The Biden-Bush: Two Years of Government Spending before Republicans Take the Menacing Role in Reply to the U.S. Senate

The spending bill represents the final opportunity for Biden and Democrats to put their imprint on government spending before Republicans assume the majority in the House next week. It caps a remarkably productive two years legislatively for Biden, including a Covid-19 relief package, infrastructure bill and a China competitiveness measure.

“It’ll invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, (Violence Against Women Act) funding – and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine,” Biden wrote in a tweet.

The bill was given to the White House by Congress on Wednesday. The White House official told pool reporters that the bill was delivered to the president on a regular commercial flight.

There have been at least two bills flown to Biden for his signature this year. While on a trip to Asia in May, a bill authorizing about $40 billion in aid to Ukraine was carried by a staffer who was already scheduled to travel to the region. Biden signed the bill while overseas.

The legislation provides for almost one billion dollars in nondefense discretionary programs, according to a summary from Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy. That represents an increase in spending in both areas for fiscal year 2023.

The package includes emergency assistance to NATO allies, as well as protections for pregnant workers and an enhancement to retirement savings rules.

According to a summary provided by the top Republican in the senate, it will give a boost in spending for disaster aid, college access, child care, mental health and food assistance, there will be more support for the military and veterans, and the US Capitol Police will get additional funds. There are provisions in the legislation that could result in the disenroll of up to 19 million people from the health insurance program for low-income Americans.

Several measures that lawmakers had fought to have included were left out of the bill. The expansion of the child tax credit wasn’t included in the final bill. Neither did legislation to allow cannabis companies to bank their cash reserves – known as the Safe Banking Act – or a bill to help Afghan evacuees in the US gain lawful permanent residency. And the spending package did not include a White House request for roughly $10 billion in additional funding for Covid-19 response.

The bill that keeps the government operating through September is the result of lengthy negotiations between top congressional Democrats and Republicans.

Even though Democrats had control of both chambers of congress, there was plenty of infighting. Biden was not able to pass the full scope of his social spending plan, for example; the expanded child tax credit did not get extended, and the president’s student loan relief program is tied up in courts with an uncertain future.

Biden’s Agenda: Despite Infighting Its Been a Superbroadly Producive 2-Years-Forward

“The problem is that they oversold and underdelivered, even though what they delivered by any normal metric would have been pretty impressive,” NPR political correspondent Mara Liasson said on a recent episode of the NPR Politics Podcast.

Most Americans disapprove of the job Biden is doing. But voters did give Democrats strong midterms results, driven in part by the Supreme Court’s blow to abortion rights and an aversion to more extreme candidates on the right.

Biden heads into the next two years with a Republican-controlled House vowing to investigate his administration and his family. As Liasson put it: expect more investigation than legislation in the next two years. There’s a full conversation about Biden’s agenda here and how it’s been received.

The White House sent a $1,400 payment to Americans in the low to medium income range in order to help them with their basic necessities. A $300 a week federal unemployment benefit was extended by Biden, as well as a child tax credit program expanded, grants for state education agencies, and small business loans.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes: $284 billion for transportation needs, which includes repairing bridges and roadways, public transit and airports, electric vehicles and low emission public transportation; $65 billion for broadband internet; $73 billion for power infrastructure; and $55 billion for clean drinking water.

The legislation was a major bipartisan achievement, made possible by 32 Republicans — 13 in the House and 19 in the Senate — who crossed the aisle to ensure it passed. Former President Donald Trump had pressed conservatives to vote against the bill, but key GOP leaders Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky supported the legislation.

In the aftermath of the shooting at Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, that claimed the lives of 19 children and 12 adults, Biden signed the largest gun-safety bill to pass Congress in 30 years. The bill was limited compared to the gun control advocates’ wishes.

Although the measure didn’t achieve everything he wanted it would save lives, according to Joe Biden just before he signed it.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/01/1143149435/despite-infighting-its-been-a-surprisingly-productive-2-years-for-democrats

The U.S. Assistance to Ukraine During the First Three Years of World War II: Russia’s Role in the Security and Security of Ukraine

The CHIPS (creating helpful incentives to produce semiconductors) and Science Act of 2022 passed in August, which allocated roughly $53 billion in federal funding to manufacture semiconductor chips in the U.S. instead of relying on China to produce them.

Supply chain issues during the pandemic highlighted that heavy reliance, and Biden’s bill aims to remedy that level of overseas dependence. It passed the Senate and the House through bipartisan efforts.

The Build Back Better Act, a massive social spending bill, was passed after Biden secured his seat in the Oval Office. There are many promises Biden made on the campaign trail that he paid for in part by increasing taxes for corporations and the rich.

The bill aims to tackle inflation by reducing the federal deficit, promote production of certain goods and limit the cost of some prescription drugs, as NPR previously reported.

The United States recently pledged another wave of support for Ukraine — over $44 billion — in its 2023 federal spending bill. America’s total contribution to the world has been increased to over $100 billion by the White House.

It’s been over 300 days since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. The continued financial, military and humanitarian aid given to Ukraine by the Biden administration and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle seems to have kept Putin’s army from taking over the country despite it’s superior military capabilities.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy traveled to Washington just before Christmas to thank Biden and Congress for continued support. He said that your money was not charity. “It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

“The United States is committed to ensuring that the brave Ukrainian people can continue to defend their country against Russian aggression as long as it takes,” Biden told Zelenskyy. “You will never be your own person.”

There has been weakening support for Ukraine aid from some Republicans as the war creeps closer to the one-year mark, however, and getting more funding through could become increasingly difficult in the new year.