Good Morning, Gnuville! Today I’ve decided it is time to remind ourselves of all the accomplishments of Joe and the Democrats — because there have been SO MANY it’s good to get a list together. Feel free to add to this list in the comments and share it far and wide. This information comes from the White House website under “The Record” tab. You can go check it out for yourself AND read the many Briefing Room Fact Sheets that give details to so much more! Read on for the highlights:
Let’s get started with some rousing music from composer William Walton, whose birthday is today.
🎶 Opening Music 🎶
💲💪 The Real Economy 💪💲
The people who really keep our economy going and growing are not the denizens of corner offices or those who buy and sell stocks but the everyday American workers. Nurses, teachers, sanitation workers, construction workers, other tradespeople and helping professions are the engine of our society and the Biden Administration is focused on building back better starting with this sector. In other words, supporting a prosperous and healthy middle class or — as Joe Biden likes to say — building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out.
He started on Day 1 by tackling the incredible mess left by TFG’s administration’s bungling of the covid crisis:
1. RESCUED the ECONOMY FROM TFG’S PANDEMIC DISASTER
WH Record: Soon after taking office, with a pandemic raging and an economy reeling, the President signed the American Rescue Plan to change the course of the pandemic and jumpstart our economic recovery. The American Rescue Plan funded our successful vaccination campaign, safely re-opened schools for in-person learning, helped 200,000 child care providers keep their doors open, and delivered relief to American families.
2. Lowered Costs to Families
WH Record: The Inflation Reduction Act is a historic legislative achievement that lowers costs for families, combats the climate crisis, reduces the deficit, and finally makes the largest corporations pay their fair share. For the first time, Medicare is able to negotiate the price of certain high-cost drugs, a month’s supply of insulin for seniors is capped at $35, Medicare beneficiaries pay $0 out of pocket for recommended adult vaccines, and seniors’ out of pocket expenses at the pharmacy will be capped at $2,000 a year. And thanks to the President’s actions, including a historic release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, gas prices are down more than $1.60 from their summer 2022 peak.
3. Helped More People Find Jobs
WH Record: As a result of President Biden’s economic plan, 2021 and 2022 were the two strongest years of job growth in history. Nearly 11 million jobs have been created since President Biden took office – including 750,000 manufacturing jobs. The unemployment rate is at a 50-year low, and a record number of small businesses have started since President Biden took office. Black Americans and Hispanic Americans have near record low unemployment rates and people with disabilities are experiencing record low unemployment.
4. Brought Manufacturing Jobs Back to America
WH Record: As a result of historic legislation, the President has signed into law, there is a manufacturing boom taking hold across America: in two years, companies have announced nearly $300 billion in manufacturing investments in the United States. These investments are ensuring the technologies of the future are made in America, and bringing back supply chains from overseas. And they are creating good-paying jobs, including union jobs and jobs that don’t require a four-year degree.
5. Announced historic Student Debt Relief
WH Record: The Biden Administration announced debt relief of up to $20,000 for Americans earning less than $125,000 per year who had Pell Grants in college, and up to $10,000 for all other borrowers below that income threshold. More than 40 million borrowers stand to benefit from this action, and about 20 million would see their debt entirely wiped out - and nearly 90% of this relief will go to borrowers earning less than $75,000 per year. In early 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a plan to provide millions of borrowers with more affordable monthly student loan payments through changes to income-driven repayment plans.
❗️➕ AND ➕❗️
- Created more manufacturing jobs in 2022 than in any single year in nearly 30 years
- Signed an Executive Order to encourage competition across industries
- Took action to lower energy costs for families
🚧💡🔋Climate and Infrastructure 🔋💡🚧
6. Delivered the biggest Climate Action bill in US History
WH Record: The U.S. is positioned to achieve our ambitious climate goals of cutting our emissions in half by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. The President has taken executive action and signed legislation to develop clean energy at home, accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, and reduce pollution that endangers overburdened communities. And, the President is lowering energy costs for families, creating good paying jobs, and ensuring America leads the global clean energy economy. The President also protected more lands and waters in his first year than any President since John F. Kennedy.
During TFG’s maladministration, it became a running gag: “Is it infrastructure Week?” while of course it never was and never was going to be. All talk and no substance was TFG and of course not even pretending to respond to the needs of the people is the GOP way. Thank goodness Joe Biden and Democrats won in 2020, 2018 and 2022! And Joe even managed to bring a few Republicans along to get some of this legislation passed with bipartisan support. You just can’t deny the president has skillz!
7. Got Infrastructure Legislation (actually) Done
WH Record: Washington policymakers celebrated "infrastructure week" without ever delivering. President Biden got it done. He worked across the aisle to forge consensus and passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure. We are rebuilding our roads, bridges, ports, and airports, upgrading public transit and rail systems, replacing lead pipes to provide clean water, cleaning up pollution, providing affordable high-speed internet to every family in America, delivering cheaper and cleaner energy to households and businesses, and creating good-paying jobs – including union jobs, and jobs that don’t require a four-year degree.
❗️➕ AND ➕❗️
- Awarded more than $1 billion to initiate cleanup and clear the backlog of 49 previously unfunded Superfund sites, over $250 million to clean up hundreds of contaminated brownfield sites and $725 million for abandoned mine lands
- Restored protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments and designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument to conserve our lands and waters, honor our nation’s veterans, protect Tribal cultural resources, and support jobs and America’s outdoor recreation economy
- Set new policies to reduce super pollutants like HFCs and methane to protect communities and reduce emissions fueling climate change
- Jumpstarted the American offshore wind industry and convened the nation’s first federal-state offshore wind partnership
- Accelerated adoption of electric vehicles by reducing costs for families, jumpstarted the first national EV charging network, and made historic investments into EV batteries and materials
💪🏿 ⚖️ 🏳️🌈 Social Justice and Equity 🏳️🌈 ⚖️ 💪🏿
8. Took DAY 1 action to advance equity
WH Record: On his first day in office, President Biden signed a historic executive order directing the federal government to use every tool available to advance equity and racial justice. As a result, the Administration has taken bold action to narrow the racial wealth gap, invest in communities facing persistent poverty, and advance programs and policies to deliver racial justice. President Biden has delivered criminal justice reforms to improve prison conditions and help people get back on their feet after incarceration. To strengthen public safety and public trust, he signed a landmark executive order on safe, effective, and accountable policing that mandated federal reforms such as banning chokeholds, restricting no-knock entries, creating a national police accountability database, and restricting the transfer of military equipment to local police departments.
9. Delivered Marriage protection
WH Record: Over ten years ago, President Biden announced his support for marriage equality, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. government official to do so. Building on his longstanding support and generations of civil rights advocacy, President Biden signed historic bipartisan legislation protecting marriage for same-sex and interracial couples. And, the President took historic steps to advance full equality for LGBTQI+ Americans, including reversing the discriminatory ban on transgender servicemembers in the military, strengthening non-discrimination protections in health care, housing, education, and employment, and ensuring that transgender Americans can access government support and services.
10. Nominated and confirmed first black woman to SCOTUS
WH Record: President Biden nominated and the Senate confirmed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Justice Jackson is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and has unprecedented experience in our legal system. President Biden’s other judicial appointees include record percentages of women, racial and ethnic minorities, and civil rights lawyers and public defenders. Sixty-six percent of President Biden’s nominees are women, and 65% are people of color.
11. Ended Unjust Marijuana Policy
WH Record: To help remedy our country’s failed approach to marijuana, including racial disparities, the President pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession and urged governors to do the same. The Administration is also initiating the process to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. Marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug, the same classification as for heroin and LSD and even higher than for fentanyl and methamphetamine.
❗️➕ AND ➕❗️
- Signed the Electoral Count Act, which takes long overdue steps to protect the integrity of our elections
- Appointed a record number of women and people of color to serve in his Administration
- Signed an Executive Order on Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
- Signed legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act
- Signed legislation to put more cops on the beat and invest in community policing
- Invested historic funding for Tribal governments and Native communities
- Awarded the most ever federal contracting dollars to small businesses and disadvantaged small businesses
🌎🇺🇸🌏 Restored US Standing on the World Stage 🌍🇺🇸🌎
Perhaps one of the most consequential achievements of the Biden Administration — and very much in President Biden’s wheelhouse specifically — is the restoration of American trustworthiness, prestige and influence on the world stage. TFG moved like a wrecking ball through alliances, partnerships and treaties as if he was working for our worst enemies. Joe Biden has the international experience and political chops to rescue those frayed relationships and in fact has rebuilt them even stronger than they were before.
In a world which must unite to tackle the huge problems we all face on a planetary level, this was arguably the most urgent of President Biden’s challenges — and that is saying something when one considers the absolute wreckage caused by TFG and his confederates to almost every aspect of life. Thankfully for the USA and the world, we’ve got a president who knows exactly how to approach these problems.
12. Rallied the World to support Ukraine
WH Record: Since the start of President Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has rallied the world to rise to the moment, stand up to autocracy, and defend democracy. President Biden has worked around the clock with partners and allies to support the people of Ukraine, coordinate and impose unprecedented economic costs against Russia, and secure robust bipartisan support at home to deliver critical weapons and economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.
13. Strengthened Alliances around the world
President Biden and VP Harris wasted no time bolstering (and in some cases repairing) established international relationships which had been damaged during TFG’s disastrous tenure. In addition, the Biden Administration has made significant efforts to increase American partnerships and alliances in Central America and Africa, led by VP Harris.
WH Record: America’s alliances and partnerships are the strongest they’ve ever been at any point in recent history – a hallmark of President Biden’s approach to the world to advance our interests and values. Following Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, President Biden moved quickly to strengthen NATO. He provided reassurance and support to Allies, particularly on the eastern flank, and he generated congressional support for the accession of two new states, Sweden and Finland, into the Alliance. The G7 has become the premier platform in coordinating the international response to the biggest challenges we face from energy security to the swift economic costs we’ve imposed on Russia for its brutal war. In the Indo-Pacific, we have deepened our security and economic partnerships and we’ve brought together Atlantic and Pacific partners to shape the rules of the road and strengthen our edge in the competition with China, in this decisive decade. Across the world, from Africa to the Western Hemisphere, to the Middle East, President Biden is building the strongest possible coalition of nations to solve shared challenges and position the United States to shape the future of the international order.
14. Successful Counterterrorism Missions
WH Record: At President Biden’s direction, the United States took key leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda off the battlefield, demonstrating our resolve and ability to defend the American people against those who seek to do us harm and in ways that do not require risking the lives of thousands of Americans on the ground. These successful missions have sent a powerful message to all terrorists who threaten America and our interests around the world that the United States is committed to being relentless in these efforts.
❗️➕ AND ➕❗️
- Rejoined the Paris Agreement on day one to reassert the United States global leadership to combat the climate crisis
🩺💉 Health and Wellbeing 💉🩺
15. Expanded Health Insurance Access
WH Record: President Biden took action to lower the cost of health care for millions of Americans. Right now, four out of five people who sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act can find health care coverage for $10 a month or less and millions of Americans on Obamacare are saving an average of $800 a year. Since he took office, there has been a combined 50 percent increase in enrollment in states that use HealthCare.gov and the nation’s uninsured rate is historically low at 8 percent. Over 16 million Americans signed up for quality, affordable health coverage, the highest number ever produced in an open enrollment period.
16. Defended Reproductive Rights
WH Record: Since the Supreme Court took away a constitutional right from the American people, President Biden and Vice President Harris are taking action to defend reproductive rights. The President has signed Executive Orders to protect access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraception, and safeguard patient privacy and sensitive health information, and has made clear his commitment to fighting any attack by a state or local official who attempts to interfere with women exercising their constitutional right to travel out of state for medical care.
17. Signed 1st meaningful gun regulation in 30 years
WH Record: President Biden brought together Democrats and Republicans to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major piece of gun safety legislation in three decades. The law will save lives by requiring young people ages 18 to 21 to undergo enhanced background checks; narrowing the "boyfriend loophole" to keep guns out of the hands of convicted dating partners; funding crisis interventions, including extreme risk protection order ("red flag") laws; making significant investments to address the mental health crisis in America, including in our schools; clarifying who needs to register as a federally licensed gun dealer and run background checks before selling a single weapon; and making gun trafficking and straw purchases distinct federal crimes.
18. Expanded Benefits for Veterans
WH Record: President Biden signed into law the PACT Act – the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans in more than 30 years. This law also enables the Department of Veterans Affairs to move more quickly in the future to determine if illnesses are related to military service, and it offers critical support to survivors who were harmed by exposures. And, the law authorized 31 new clinical sites and provides VA several tools and resources to ensure effective implementation of the law.
❗️➕ AND ➕❗️
- Advanced cutting-edge research on cancer and other diseases through the ARPA-H initiative
- Hosted the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in over 50 years and released a National Strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities by 2030
- Lowered the cost of hearing aids by making them available over the counter
- Lowered seniors’ health care expenses, including by capping out of pocket expenses on prescription drugs for seniors at $2,000 per year, ensuring that people enrolled in Medicare will not pay more than $35 for a month’s supply of insulin, and recipients will receive free vaccines
- Reignited the Cancer Moonshot with the goal of cutting the cancer death rate by at least half over the next 25 years
- Mailed over 740 million free COVID-19 tests directly to tens of millions of Americans
🐩💙 CG’s Picks 💙🐩
Hello, Everybody, it’s me, CurlyGirly! Today I have funnies for you!
That’s all I have today! Just funnies 😁 Bye for now! Luv, CG 💙🐾
⚡️Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ The House GOP’s investigations are flopping, Christian Paz, Vox, March 28, 2023.
⚡️ The legal net is tightening: Mike Pence must testify about conversations he had with Donald Trump leading up to January 6, judge rules, Katelyn Polantz, Paula Reid, Zachary Cohen, Devan Cole and Tierney Sneed, CNN, March 28, 2023.
⚡️ No “executive privilege” for Meadows, either: Trump's latest courtroom setback may be the 'costliest' yet, Tom Boggioni, Raw Story, March 28, 2023.
⚡️ Don’t forget Pecker: Ex-prosecutor warns DA may be looking at "other charges" against Trump as key ally testifies, Areeba Shah, Salon, March 28, 2023.
⚡️ Getting indicted won’t help Donald Trump, S.E. Cupp, Chicago Sun Times, March 23, 2023.
⚡️ Ben’s not wrong: the WI Supreme Court seat is especially pivotal: Wisconsin residents can save the country by voting, Ben Jealous, Chicago Sun Times, March 28, 2023.
⚡️ Putin’s Former Publicity Masterminds Air His Dirty Laundry, Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast, March 28, 2023.
⚡️ Wear our patriotism proudly: What American Liberals Can Learn From Israel’s Protests, Gal Beckerman, the Atlantic, March 28, 2023.
⚡️ Five tips on how to keep family meals delicious, nutritious and stress-free, Salon, March 28, 2023.
💗 How Can You Help Build Our Democracy Back Better? 💗
Put your beautiful bleeding liberal heart into it! 🥰
Democratic litigation hero, Marc Elias was the legal eagle behind the 60 Big Lie losses after the election. Here’s his website, Democracy Docket. You can find information about current cases he is fighting to defend voting rights around the country, as well as actions you can take to help fight voter suppression at the link!
Write to voters around the country with Postcards to Voters. Progressive Muse usually posts an update on current campaigns in the comments and you can also check out the website. It’s easy, fun and it really works to GOTV!
🎩 Also, Goody posted a great list of links and I am going to borrow it because it’s great! 🎩
Fight voter suppression!
What can you do?
HERE’S HOW TO CONTACT CONGRESS:
U.S. House of Representatives:* Telephone: 202-225-3121
* Website: http://www.house.gov/
U.S. Senate:* Telephone: 202-224-3121
* Website: http://www.senate.gov/
Find your member of Congress and contact him or her:
Let them know what matters to you!
Contact your Representative
Contact your Senator
And remember, all politics is local and personal! Let’s work to flip state and local elected positions Democratic! ↓
Sister District Project — organization that is working to help Dems win state legislature races.
🚨‼️ NEW! ‼️🚨
One of the biggest challenges facing us is the deliberate misinformation and damage to democracy caused by rightwing media. Progress is often an uphill climb, but with RW media hampering it, the struggle seems almost overwhelming at times.
There have been organized efforts to put pressure on advertisers on FOX and other RW media, but even when nearly all of their advertisers fled, FOX and the rest just kept on going as if they weren’t actually dependent on advertising. Sure enough, they aren’t. Advertising — like everything else about these faux “News” outfits — was merely part of the window dressing to make the outlets seem like legitimate news entities.
The real financing comes from RW oligarchs and the fees they pull from lucrative cable TV companies and other broadcast providers.
We can’t do much about the oligarchs (yet), but there is lots we can do to target the real revenue stream FOX et al receive from US via our cable providers. At least if we can reduce that source of income, it will put more financial pressure on the oligarchs. They should pay for that rotten propaganda, not us!
Many thanks to DK member dadadata for this excellent information they left in a comment earlier this month:
Things you can do about FOX and other RW media:
You can complain to the town/city/county that hold the cable contract. Local politicians can be very
responsive when kicked hard enough.
You can complain to the FCC. The complaint you file goes to the cable company and they MUST respond.
The FCC can't do anything directly, but your complaint functions as a high level alarm bell at the cable co.
Go ahead and file one even if you are not a cable subscriber per se. if your internet is via cable (mine is) they still need to hear that you are unhappy with their corporate policy. Money is fungible, after all.
From the FCC.
You should contact the FCC if you have complaints or questions about the following issues:
Cable Consumer Complaints. File complaints at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints. Contact the FCC, Media Bureau, Policy Division, EEO
Branch, 45 L Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20554.
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Wednesday. We are actually on the road this morning headed to take care of some business for an elderly relative out of state. I won’t be here when this diary goes live at 6CT as I will already be on the road, so please accept this 💙 and my warmest wishes for a very happy Wednesday!
You all know what to do in the comments, right? Bring us your good news and great ideas on how to build a better world!
See you next week, Gnusies!