Biden On Ukraine, Inflation In State Of The Union Address

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The Center Square [By Casey Harper] and The Tennessee Conservative staff –

President Joe Biden delivered the State of the Union address for the first time in his presidency Tuesday night, tackling a range of issues from the invasion of Ukraine and the status of the economy to funding police and securing the border.

“Last year, COVID-19 kept us apart,” Biden said to kick off the address. “This year, we’re finally together again.”

Biden quickly turned to Russia, rebuking Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of Ukraine.

“Tonight, I’m announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights, further isolating Russia and adding an additional squeeze on their economy,” Biden said.

The ambassador from Ukraine attended the address and received a standing ovation. Biden also praised the resolve of the Ukrainian people.

“From President Zelenskyy to every Ukrainian, their fearlessness, their courage, their determination, literally inspires the world,” Biden said.

“Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Ukrainian people,” he said. “He will never extinguish their love of freedom. He will never weaken the resolve of the free world.”

Biden took a shot at the tax cuts passed during the Trump administration, which was met by boos from some Republicans and cheers from Democrats.

“Unlike the $2 trillion tax cut passed in the previous administration that benefits the top 1% … the American Rescue Plan helped working people and left no one behind,” Biden said.

Biden called for background checks and a ban on firearms with high capacity magazines and went out of his way to emphasize the need for funding police as he hit a litany of issues.

“Fund them,” Biden said. “Fund them. Fund them with resources and training. …They need to protect our communities.”

Biden touted his Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, calling her “one of our nation’s top legal minds who will continue in Justice Breyer’s legacy of excellence.”

Biden called for securing the border and fixing the immigration system and pointed to new border technology, joint patrols and dedicated immigration judges. He also called for providing a pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers.”

Biden touted job creation last year, a result of the rebound from lifting COVID-19-era lockdowns. He also touted his proposal of a global minimum tax rate for corporations.

“What are we waiting for?” he asked. “Let’s get this done.”

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Biden called for lowering energy costs, child care costs and drug prices, saying Medicare should be able to negotiate the price of prescription drugs, emphasizing the cost of insulin.

“They already set the price for VA drugs,” he argued.

Critics pointed out the Biden administration overturned a Trump-era rule that would have lowered the price of insulin.

“Donald Trump cut the price of insulin and Joe Biden ended it,” said Brigitte Gabriel, founder of Act For America.

Biden announced there would be a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud, which has been rampant since Congress passed pandemic relief funding.

Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds gave the Republican response to Biden’s speech. She compared America today with the America of the late 1970s and early 1980s with soaring inflation, violent crime and a dangerous Soviet Union.

“We shouldn’t ignore what happened in the run up to Putin’s invasion: waiving sanctions on Russian pipelines while eliminating oil production here at home, focusing on political correctness rather than military readiness, reacting to world events instead of driving them,” Reynolds said. “Weakness on the world stage has a cost, and the president’s approach to foreign policy has consistently been too little too late.

“It’s time for America to once again project confidence,” she said. “It’s time to lead.”

Reynolds turned to domestic issues such as inflation and gas prices, saying, “We can’t project strength abroad if we are weak at home.”

“The president and Democrats in congress have spent the last year either ignoring the issues facing Americans or making them worse,” she said. “They were warned that spending trillions would lead to soaring inflation. They were told that their anti-energy policies would send gas prices to new heights, but they plowed ahead anyway.”

Other Republicans released statements in response to the president’s speech and pointed at the economic issues since Biden took office.

“Under President Trump, our economy was booming,” U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said. “We need to replicate that success. Americans are anxious for those days to return. To build optimism and prosperity again, we must ease regulatory burdens, strengthen critical American supply chains, unleash American energy and stop the Left’s extreme spending and socialist agenda.”

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) stated, “Because of President Biden’s big-government socialist spending, Americans are bearing the burden of historic inflation that’s getting heavier by the day. I’m glad to recently see him finally acknowledge the inflation that is crippling families and businesses alike. But instead of implementing sound, pro-growth economic policies that would give Americans relief from skyrocketing prices, he continues to push programs and plans that will only exacerbate the problem and beget perpetual cradle-to-grave government dependency.”

Other Republicans pointed to the chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan and Biden’s handling of Putin and Ukraine.

“Are you better off than you were a year ago?” House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said. “For most people, the answer is, ‘no.’ ”

Biden ended his more-than-an-hour-long speech by painting an optimistic picture for the nation.

“The state of the Union is strong because you, the American people, are strong,” Biden said.

In response to Biden’s State of the Union address, Congressman Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) released the below statement this morning:

“President Biden’s speech last night was everything the American people did not want to hear. He is clinging tight to policy promises that are the very reason his approval poll numbers have plummeted.

We heard President Biden tout the end of the pandemic and defeat of COVID-19 with a lifted mask mandate for members attending the speech while kids across the country are sitting in classrooms masked and separated by social distancing. The American people needed to hear that there would be a rollback of all federal vaccine mandates and the restoration of jobs for those fired over this virtue signaling policy.

The president assured us in his speech last night that “we are going to be ok” when it comes to the dramatic rise in gas prices, with no plan to combat our lack of energy independence. Instead, he made promises of expensive Green New Deal policies. Our citizens wanted to hear that the administration will lift the ban on drilling oil on federal lands and reinstatement of the Keystone XL pipeline.

It was also disappointing to hear that Biden believes The American Rescue plan was a win for our Nation. We all know that these stimulus checks did nothing to help get people back to work and created even more government dependence. Inflation has hit a forty-year high due to influxes of mass government spending and a labor force incentivized to stay home. This administration would rather regulate $15 an hour minimum wages, that hurt small business owners, rather than let our free-market system work for itself.

President Biden said last night he wanted to end the opioid crisis yet failed to give any real plan to secure our southern border—which is seeing record high numbers of fentanyl and other illegal drug crossings. Last year 100,000 Americans died due to drug overdose and around 60% were due to fentanyl. Citizens across the country needed the president to promise support to Customs and Border Patrol agents, plans to finish construction of the wall and a commitment to enforcing our immigration laws already on the books.

The world is watching us. Our country has long led the way on foreign affairs, a thriving economy and leadership in times of global crisis. This speech was out of touch and a reminder that “who governs matters.” Our country can only be as successful as our commander-in-chief. I want the United States to succeed. I am hopeful that as the president sees feedback from the American people, he will reverse course on these dismal policy promises made last night.”

About the Author: Casey Harper, The Center Square D.C. Bureau Reporter – charper@centersquare.com ~ Harper is a Senior Reporter for the Washington, D.C. Bureau. He previously worked for The Daily Caller, The Hill, and Sinclair Broadcast Group. A graduate of Hillsdale College, Casey’s work has also appeared in Fox News, Fox Business, and USA Today.