The White House is riding high after clinching victories with a couple of big spending bills in Congress, with Chief of Staff Ron Klain comparing President Biden to the likes of FDR, Eisenhower and JFK.
“The President has presented the biggest stimulus plan since Roosevelt, the biggest infrastructure plan since Eisenhower, the most judges to approve it since Kennedy, the second-biggest health care bill since Johnson, and the biggest climate-change bill in history,” Klain told Politico Playbook.
“First time we’ve had gun control since President Clinton was here, first time ever that an African American woman has been brought before the US Supreme Court,” he added. “I think it’s a record to bring to the American people.”
This week, Biden signed the $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which injected $433 billion in new spending on climate and health into the economy. The bill was a. stripped-down iteration of Biden’s Build Back Better plan, a massive spending bill that was killed by Sen. Joe Manchin last December.
Manchin had said he couldn’t vote for such spending in the face of 40 years of high inflation, but recently struck a deal with Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over the smaller package, angering Republicans who thought hopes for another would be hampered Spending package had been wiped out.
The White House is riding high after clinching victories with a couple of big spending bills in Congress, with Chief of Staff Ron Klain comparing President Biden to the likes of FDR, Eisenhower and JFK
The White House has been working overtime tackling long-bearded inflationary poll numbers, which rose last month after a peak of 9.1 percent, a record number of cross-border commuters, a chaotic pullout from Afghanistan and Biden’s often forgetful “elderly.” 8.5 percent decreased man moments and slips.
On Biden’s public profile, Klain said, “I don’t think he’s out there any less than his predecessors. I just think Donald Trump set the expectation that a president causes a ***storm any day.
For months, election forecasters predicted Republicans would sweep the House, but recent polls show Democrats and the GOP are neck and neck. An Aug. 11 Fox News poll found that 41 percent of respondents said they would support the Republican candidate in their district, 41 percent said the Democratic.
On Thursday, even Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell downplayed the chances that Republicans would retake the Senate in November.
“I think the House of Representatives is probably more likely to topple than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they’re held statewide, the quality of the candidates has a lot to do with the outcome,” the Republican Senate leader in Florence, Kentucky said at a Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Biden is pictured surrounded by lawmakers as he signs the Anti-Inflation Act this week
President Kennedy signs a Social Security Act in the Oval Office
This is the best birthday present I’ve ever received,” remarked Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt as he signed the Gold Bill (aka the Dollar Devaluation Bill) in 1934 on his 52nd birthday
“Right now we have a 50-50 Senate and a 50-50 country, but I think when all is said and done we’re likely to have an extremely tight Senate this fall, either our side slightly or their side slightly up .’
Meanwhile, the White House plans to do a nationwide victory lap, sending the president and his top officials to announce a string of government victories ahead of the midterm elections.
Through the end of August, Cabinet members will make more than 35 trips to 23 states to announce the legislation along with other Biden victories, including the signing of the burn pit legislation and the CHIPS law, the assassination of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, and gas prices falling below $4.
The journey, dubbed the Building A Better America Tour, will continue this fall leading up to the November elections.
“Our goal for the next few weeks is simple: Take our message — one we know will resonate with key groups — and reach the American people where they are,” the memo said.
The message will focus on what Congressional Democrats passed and blast Congressional Republicans for “siding with special interests — pushing an extreme MAGA agenda that costs families.”
But the Anti-Inflation Act, which includes health and climate provisions, has raised questions about whether it will actually bring inflation down.
The Congressional Budget Office noted that “passing the bill would have a negligible impact on inflation.” The University of Pennsylvania found that “the impact on inflation is statistically indistinguishable from zero.”
The Anti-Inflation Act will reduce the deficit by an estimated $300 billion over the next decade, and some argue that lower deficit means lower inflation.
Jason Furman, who was President Barack Obama’s economic adviser, wrote in the Wall Street Journal: “Deficit reduction is almost always inflation-reducing.”
A fact check by the Associated Press found that “lower deficits can theoretically reduce inflation. That’s because lower government spending or higher taxes that help reduce the deficit reduce demand in the economy, thereby reducing the pressure on firms to raise prices.”
The Inflation Reduction Act, totaling $437 billion in new spending, could bring savings to some households as it cuts prescription drug costs for the elderly, extends health insurance subsidies and lowers energy prices.