Mwalimu-G
Elder Lister

Stephen Collinson and Caitlin Hu
'America is on the move again'

Those were words that no President has ever said before while addressing a joint session of Congress, and they explain why this is the image history will remember from Joe Biden’s big speech on Wednesday night.
For the first time, the first and second officials in the line of presidential succession – who traditionally sit behind the commander in chief on such occasions – were both women: Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi heard Biden declare a new dawn after a nightmare pandemic year and a Trump presidency that threatened to tear the democratic system apart.
"After just 100 days, I can report to the nation, America is on the move again ... ," Biden said. "Life can knock us down. But in America, we never stay down."

- 'We have to show not just that we're back, but that we're here to stay'
Biden said the most common refrain he heard from foreign leaders was "We see that America is back -- but for how long?" Restoring trust will be a challenge, the President acknowledged. "My fellow Americans, we have to show not just that we are back, but that we are here to stay. ... No one nation can deal with all the crises of our time alone -- from terrorism to nuclear proliferation to mass migration, cybersecurity, climate change -- and as we're experiencing now, pandemics."
- 'When I think climate change, I think jobs'
"For too long, we have failed to use the most important word when it comes to meeting the climate crisis: Jobs. Jobs," Biden said, painting an image of future American workers installing highway charging stations for electric cars, Pittsburgh manufacturers churning out wind turbine blades and US factories developing electric cars and batteries.
- 'A blue-collar blueprint to build America'
Overhauling America is no fanciful concoction by the liberal elite, Biden emphasized as he pumped unions and blue-collar work. “Nearly 90% of the infrastructure jobs created in the American Jobs Plan do not require a college degree. 75% do not require an associate’s degree. The American Jobs Plan is a blue-collar blueprint to build America.” (Nevertheless, Biden also plans to extend free public education for American students by four years, he said.)
- 'Trickle-down economics has never worked'
Millionaires and billionaires can expect to pay more in taxes to fund needed infrastructure and social programs. The "trickle-down" economic theory of enriching the already wealthy in hopes they'll redistribute it through spending is dead wrong, Biden said. "I will not impose any tax increase on people making less than $400,000. But it's time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1% of Americans to begin to pay their fair share."
- 'Autocrats think democracy can’t compete in the 21st century'
Repeatedly referencing past conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Biden urged America to prove wrong the notion that democracies move too slowly in a world of accelerating technological innovation and competition. Xi is betting that American democracy can't keep up with Beijing's dictatorial decisiveness, Biden said. He later added: "We welcome the competition