Thread: President Joe Biden

Originally Posted by russellsimpson

Kiss the ring!

This is cruel to continue with him as president with this kind of cognitive decline.

Originally Posted by Backspin

China has broken off all climate related cooperation with the US.

Typical of you to be way behind

Originally Posted by Backspin

This is cruel to continue with him as president with this kind of cognitive decline.

Well, TD still has you despite never having had any cognitive reasoning to lose in the first place.


Though I do agree that he shouldn't go for a second term

Originally Posted by S Landreth

The biggest unknowns are the geopolitical implications. Now that the US federal government is finally acting on climate, what impact does that have on the eagerness of China or India to fulfill their pledges or even increase their ambition? How much global technological innovation will be spurred by these investments?

Think,..........Leader

Well one thing is that the chinkies and Indians will be queuing up to manufacturer whatever technologies the rest of the world comes up with - with the chinkies trying to claim they invented them all having nicked all the technology and started duplicating it of course.

President Biden - In keeping with my campaign promise, my Administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023. https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1562462774969581570

• Here’s what’s inside Biden’s historic student debt forgiveness plan

President Biden is directing the Education Department to forgive $10,000 in federal student loan debt for nearly all U.S. borrowers, an unprecedented decision that will affect millions of borrowers with immediate financial relief.

The Biden administration formally announced its highly anticipated student debt forgiveness plan Wednesday, which will forgive $10,000 for every federal student loan borrower who earns less than $125,000 annually.

The administration is also cancelling up to $20,000 for those student borrowers who received Pell Grants, applying the same income cap.

“I’m keeping with my campaign promise, my administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023,” Biden said on social media.

Here’s what the plan includes.

$10,000 in debt forgiveness for all federal borrowers

Federal borrowers who earn less than $125,000 and did not receive a Pell Grant will be eligible to have $10,000 of their student loan balances forgiven. This will likely eliminate the balances of at least 15 million borrowers.

$20,000 debt reduction for Pell Grant recipients

Millions of borrowers who received Pell Grants during college and meet the administration’s income requirements will see 20,000 removed from their balances. Data shows around 7 million students receive Pell Grants each year.

Extends pandemic-related pause on student loan payments

The administration is also extending the federal moratorium on student loan payments for a sixth and final time. Payments will resume in January 2023, concluding the pause which has spanned more than two years and two administrations.

Overhauls income-driven repayment plans

The Education Department is proposing a new rule that would reduce future monthly payments for lower- and middle-income borrowers from 10 percent to 5 percent of discretionary income.

It would also raise the amount of income that’s considered nondiscretionary, therefore protected from repayment. The proposed rule is also tackling interest, so a borrower’s loan balance will not increase as long as they are making their required monthly payments.

The new rule would forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments, instead of the current 20 years under many income-driven repayment plans for borrowers with original loan balances of $12,000 or less.

If approved, the rule would apply to borrowers with undergraduate degree loans and graduate degree loans.

Eases loan forgiveness under Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program

The Department is proposing a rule that would allow more payments to qualify for PSLF, including partial, lump sum and late payments and allowing certain kinds of deferments and forbearances.

Tackles college accountability

The department is proposing to reinstate and improve a rule to hold career programs accountable for leaving their graduates with unaffordable debt — like when DeVry University was found to have defrauded nearly 1,800 students after making widespread, substantial misrepresentations about its job placement rates.

The Department also said it intends to act against colleges that have contributed to the student debt crisis, including publishing an annual watch list of the programs with the worse debt levels in the country. This is in addition to requesting institutional improvement plans from colleges concerning debt outcomes that outline how the college intends to bring down debt levels.

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Extra

• Biden administration moves to shield DACA from legal challenges

The Department of Homeland Security moved Wednesday to codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy into federal regulations in a bid to protect the program from legal challenges.

Why it matters: Since its inception in 2012, DACA has shielded from deportation over 800,000 immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, according to the DHS. The program has been subject to several legal challenges since it was first implemented.

Details: DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Wednesday that the department has issued a final rule to preserve DACA for eligible noncitizens.

• The final rule maintains existing criteria for DACA recipients — such as arriving in the U.S. by age 16 and before June 15, 2007 — and work permit authorizations. It also declares DACA recipients "lawfully present" in the U.S. for certain purposes, including benefits.
• The final rule is effective Oct. 31 barring any litigation.

What they're saying: "Today, we are taking another step to do everything in our power to preserve and fortify DACA, an extraordinary program that has transformed the lives of so many Dreamers," Mayorkas said in a statement.

• "Thanks to DACA, we have been enriched by young people who contribute so much to our communities and our country. Yet, we need Congress to pass legislation that provides an enduring solution for the young Dreamers who have known no country other than the United States as their own."

The big picture: Ten years after then-President Obama established the policy, many DACA recipients — and their allies — are still pushing for immediate action on a pathway to citizenship.

• A 2020 Pew Research Center survey found that roughly 75% of U.S. adults say they are in favor of granting permanent legal status in these cases.
• A district court judge closed DACA to first-time applicants in July last year after agreeing with Republican state officials that the policy violates federal immigration law.
• The Biden administration appealed the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which held a hearing on the case in July.

What to watch: The conservative-leaning court is expected to hand down an opinion siding with the Republican-led states who brought the lawsuit, CBS News reports. It could cause the Biden administration to bring it before the Supreme Court.

The conservative-leaning court is expected to hand down an opinion siding with the Republican-led states who brought the lawsuit, CBS News reports. It could cause the Biden administration to bring it before the Supreme Court.

And we know how that's going to turn out.

• Biden announces new head of Secret Service

President Joe Biden has appointed Kimberly Cheatle to be the next director of the Secret Service.

Biden on Wednesday called Cheatle “a distinguished law enforcement professional with exceptional leadership skills,” saying in a statement that she “was easily the best choice to lead the agency at a critical moment for the Secret Service.” In this new role, she will become the second woman to lead the Secret Service, after former President Barack Obama appointed Julia Pierson as the first in 2013.

Cheatle will be taking over at an agency facing a number of issues. On July 13, Congress was notified by Homeland Security’s inspector general that the Secret Service had lost texts related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol while erasing employees’ phones as part of a new protocol. The House select committee investigating the attack then subpoenaed the agency for its records, concerned that federal records laws could have been violated if the messages weren’t preserved.

DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari seemed to push back against the increased scrutiny. POLITICO reported at the beginning of August that Cuffari wrote in a work email that “because of the U.S. Attorney General guidelines and quality standards, we cannot always publicly respond to untruths and false information about our work.” He continued: “I am so proud of the resilience I have witnessed in the face of this onslaught of meritless criticism.”

Shortly after, the chair of Jan. 6 committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), and Oversight chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) sent a letter saying they had documents that “raise troubling new concerns that your office not only failed to notify Congress for more than a year that critical evidence in this investigation was missing, but your senior staff deliberately chose not to pursue that evidence and then appear to have taken steps to cover up these failures.”

Tackling these problems will be part of the next phase of Cheatle’s 25-year-plus career with the Secret Service. She has served numerous leadership roles within the agency, including becoming the first woman to serve in the role of assistant director of protective operations, in October 2019.

Biden “came to trust her judgment and counsel” when she was on his security detail as vice president, he said in his statement. In 2021, Biden awarded her a Presidential Rank Award, “recognizing her among a select group of career members of the Senior Executive Service for exceptional performance over an extended period of time.”

Cheatle is currently a senior director at PepsiCo North America, where she oversees facilities, personnel and business continuity.

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Extra

Just the highlights.

• Aimee Harris, Robert Kurlander Stole Ashley Biden's Diary

Florida Man and Woman Admittedly Stole Ashley Biden’s Diary and Several Other Belongings to ‘Make a SH*T TON of Money’

A Florida man and woman pleaded guilty to stealing a diary that belongs to Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden, and then selling it to Project Veritas during the 2020 election.

Aimee Harris, 40, and Robert Kurlander, 58, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave in the Southern District of New York on Thursday. The conservative media group is based in Westchester County, a suburb of the Big Apple.

The pair will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.

“Harris and Kurlander stole personal property from an immediate family member of a candidate for national political office,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. “They sold the property to an organization in New York for $40,000 and even returned to take more of the victim’s property when asked to do so. Harris and Kurlander sought to profit from their theft of another person’s personal property, and they now stand convicted of a federal felony as a result.”

In a federal criminal information, authorities allege Harris and Kurlander knew “an immediate family member of a then-former government official” was “temporarily residing” and had “stored the property” at a private residence in Delray Beach, Florida. Harris was identified as the actual thief who took the diary and Kurlander was identified as the fencer who would “help her facilitate its sale.”

“Harris and Kurlander stole personal property from an immediate family member of a candidate for national political office,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. “They sold the property to an organization in New York for $40,000 and even returned to take more of the victim’s property when asked to do so. Harris and Kurlander sought to profit from their theft of another person’s personal property, and they now stand convicted of a federal felony as a result.”

The plan became a conspiracy in late August 2020, the information says, after Harris contacted Kurlander to tell him about the diary as well as a “digital store card containing private family photographs.” In response to her message, Kurlander texted back that he would help her “make a SHIT TON of money” from selling the items.

Each defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prisonp, but defendants are typically sentenced under federal guidelines that usually call for a sentence well below the maximum. Harris and Kurlander have each agreed to forfeit their $20,000 share of the sum Project Veritas paid.

Florida Residents Plead Guilty To Conspiracy To Commit Interstate Transportation Of Stolen Property | USAO-SDNY | Department of Justice

They don't even try and fucking hide it any more.

• Historical Context of Presidential Approval Ratings

The latest improvement in Biden's overall approval rating puts him in better standing in the August before midterm elections than five of his predecessors over the past 40 years -- Ronald Reagan in 1982, Bill Clinton in 1994, George W. Bush in 2006, Barack Obama in 2014 and Donald Trump in 2018.

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A note: The PPP weren’t really loans if used properly,......but still

• White House calls out Greene, other GOP critics on how their own loans were forgiven

The White House on Thursday called out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) criticism of President Biden’s plan to forgive some student loans, noting that the congresswoman had Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven.

“Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven,” the White House wrote, referring to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a lifeline extended to help small businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data from ProPublica shows the loan and accrued interest for Greene’s company, Taylor Commercial, Inc., which reportedly would go to payroll, was forgiven.

“For our government just to say, you know, ‘Ok, well your debt is completely forgiven,’ … it’s completely unfair,” Greene said in the Newsmax interview, which aired Wednesday.

Taxpayers “shouldn’t have to pay off the great big student loan debt for some college student that piled up massive debt going to some Ivy league school,” Greene argued. “That’s not fair.”

The White House Twitter account has created a thread below its response to Greene’s criticism, with similar responses to other Congressional critics of the student loan debt announcement. The congressmen whose PPP loan amounts were revealed include Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).

Wonder if Fox will cover it live.

• Biden to deliver prime-time address warning Americans’ rights are ‘under attack’

President Biden will deliver a prime-time speech from Philadelphia on Thursday about protecting democracy during which he will warn that Americans’ rights and freedoms are “under attack,” according to a White House official.

Biden’s speech at Independence National Historical Park on Thursday evening will revive his 2020 campaign theme of fighting for the “soul of the nation,” according to the White House advisory, and is a sign of his message to voters coming into focus just two months out from the midterm elections.

“He will speak about how the core values of this nation — our standing in the world, our democracy — are at stake,” the White House official said. “He will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy, but how our rights and freedoms are still under attack. And he will make clear who is fighting for those rights, fighting for those freedoms, and fighting for our democracy.”

Biden has begun to more forcefully criticize Republican candidates on the ballot in November, last week describing those who align themselves with former President Trump as threats to democracy and accusing them of embracing “semi-fascism.”

“The MAGA Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and economic security. They’re a threat to our very democracy,” Biden said at a rally in Maryland last Thursday, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. “They refuse to accept the will of the people. They embrace, embrace political violence. They don’t believe in democracy.”

NBC News was first to report on the upcoming speech.

An NBC News poll released earlier this month found that a plurality of voters rank threats to democracy as the most important issue facing the country — a larger percentage than those who single out cost of living.

It’s unclear whether Biden plans to explicitly mention Trump during his Thursday address, but plans for the speech suggest he’ll at least allude to the former president and his false claims about the 2020 election.

Biden is increasing his domestic travel and is slated to travel to Pennsylvania — a key swing state — three times in the next week. He’ll visit Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday to discuss combating gun violence, and on Monday he’ll attend Labor Day festivities in Pittsburgh.

Some of Biden’s trips are aimed at promoting his accomplishments, including a planned stop in Ohio later this month at the groundbreaking of a new Intel chip plant that will highlight the passage of a law championed by the Biden administration that will boost the domestic semiconductor industry.

• Biden blasts 'MAGA Republicans,' 'sickening' attacks on FBI

President Joe Biden on Tuesday railed against the “MAGA Republicans in Congress” who have refused to condemn the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and now are targeting the FBI as he tried to portray Democrats as the true pro-law enforcement party ahead of the November midterms.

In remarks initially billed as a crime-prevention speech, Biden seized on comments from allies of former President Donald Trump who have called for stripping funding from the FBI since it executed a search warrant at Trump’s Florida residence. Biden’s remarks were the first substantive defense he has made of the FBI since the Aug. 8 search at Mar-a-Lago, which triggered not just withering criticism of the agency but threats of violence against its employees.

“It’s sickening to see the new attacks on the FBI, threatening the life of law enforcement and their families, for simply carrying out the law and doing their job,” Biden said before a crowd of more than 500 at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania. “I’m opposed to defunding the police; I’m also opposed to defunding the FBI.”

It was a notably different tack for Biden, who has steered clear of extensively commenting on any element of the Justice Department’s investigation since federal agents conducted the search at Trump’s estate. Biden also appeared to call out — without naming him — recent comments from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who warned of “riots in the streets” should Trump ultimately face prosecution.

“The idea you turn on a television and see senior senators and congressmen saying, ‘If such and such happens there’ll be blood on the street’?” Biden said. “Where the hell are we?”

The speech Tuesday continued Biden’s aggressive rhetoric against the GOP ahead of the midterms, as Democrats enjoy a slightly brighter political environment buoyed by significant legislative accomplishments and a presidential approval rating that has trended slightly upward. During a political rally in the Washington suburbs last week, Biden likened Republican ideology to “semi-fascism.” He is set to deliver a democracy-focused speech on Thursday in Philadelphia that the White House has said “will make clear” who is fighting for democratic values.

As he has done before, Biden on Tuesday criticized GOP officials who have refused to denounce the pro-Trump rioters who breached the U.S. Capitol nearly 20 months ago. Referencing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, Biden said, “Let me say this to my MAGA Republican friends in Congress: Don’t tell me you support the law enforcement if you won’t condemn what happened on the 6th.”

The campaign-style speech near Biden’s birthplace was the first of three visits by the president in less than a week to the state that is home to a competitive governor’s race and a U.S. Senate contest that could help determine whether Democrats will keep their majority in the chamber. Trump is hosting his own rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Democrats believe Pennsylvania is their strongest opportunity to flip a Senate seat currently held by Republicans. Meanwhile, the open race for governor will give the winner power over how 2024’s presidential election is run in a battleground state that is still buffeted by Trump’s baseless claims that Democrats fraudulently stole the 2020 election from him.

Biden’s comments on the FBI come as his son Hunter faces a federal investigation for tax evasion. He has not faced any charges, and he’s previously denied wrongdoing.

The president also used his remarks Tuesday to promote his administration’s crime-prevention efforts and to continue to pressure Congress to revive a long-expired federal ban on assault-style weapons. Democrats and Republicans worked together in a rare effort to pass gun safety legislation earlier this year after massacres in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas. They were the first significant firearm restrictions approved by Congress in nearly three decades, but Biden has repeatedly said more needs to be done.

“We beat the NRA. We took them on and beat the NRA straight up. You have no idea how intimidating they are to elected officials,” an animated Biden said. “We’re not stopping here. I’m determined to ban assault weapons in this country! Determined. I did it once before. And I’ll do it again.”

As a U.S. senator, Biden played a leading role in temporarily banning assault-style weapons, including firearms similar to the AR-15 that have exploded in popularity in recent years, and he wants to put the law back into place. Biden argued that there was no rationale for such weapons “outside of a war zone” and noted that parents of the young victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde had to supply DNA because the weapon used in the massacre rendered the bodies unidentifiable.

“DNA, to say that’s my baby!” Biden said. “What the hell is the matter with us?”

Democrats are trying to blunt Republican efforts to use concern about crime to their advantage in the midterms. It’s a particularly fraught issue in Pennsylvania, a key swing state.

The Republican candidate for governor, Doug Mastriano, accuses Democrat Josh Shapiro of being soft on crime as the state’s twice-elected attorney general, saying Shapiro “stands aside” as homicides rise across Pennsylvania.

Homicides have been increasing in Pennsylvania, but overall crime seems to have fallen over the last year, according to state statistics.

“The real heroes here are the people who put on the uniform every single day,” said Shapiro, who spoke shortly before Biden’s remarks at Wilkes University. “We know that policing is a noble profession, and we know that we need to stand with law enforcement.”

In the U.S. Senate race, heart surgeon turned television celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee, has tried to portray the Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, as extreme and reckless on crime policy.

Fetterman has endorsed recommendations that more geriatric and rehabilitated prisoners can be released from state prisons without harming public safety. Oz and Republicans have distorted that into the claim that Fetterman wants to release “dangerous criminals” from prisons or that he’s in favor of “emptying prisons.”

Fetterman’s campaign on Tuesday released a new 30-second ad emphasizing that Fetterman — as mayor of the tiny, impoverished western Pennsylvania steel town of Braddock from 2006 through 2018 — has dealt with street-level crime, and Oz hasn’t. In the ad, Fetterman said he ran for mayor “to stop the violence” after two of his students in an afterschool program were murdered and “I worked side by side with police.”

Fetterman was not in Wilkes-Barre with Biden on Tuesday, but he’s expected to march in Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade when the president visits Sept. 5. Biden also will be in Pennsylvania on Thursday for a prime-time speech that the White House said will address “the continued battle for the soul of the nation” and defending democracy.

^The hecklers probably saw the poll that was released earlier in the day.

Biden leads Trump in hypothetical rematch

Biden holds a 6-point lead over Trump in a hypothetical rematch, with 50 percent of registered voters saying they would probably or definitely vote for Biden and 44 percent saying the same of Trump.

That 6-point spread that President Biden holds today is even larger than the spread that Biden defeated trump by in 2020 (which was about 4 points).

• Biden taps Podesta to implement climate and energy spending in Inflation Reduction Act

President Joe Biden revamped his climate change team on Friday, announcing that longtime political operative and climate advocate John Podesta would join the White House and Ali Zaidi would take over for Gina McCarthy as domestic climate adviser.

Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and counselor to President Barack Obama, will take on a role implementing the energy and climate parts of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act.

Zaidi, an alumnus of the Obama administration who served as deputy to McCarthy, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, was promoted to become Biden’s top national climate aide. McCarthy steps down on Sept. 16.

“Under Gina McCarthy and Ali Zaidi’s leadership, my administration has taken the most aggressive action ever, from historic legislation to bold executive actions, to confront the climate crisis head-on,” Biden said in a statement.

Podesta’s climate and government background, Biden said, “mean we can truly hit the ground running to take advantage of the massive clean energy opportunity in front of us.”

McCarthy, 68, led the implementation of Biden’s expansive climate policy agenda across all federal agencies.

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• Judge sides with Biden in narrow ruling over oil lease pause in Wyoming

A federal judge sided with the Biden administration in a case related to its oil and gas leasing pause in Wyoming.

However, because of another case, the government still appears to be barred from continuing its leasing pause in several other states.

At the start of his tenure, President Biden temporarily paused new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters. This pause prevented new rights to drill for the fuels on federal lands from being auctioned off.

U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl, an Obama appointee, ruled Friday that the Biden administration was within its rights to postpone lease sales in Wyoming during the first quarter of 2021.

He wrote that there was “substantial evidence” to support the Interior Department’s move to put off lease sales that had been slated for March 2021 over concerns about the adequacy of their underlying environmental reviews.

Wyoming filed its suit after the March lease sales were postponed, but before other postponements. Skavdahl also ruled that Wyoming did not have the right to challenge any postponements that occurred after its suit was filed.

But, in most states, the Biden administration still appears to be barred from pausing new oil and gas leasing.

Last month, Trump appointee District Judge Terry Doughty ruled in favor of 13 states that had challenged the oil and gas leasing pause.

He determined that the law requires the government to sell oil and gas leases, and therefore, the Biden administration must auction more acres for drilling.
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• Biden administration seeks waiver of 'Buy American' rules for EV chargers

The Biden administration is asking for a waiver of "Buy American" rules for federally-funded electric vehicle chargers to more rapidly roll out the infrastructure needed to scale up EV adoption.

Domestic content rules say 100% of steel, iron, and manufactured goods made mostly of steel and iron in federal highway projects must be made in the United States.

But only a handful companies can build fast EV chargers that would meet the requirements, according to a filing submitted Wednesday by the Federal Highway Administration.

The agency argued that requiring companies to stick to the rules would significantly slow charger deployment as officials prepare to dole out $5 billion for chargers over the next five years under the bipartisan infrastructure law.

"Immediately applying all applicable domestic content preferences for these projects would be inconsistent with the public interest," the agency wrote. "It is likely to delay immediate implementation of (the funding) for EV chargers, which are a key strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

The request illustrates the tension between the administration's interests in rapidly decarbonizing the economy and reshoring manufacturing.

President Joe Biden has long promised to create millions of high-paying jobs by advancing clean energy and other climate-related goals. But supply chains for critical components of green technology — from the minerals in batteries to the microchips in cars and electronics — are not always reliably based in the U.S. or with allies.

The infrastructure law sought to create a national network of EV chargers along highways to decrease "range anxiety," in which consumers stick with gas cars because they're worried they won't be able to drive long distances in an EV. Auto experts say it is one of the top barriers to EV adoption.

The law requires most of that funding to go to DC Fast chargers, which most closely mimic the experience of stopping at a gas station by charging an EV to 80% in around 30 minutes.

Thirteen companies told FHWA they could build chargers that fit the requirements, but only three — ChargePoint, FreeWire Technologies Inc. and Rhombus — said they could build fast chargers. Industry experts said demand for chargers is already outpacing supply, and funding for the national charging network will only exacerbate that.

Instead, FHWA, an agency within the Department of Transportation, proposed weakened Buy American requirements that would ramp up over time.

Under the proposal, all chargers installed in 2022 would qualify for a full waiver of domestic sourcing requirements. For the first half of 2023, only chargers with final assembly in the U.S. would qualify. In the second half of 2023, the only qualifying chargers would have at least 25% U.S.-made components making up the total cost. By January 2024, that threshold would rise to 55%.

This approach would "provide a strong incentive" for companies to quickly shift to domestic manufacturing, according to the agency's filing. "We seek to maximize the use of American made products and materials while also ensuring successful and timely delivery of these critical EV infrastructure projects."

Several advocacy groups, including the Zero Emission Transportation Association, Electrify America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials also supported a phased-in approach.

Lack of reliable and easy-to-access charging is one of the top obstacles to buying an EV, said Mike Ramsey, a transportation and mobility analyst for Gartner Inc.

"It is important that the chargers are secured now," he said via email. "Longer term, it would be good for America to source more of its vital equipment either in the U.S. or with close trading partners, however."

Federal law only allows a waiver of Buy American rules when applying them would be inconsistent with the public interest or when there is not sufficient quantity or quality of the product available in the U.S.

These sorts of requirements often have "short-term unintended consequences and this is one of them," said Ramsey. "I expect a waiver to be granted because while the administration is seeking to create industrial policy, supply chains can’t be created overnight."

FHWA is seeking comments on the proposed rules through Sept. 30.

President Biden Delivers Remarks Celebrating Labor Day and the Dignity of American Workers

Biden touts accomplishments, takes on GOP during swing state stops with general election sprint underway

President Biden visited two key swing states on Labor Day to tout Democratic accomplishments and go on offense against Republicans with the midterm elections just two months away.

Biden first made a stop in Wisconsin to speak at Milwaukee Laborfest, followed by a stop in Pittsburgh where he delivered remarks to the United Steelworkers of America Local Union 2227.

While Biden used both events to demonstrate his support for labor unions, he also used the trips as campaign stops to show what his administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress has accomplished while he’s been in office.

The “…American Rescue Plan also created and saved millions of jobs. Why? Because here in the state of Pennsylvania, and almost every state, didn’t have enough money to keep teachers on the payroll, to keep firefighters on the job, to keep police on the job, to keep people, nurses and docs on the job,” Biden said while in Pennsylvania.

“And so what’d we do? We, in fact, gave them the money to make sure they did it. And this governor, your governor, spent it well.”

He also touted the bipartisan infrastructure law; aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act, including an aspect of the law that allows some drug prices to be negotiated by Medicare; and legislation boosting the domestic semiconductor industry amid a critical computer chip shortage.

Biden used the opportunity to go on offensive against Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), one of the most vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection in November, blasting him for comments that he thought Medicare and Social Security should be annually approved.

While in Pennsylvania, the president didn’t invoke Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz’s name but instead went after former President Trump more prominently in his remarks.

“All of us love the country. But you can’t love the country and say how much you love it when you only accept one of two outcomes from the election. Either you won or you were cheated. It doesn’t work that way,” Biden said, referring to Trump’s baseless allegations that the last election was stolen from him.

And borrowing language he used during his prime-time speech last Thursday, he also went after “MAGA Republicans.”

“Not every Republican is a MAGA Republican. Not every Republican embraces that extreme ideology. I know because I’ve been able to work with mainstream Republicans my whole career. But the extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress have chosen to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division,” Biden said in Wisconsin.

While Democratic Senate challenger Mandela Barnes, who is taking on Johnson in November, was not president during Biden’s speech, Biden gave him a shout out during his remarks in Wisconsin.

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman did attend the president’s event in the state. Biden quipped during his speech, “if I have to be in a foxhole. I want John Fetterman in there with me.”

Both Fetterman and Barnes are gearing up for tight races in critical battleground states that will help determine whether Democrats can retain control of the Senate past November.

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates Johnson’s seat as a “toss up” while it recently moved Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat from a “toss up” to “lean Democrat.”

Biden calls British PM Truss, reaffirms ‘special relationship’

President Biden called new British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Tuesday to congratulate her on her win and to reaffirm the strong ties between the U.S. and the U.K.

“The leaders reaffirmed the special relationship between our countries and expressed their readiness to further deepen those ties,” according to the White House.

Truss, the former foreign minister, took office on Tuesday, replacing former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who resigned following a series of scandals.

Biden and Truss on the call discussed cooperation on global issues, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as challenges from China and preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Additionally, they discussed securing “sustainable and affordable energy resources.”

Biden and Truss talked about their “shared commitment” to protecting the Good Friday Agreement, which is the agreement between British and Irish governments to restore self-government to Northern Island

“They also discussed … the importance of reaching a negotiated agreement with the European Union on the Northern Ireland Protocol,” according to the White House.

Biden has expressed his commitment to the agreement throughout his administration and spoke in March to Taoiseach Micheal Martin of Ireland about preserving the stability of Northern Ireland.

Truss delivered her first speech as prime minister on Tuesday at Downing Street, outlining priorities such as tax cuts, economic growth, energy security and the national health care system.

• DHS issues final rule to rescind Trump's "public charge" policy

The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday issued its final rule to rescind a Trump-era immigration policy that limited benefits for immigrants who used public assistance benefits, such as housing vouchers or Medicaid.

Driving the news: The DHS law rolls back Trump's "public charge" immigration rule, which restricted immigration benefits for foreigners who "are likely to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence," per the DHS .

• The new rule "restores the historical understanding of a ‘public charge’ that had been in place for decades," DHS said, adding that the Trump administration considered "supplemental public health benefits ... as part of the public charge inadmissibility determination."
• The Biden administration stopped enforcing the rule within months of taking office, Politico reports.

What they're saying: "This action ensures fair and humane treatment of legal immigrants and their U.S. citizen family members," Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.

• "Consistent with America’s bedrock values, we will not penalize individuals for choosing to access the health benefits and other supplemental government services available to them."

What to watch: The final rule is set to go into effect on Dec. 23.

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• Same-sex marriage bill expected to pass Senate this month

Senate negotiators expect to reach a deal on a bill to protect same-sex marriages in time to begin considering it on floor next week, which would put it on a path to pass before the end of the month.

Republican negotiators caution they haven’t yet locked down 10 GOP votes to overcome an expected filibuster against the bill, but they say they are making good progress.

“We’re not there yet,” said one Senate GOP source familiar with the soft whip count. “I think we’ll get there, but we’re not there yet.”

Negotiators believe they will work out a compromise to protect the views of religious groups that don’t recognize same-sex marriage, which would then attract more Republican support for the legislation.

“I’m uncertain what exactly the schedule will be but [we] will start the process, next week, I’m told, but it will really be the following week” that the bill gets done, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said while leaving the Capitol Thursday.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the lead Democratic negotiator, confirmed the expectation is to “start the process at the end of next week.”

Negotiators still need to finalize the language of an amendment to modify the original bill crafted by Baldwin and Collins in order to address the concerns of some Republican senators who worry the legislation could create legal problems for religious groups that don’t recognize same-sex marriage.

But those final details are expected to get hammered out next week.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told The Hill Thursday that he expected the final legislative language to be worked out by next week, but expressed uncertainty about the timing of the bill.

He and other negotiators, including Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), have kept in close touch with each other since returning to Washington after Labor Day to get the bill ready for the floor.

Senators have a small window to act before Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) moves to a short-term government funding measure, which needs to pass by Sept. 30 to avoid a shutdown.

Schumer on Wednesday said he does not want to add the marriage equality legislation to the funding stopgap, an idea Senate Democratic leadership floated Tuesday to force Republicans to commit to a path for getting the bill passed through the Senate.

GOP lawmakers — and Baldwin — balked at the idea of combining the two pieces of legislation, putting pressure on Republicans to commit to considering a standalone marriage equality bill on the Senate floor in the next few weeks, according to Senate Democratic aides.

The trial balloon about wrapping marriage equality legislation into a two-and-a-half-month government funding measure got lawmakers and media outlets focused on the marriage issue at the start of the week, putting a spotlight on whether GOP senators would block it.

Senators are still uncertain, however, which 10 Republicans will support the bill when it comes to the floor.

One prospect, retiring Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), said Thursday that he was not involved in the negotiations.

“I’m going to look at the bill when they produce it, but I’m not involved in any talks,” he said.

Another possible yes vote, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), said he is still deliberating over how to vote.

“I’m consulting with my constituents about it,” he said.

A Senate aide noted that Young was spotted on the floor Thursday afternoon chatting with a couple of the negotiators who are working on the final version.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), another Republican who has joined past bipartisan efforts, said he’s a “no” vote.

“It’s not necessary, I don’t think,” he said. “I personally am not planning on voting for it.”

Collins, Baldwin and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced the Respect for Marriage Act in July to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensconce marriage equality into federal law.

The senators announced the legislation after conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas urged fellow justices to reconsider the court’s landmark 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, when it ruled that the 14th Amendment’s protection of the right to marry applies to same-sex couples.

The House passed its version of the Respect for Marriage Act in July by a vote of 267 to 157, with 47 Republicans joining all Democrats in passing the measure.

Some Republicans, however, worry the legislation could create unintended legal consequences for religious groups that don’t support same-sex marriage.

“One of the things that has been raised is that an institution that doesn’t support gay marriage, say a Catholic charity helping orphans, that they would somehow face consequences such as funding cuts,” said a source familiar with the negotiations.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said his vote will depend on how the language to protect religious liberty is drafted.

“I have questions and concerns about religious liberty and that being included as part of the legislation, so we’re working on that,” he said, adding he is a possible “yes” vote, “depending on how it turns out.”

Republican lawmakers also want to make sure that the legislation isn’t drafted in a way that might somehow be interpreted as granting federal protection to polygamous marriages.

People familiar with the negotiations say that Republicans who are raising concerns over sections of the bill are, by and large, getting the changes they have requested, building momentum for final passage of the bill in the third full week of September.

Schumer on Wednesday guaranteed a vote on the bill “in the coming weeks.”

I can't think of anything better than every single gay person in America hating the Republicans after watching them fillibuster such a bill.

Talk about guaranteed Democrat votes.

Some Republicans, however, worry the legislation could create unintended legal consequences for religious groups that don’t support same-sex marriage.

No, they're worried about losing votes. Fuck all else.

The following countries dirtbag leaders have not been invited:

Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Belarus.... and Russia.

I guess Puffy knows his level now.

Looks like the Catholic legal bill is about to go through the roof.