Is the State of the Union Strong?

President Joe Biden followed the U.S. Constitution and gave his annual report on the state of the union. I did not listen to all of it, but I did listen for a while. It seemed to me that he did a lot of yelling, but he had a good delivery. He made numerous claims, but he seemed to be speaking about life that is different than the reality of the normal people. With his history of lies, it is difficult to discern truth from lies.

Fred Lucas, Tony Kinnett, Jarrett Stepman, Virginia Allen, and Mary Margaret Olohan at The Daily Signal fact checked seven of Biden’s claims. They checked to see if the facts added up or if there was some crucial context missing. 

1. Inflation Reduction Act and Health Care Costs

Biden touted the $740 billion spending bill Democrats dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act….

“With the Inflation Reduction Act that I signed into law, we’re taking on powerful interests to bring your health care costs down so you can sleep better at night,” the president said. “You know, we pay more for prescription drugs than any major country on Earth.” …

However, the president left out potential increases that could result from the legislation. The so-called Inflation Reduction Act would likely increase taxpayer costs by $248 billion over the next decade, and contribute to higher insurance prices, all at your expense through more Obamacare subsidies….

2. ‘Extreme Abortion Bans’

President Joe Biden painted lifesaving legislation restricting abortion as “extreme” during his State of the Union remarks on Tuesday.

“Congress must restore the right the Supreme Court took away last year and codify Roe v. Wade to protect every woman’s constitutional right to choose.” ….

The president’s reference to “extreme abortion bans” refers to laws that protect unborn babies from being killed. Almost 70% of Americans support limiting abortions to the first three months of a pregnancy….

About 14 states have passed near total bans on aborting unborn babies… and six more states have passed near total abortion bans dependent on legal action. One state (Florida) bans abortions after 15 weeks. Twenty-six states have few or no laws restricting abortion….

3. Border Success?

“We now have a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers and seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months,” Biden said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that it seized just over 14,000 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2022, which ended Sept. 30, and more than 7,000 pounds between October and the end of December….

The increase in the amount of fentanyl flooding into America is accompanied by a record number of illegal migrants crossing the southern border. Fiscal 2022 saw 2.76 million illegal immigrant border crossings….

4. Greatest Threat to Democracy Since Civil War?

Biden celebrated how far the country has come since the COVID-19 pandemic-induced recession, but he also referenced the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, repeating his claim that it was the “greatest threat” to American democracy since the Civil War….

It’s not clear what he meant in comparing the Capitol riot … to a war in which several slave-holding Southern states attempted to form a new Confederate States of America, raised their own military in an armed rebellion that wore on for four years, and took the lives of more than 600,000 troops….

Biden didn’t explain why this riot supposedly represented a larger threat to democracy than when Japan attacked the United States on Dec. 7, 1941, which pulled the U.S into World War II in opposition to the Axis powers.

Further, the Capitol was attacked at least four times before Jan. 6, 2021, three of those times after the Civil War.

In 1814, British soldiers burned the Capitol during the War of 1812. It took about five years to rebuild the House chamber.

In 1954, four Puerto Rican terrorists … attacked the Capitol. Unlike those who got inside the Capitol building in 2021, these terrorists were armed with guns. The four opened fire from the House gallery, wounding five lawmakers: ….

In 1971, a domestic terrorist group called the Weather Underground bombed the Capitol, causing $300,000 worth of damage. No one was harmed. The so-called Weathermen returned in 1983 and set off another bomb that “tore through the second floor of the Capitol’s north wing,” according to the Senate’s history site. No fatalities occurred in this case either.

During the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, several rioters were carrying pepper spray or bear spray, and wielding flagpoles as clubs in attacking law enforcement officers….

5. Police reform

Biden introduced the parents of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old man who was fatally beaten by Memphis police officers, as he called for police reform Tuesday night during his State of the Union address.

Biden left out the fact that Senate Democrats blocked a police reform bill in 2020….

In 2020, after the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota by a police officer, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., proposed a police reform bill that would create a national policing commission to review the criminal justice system; collect data on use of force by police officers; ban the use of chokeholds by federal officers; and withhold federal funds from state and local law enforcement agencies that don’t ban chokeholds.

Scott’s bill also would withhold federal money from police departments that fail to report no-knock warrants to the Justice Department.

However, Senate Democrats – then in the minority – blocked Scott’s legislation from coming to a vote….

6. Schools and COVID-19

Biden opened his address with, “Two years ago, COVID had shut down our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us of so much. Today, COVID no longer controls our lives.”

While Biden now celebrates victory over COVID-19 and the ending of pandemic school closures, his appointees and poor leadership kept classrooms closed far longer than necessary….

Biden may claim that he fought to reopen schools, but does so omitting the timeline and manner in which he advocated. Biden was well over a year behind Republicans in reopening schools – while appointing staff who directly opposed and obstructed the process of putting students back in classrooms.

7. Inflation

“Inflation has been a global problem because of the pandemic that disrupted supply chains and Putin’s war that disrupted energy and food supplies,” Biden said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Although it’s true that inflation has hit other nation’s economies, it did not start in the U.S. at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, nor did it begin during Russia’s war on Ukraine. The president’s description of the inflation problem is misleading at best.

When Biden was sworn into office Jan. 20, 2021, inflation stood at 1.4%. As it began to rise in 2021, Biden called high inflation a “transitory” issue. By June of the next year, inflation hit 9.1, a 40-year high.

The rate of inflation increase has slowed, but it remains a significant problem that is eroding the savings of Americans….

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed by Biden in 2022, has done little to reduce inflation. In fact, it mostly added to the government spending.

What Is the True State of the Union?

            President Joe Biden gave his first official State of the Union speech tonight. He addressed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising inflation at home, an ongoing border crisis, and a fading COVID-19 pandemic. His speech was fact-checked by Fred Lucas, Jarrett Stepman,Douglas Blair, and Virginia Allen at The Daily Signal. 

‘We Were Ready’ for Putin’s Invasion

Biden addressed the biggest issue in international politics – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unfolding invasion of Ukraine, and the response from the United States and its allies….

He noted that the United States is a member of the 30-nation NATO military alliance.

“It matters. American diplomacy matters,” Biden said. “Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And, he thought he could divide us here at home. Putin was wrong. We were ready.”

How ready the Biden administration and allies were, however, is open to debate.

Russian troops have massed on the Ukrainian border since November. Ukrainian President Vologymyr Zelenskyy urged Biden to impose sanctions on Russia before an invasion could occur, as a preventive measure.

The Biden administration and European allies imposed sanctions on Russian financing a day after Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine….

State of the Economy, Job Market

Biden didn’t shy away from touting his accomplishments on the economy and job market as the nation began to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In fact – our economy created over 6.5 Million new jobs just last year, more jobs created in one year than ever before in the history of America….”

The U.S. economy indeed added about 6.5 million jobs in the year that Biden has been president, the largest increase for a president in his first year in office.

However, this increase came in the wake of a wide-scale shutdown of the American economy during the pandemic. The total number of jobs is far below what it was under Trump in 2020, when the U.S. lost 9.5 million jobs.

Worse, the U.S. currently faces a serious labor shortage, with a near-record 11 million job openings….

Future of Manufacturing Jobs

“All told, we created 369,000 new manufacturing jobs in America just last year,” Biden said.

The president said he brought back manufacturing jobs to America. He said Ford and General Motors had created 11,000 and 4,000 jobs, respectively, saying it was evidence that manufacturing is returning.

But according to Heritage Foundation scholars, backed with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 179,000 more Americans were employed in manufacturing in 2021 than the previous year….

American Rescue Plan vs. 2017 Tax Cuts

Biden touted the American Rescue Plan, the COVID-19 relief bill he crafted with congressional Democrats.

“And unlike the $2 trillion tax cut passed in the previous administration that benefitted the top 1% of Americans, the American Rescue Plan helped working people – and left no one behind,” he said.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, supported by then-President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, benefited all working Americans and not just the top 1%, many analysts say….

Assessing the Tax Burden

“Under my plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 a year will pay an additional penny in new taxes. Nobody,” Biden said.

This is incorrect.

Biden’s failed Build Back Better plan, which passed in the House of Representatives but met defeat in the Senate, would have increased taxes directly and indirectly for Americans who make less than $400,000 a year, analysts said.

The left-leaning Tax Policy Center noted that Biden’s plan would increase taxes on middle-income Americans….

            In addition to the above facts, the authored also fact checked several other topics in Biden’s speech: ‘Lower Your Costs and Lower the Deficit,” Fiscal Responsibility, Rising Energy Costs, ‘Suppress’ and ‘Subvert’ the Vote, and LGBTQ Rights and Equality Act. I may  write about those topics tomorrow night. 

How Has Biden Done as POTUS and What Is the Real State of the Union?

 

How Has Biden Done and What Is the Real State of the Union?

            I chose Joe Biden as my VIP for this week because he is the worst President of the United States in the history of our nation. His first State of the Union address is schedule for tomorrow night, it is only fair to discuss how he has done as POTUS and how would you describe the state of our nation.

            Our nation is in a terrible position and picking up speed as it hurdles toward destruction. Biden has done more to destroy our nation than any group of presidents – including Barrack Obama and Jimmy Carter. I am not alone in my judgment of Biden, as shown by an early-February poll. CNN asked Americans about their opinion of Biden’s presidency and asked what he has done right since entering office one year ago. More than half of those polled could not produce a single success.

            According to Jarrett Stepman, Biden “is hitting record-low approval ratings for a president at this point in his term.” Americans are questioning his leadership ability because there have been “more than a few national challenges and outright catastrophes” that did not have to happen. They are “tied directly to the failures of this president and his political allies.”

1. Border Crisis

Security at the southern border has been an ongoing disaster, though one barely given coverage by the legacy media.

The massive spike in border crossings initially was excused by Biden allies in the media as a “seasonal” problem. It was seasonal all right: open-borders season….

2. Messy Afghanistan Withdrawal

Biden’s shambolic withdrawal from Afghanistan was certainly one of the low points of his presidency and one of the lowest points of American foreign policy since the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War….

We clearly had a massive failure of intelligence, since the Afghanistan government collapsed, and the Taliban took over the country in just a few weeks….

3. Return to Energy Dependence

The Afghanistan mess wasn’t the only foreign policy debacle so far under Biden. Russia launched a major invasion of Ukraine in the days before the president’s State of the Union speech.

Unbelievably, former Secretary of State John Kerry, Biden’s climate czar, said the situation in Ukraine is worrying because Russia will be distracted from staying “on track” to fight climate change.

It’s an illustration of just how misguided the Biden administration’s priorities are.

Although the ultimate blame for the invasion remains with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden strengthened Russia’s hand with generally misguided energy policies….

These moves made the U.S. and its allies more dependent on Russian oil and natural gas. Biden now says the administration will pivot and place sanctions on Nord Stream 2. But what would things be like now if he pursued a course that signaled the U.S. is committed to energy production and dominance form the get-go?

 

4. Authoritarian COVID-19 Mandates

Remember when Biden said he would shut down the COVID-19 virus and not the economy? Well, most Americans now believe that COVID-19 is here to stay no matter what we. This after Biden reached beyond the powers of his office to force Americans to get vaccinated and tell states to enforce the most stringent mask mandates….

5. Crime Surge

American cities have experienced an explosion of violent crime since the summer of 2020.

It’s a trend that shows no sign of abating…

This trend coincided with – and almost certainly was exacerbated by – the “defund the police” movement….

Biden mostly has dodged the idea that radical policies embraced by his Democratic Party are to blame for this issue….

6. Rising Inflation

In July, Biden said inflation would be a temporary problem that his administration had a handle on….

Now we’re well into the new year and, if anything, inflation is getting worse.

For most Americans, inflation has become almost impossible to ignore….

Today, inflation is rising, not falling. And it’s been exacerbated by the policies of the Biden administration, rather than being lessened as it was in 1981 by the policies of the Reagan administration….

7. War on Parents

Violent crime is spinning out of control, but the Justice Department clearly doesn’t see that as the real threat to this country.

No, the real threat is parents who disagree with what’s happening in their local schools….

            Biden’s blunders are destroying America. However, I do not believe that Biden is in charge. He brought in numerous people that worked in the Obama administration, like Valerie Jarrett, who are in charge. Anyone with eyes to see can see that Biden is not capable of running his own family, let alone the United States of America. He is a puppet being used by those who are seeking to “fundamentally change” America.

Trump Stands Strong

            The President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address is all over the news today. Liberals cannot believe their eyes when they see the polls saying that 76% of Americans approve of Trump’s speech. This numbers includes 40-something percent the Democrats. I was shocked to see the results of the polls as well because I was assuming that all Democrats are like the ones we saw in the audience last night. I could not help but wonder if the liberals are losing their supporters.

            Liberals and Bernie Sanders are upset with what Trump said and did not say, and conservatives are ecstatic to see Trump look and speak so “presidential.” Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) said that Trump “hit it out of park” with his speech. Then he highlighted what he thought was the most important thing that Trump said, and I agree with him.

            The President called out the New York governor and legislator and the Virginia governor for their willingness to kill babies either just before they are born or after. If I remember right, Lee called the New York law “evil,” – and I agree with him. I am glad that Trump put late term abortion in the light where everyone can see how truly evil it is. However, I believe that his efforts were lost on the ladies in the white pantsuits and their buddies.

            Last night my husband asked me to name two topics in Trump’s speech that I thought were powerful. I thought of two of them right away: late-term abortion and socialism. Bernie Sanders and AOC or whatever her initials are did not look happy when the President talked about socialism. 

Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country…. America was founded on liberty and independence – not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”

            I liked what the President said and did not hear one word that I disagreed with. Obviously, millions of other Americans feel the same way. Now we can need to hog tie the leftists that are controlling Congress and the governors who signing death warrants, Trump may be able to break lose and continue working miracles in behalf of Americans.

            Speaking of liberal governors, New Mexico has one of them too. Just as Trump is sending more military to protect the southern border, she orders “the majority of National Guard troops deployed at her state’s Southern border to withdraw.” She claims that Trump if playing charades with his fear-mongering. 

            Our nice neighbors to the South are busing migrants to our southern border. About 1,700 migrants are now across the border from Texas with plans to come through the Eagle Pass border crossing. I think that it is too bad that they did not go to New Mexico because the governor there would probably welcome them into her state! 

State of the Union

            The State of the Union address given by President Donald Trump tonight did not disappoint most Americans. He spoke of the strong U.S. economy and was able to include information from the January jobs report to support his claim that lower taxes and fewer regulations are making life better for Americans at all levels of society. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday there were an impressive 304,000 jobs added in January, topping economists’ estimates by 140,000, according to USA Today. Wages also grew by 3.2 percent for the month.

            In addition to the January report, there were over 5 million jobs created in the past 24 months, and unemployment claims dropped the lowest in 49 years. Trump was also able to claim progress in numerous other areas, such as criminal sentencing and trade negotiations.

            Trump also called for the Democrats to work with him in making America great once more. From the looks of the Democrats who cheered few of the successes, it does not look like they want to work with the President. In fact, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went so far as to say on the Senate floor today that the President would be lying about the economy.

“The President will say the state of our union is strong but the American people know the truth, unfortunately it is not,” said Schumer in a ten minute long barrage of criticisms on the Trump administration. He accused the Trump administration of being in “chaos” and offered several examples.

            “The state of our union is in need of drastic repair,” he added.

            The President, of course, refuted Schumer’s statement, and the feud continues. The American people do know the truth, and we see it better every day. We know that President Trump is standing between us and evil, and we know that Leftists are moving deeper and deeper into evil. This is proven by the recent legislative decisions and announcements by governors about abortion right up until birth and death even after birth. May God bless President Trump and continue to bless the United States of America!

State of the Union

            Tonight President Donald Trump gave a powerful report on the State of the Union. He spoke of all the “winning” that has been happening this year – the huge tax cuts that put money back into the pockets of Americans, the soaring stock market that keeps money growing in retirement and education accounts, the record low numbers of unemployed people, particularly African Americans and Hispanics. He spoke of the everyday heroes who stood up when they saw a need, such as the Cajun Navy in Houston and firefighters in California. After speaking of all the good things that are happening in the United States, President Trump said the following.

This is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream.

So to every citizen watching at home tonight – no matter where you have been, or where you come from, this is your time. If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together, we can achieve anything.

Tonight, I want to talk about what kind of future we are going to have, and what kind of Nation we are going to be. All of us, together, as one team, one people, and one American family.

We all share the same home, the same heart, the same destiny, and the same great American flag.

Together, we are rediscovering the American way.

In America, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of the American life. Our motto is “in God we trust.”

And we celebrate our police, our military, and our amazing veterans as heroes who deserve our total and unwavering support.

Here tonight is Preston Sharp, a 12-year-old boy from Redding, California, who noticed that veterans’ graves were not marked with flags on Veterans Day. He decided to change that, and started a movement that has now placed 40,000 flags at the graves of our great heroes. Preston: a job well done.

Young patriots like Preston teach all of us about our civic duty as Americans. Preston’s reverence for those who have served our Nation reminds us why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem.

Americans love their country. And they deserve a Government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return.

            President Trump continued his talk by telling us how he wants the government to work in order to bless the lives of all Americans. He ended his talk with a plea for God to bless America. I echo that plea with an addition: May God bless our leaders and first responders who are working so hard to preserve and protect our American way of life. You can access the entire transcript of his talk at this site. 

State of the Union

                Barack Obama gave his final State of the Union address – or was it.  I did not watch this one either.  Glenn Beck thinks Mr. Obama will usurp the opportunity of the new President and give the State of the Union before the inauguration.  “Just hours ahead of what the White House is dubbing President Barack Obama’s ‘final’ State of the Union address, Glenn Beck predicted it will not, in fact, be his final national address.  `Mark my words,’ Beck said on The Glenn Beck Radio Program Tuesday morning.  `Next year, he will deliver another State of the Union.’”  The article continues by reminding readers that of all the Presidents, only Jimmy Carter gave a State of the Union address just prior to leaving office.  Since Mr. Obama is an evil worse President than Mr. Carter, none of us should be surprised at the suggestion.

                The Rev. Franklin Graham posted the following statement in anticipation to the State of the Union address.  “Tonight the president is set to give his final State of the Union address….  I can tell you the state of our union.  Our nation is broken – it’s broken morally; it’s broken spiritually; it’s broken politically; it’s broken racially….  The state of our union cannot be fixed unless we repent of our sins individually and ask our nation to do the same.”