President Biden Defends Bidenomics as Blue Collar Blueprint for America's Working Families
Enjoying this? Share it with someone who needs to see it.
Up Next
President Biden Declares MAGA Republicans a Clear and Present Danger to American Democracy from Independence Hall
24:18
JD Vance Warns Gen Z About Becoming Paupers in Their Own Country at High Point University
46:55
Sam Seder Breaks Down His Politicon Debate With Charlie Kirk on Trump and the Middle Class
1:51:04
President Biden Defends Bidenomics as Blue Collar Blueprint for America's Working Families
President Biden delivered a speech outlining his economic vision, claiming America's union support has reached its highest point in nearly 60 years. He defended his economic policies, arguing that building the economy from the middle out and bottom up creates prosperity for everyone. Biden highlighted job creation numbers, manufacturing growth, and protections for workers including expanded overtime pay and secured pension benefits through legislation passed without Republican support.
President Biden opened his remarks by declaring that America's support for unions stands higher than any time in nearly 60 years. He continued his call on Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, known as the PRO Act, which he says would make it easier for workers to organize despite many companies playing unfair and trying to prevent organization.
The bill is named after Rich Trumka, whom Biden described as one of the greatest labor leaders he's ever worked with. Biden pledged to get the legislation passed "come hell or high water."
Economic Achievements Under Biden's Plan
Biden outlined what he characterizes as significant economic achievements during his first two years in office. He claimed to have created nearly 13.5 million jobs, more jobs in two years than any president has created in a four-year term. Additionally, he cited 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, challenging the notion that America cannot lead the world in manufacturing.
Unemployment has remained below four percent for what Biden called the longest stretch in 50 years. The economy has recovered all jobs lost during the pandemic and added millions more. More than 700,000 people joined the labor force in a single month, meaning a higher share of working-age Americans are now in the workforce than at any time in the last 20 years. Job satisfaction, he noted, stands at its highest point in 36 years.
Inflation Down Without Sacrificing Workers
Biden addressed the relationship between inflation and employment, taking issue with traditional economic thinking. He said experts and economists had long argued that controlling inflation required lowering wages and increasing unemployment. Biden rejected this approach, stating he never saw the problem as too many people working or working people making too much money.
While acknowledging more work remains, Biden pointed to inflation dropping to around three percent, about one-third of what it was a year ago, near the lowest point in two years. Importantly, he emphasized that wages are rising faster than inflation. "This just didn't happen," Biden said. "Together we made it happen."
Rejecting Trickle-Down Economics
The President criticized decades of what he characterized as excessive tax cuts to the rich and corporations without making investments in America and American people. He described this approach as hollowing out the middle class, blowing up deficits, shipping jobs overseas, and stripping dignity, pride, and hope out of communities as factories shut down and moved production overseas where labor was cheaper, only to import more expensive products back.
Biden reflected on his personal experience: "I'm pretty sure you saw in your home what I saw in mine, not a whole lot of trickle down ended up my Dad's kitchen table as he busted his neck."
Bidenomics: Building From the Middle Out
Biden said he's changing the economic approach by replacing trickle-down economics with what Wall Street now refers to as "Bidenomics." This approach focuses on building the economy from the middle out and bottom up rather than from the top down. "When the middle class does well, everyone does well," Biden argued, noting this isn't a political statement but an economic one. When the middle class thrives, the poor do well, and people can still become millionaires or billionaires with one condition: "Pay your taxes."
Biden described Bidenomics as "a blue collar blueprint for America."
Expanding Overtime Pay Protection
Biden announced a new proposal that would extend overtime pay to as many as 3.6 million workers. Previously, the threshold was around $35,000 to $36,000 annually, after which workers were not entitled to overtime. The new rule raises this to $53,000. Biden noted this would particularly help workers classified as executive assistants who work far more than 40 hours without receiving overtime compensation. "Now you're going to get paid overtime," he said. "It will make a big difference for a lot of families."
Protecting Union Pensions
Biden highlighted the passage of the Butch Lewis Act, which he called one of the most significant achievements for union workers and retirees in over 50 years. The legislation protects pensions for millions of union workers.
He explained that two to three million union workers, through no fault of their own, faced painful cuts to benefits they counted on for retirement after paying into their pensions for years. They were left "high and dry" when the companies they worked for didn't hold up their end of the bargain and finance their obligations.
Biden emphasized that the legislation passed without a single Republican vote. "Not one voted to sustain these pensions people worked their whole lives," he said, expressing frustration at the partisan divide on protecting workers' retirement security.
Comments
Be the first to comment on this video.