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WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden (pix) Yesterday he signed a massive US $ 1.9 trillion (RM7.8 trillion) economic stimulus bill before delivering a national speech in which he set out to urge “hope” on the first anniversary of the start of the pandemic. of the coronavirus.
Biden called the US Rescue Plan “historic” when he signed the package and signed it into law in the Oval Office.
The bill, approved by Congress earlier this week, distributes payments of $ 1,400 to most Americans, helps the unemployed, expands public health care and increases funding for vaccines.
Although all Republican lawmakers in Congress oppose it, the plan has voter approval ratings of around 60 percent and was hailed by the IMF yesterday as potentially stimulating global economic recovery.
“This landmark legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving the people of this nation – working people, middle class people, people who built the country – a fighting chance,” Biden said.
Later today, Biden will deliver his first primetime television address as president.
The 8:00 pm (0100 GMT) speech will mourn more than half a million Americans who died from Covid-19 and will recall the “sacrifices” made, a White House official said.
Biden will call the fight against the virus and the ensuing economic consequences “the greatest operational challenge the country has ever faced,” said the official, who did not want to be named.
And “it will lay out the next steps it will take to control the pandemic, speak to the American people about what is still required to defeat the virus, and provide a hopeful vision of what is possible if we all come together.”
While it was a grim occasion, 12 months after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic and then-President Donald Trump closed the United States’ borders to travel from Europe, that note of optimism will be key.
With vaccines starting to have a real impact and production skyrocketing, the mood is changing in the United States, with the stimulus bill poised to propel the American economy into a sustained rebound.
“There is real reason for hope folks, I promise you,” Biden said Wednesday.
In an indication of the importance he places on leadership, and the difficulty of striking the right balance in his message, Biden has been “editing this speech for the last week,” said press secretary Jen Psaki.
‘Help is on the way ‘
Biden has hardly traveled since he became president. The White House says it wanted to keep its head down, focusing on the political work necessary to get the stimulus plan approved by Congress.
Now, the Democrat seems willing to spend more time on Air Force One and on the road, starting with a trip to Pennsylvania next Tuesday.
He is scheduled to hold the first formal press conference of his presidency later this month and plans are underway for a speech at the joint session of Congress.
And in support there will be a small army of senior staff and Biden’s wife, Jill, who will travel across the country to spread the message that “help is on the way,” as Psaki put it.
The momentum from the Biden bombing will sell Americans the stimulus package, building on the warm reception so far to build lasting political capital ahead of next year’s midterm legislative elections.
Biden and his top advisers have spoken frequently about how the Barack Obama and Biden administrations failed to adequately market the 2009 economic rescue package that they say saved the country from entering a depression after the 2008 financial collapse.
In the 2010 midterm elections, voters turned fiercely against Democrats and this time, the White House says, they want to launch a proper “victory lap.”
“The approval and signing of the bill is just the beginning,” Psaki said Wednesday.
“She will hit the road, the vice president will hit the road, the first lady will hit the road,” Psaki said. “We will make people communicate directly in the communities.” – AFP
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