The Maine Wire
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending News
  • Chinese Foreign Nationals Entering U.S. Illegally at Record Levels
  • Maine Private School Teacher Was Fired After Criticizing Critical Race Theory and Posting Jordan Peterson Videos
  • Maine on Track for Record Level of Eviction Filings This Year
  • Dem Senator Indicted Over Alleged Bribery Scheme
  • McDonald’s Is Being Sued Over a Spilled Cup of Excessively Hot Coffee — Again
  • Report of Gun Leads to Arrests, Fentanyl Seizure at Auburn Homeless Encampment
  • Portland Mayoral Candidates Explain How They Would Tackle the City’s Homelessness Crisis
  • Boston University Launches Inquiry into Ibram X. Kendi’s $43 Million Antiracism Center Amid Mass Layoffs, Accusations of Financial Mismanagement
Facebook Twitter Instagram
The Maine Wire
Login
Monday, September 25
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Maine Wire TV
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Contact
The Maine Wire
Home » News » Biden Touts [inaudible] in First State of the Union Address
Commentary

Biden Touts [inaudible] in First State of the Union Address

Steve RobinsonBy Steve RobinsonFebruary 7, 2023Updated:February 8, 2023No Comments5 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Reddit
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

Eighty year old President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union Address Tuesday evening — the first time someone that old has ever delivered the presidential address.

The speech presented a challenge for the aging Biden as his first two years in office have been characterized by verbal gaffes, teleprompter flubs, and criticisms about his poor communication and lack of availability to media. The speech also comes at a challenging moment in his presidency, as Republicans have now taken control of the House of Representatives.

The Commander-in-Chief kicked off the evening with a bizarre joke about needing a “court order” from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for something about a baseball game. His tone began as classic uncular Biden, but it quickly switched into a speed-reading, shouting approach that didn’t help him as he stumbled over polysyllabic words on multiple occasions. At other times, he reversed himself mid-speech on claims after getting booed by Republican lawmakers. The speech lacked the soaring rhetoric his old boss was always able to muster, and his claims to accomplishment were oddly out of line with reality.

“For decades the middle class has been hollowed out,” said Biden, who first joined the U.S. Senate in 1972 and was subsequently re-elected six times before becoming Vice President.

“For too many decades we exported American jobs,” he said.

A major theme of the speech was a Trumpesque focus on economic nationalism, the “Forgotten Man,” reclaiming American manufacturing dominance, and bringing supply chains back to the U.S. That included a surprise announcement that Biden will now require all federal infrastructure projects to buy exclusively American materials and products.

On the economy, the speech was largely incoherent. Biden stumped for protectionism while praising the benefits of competition. He claimed that his plan would cut the federal deficit while avoiding major entitlement reforms. And he touted phony job creation statistics, attempting to take credit for “creating” jobs that the government destroyed over COVID-19 in the first place.

Biden also made the standard left-wing case for higher taxes, saying, “I’m a capitalist, but pay your fair share… The tax system is not fair.” He claimed large corporations are not paying enough in taxes, but also said nobody earning under $400,000 per would pay additional taxes under his plans. The top one percent of American earners already pay more than 40 percent of all federal income taxes, while the bottom half paid just 2.3 percent. But the tax the rich rhetoric remains effective in a party that thinks Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez are brilliant economic thinkers.

He confused his Democratic colleagues at one point when he said something that was true: the American economy will need oil and natural gas for “at least another decade.” The remark seemed to be off the cuff and elicited stunned silence from the liberals in the crowd, plus a few guffaws from Republicans. Biden seemed to be attacking oil companies for what he said was a lack of investments in domestic oil production, which is odd considering he revoked the Keystone XL pipeline during his first week in office.

Biden says “we are going to need oil at least for another decade" and all of the Republicans start laughing. pic.twitter.com/QZLQLSrvYe

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 8, 2023

He lost the crowd again when he falsely accused his Republican colleagues of trying to cut Medicare and Social Security, an effective but false political attack Democratic officials have leveled frequently over the past decade. While some conservative think tanks have made the case for entitlement reform over the years, current Republican officials have ruled out entitlement reform.

President Biden: "Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I'm not saying it's the majority."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: "Liar!" pic.twitter.com/OFUglFuBxC

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 8, 2023

After Republicans loudly booed the attacks, Biden seemed to adjust on the fly, changing his speech to acknowledge that his attack was false. While some Democratic commentators pointed to this moment as a strong point of the speech, the footage will likely make the jobs of DCCC campaign consultants a little bit harder in 2024. For the record, though, entitlement reform is absolutely necessary, and anyone who tells you it’s possible to rein in the soaring federal debt without addressing the primary drivers of that debt — i.e. structural entitlement spending — is lying.

Biden also claimed that burger restaurants like Wendy’s and McDonald’s use non-compete clauses for their minimum wage employees, but that they stopped doing it once he exposed that they were doing it.

“Look it up,” he said.

On foreign policy, Biden made only a passing comment about the Chinese spy balloon he allowed to surveil the U.S. for a week before shooting it down over the Atlantic ocean. Later in the speech, he used his relationship with China as an example of how tough and strong his administration has been, saying we’re in the strongest position “in decades” to compete with China.

Although Biden did draw attention to the Ukrainian Ambassador, the speech was light on mentions of Ukraine, especially consider how much the Russian invasion — and securing aid packages for Ukraine — has dominated his foreign policy. In a glaring error, Biden completely forgot to offer condolences to the people of Turkey, who just suffered a devastating earthquake.

All in all, an unmemorable speech. It’s is unlikely to significantly alter the political dynamics or impact any policy dynamics in Congress. On the positive side for Biden, he didn’t wander of the stage and his eye didn’t explode squirting blood everywhere.

Here are some photos and social media posts that caught our eye tonight:

Biden: "I signed over 300 bipartisan pieces of legislation since becoming president. From reauthorizing the vleshgwmhnaft. The Electoral Count Reform Act." pic.twitter.com/RYUYVFrIIo

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) February 8, 2023

Sinema wearing whatever this is… pic.twitter.com/xAGWOD15MJ

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 8, 2023

Mrs. Biden going for the kiss on the lips with the Vice President’s man.

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey with an interesting choice of lapel pin.

I’m wearing my abortion pin from @PPFA to tonight’s State of the Union address. Abortion is essential healthcare and we need to codify this right. pic.twitter.com/ZfNj5OEZcj

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) February 8, 2023

Bernie decided to rock the face diaper tonight.

Joe Biden: "If you try anything to raise the cost of [mumbles] I will veto it" pic.twitter.com/1FDI6yphUw

— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) February 8, 2023

BIDEN: "It's being proposed by individuals. I'm politely not naming them…We're not gonna be threatened." pic.twitter.com/9MchxnT2yL

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 8, 2023

Biden talks about ensuring "transgender young people can live with safety and dignity" pic.twitter.com/JueNJnrYtO

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 8, 2023

"Jill and I re-ignited the Cancer Moonshot that President Obama asked me to lead."

Great but the Inflation Reduction Act will "cut the amount spent on cancer research by more than nine times as much as Biden's 'Cancer Moonshot' initiative raises it."https://t.co/Pv4HcRFDU9

— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) February 8, 2023

Biden: "Name me a world leader who would change places with Xi Jinping! Name me one!" pic.twitter.com/5Lm9JZFY3j

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 8, 2023
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Previous ArticleEmail Shows Hermon School Board Member Discriminated Against Christian Church Over Religious Views
Next Article Responding to the Small Falmouth School “Walk Out”
Steve Robinson
  • Twitter

Steve Robinson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Maine Wire. ‪He can be reached by email at Robinson@TheMaineWire.com.

Related Posts

Mills: “Please Vote No On Question 3”

September 21, 2023

Who is Hansjörg Wyss, the Billionaire Swiss National Bankrolling Progressive Media and Politics in Maine?

September 20, 2023

The Road to Manhood: V. Paul Reynolds

September 20, 2023

Leave A Reply

Recent News

Chinese Foreign Nationals Entering U.S. Illegally at Record Levels

September 25, 2023

Maine Private School Teacher Was Fired After Criticizing Critical Race Theory and Posting Jordan Peterson Videos

September 25, 2023

Maine on Track for Record Level of Eviction Filings This Year

September 25, 2023

Dem Senator Indicted Over Alleged Bribery Scheme

September 22, 2023

McDonald’s Is Being Sued Over a Spilled Cup of Excessively Hot Coffee — Again

September 22, 2023
Newsletter

News

  • News
  • Campaigns & Elections
  • Opinion & Commentary
  • Media Watch
  • Education
  • Media

Maine Wire

  • About the Maine Wire
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Commentary
  • Complaints
  • Maine Policy Institute

Resources

  • Maine Legislature
  • Legislation Finder
  • Get the Newsletter
  • Maine Wire TV

Facebook Twitter Instagram Steam RSS
  • Post Office Box 7829, Portland, Maine 04112

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Sign In or Register

Welcome Back!

Login below or Register Now.

Lost password?

Register Now!

Already registered? Login.

A password will be e-mailed to you.