The Shining City Upon a Hill

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

... the purpose of this thread is to talk about American greatness and not dwell on the darkness of the last four years.

American greatness will start with an undivided gov't where positive things can happen not stalled nor blocked by special interest groups nor politicians determined to block their opponents every move.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Here's what's in Biden's $1.9 trillion economic rescue package

The American Rescue Plan:


Beefed-up stimulus payments

The plan calls for sending another $1,400 per person to eligible recipients. This money would be in addition to the $600 payments that were approved by Congress in December and sent out earlier this month -- for a total of $2,000.

The new payments would go to adult dependents that were left out of the earlier rounds, like some children over the age of 17. It would also include households with mixed immigration status, after the first round of $1,200 checks left out the spouses of undocumented immigrants who do not have Social Security Numbers.

Enhanced unemployment aid

Biden would increase the federal boost the jobless receive to $400 a week, from the $300 weekly enhancement contained in Congress' relief package from December.

He would also extend the payments, along with two key pandemic unemployment programs, through September. This applies to those in the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program who have exhausted their regular state jobless payments and in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides benefits to the self-employed, independent contractors, gig workers and certain people affected by the pandemic.

Lawmakers only provided an additional 11 weeks of support in the December package, which will last until March.

Rental assistance and eviction moratorium

The plan would provide $25 billion in rental assistance for low- and moderate-income households who have lost jobs during the pandemic. That's in addition to the $25 billion lawmakers provided in December.

Another $5 billion would be set aside to help struggling renters to pay their utility bills. Biden is also calling for $5 billion to help states and localities assist those at risk of experiencing homelessness.

The plan would extend the federal eviction moratorium, set to expire at the end of January, to September 30, as well as allow people with federally-guaranteed mortgages to apply for forbearance until September 30.

Help for the hungry

Biden would extend the 15% increase in food stamp benefits through September, instead of having it expire in June. He would invest another $3 billion to help women, infants and children secure food, and give US territories $1 billion in nutrition assistance. And he would partner with restaurants to provide food to needy Americans and jobs to laid-off restaurant workers.

More money for child care and child tax credits

The plan calls on Congress to create a $25 billion emergency fund and add $15 billion to an existing grant program to help child care providers, including family child care homes, to pay for rent, utilities, and payroll, and increased costs associated with the pandemic like personal protective equipment.
It also proposes expanding the child care tax credit for one year so that families will get back as much as half of their spending on child care for children under age 13.

A temporarily increase of tax credits

Biden wants to boost the Child Tax Credit to $3,600 for children under age 6 and $3,000 for those between ages 6 and 17 for a year. The credit would also be made fully refundable.

And he proposes to raise the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit for a year to close to $1,500 for childless adults, increase the income limit for the credit to about $21,000 and expand the age range of eligibility to cover older workers.
Both of these are aimed at supporting low-income families, including millions of essential workers.

Subsidies for health insurance premiums

Biden is also calling on Congress to subsidize through September the premiums of those who lost their work-based health insurance.

He wants to increase and expand the Affordable Care Act's premium subsidies so that enrollees don't have to pay more than 8.5% of their income for coverage -- which is also one of his campaign promises. (The law is facing a challenge from Republican-led states that is currently before the Supreme Court.)

Also, he wants Congress to provide $4 billion for mental health and substance use disorder services and $20 billion to meet the health care needs of veterans.

Restoration of emergency paid leave

The plan would reinstate the paid sick and family leave benefits that expired at the end of December until September 30.
It would extend the benefit to workers employed at businesses with more than 500 employees and less than 50, as well as federal workers who were excluded from the original program.

Under Biden's proposal, people who are sick or quarantining, or caring for a child whose school is closed, will receive 14 weeks of paid leave. The government will reimburse employers with fewer than 500 workers for the full cost of providing the leave.

More assistance for small businesses

The plan calls for providing $15 billion to create a new grant program for small business owners, separate from the existing Paycheck Protection Program.

It also proposes making a $35 billion investment in some state, local, tribal, and non-profit financing programs that make low-interest loans and provide venture capital to entrepreneurs.

Aid for states and schools

Biden wants to send $350 billion to state, local and territorial governments to keep their frontline workers employed, distribute the vaccine, increase testing, reopen schools and maintain vital services.

Asked during a call with reporters whether states could use the funds to offset declines in tax revenue spurred by the pandemic, a senior Biden administration official did not clarify. The administration did not respond to a follow-up email asking for more information.

Additional assistance to states has been among the most controversial elements of the congressional rescue packages, with Democrats looking to add to the $150 billion in the March legislation and Republicans resisting such efforts. The December package ultimately dropped an initial call to include $160 billion.

Biden's plan would also give $20 billion to the hardest-hit public transit agencies to help avert layoffs and the cutting of routes.

The plan would provide an additional $170 billion to K-12 schools, colleges and universities to help them reopen and operate safely or to facilitate remote learning.

Congress approved $82 billion in aid for schools in December.

Increased support for vaccines and testing:

The plan calls for investing $20 billion in a national vaccination program, including launching community vaccination centers around the country and mobile units in hard-to-reach areas. Biden would also increase federal support to vaccinate Medicaid enrollees.

The proposal would also invest $50 billion in testing, providing funds to purchase rapid tests, expand lab capacity and help schools implement regular testing to support reopening.

It would also fund the hiring of 100,000 public health workers, nearly tripling the community health workforce. It would address health disparities by expanding community health centers and health services on tribal lands. And it would provide support to long-term care facilities experiencing outbreaks and to prisons for mitigation strategies.

A $15 hourly minimum wage:

Biden is calling on Congress to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and to end the tipped minimum wage and the sub-minimum wage for people with disabilities.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Biden says his advisers will lead with ‘science and truth’


President-elect Joe Biden introduced his slate of scientific advisers Saturday with the promise that they would summon “science and truth” to combat the coronavirus pandemic, climate crisis and other challenges.


“This is the most exciting announcement I’ve gotten to make,” Biden said after weeks of Cabinet and other nominations and appointments. “This is a team that is going to help restore your faith in America’s place in the frontier of science and discovery.”


Biden is elevating the position of science adviser to Cabinet level, a White House first, and said that Eric Lander, a pioneer in mapping the human genome who is in line to be director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, is “one of the most brilliant guys I know.”


The president-elect, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Lander and other top science advisers never mentioned Trump’s name, but they framed the inauguration Wednesday as a clean break from a president who downplayed the threat of COVID-19 and declared the science behind climate change to be a hoax.


“The science behind climate change is not a hoax. The science behind the virus is not partisan,” Harris said. “The same laws apply, the same evidence holds true regardless of whether or not you accept them.”


Biden emphasized how scientific research leads to practical progress and better quality of life, from the COVID-19 vaccines and new cancer treatments to clean energy expansion that reduces carbon emissions.

“Science is discovery. It’s not fiction,” Biden said. “It’s also about hope.”

Eric Lander is the founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and was the lead author of the first paper announcing the details of the human genome. He would be the first life scientist to have that White House job. His predecessor is a meteorologist.

The president-elect is retaining the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, who worked with Lander on the human genome project. Biden also named two prominent female scientists to co-chair the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Frances Arnold, a California Institute of Technology chemical engineer who won the 2018 Nobel Prize in chemistry, and MIT vice president for research and geophysics professor Maria Zuber will lead the outside science advisory council. Lander held that position during Obama administration.

Biden picked Princeton’s Alondra Nelson, a social scientist who studies science, technology and social inequality, as deputy science policy chief.

The president-elect noted the team’s diversity and repeated his promise that his administration’s science policy and investments would target historically disadvantaged and underserved communities.

Nelson celebrated that commitment.

“As a Black woman researcher, I am keenly aware of those who are missing from these rooms,” she said. “I believe we have a responsibility to work together to make sure that our science and technology reflects us ... who we truly are together.”

Science organizations were quick to praise Lander and the promotion of the science post to Cabinet level. The job as director of science and technology policy requires Senate confirmation.

Elevating the position “clearly signals the administration’s intent to involve scientific expertise in every policy discussion,” said Sudip Parikh, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society.

Lander, also a mathematician, is a professor of biology at both Harvard and MIT and his work has been cited nearly half a million times in scientific literature, one of the most among scientists. He has won numerous science prizes, including a MacArthur “genius” fellowship and a Breakthrough Prize, and is one of Pope Francis’ scientific advisers.

“As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, I saw America go to the moon,” Lander said, adding that “no nation is better equipped than America to lead the search for solutions” that “advance our health, our economic welfare and our national security.”

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Kool & The Gang - Celebration (Official Music Video)

Kool & The Gang - Celebration (Official Music Video) - YouTube

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Watch poet laureate Amanda Gorman’s commanding reading at the inauguration - YouTube

... a fairly dense, yet powerful reading that might require a 2nd or 3rd listen to grasp the full message.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

... what a White House Press daily briefing is suppose to look and sound like.

The full White House briefing with Press Secretary Jen Psaki

The full White House briefing with Press Secretary Jen Psaki - YouTube

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Biden to sign 10 executive orders and invoke Defense Production Act to combat Covid pandemic
PUBLISHED THU, JAN 21 2021 5:00 AM EST
UPDATED THU, JAN 21 2021 9:35 AM EST
Will Feuer
@WILLFOIA
SHARE
KEY POINTS
President Joe Biden released details of his Covid response plan, including 10 executive orders and his intent to use the Defense Production Act.
The plan expands on initiatives outlined last week and details how Biden plans to bring the pandemic under control and help the country recover.
Biden will seek to accelerate the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines by providing more funding to local and state officials, creating more vaccination sites and launching a national education campaign.

On his first full day in office, President Joe Biden released details Thursday of his sweeping plan to combat the coronavirus, announcing 10 executive orders and directing agencies to use wartime powers to require U.S. companies to make N95 masks, swabs and other equipment to fight the pandemic.

The president's plan emphasizes ramping up testing for the coronavirus, accelerating the pace of vaccinations and providing more funding and direction to state and local officials. A key component of the plan is restoring trust with the American public. It also focuses on vaccinating more people, safely reopening schools, businesses and travel as well as slowing the spread of the virus.


"The National Strategy provides a roadmap to guide America out of the worst public health crisis in a century," the plan says. "America has always risen to the challenge we face and we will do so now."

Biden has taken office at a pivotal moment in the pandemic, many epidemiologists and U.S. health officials say. Nearly 3,000 Americans are dying every day of Covid-19, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and newly discovered, more infectious strains are establishing footholds in the U.S., threatening to push the nation's outbreak to even more deadly heights. The plan released Thursday expands on initiatives outlined last week and details how Biden plans to bring the outbreak under control and help the country recover.

[Copier Addict]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Biden to sign 10 executive orders and invoke Defense Production Act to combat Covid pandemic
PUBLISHED THU, JAN 21 2021 5:00 AM EST
UPDATED THU, JAN 21 2021 9:35 AM EST
Will Feuer
@WILLFOIA
SHARE
KEY POINTS
President Joe Biden released details of his Covid response plan, including 10 executive orders and his intent to use the Defense Production Act.
The plan expands on initiatives outlined last week and details how Biden plans to bring the pandemic under control and help the country recover.
Biden will seek to accelerate the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines by providing more funding to local and state officials, creating more vaccination sites and launching a national education campaign.

On his first full day in office, President Joe Biden released details Thursday of his sweeping plan to combat the coronavirus, announcing 10 executive orders and directing agencies to use wartime powers to require U.S. companies to make N95 masks, swabs and other equipment to fight the pandemic.

The president's plan emphasizes ramping up testing for the coronavirus, accelerating the pace of vaccinations and providing more funding and direction to state and local officials. A key component of the plan is restoring trust with the American public. It also focuses on vaccinating more people, safely reopening schools, businesses and travel as well as slowing the spread of the virus.


"The National Strategy provides a roadmap to guide America out of the worst public health crisis in a century," the plan says. "America has always risen to the challenge we face and we will do so now."

Biden has taken office at a pivotal moment in the pandemic, many epidemiologists and U.S. health officials say. Nearly 3,000 Americans are dying every day of Covid-19, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and newly discovered, more infectious strains are establishing footholds in the U.S., threatening to push the nation's outbreak to even more deadly heights. The plan released Thursday expands on initiatives outlined last week and details how Biden plans to bring the outbreak under control and help the country recover.

And what was donny boy's first act as president? Oh yeah, he gave big tax breaks to his billionaire comrades.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

I wonder if Biden's plan is anything like Obama's plan to create "shovel ready" jobs? Anyone remember that? Later Obama admitted that he created no shovel ready jobs.

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

I wonder if Biden's plan is anything like Obama's plan to create "shovel ready" jobs? Anyone remember that? Later Obama admitted that he created no shovel ready jobs.

Yes and Nope
Glad we cleared that up

[Phil B.]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

I wonder if Biden's plan is anything like Obama's plan to create "shovel ready" jobs? Anyone remember that? Later Obama admitted that he created no shovel ready jobs.

or maybe he'll run guns to the cartels hence Fast n Furious 2.0

or Cash for Clunkers 2.0

or sell stinger missiles to terrorists 2.0

or bailout another Solyndra 2.0

or bring back that JV team ISIS 2.0

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

or maybe he'll run guns to the cartels hence Fast n Furious 2.0

or Cash for Clunkers 2.0

or sell stinger missiles to terrorists 2.0

or bailout another Solyndra 2.0

or bring back that JV team ISIS 2.0

Maybe Space Force

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

I wonder if Biden's plan is anything like Obama's plan to create "shovel ready" jobs? Anyone remember that? Later Obama admitted that he created no shovel ready jobs.

Part of Biden's plan is to create jobs for some of the newly unemployed is in the fight against COVID-19. Jobs such as "Contact Tracers" and other types of non medical jobs that will assist the healthcare industry.

Biden does plan with his $1.9T stimulus plan is to improve America's crumbling infrastructure. Many of these jobs will actually require the use of a shovel.

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Biden Unveils a National Pandemic Response That Trump Resisted
President Biden has a 200-page strategy to bolster production of vaccines, treatments and medical-grade protective gear while reaching out to communities of color.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Biden Unveils a National Pandemic Response That Trump Resisted
President Biden has a 200-page strategy to bolster production of vaccines, treatments and medical-grade protective gear while reaching out to communities of color.

Which colors is Biden reaching out to? And what about the ghays?