Joe Biden News, Stimulus, Coronavirus and July 4th: Live Updates


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During an event in the Rose Garden on Friday, President Biden celebrated the passing of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that will help revive the economy stunned by the pandemic.CreditCredit…Doug Mills/The New York Times

One day after President Biden gave a televised address promising that his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan would help lift up an economy stunned by the coronavirus pandemic, he entered the Rose Garden to a standing ovation from an audience of Democrats.

“It changes the paradigm,” Mr. Biden said about the legislation as he listed its various benefits for low- and middle-class workers. “For the first time in a long time, this bill puts working people in this nation first.”

Since the plan was passed with no Republican support, the signing celebration was billed as a “bicameral” but not “bipartisan” event, as Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, described it to reporters on Thursday.

Ignoring the political division in Washington and the Republicans who had denigrated the relief plan as wasteful and too progressive, a group of Democratic leaders who couldn’t point to unity across the aisle instead tried to direct the public’s attention to comity within their own party.

“Our unity, on behalf of all of the American people, is what made this such a triumph,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before Mr. Biden spoke.

“We Democrats made promises,” Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said. “We said if we gained the Senate, kept the House and elected the president, we would finally get things done and get us out of this Covid crisis. And we are on the road to success.”

But Mr. Biden acknowledged the thin margins that exist for Democratic leadership. He congratulated Mr. Schumer on guiding the “controversial” piece of legislation through an evenly divided Senate, and also House leaders for doing the same with a slim majority.

The event amounted to a victory lap for a White House that has rolled out a media blitz to hail the largest federal infusion of aid to the poor in generations. And it will be part of a campaign by Democrats to sell the landmark legislation to people who are politically opposed to it. Mr. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Jill Biden, the first lady, are among the figures who will soon travel around the country to promote the particulars of the plan.

The legislation substantially expands the child tax credit and increases subsidies for health insurance. Restaurants will get financial help, and state governments will get an infusion of aid. Among its many other provisions, the plan provides some $130 billion to assist in reopening schools.

“This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Mr. Biden said to reporters who had gathered in the Oval Office on Thursday, “and giving people in this nation, working people, the middle-class folks, people who built the country, a fighting chance.”

Mr. Biden has also encouraged Americans to receive vaccines and practice social distancing. On Thursday evening, he said that he would use his executive authority to require states to make all adults eligible for the vaccine by May 1, with a broad goal that Americans could gather together to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Supporters of former President Donald J. Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., last month.
Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York Times

The Republican Party in the era following Donald J. Trump’s presidency is comprised of five “tribes” that have ranging affinity for the former president and different desires when it comes to seeing him continue to lead the party, according to a new survey by Mr. Trump’s former pollster.

The survey of 1,264 voters, who are registered Republicans or identify as Republicans, is the first comprehensive one conducted about G.O.P. voter sentiment since Mr. Trump left office, and as he considers running again in 2024. It was conducted by the Republican polling firm Fabrizio and Lee — which worked for Mr. Trump in his 2020 campaign but does not any longer.

The former president “still wields tremendous influence over the party, yet it is not universal or homogeneous,” the pollsters wrote in their summary. “We found that there are clear and distinct ‘tribes’ of Trump supporters within the G.O.P. and, not surprisingly, a small Never Trump group.”

Those “tribes” were identified as “Trump Boosters,” “Die-hard Trumpers,” “Post-Trump G.O.P.,” “Never Trump,” and “Infowars G.O.P.” The latter group, among other things, was described as viewing QAnon conspiracy theories favorably and believing in many of them.

According to the data, some 57 percent of Republicans polled said they would support Mr. Trump in an election again. That’s a strong majority, but nowhere near the job approval that he enjoys among all Republicans polled, which was 88 percent.

Among the groups, according to the survey, there were some distinctions in terms of how they viewed Trump.

The group identified as “Die-hard Trumpers” — supporters of the former president who would back him in a hypothetical primary regardless of who else was running but who don’t believe in QAnon conspiracy theories — comprised 27 percent of the Republican voters surveyed. Another 28 percent comprised the “Trump Boosters,” Republicans who said they approve of how Mr. Trump did his job, but only a slight majority of them support him being the nominee again, and they are more supportive of the Republican Party than Mr. Trump personally.

The “Never Trump” Republicans comprised 15 percent of the Republicans surveyed. Another 20 percent were described as “Post-Trump G.O.P.,” who like Mr. Trump but want to see someone else as the party’s nominee.

The “Infowars G.O.P.” voters, named for the conspiracy-laden news outlet that was founded by Alex Jones, comprised 10 percent of the voters surveyed, far from a majority but a significant enough portion of voters that, in a multicandidate primary, could play a factor. Only 13 percent of all the voters surveyed believed in QAnon conspiracy theories, the poll showed, but 69 percent of the “Infowars G.O.P.” voters backed those theories.

President Biden’s promise of a return to a semblance of normalcy by the Fourth of July depends on the American public continuing to wear masks, maintain social distancing rules and getting vaccinated.
Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times

Having used a national address Thursday night to offer Americans hope — and the tantalizing promise of a Fourth of July with friends and family — President Biden now faces a pair of logistical challenges that may shape the arc of his presidency.

First, he must use the power of the government he leads to administer the coronavirus vaccine to most of the country in less than four months. To do that, he will have to press the limits of a public health system that has not faced a pandemic of this magnitude in more than a century.

At the same time, Mr. Biden needs to ensure that his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan delivers on the promise of its name — to bolster the economy, provide emergency cash for the unemployed, enable students to return to classrooms and restart the businesses that will allow people to return to work.

If he can do both, the president will most likely be rewarded by a weary public that is eager to cast off the heavy burdens that the pandemic has placed on their lives. In his speech, the president was explicit about his belief that his administration would meet those challenges.

“It’s never, ever a good bet to bet against the American people,” he said as he concluded. “America is coming back.”

But Mr. Biden’s speech was a risky moment for a new president who faces real challenges ahead, any of which could undermine the public’s confidence in his ability to govern and create openings for Republicans.

His promise of a return to a semblance of normalcy by the Fourth of July depends, as he made clear during the speech, on the American public continuing to follow the rules: wearing masks, maintaining social distancing rules and getting the vaccine when it is available to them.

But there is already evidence that it may not be that easy. The recent decision by Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas to abandon the state’s mask mandate was just the latest example of how deeply torn the country remains over following onerous restrictions. The more states that follow Texas’ lead, the harder it will be for Mr. Biden to make good on his promise.

Despite the president urging Americans to get vaccinated, a portion of the public remains deeply suspicious about the vaccines. Even if Mr. Biden can make doses available to every adult American by the end of May, as he has promised, he may still fall short if too many people refuse it.

The president has also in effect taken responsibility for ensuring that the vaccine makers can deliver the hundreds of millions of doses they have promised on tight time frames, avoiding more of the glitches and missed deadlines that slowed the early portions of the rollout.

In his speech, the president practically begged Americans not to be afraid of vaccines that have already been given to millions of people around the country. “Talk to your family, friend, your neighbor,” he implored. “We need everyone to get vaccinated.”

“Because even if we devote every resource we have,” he added, “beating this virus and getting back to normal depends on national unity.”

Finally, Mr. Biden faces a political challenge that could undercut his efforts to make people feel like the economy is working again.

Mr. Biden pushed the American Rescue Plan through Congress with not a single Republican vote. That gives his adversaries little reason to hope for its success and ample motivation to publicize its failures.

The White House has said it will mount an all-out public relations…



Read More:Joe Biden News, Stimulus, Coronavirus and July 4th: Live Updates

2021-03-12 23:20:30

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