Tag: Biden

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Biden to push infrastructure earlier than well being and household care

Biden to push infrastructure before health and family care

A crack across the street can be seen as Nevada Department of Transportation officer Jarrid Summerfelt repairs damage to U.S. Highway 95 after a major earthquake near Tonopah, Nevada, on May 15, 2020.

David Becker | Reuters

President Joe Biden will split his sweeping plan to improve the country’s infrastructure into two separate parts, which he will reveal every few weeks, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Sunday.

Psaki told Fox News on Sunday that Biden will unveil the first part of his plan on Wednesday, which will focus on things like rebuilding roads and railways. The second part of Biden’s plan will include childcare and health care reforms – aspects of so-called social infrastructure – and will be released “in just a few weeks,” she said.

The New York Times reported Monday that Biden’s advisors recommended Biden to separate traditional infrastructure proposals from the other aspects of his plan in order to ease the burden of social services on families. Overall, the legislation is expected to cost more than $ 3 trillion.

Some Biden advisors believe splitting the package and calling for the road and bridge proposal may make it easier to get Republican support, the Times reported. Documents verified by the newspaper showed it could include $ 1 trillion, mainly used to build and repair physical infrastructure with an emphasis on tackling climate change.

The second part of Biden’s plan would include proposals like Free Community College and Universal Prekindergarten, the Times reported. Psaki said the second plan would “address many of the issues Americans face,” citing childcare and health care costs.

Psaki suggested that Biden’s proposal could go hand in hand with tax increases, but declined to provide details.

“The whole package that we are still working on, but he will introduce some payment options and he is excited to hear ideas from both parties as well,” she said.

Biden has said that he intends to levy taxes on high net worth individuals and businesses, although he has not yet come up with a detailed plan for doing so.

Republicans are largely against tax increases. Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said there will be “no enthusiasm on our side for a tax hike” to fund infrastructure.

Talk of Biden’s next big boost to the economy comes just weeks after the president signed a $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill that would fund vaccine distribution as well as pay incentives for most Americans included.

The coronavirus bill was passed without Republican support through a special congressional mechanism known as budget balancing. The nearly $ 2 trillion package was funded by federal loans.

The White House has not said whether it will use the reconciliation to pass laws related to its infrastructure agenda, although it is likely that separating the two parts of the plan is aimed at avoiding the streamlined process for at least one bill.

Republicans and Democrats have both been pushing for a bipartisan infrastructure deal for years.

“We’re not quite on the legislative strategy yet, Chris, but I’ll say I don’t think Republicans in this country think we should be 13th in the world in terms of infrastructure,” Psaki told host Chris Wallace.

“Roads, railways, reconstruction, this is not a partisan issue. The President will talk about that a lot this Wednesday,” she said.

Psaki did not say whether the plan would be limited to two acts or whether more discreet bills could be introduced.

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Biden condemns GOP-backed voting restrictions in Georgia

Biden condemns GOP-backed voting restrictions in Georgia

In this handout, Republican Governor Brian Kemp signs Law SB 202, a restrictive electoral law that activists say aims to reduce the influence of black voters who were instrumental in the state elections that helped Democrats win the White House win and limit control of the U.S. Senate The photo was posted to Kemp’s Twitter feed on March 25, 2021.

Twitter feed from Governor Brian Kemp | Handout via Reuters

President Joe Biden on Friday condemned a comprehensive GOP-backed electoral reform bill that was signed Thursday evening in Georgia, including new identification requirements for absentee ballots, limiting ballot boxes, and banning the supply of food or water to voters in line with provides for these provisions.

“This is Jim Crow in the 21st century,” Biden said in a statement, comparing the legislation to the infamous electoral restrictions that kept people of color from voting in front of the civil rights movement in the south. “It has to end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act.”

Biden told reporters on Friday that the White House and the Justice Department are looking at what to do about the law.

Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed the 96-page bill Thursday night, just hours after Republican lawmakers passed the electoral rule revision known as SB 202.

Democratic Rep. Park Cannon was arrested by Georgia state police Thursday after knocking on Kemp’s office door when he signed the SB 202.

The new electoral rules in Georgia come from Senate Democrats aiming to pass a federal election reform law, the For the People Act, amid a wave of Republican electoral restrictions being proposed in state legislatures across the country.

“This bill, like so many others persecuted by Republicans in state houses across the country, is an blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience,” Biden said. He said the provisions of SB 202 “effectively deny the right to vote for countless voters.”

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement Friday that SB 202 will expand options because the bill increases the number of early voting days.

The debate over electoral integrity came to a head this year when conspiracy theories of widespread electoral fraud led violent pro-Trump rioters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6 to dismiss the results of the 2020 presidential election.

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In his statement, Biden called on Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Stakeholders like the New Georgia Project and the Black Voters Matter Fund have urged Biden to urge Congress to pass the two state voting laws by supporting measures like the elimination of the filibuster in the Senate.

Biden signaled in his first press conference Thursday that he could support the abolition of the Senate filibuster instead of reforming it if his priorities are set in Congress.

“If we have to, if there is total lockdown and chaos as a result of the filibuster, we have to go beyond what I’m talking about,” he told reporters.

Biden has said he supports the return to what is known as a talking filibuster, where lawmakers must keep the Senate active in order to block the legislation. As of now, the Senate will need 60 votes to push a bill – which means Republicans can block the vast majority of bills in a chamber that is 50-50 split by party.

– CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.

Correction: Biden’s first press conference took place on Thursday. In an earlier version of this story, the day was incorrectly stated.

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Health

For Biden, a New Virus Dilemma: Easy methods to Deal with a Looming Glut of Vaccine

For Biden, a New Virus Dilemma: How to Handle a Looming Glut of Vaccine

Although Johnson & Johnson has lagged behind the other manufacturers, its technology holds huge promise for mass production as it can deliver many more cans per lot.

Later this year, when Merck & Company is expected to begin manufacturing Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, it could produce 100 million doses per month – or as many as Pfizer and Moderna combined deliver each month. The White House welcomed the Johnson & Johnson-Merck deal, but when production revs up, those cans may be tied for a growing surplus or for export.

One option is to ship the frozen vaccine, which is made at Merck’s overseas facility, where it can be bottled much cheaper. Of the $ 10 the federal government agreed to pay for a dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, the drug substance itself only accounts for about 30 cents, federal officials said. The rest are the so-called fill-and-finish costs.

If AstraZeneca gets emergency clearance from US regulators, even more shots will be thrown into the mix. Officials expect around 50 million cans to be ready for delivery by May.

But Biden government officials are skeptical about AstraZeneca’s vaccine. It seems about as effective as Johnson & Johnson’s, but requires an extra shot, which means a more complicated rollout. Some health officials fear that introducing a fourth vaccine will only confuse people if enough doses are already in the pipeline to cover every adult who wants a shot.

On the other hand, if the government decides to donate the AstraZeneca cans without offering anything to their own citizens, other countries may conclude that the United States has no confidence in the safety or effectiveness of the vaccine.

“As we become more confident in the doses we have and the ability, or need or not, to increase them, we can make a more definitive statement about what role the AZ product will play in the US.” Dr. Fauci said in an interview this week, “but right now I think it’s too early to say anything.”

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Benjamin Mueller and Matina Stevis-Gridneff contributed to the coverage. Kitty Bennett contributed to the research.

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Business

Biden Poised to Elevate Taxes on Enterprise and the Wealthy

Biden Poised to Raise Taxes on Business and the Rich

Many liberal economists say there are good reasons to collect taxes, starting with using those funds to invest in workers and help build economic opportunity. Spending on physical infrastructure like roads and water pipes, or programs like education and childcare to help people make more money, could help reduce persistent inequalities in income and wealth. Economists also say that properly put in place tax increases would incentivize multinational corporations to keep jobs in the United States and not shift profits to countries with lower taxes.

“The purpose of the tax system is to both generate enough income for what the government wants to do and to ensure that we encourage activities that are in the national interest and discourage those who do not.” said Heather Boushey, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Key Democrats are trying to get the party to reach consensus. Leading Senate tax writer Ron Wyden of Oregon is drafting a series of tax hike bills, many of which overlap with Mr Biden’s campaign proposals.

“I will be ready to speak about what the Democratic caucus deems necessary to move forward,” said Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, in an interview.

Mr Wyden’s plans include major changes to parts of Mr Trump’s tax cuts that revamped United States’ taxation of multinational corporations, including creating some sort of minimum tax on overseas income. Mr Wyden and many Democratic economists, including some within the Biden administration, say the tax was designed to ultimately lead companies to keep moving their profits and activities offshore to avoid American taxes. Republican economists and some tax experts disagree, saying the law allowed US companies to compete better globally.

A report by the Joint Tax Committee of Congress earlier this month showed that multinational corporations paid an average US tax rate of less than 8 percent on their income in 2018, compared with 16 percent in 2017. The report also found that these companies Their taxes did not slow down the practice of posting profits in low tax havens like Bermuda.

Mr Biden, Mr Wyden and Mr Sanders have all drawn up plans to increase revenue through an amendment to the 2017 law to force multinational corporations to pay more to the United States. One of the most lucrative ways to do this, according to tax scorekeepers, would be to increase the global minimum tax rate, forcing these companies to pay higher US tax rates regardless of where they find jobs or profits.

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Construct America Bonds could also be key to financing Biden infrastructure plans

Build America Bonds may be key to financing Biden infrastructure plans

Republicans and Democrats agree that the US desperately needs a major infrastructure overhaul and that Congress should at least approve significant repairs to roads and bridges.

The violent disagreement between the two parties begins with which provisions are worth adding to the federal deficit and how such a massive enterprise can be funded.

And while Wall Street worries about potential increases in corporate and individual income tax rates, Democrats could soon turn to an Obama-era tool to fund their infrastructure plans: Build America Bonds.

BABs are special municipal bonds that enable states and counties to pay off debts with interest costs subsidized by the federal government. This underwriting not only helped to relieve nervous investors after the financial crisis, but also made municipal debt even more attractive, with interest rates sometimes exceeding 7%.

This approach could be especially helpful as President Joe Biden is pushing his infrastructure forward, especially after the high price of his $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 aid package. Even the most modest estimates put the cost of repairing the country’s infrastructure in the trillions of dollars.

According to a report released by the American Society of Civil Engineers in early March, the country’s total infrastructure needs will be nearly $ 6 trillion over the next 10 years. It is said there is a $ 125 billion backlog on bridge repairs, a $ 435 billion backlog for roads, and a $ 176 billion backlog for transit systems.

Those amounts, just for repairs already deemed necessary, come before the expansive and innovative technology that the Democrats are looking to include in Biden’s upcoming bill. The White House is expected to come up with a bill worth at least $ 3 trillion and include a litany of infrastructure and welfare programs.

Biden for BABs?

Vikram Rai, head of Citi’s municipal bond strategy, believes Build America Bonds are the answer.

Build America Bonds entered US markets more than a decade ago when the Obama administration was looking for ways to fund capital projects across the country and stimulate the economy after the great recession.

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The beauty of subsidizing the interest associated with Muni bonds, Rai says, is that every dollar the federal government spends helps strengthen the integrity of larger spending projects that legally only states and communities can operate.

The federal government owns less than 10% of the national infrastructure, while the rest is run by states, cities, and the private sector.

“That $ 2 trillion, $ 3 trillion price tag – that’s not really accurate because the only way the price is that high is when the federal government grants state and local governments,” Rai said in a phone interview in early March.

If the federal government subscribes to BABs, states and cities can issue far more debt than investors would otherwise accept, with no astronomical interest costs and doubts as to whether they could repay.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that just a few tax increases – like increasing the corporate tax rate or introducing a carbon tax – even those very minor tax increases are more than enough to fund the initial outlay on infrastructure projects,” Rai said.

“These projects are ultimately self-sustaining,” he added. “There is a magnifying glass effect, a stimulating effect: it creates employment, it creates tax revenue. So it’s child’s play.”

Rai added at the time that it is almost certain that the White House is considering BABs among a variety of funding options.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg later confirmed Friday, after this story was originally published, that the administration is considering the bonds among other funding options.

“I hear a lot of appetite that there are sustainable flows of funding,” said Buttigieg. Build America Bonds “show promise in terms of the way we use this type of funding. There have also been ideas about things like a national infrastructure bank.”

A critical characteristic of BABs is that, unlike 83% of the municipal bond market, they are taxed by the federal government.

Most of the bonds issued by state and local governments under “normal” terms are attractive to investors because the interest is generally exempt from federal income tax. As a result, US investors are willing to accept a lower interest rate than they would otherwise charge.

However, for overseas investors, US municipal bond rates are still taxable from their home country, so they are typically apathetic, low-yielding debt issued in the US

By making BABs subject to federal taxes, state and local governments are forced to offer higher interest rates on their bonds in order to guarantee investors the same effective return.

Given that overseas investors, with their multi-trillion dollar demand base, have shown an unwavering interest in investing in US infrastructure, they would be keen to see a taxable structure. This is because, according to Rai, from her point of view, BABs are indistinguishable from a conventional taxable bond.

Political dangers

The downside to BABs, while they may be more effective than grants made for that amount, is that the federal government is still paying billions of dollars in interest costs by the time the BABs mature.

The Obama-era program, which had no annual caps and subsidized interest costs of 35%, expired in late 2010 after states and communities sold more than $ 180 billion of the bonds, far more than the federal government originally expected.

Some lawmakers, such as Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore, continue to support the program and are open to the possibility that they could play a role again in future infrastructure initiatives.

“Build America Bonds were an overwhelming success on the Recovery Act,” Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told CNBC on Wednesday. “I’m incredibly proud of this program and a similar funding structure will be part of the conversation as we move forward.”

Leading Republicans, on the other hand, were fed up with the costs associated with BABs by 2011. GOP lawmakers said the federal government’s pledge to subsidize 35% of interest payments on local bonds was too high.

Former Senator Orrin Hatch, then the senior Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said in February 2011 that the bonds were “simply a disguised government bailout” that had helped New York and California disproportionately.

“These bonds rightly expired in late 2010, and I hope the Obama administration does not try to revive such a nonsensical provision in its upcoming budget,” he said at the time.

Senator Pat Toomey, R-Penn., A member of the Senate Finance Committee, is a “no” to the bond revival.

“State and local governments have never been more cashless. In addition to the record tax rallies last year, Congress sent them $ 500 billion. Despite all of this, Congress sent them another $ 350 billion that they didn’t need two weeks ago.” he told CNBC on Friday. “So no, I don’t support misallocating billions of dollars more to incentivize potentially unworthy projects and to encourage bankrupt or irresponsible state and local governments to take on even more debt.”

Rai acknowledged that appetites for BABs can vary depending on the creditworthiness of each state. States like New York with stronger balance sheets may be more attractive than Illinois.

He countered, however, that even cities in Illinois could see significant revenue generation from BABs if the state works to stop local municipal borrowing. The federal government’s pledge to subsidize interest costs could be cut from 35% to 30% or even 28%, as the Democrats proposed in 2011, Rai said.

Given the plight of national infrastructure, some Republicans may see BABs as a compelling option for funding infrastructure projects that will ultimately pay for themselves in job creation and tax revenue over time.

Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, the highest ranking GOP member on the Commerce Committee, co-sponsored a bill in 2020 with Senator Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Calling for a revival of the BABs with certain improvements.

As with BABs, their so-called American Infrastructure Bonds program would create a class of taxable “direct-pay” municipal bonds to help troubled governments fund critical public projects.

The Wicker and Bennet bonds would be exempt from seizure, the process by which Congress has gradually undermined the level of its payments to fund the original class of BABs.

“Enabling our local executives to launch critical infrastructure projects is a proven and cost-effective way to help our communities get out of severe financial difficulties with assets that will add value to the region over the years,” Wicker said in a press release dated July.

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Biden invitations Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to local weather summit

Biden invites Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to climate summit

President Joe Biden speaks on fighting climate change before signing executive measures while White House Climate Commissioner John Kerry and Vice President Kamala Harris listen in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, USA on January 27, 2021.

Kevin Lemarque | Reuters

President Joe Biden said Friday that Vladimir Putin from Russia and Xi Jinping from China are invited to the global leaders’ climate summit, which the government is hosting in April.

The president told reporters that he did not invite Putin or Xi directly, but said leaders “know they are invited,” an event the US is hosting to highlight global efforts to reduce climate change-related emissions to advance fossil fuels.

The White House later published a list of 40 world leaders invited to the summit, including Xi and Putin.

Biden said he spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday and with EU member states on Thursday. The White House has preferred to speak to close US allies before turning to China and Russia.

The government plans to unveil a new target for CO2 emissions at the summit, which will be held remotely on April 22nd and 23rd. Biden promised to host the climate negotiations during his campaign and through an executive order in January. The summit will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, ahead of the UN global climate negotiations in November.

The USA is the second largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world after China. Russia is the fourth largest emitter. It is unclear whether Russia and China will accept invitations to the summit or whether they are interested in working with the US to curb emissions.

The White House has announced that it will work with Russia and China on climate change on a number of other areas, despite mounting tensions between countries. The Biden administration has repeatedly identified Beijing and Moscow as the greatest national security threats to the US

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The Obama administration promised to cut U.S. emissions by up to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025, but former President Donald Trump halted federal efforts to meet that goal. The Biden government is expected to introduce a tougher target for the nation to be achieved by 2030.

The summit comes as Biden pledges to convert the U.S. economy to clean energy and reduce emissions from coal, natural gas, and oil. Biden reintroduced the US to the Paris Climate Agreement in January after Trump announced in 2017 that he would be pulling the country out.

Biden has announced that under the deal, the US will re-commit to its emissions reduction targets and lead efforts to help other nations update their own targets. The president has also vowed to put the US on a path to zero carbon electricity generation by 2035 and net zero emissions by 2050.

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Biden Administration Ramps Up Debt Aid Program to Assist Black Farmers

Biden Administration Ramps Up Debt Relief Program to Help Black Farmers

Rep. James E. Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat who played an influential role in securing the party’s presidential nomination, was also a key voice in highlighting the black farmers’ experience and helping drive the incentive regulations forward, the staff said of Congress.

Funding aims to address longstanding discrimination issues in the Department of Agriculture – specifically, the refusal to give black farmers the same access to capital that helped white farmers overcome during difficult times in history. Minority farmers have faced other problems, such as lack of access to legal services that complicate the legacy of farms and lack of public investment in rural communities and reserves, including water supplies, roads, and transportation to produce farm produce to bring to the market.

These factors resulted in significant land loss. While the number of farmers in the United States has declined sharply over the last century as farms became mechanized and more people found work in factories and offices, black farmers suffered disproportionately.

According to the Department of Agriculture, the United States had 925,708 black farmers in 1920, which is 14 percent of the country’s farmers. However, as of 2017, only 35,470 of the country’s more than two million farms were operated by black producers, representing 1.7 percent.

Joe Patterson, 70, whose family has farmed the Mississippi Delta for decades, said discriminatory credit had put many black farmers around him out of business over the years and resulted in some lean times for his own family.

Frequently asked questions about the new stimulus package

How high are the business stimulus payments in the bill and who is entitled?

The stimulus payments would be $ 1,400 for most recipients. Those who are eligible would also receive an identical payment for each of their children. To qualify for the full $ 1,400, a single person would need an adjusted gross income of $ 75,000 or less. For householders, the adjusted gross income should be $ 112,500 or less, and for married couples filing together, that number should be $ 150,000 or less. To be eligible for a payment, an individual must have a social security number. Continue reading.

What Would the Relief Bill do for Health Insurance?

Buying insurance through the government program known as COBRA would temporarily become much cheaper. Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, COBRA generally lets someone who loses a job purchase coverage through their previous employer. But it’s expensive: under normal circumstances, a person must pay at least 102 percent of the cost of the premium. Under the relief bill, the government would pay the full COBRA premium from April 1 to September 30. An individual who qualified for new employer-based health insurance elsewhere before September 30th would lose their eligibility for free coverage. And someone who left a job voluntarily would also be ineligible. Continue reading

What would the child and dependent care tax credit bill change?

This loan, which helps working families offset the cost of looking after children under the age of 13 and other dependents, would be significantly extended for a single year. More people would be eligible and many recipients would get a longer break. The bill would also fully refund the balance, which means you could collect the money as a refund even if your tax bill were zero. “This will be helpful to people on the lower end of the income spectrum,” said Mark Luscombe, chief federal tax analyst at Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting. Continue reading.

What changes to the student loan are included in the invoice?

There would be a big one for people who are already in debt. You wouldn’t have to pay income taxes on canceled debts if you qualified for loan origination or cancellation – for example, if you were on an income-related repayment plan for the required number of years, if your school cheated on you, or if Congress or the Congress President is wiping $ 10,000 in debt for a large number of people. This would be the case for debts canceled between January 1, 2021 and the end of 2025. Read more.

What would the bill do to help people with housing?

The bill would provide billions of dollars in rental and utility benefits to people who are struggling and at risk of being evicted from their homes. About $ 27 billion would be used for emergency rentals. The vast majority of these would replenish what is known as the Coronavirus Relief Fund created by CARES law and distributed through state, local, and tribal governments, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. This is on top of the $ 25 billion made available through the aid package passed in December. In order to receive financial support that could be used for rent, utilities and other housing costs, households would have to meet various conditions. Household income cannot exceed 80 percent of area median income, at least one household member must be at risk of homelessness or residential instability, and individuals would be at risk due to the pandemic. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, assistance could be granted for up to 18 months. Lower-income families who have been unemployed for three months or more would receive priority support. Continue reading.

“When it all came down to this, it was a lack of funds that kept the black farmers down,” said Mr. Patterson, speaking on the phone from the cab of a tractor he’d stopped by the roadside. “If we had the same investments as the other farmers, a lot of black farmers would still be farming at this point.”

He added, “But because they didn’t have these resources, it got worse and worse every year.”

Anthony Daniels, a Democrat in Alabama’s legislature who serves on the board of directors of One Country Project, a democratic group focused on rural issues, said many black farmers still suffer from high levels of debt and that the incentive provisions would help them Repay loans and related taxes.

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Politics

Biden units new Covid vaccine aim as coronavirus pandemic continues

Biden sets new Covid vaccine goal as coronavirus pandemic continues

US President-elect Joe Biden speaks during a press conference on January 15, 2021 at Biden’s interim headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, about his plan to give vaccines against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to the US population.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

President Joe Biden announced a new goal Thursday of distributing 200 million Covid vaccine shots within his first 100 days in office.

“I know it’s ambitious – twice as much as our original goal – but no other country in the world has come close to what we’re doing,” Biden told reporters as he opened his first press conference as president.

“I think we can do it.”

As of Friday, there have been 100 million coronavirus vaccinations since Biden was inaugurated. That benchmark, which Biden set as his original goal on December 8, was met on his 59th day in office.

After a slower-than-expected rollout under former President Donald Trump, the rate of vaccination in the US has increased rapidly, receiving an average of 2.5 million doses per day over the past week.

If this vaccination rate is maintained, Biden’s 200 million dose target would be achieved in about five weeks or around April 23 – a full week before Biden would mark 100 days at the White House.

The federal government has signed a contract with Johnson & Johnson to supply 200 million cans. The first half of this order is expected by the end of June. Merck is helping make J & J’s Shot, which is a single-dose vaccine.

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The government has also signed contracts with drug makers Pfizer and Moderna for a total of 600 million doses.

That’s enough to vaccinate 300 million Americans, as both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two shots three to four weeks apart.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin last month approved the deployment of more than 1,000 active troops to support the dispensing of Covid-19 vaccines in the US to speed up the pace of vaccinations.

Correction: This story has been updated to take into account that, as of Friday, 100 million coronavirus vaccinations have been had since Biden was inaugurated.

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Politics

Biden Might Be the Most Professional-Labor President Ever; That Might Not Save Unions

Biden May Be the Most Pro-Labor President Ever; That May Not Save Unions

Two months into the new administration, union leaders are proclaiming Joseph R. Biden Jr. the most union-friendly president of their lives – and “maybe ever,” as Steve Rosenthal, former AFL-CIO political director, said in an interview.

Mr Biden has moved quickly to oust government officials who the unions viewed as anti-labor and to reverse the Trump-era rules that undermined worker protection. He has enforced laws that send hundreds of billions of dollars to cities and states, aid that public sector unions consider essential, and tens of billions to prop up unions’ pension plans.

Perhaps most notably, the president appeared on a video hinting at a union vote in an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, warning that “there should be no intimidation, coercion, threats, anti-union propaganda” – an unusually outspoken one Step from a president in a standard union election.

Still, Mr Rosenthal and other supporters of the work admit a nagging concern: Despite Mr Biden’s remarkable support for their movement, unions may not be much better off leaving his post than entering it.

This is because labor law gives employers considerable powers to defend themselves against trade union organizations. This is one reason union membership has plummeted to record lows in recent decades. And Senate Republicans will seek to thwart any legislative attempts – like the PRO bill the House passed this month – to reverse that trend.

“The PRO law is vital,” said Rosenthal. “But what is happening now regarding Republicans in Congress, the Senate filibuster, is everyone’s guess.”

Until recently, it was far from clear that Mr Biden would govern in such a union-friendly manner. Although he has long advocated the union’s advantage and has maintained close relationships with union leaders, the president also has ties to big names like Steve Ricchetti, an adviser to the president who was a lobbyist for companies like AT&T and Eli Lilly. Mr Biden voted for a free trade agreement over the years, which the unions voted against.

Add to this the fact that he served as a vice president in a government that sometimes angered the unions when President Barack Obama stepped in on behalf of a Rhode Island school district that fired faculty from an underperforming school. Mr Biden was also the captain of an Obama administration team that negotiated with Republicans to reduce the deficit.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Mr Biden’s allies and advisers argued that he had merely acted as the loyal deputy of his boss and that as president he would prove more in tune with work.

But for many workers who had doubts, Mr. Biden exceeded expectations. Shortly after he was sworn in as President, the White House called for the resignation of the National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel, Peter B. Robb, whose office enforces the labor rights of private sector workers.

Mr Robb was deeply unpopular about organized work, which he viewed as overly management-friendly. His term was due to expire in November, and the Presidents of both parties have allowed the Advocates General to extend their term.

However, since no letter of resignation was received from Mr. Robb on the day of his inauguration, the White House fired him.

“What was really promising and exciting for those of us who took care of it was the dismissal of Peter Robb and the dramatic way it came about,” said Lisa Canada, the political and legislative director of the state joiners’ union in Michigan.

However, it is the Alabama video that most clearly highlights the differences between Mr. Biden and Mr. Obama when it comes to work. When state officials flocked to Madison, Wisconsin, in 2011 to protest Governor Scott Walker’s plan to withdraw their bargaining rights, union leaders asked the White House to send a senior government official out of solidarity. The White House refused, despite Mr Obama saying the plan was like an “attack on the unions”.

“We have made every effort to get someone there,” said Larry Cohen, who was then president of Communications Workers of America and is now chairman of the progressive advocacy group Our Revolution. “You wouldn’t allow anyone to leave.”

In contrast, Mr Biden appeared anxious to make his statement on the Amazon elections that a number of union leaders had asked him to make.

“We haven’t seen so much support for the organization since Franklin Roosevelt,” said Cohen, who expected Amazon’s statement to discourage anti-union behavior by employers.

Still, Mr Cohen and other labor officials said that without a change in labor law, union membership would likely take a path under Mr Biden that was similar to Mr Obama when the proportion of workers in unions fell about 1.5 percentage points. Overall, union membership has fallen from around a third of workers in the 1950s to just over a tenth today, and in the private sector to just 6 percent.

“Because of growing inequality, our economy is on a path of implosion,” said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, in an interview. The PRO Act “will raise wages and slow down this path,” he added.

Under current law, employers can inundate workers with anti-union messages – through mandatory meetings, emails and signs in the workplace – while unions often have difficulty gaining access to workers. And while it is technically illegal to threaten or fire workers who take part in an organizing campaign, employers receive minimal penalties for doing so.

Cases from employment offices can drag on for years, after which an employer often only has to publish a notice in which he promises to comply with labor law in the future, said Wilma B. Liebman, a former CEO. There are no fines for such violations, although workers can be paid in full through rebate.

The PRO Act would prohibit mandatory anti-union meetings, impose fines for threatening or dismissing workers, and help unjustly dismissed workers get quick reinstatement. This would also give unions leverage by allowing them to participate in secondary boycotts – for example, asking customers to boycott restaurants that buy food from a bakery they want to unionise.

Glenn Spencer, senior vice president at the US Chamber of Commerce, criticized the bill as “radically recasting labor law” and said the provision on secondary boycotts could be extremely disruptive to its goals.

“These companies have nothing to do with the nature of the labor dispute, but they suddenly got caught up in it,” said Spencer.

However, despite the legal protection provided in the PRO Act, it will be difficult for unions to improve coverage on a large scale, say many experts. Labor law often effectively requires workers to win union elections one job at a time, which at Amazon alone can mean hundreds of separate elections.

The system is “optimized to build weak labor movements,” said David Rolf, former vice president of the Service Employees International Union, who favors industry-wide unions and negotiations.

And the PRO Act’s chances of going into effect are slim as long as opponents fall back on the Senate filibuster, which effectively needs 60 votes to pass laws.

Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, appeared before the AFL-CIO’s Executive Board this month to advocate exempting certain types of laws from filibusters. In a post-meeting statement, councilors called for “quick and necessary changes” to Senate rules to remove the filibuster as an obstacle to progressive legislation.

Mr Biden has since indicated that he is ready to weaken the filibuster, although it is not clear whether the PRO Act would benefit from it.

Mr Trumka said he was confident that Mr Biden would seize the opportunity that Mr Obama missed when the Democrats had a large Senate majority but still did not change labor law. “This president understands the power to resolve inequalities through collective bargaining,” said Trumka.

Others, however, are skeptical that despite all of his openness, Mr Biden will be able to deliver on behalf of the unions.

“The proof is in the pudding,” said Ruth Milkman, a sociologist at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. “We know where his heart is. That doesn’t mean anything will change. “

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Politics

North Korea Conducts 1st Missile Check Underneath Biden Administration

North Korea Conducts 1st Missile Test Under Biden Administration

SEOUL – North Korea tested two short-range cruise missiles over the weekend, South Korean defense officials confirmed on Wednesday. The test was the first under the Biden administration and was added to a series of recent provocations and statements that were viewed as warnings to Washington.

The test took place off the west coast of North Korea on Sunday, just days after the country accused the United States and South Korea of ​​causing “a stench” on the Korean peninsula with their annual military exercises. It did not violate United Nations resolutions prohibiting North Korea from developing or testing ballistic missile technology.

When North Korea launches missile tests, they are usually celebrated by the state news media and quickly endorsed by the South Korean military. However, the North Korean news media did not cover the test on Sunday. South Korean officials said Wednesday that they discovered the test when it took place but decided not to report it immediately. They did not elaborate on their decision.

South Korean defense officials tend to view short-range cruise missile tests as less of a provocation than ballistic launches. They also tend not to highlight what they consider minor provocations from the north when trying to promote inter-Korean dialogue. When North Korea launched short-range cruise missiles off its east coast last April, they were immediately confirmed by South Korea. In this case, South Korean officials only confirmed the test after it was first reported by the Washington Post.

The missiles were launched at 6:36 a.m. on Sunday from a location near Nampo, a port southwest of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, said Ha Tae-keung, a South Korean lawmaker briefed on Wednesday by intelligence officials. The intelligence officials said the South Korean military authorities had agreed with their American counterparts not to publish the tests, Ha said.

South Korea and the United States completed their annual 10-day military training exercise last week. North Korea has often responded to these exercises with its own exercises, which sometimes include missile tests.

Officials and analysts in the region have been watching North Korea closely to see if the country would escalate tensions to leverage ahead of possible negotiations with the Biden government.

North Korea has rejected any serious dialogue with Washington since the second summit between its Chairman Kim Jong-un and former President Donald J. Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, ended abruptly in 2019. Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump failed to reach an agreement on how quickly the North would cut its nuclear program or when Washington would grant sanction relief.

Pyongyang has made several hostile statements to the United States in the past few days, and analysts said the missile test may be part of a subtle pressure tactic, increasing the possibility that North Korea will return to a new cycle of tension on the peninsula to stamp out concessions from Washington .

“Through these new missile tests, Pyongyang is signaling to Team Biden that its military capabilities are getting stronger every day,” said Harry J. Kazianis, senior director of Korean Studies at the Washington-based Center for the National Interest, said in an email sent Comment.

The Biden government has stepped up efforts to work more closely with its regional allies South Korea and Japan to better cope with North Korea’s growing weaponry capabilities as well as an emerging China. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III visited Seoul and Tokyo last week as part of the government’s first high-level diplomatic tour of Asia.

President Biden plans to complete a policy review in North Korea in close coordination with South Korea and Japan in the coming weeks, Blinken said in Seoul. He said the review included “print options as well as potential for future diplomacy”. During his visit, Mr. Blinken also criticized North Korea’s human rights record and what he called Mr. Kim’s “repressive government” and its “widespread and systematic abuses”.

Washington made a breakthrough last week when a North Korean citizen was extradited to the US for the first time. A Malaysian court agreed to extradite the North Korean businessman, who is due to be tried in an American court for money laundering and violating international sanctions. North Korea accused Washington of being a “backstage manipulator” in this case and warned against “paying a fair price”.

Nor is it necessary to react to the recent attempts by the Biden government to enter into dialogue and reject them as a “trick of delaying time”.

As Washington strengthens its alliances with Tokyo and Seoul, Kim and Xi Jinping, China’s leaders, have vowed to bring their two communist countries closer together.

In a message to Mr. Xi published on the North Korean news media this week, Mr. Kim stressed the need to strengthen unity between the two countries in order to “deal with enemy forces.” In his own message to Mr. Kim, Mr. Xi vowed to help maintain “peace and stability” on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea’s recent missile test suggests that Mr. Kim “will tolerate continued economic dependence on China to get out of the pandemic of the offensive against Washington and Seoul,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.