(The Slice): White House Spokesman Andrew Bates sent out a preview memo ahead of Pres. Biden's State of the Union Address (SOTUA)Tuesday afternoon. In his role as a "Senior Salesman" for the Biden Administration Bates provides a side-by-side look at what president Biden will continue to fight for to "finish the job." The speech has been billed as one that will attempt to unify a polarized Congress but Bates points out it will also call out the mistakes of the GOP on abortion rights, lowering taxes for the wealthy and plans to cut Medicare and Social Security.
The press anticipates providing receipts for his accoplishments at the SOTUA is a run up to an official announcement of a possible run for a second term by Biden.
By contrast, former Pres. Donald Trump sent out a fundraising email Tuesday afternoon warning his constituents of a gaffe-filled speech from Biden in which the 46th Commander-in-Chief will lie to the Amwrican people. He said, "we will quickly turn Biden’s speech into a laughingstock when contributions from grassroots patriots like YOU come pouring in from all across the country to FIRE Biden and Kamala." Trump lamented the Biden Administration favoring criminals and immigrants.
The Republican response will be given by Trump's former press secretary and now Governor of Arkansas, Sara Hukabee Sanders.
Sanders is expected to tackle abortion rights, inflation and the economy. Whatever she says in her rebuttal speech will be a sign of things to come from the opposition party and a possible forklift for her former boss who has slumped out of the spotlight.
Being selected to speak on behalf of the party is an honor -- one bestowed upon Sanders for being one of the Trump-supported conservatives who won big in the 2022 mid-terms. However, Trump's co-signature was not required gor the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Sanders' name has gained enough equity to stand alone and to her credit she resonates strongly with suburban women and Evangelicals who have scattered after Trump's one-term presidency.
For information purposes The Slice is sharing the "receipts" sent to us.
READ THE BATES BREAKDOWN BELOW
Breakdown:
President Biden will propose adding to the historic deficit reduction he has achieved by having the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share, through a billionaire tax and a tax on corporate stock buybacks that benefit shareholders and shortchange workers
Bloomberg: “Biden Will Call for Billionaire Tax, Bigger Levy on Stock Buybacks in State of the Union”
Financial Times: “Joe Biden to revive plan for billionaire tax in State of the Union address”
MarketWatch: “In State of the Union, Biden will propose quadrupling the tax on corporate stock buybacks”
But House Republicans want to renew the Trump tax giveaway to the wealthy that added trillions to the deficit. And their first bill in the new majority was a deficit-hiking windfall for rich individuals and corporations who cheat on their taxes at the expense of all other taxpaying Americans.
The Hill: “CBO: GOP’s IRS bill will add $114B to deficit”
President Biden’s policies will continue to honor his promise not to raise taxes on Americans who earn under $400,000 a year. But House Republicans are calling for an historic tax hike on middle class families in the form of a 30% national sales tax while cutting taxes even more for the wealthy, adding to the deficit on the whole.
Wall Street Journal: “National Sales-Tax Plan Gains Attention in House GOP”
President Biden will advocating for expanding the $35 insulin price cap that the Inflation Reduction Act set for Medicare recipients to all Americans who need it. This is in addition to the Inflation Reduction Act’s $2,000 limit on out-of-pocket spending on prescription drug for Americans on Medicare, and Medicare’s new power to negotiate lower drug costs.
But last week, House Republicans introduced legislation to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which would be one of the biggest cuts to Medicare benefits in history. It would also kill the manufacturing jobs that are being created all over the country, including in red states, as manufacturing plants open as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act. And it would hike Americans’ energy bills by hundred of dollars every year.
President Biden will reaffirm that protecting Medicare and Social Security from cuts is a cornerstone of his agenda, highlighting that all working Americans pay throughout their lives to earn these benefits for when they retire. But congressional Republicans have spent months fighting to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits, even threatening an unprecedented default if they can’t force these changes on the country.
Washington Post: “House GOP eyes Social Security, Medicare amid spending battle”
Fox News: “Republicans eye using debt limit hike to overhaul entitlement programs if entrusted with majority”
President Biden will also stand with the majority of Americans who believe that a woman should make her own health care decisions, never politicians. But even though the country was unmistakably clear about this issue in November, House Republicans have again and again sought to impose national abortion bans.
Associated Press: “Republicans push anti-abortion measures with new majority”