinson says Biden telling Johnson not to pretend and act like a walrus over dinner which Johnson is plain to see planning to do, because I know you are a bit of a clown. All said in humor. Johnson in parliament a lot more human, responsive and caring than any of his predecessors, and Biden taking on the role of Truman and FDR in the mature years of their presidency. ...

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Ukraine leader Zelensky is expected to be in Washington to meet president Biden and to address the US Congress on December 21, 2022. A bill in Congress includes $44 billion for aid to Ukraine.

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Progressive caucus in the US House of Representatives led by Pramila Jaypal, a first time Indian American Congresswoman defeats an attempt by Josh Gottheimer of the Problem Solvers caucus to separate much of the president Biden's agenda in health, education and social policy and risk it being defeated by Senators Manchin and Sinema in the US Senate. Without the efforts on child care, education and health, climate change and social services part of the Biden Workers and Families Plan much of the Biden agenda would remain unfinished and Democratic party promises not kept. This also means that Manchin a Senator from West Virginia with a population of 1.8 million and Arizona with a population of 7.2 million, both conservative leaning Democrats could sink the entire agenda of president Biden to support American families and workers for a population of 331 million people. That two states with a population of less than 3% of the American population could sink the entire agenda of president Biden shows how fragile a situation has been created within the Democratic party to support workers and families even during the pandemic following the leadership of Carter, Clinton, and Obama Ms. Jaypal, a three term Congresswoman from Seattle, Washington state, was first elected in 2016 with an endorsement from Bernie Sanders who was the Democratic Party's leading candidate for president till the late stages of the 2020 US presidential primaries. Bernie Sanders says of Jaypal- "I think she is doing an extraordinary job. And I think the Progressive Caucus is doing an extraordinary job." Sanders founded the Progressive caucus after getting elected to the Senate from Vermont 30 years ago. Even though it is hard to imagine the Democratic party being the Democratic party without bold policies in climate change, affordable housing, reducing income disparities,  investing big in childcare, education and healthcare, attempts were being made to sink the entire Democratic party and national agenda going back to Franklin Roosevelt. Jaypal is described in the WSJ as diplomatic and firm, saying "I am so proud of our caucus; I have never seen our caucus so strong. And I am a very good vote counter also." Fifty members of the 100 member Progressive Caucus held firm in support of president Biden's original agenda without which the president would have little to show in keeping promises he made to the American people in the election and little to differentiate him from Mr. Trump who also supported infrastructure spending. Separating the infrastructure bill would have risked sinking Mr. Biden's plan for recovery of America from the pandemic and the devastating policies pursued by American presidents in the last two decades. Policies by previous presidents that have impoverished the country, created huge income disparities, weakened America in the world in trade and technological leadership, and wasted resources in foreign wars. There are no centrists or far left- these are just labels. When Ms Japal said "Let's just remember the Speaker (Nancy Pelosi) is a great champion of this agenda. I think she was trying to do as much as she could to get this done," she could have said it is Mr. Biden's own agenda pushed forward with conviction to help workers and families during the pandemic, and build a solid American recovery, restore American leadership in the world. Pramila Japypal is the first Indian American woman in the US Congress, and one of only two dozen naturalized American citizens in the US Congress. That she could play such a critical role for good in the US Congress shows that with the right convictions, determination, experience, much can be done for the common good in America and the world.   ...