Biden signs $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, eyes next stage of pandemic fight
By Jeff Mason

U.S. President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan, a package of economic relief measures to respond to the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, inside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 11, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hours after signing his $1.9 trillion stimulus bill into law on Thursday, President Joe Biden prepared to tell Americans in a televised address he is taking aggressive action to speed COVID-19 vaccinations and move the country closer to normality by July 4.

Biden signed the measure, designed to bring relief to Americans and boost the economy, with Vice President Kamala Harris at his side in the Oval Office. The package is a major political victory for the Democratic president some 50 days into his administration.

He plans to discuss the new law and commemorate the anniversary of the lockdown with a primetime speech at 8 p.m. (0100 GMT Friday) that will pair optimism about the future with a call for Americans to remain vigilant against the highly contagious respiratory virus.

About 530,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, the most of any country, and coronavirus-related lockdowns and restrictions have cost millions of jobs.

Biden will announce that he is ordering U.S. states, territories and tribes to make all adults eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by May 1, administration officials said. About 10% of Americans have so far been fully vaccinated.

He will also announce the deployment of an additional 4,000 U.S. troops to help in the vaccination effort and set a goal of the July 4 Independence Day holiday for families and friends to be able to gather again in small groups.

Biden and top members of his administration will embark on a victory lap of sorts in the coming weeks to laud and explain the legislation, called the American Rescue Plan, which got final approval from the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday.

"This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving people in this nation - working people and middle-class folks, the people who built the country - a fighting chance," Biden said before signing.

The president will also use his remarks on Thursday night to encourage Americans to continue to wear masks, keep socially distant and practice good hygiene to stop the spread of the virus as the pace of vaccinations increases. A number of states have been loosening restrictions.

'WHAT WE'VE BEEN THROUGH'

Biden, who campaigned on a promise to curb the pandemic more effectively than his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, has told Americans since his January inauguration that more deaths and pain were coming from COVID-19.

As the vaccinated population slowly increases, Biden is conveying fresh hope even as he urges people to remain cautious to prevent further flare-ups.

Biden said on Wednesday he would use his address to discuss "what we've been through as a nation this past year" and lay out the next phase of the government's COVID-19 response.

Biden's signing of the legislation, which passed without a single Republican vote, had initially been scheduled for Friday, but White House chief of staff Ron Klain said it was moved up after it arrived at the White House on Wednesday night.

"We want to move as fast as possible," Klain posted on Twitter. A celebration with congressional leaders would still take place on Friday, he said.

The package provides $400 billion for $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, $350 billion in aid to state and local governments, an expansion of the child tax credit and increased funding for COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Republicans complained the price tag was too steep.

Biden will discuss the benefits of the pandemic relief bill during trips to Pennsylvania next Tuesday and Atlanta on March 19.

The lockdown from the virus began under Trump, who played down the crisis in its early stages and eschewed mask-wearing, while repeatedly predicting the virus would soon disappear even as his administration pushed to speed up vaccine development.

The former president and his wife, Melania Trump, did not appear in a public service announcement released on Thursday encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations and featuring all of the other living former U.S. presidents and their spouses.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal, Jarrett Renshaw and Susan Heavey; Editing by Heather Timmons and Peter Cooney)

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-12

 

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What a difference competence in government makes 50 days in I’m fully vaccinated (mederna) the wife got her first jab today help on the way for states to vaccinate help to small business help to get the schools open and help to the working class that’s all done in his first 50 days not bad for an old duffer ehh and the biggest scandal so far is his dog bit some dude I don’t know about you but I’m impressed get her done Joe!!

46 minutes ago, webfact said:

$1.9 trillion

paper scrap, reprintable in arbitrarily large amounts

15 minutes ago, Tug said:

not bad for an old duffer ehh and the biggest scandal so far is his dog bit some dude

Dog bit some dude? Irrelevant. His biggest scandal this month is he is unable to do a press conference, for obvious reasons. He is breaking modern records by being the only modern President unable to face the press, so much for transparency. And there are of course larger scandals waiting in the wings, 2 huge ones that come to mind.

1 hour ago, Tug said:

What a difference competence in government makes 50 days in I’m fully vaccinated (mederna) the wife got her first jab today help on the way for states to vaccinate help to small business help to get the schools open and help to the working class that’s all done in his first 50 days not bad for an old duffer ehh and the biggest scandal so far is his dog bit some dude I don’t know about you but I’m impressed get her done Joe!!

Gawd I hope your blonde & beautiful because if not your cheer leading has no excuse except your pom poms may have blinded you to reality ????

1 hour ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Dog bit some dude? Irrelevant. His biggest scandal this month is he is unable to do a press conference, for obvious reasons. He is breaking modern records by being the only modern President unable to face the press, so much for transparency. And there are of course larger scandals waiting in the wings, 2 huge ones that come to mind.

Can't blame Biden because of the mess he inherited and the urgent need to provide prompt solutions to the health and economic mess,a raging pandemic and the zero plan on logistic left behind by the previous president. Anyway, why the fixation on press conference after all more press avilability didn't equate to more truth or transparency with the previous President. I say, Biden should get on with more urgent matters than indulge in pleasing Fox with a news conference. 

16 minutes ago, meechai said:

Gawd I hope your blonde & beautiful because if not your cheer leading has no excuse except your pom poms may have blinded you to reality ????

Yea I’m kinda a deeds not words kinda guy you know like getting things done to help the American people I’m grounded in reality how about you?

1 hour ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Dog bit some dude? Irrelevant. His biggest scandal this month is he is unable to do a press conference, for obvious reasons. He is breaking modern records by being the only modern President unable to face the press, so much for transparency. And there are of course larger scandals waiting in the wings, 2 huge ones that come to mind.

Nonsense. Biden has been taking questions from the press. Just not in a formal press conference. 

As for scandals...right wingers have been predicting imminent indictments of the Bidens for years. How much time has to pass before such claims are adjudged to be wrong? Or is this like the 2nd coming of Jesus which is has been predicted to occur any day now for the past 2000 years?

I understand that checks will start to be auto deposited this weekend.

2 hours ago, Ralf61 said:

paper scrap, reprintable in arbitrarily large amounts

Do you have any better ideas? I you do please email them to the POTUS and the VPOTUS.

You could also email them to the former POTUS, Donald Trump, though probably wouldn't be interested. 

The checks are fine but the Biden effect has been negative thus far.
 

What you are seeing in vaccine availability was in the pipeline and is a result of programs started last year. 
 

Biden ? Isn't he the guy that's appears to have gone AWOL ? What is it now - 50 days without a press conference ? 

57 minutes ago, BigA said:

The checks are fine but the Biden effect has been negative thus far.
 

What you are seeing in vaccine availability was in the pipeline and is a result of programs started last year. 
 

If it were just about vaccine supplies you'd have a better point. But those vaccines don't do much good unless they're injected into someone's arm. The Biden Administration has already created several huge Federal outreach vaccination centers and is creating more. That was not part of Trump's plan. The Administration is also sending federal workers to assist states in vaccinating people. Also not a plan of Trump's.

In addition, Trump was loathe to use the Defense Production Act. He did, but very sparingly. As soon as the Biden Administration took office, they used it to help Johnson and Johnson acquire a piece of equipment crucial to creating more vaccine.

55 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Biden ? Isn't he the guy that's appears to have gone AWOL ? What is it now - 50 days without a press conference ? 

Well, unless it's a Biden impersonator who's been answering questions from the press, you don't have much of a point. Official press conferences aren't the only way the president can take questions.

3 hours ago, placeholder said:

Nonsense. Biden has been taking questions from the press. Just not in a formal press conference. 

As for scandals...right wingers have been predicting imminent indictments of the Bidens for years. How much time has to pass before such claims are adjudged to be wrong? Or is this like the 2nd coming of Jesus which is has been predicted to occur any day now for the past 2000 years?

I guess I missed it.  Biden signs—Biden leaves post haste.  50 days with no presser.  Either he simply cannot take questions without a teleprompter or an earplug, or his handlers too afraid of what he’d say.

1 minute ago, Isaan sailor said:

I guess I missed it.  Biden signs—Biden leaves post haste.  50 days with no presser.  Either he simply cannot take questions without a teleprompter or an earplug, or his handlers too afraid of what he’d say.

As the excerpt from the article below notes, he has answered questions from the press numerous times.

The controversy over Biden not holding a formal press conference, explained

As President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill that is supported by a solid majority of Americans and that funds distribution of coronavirus vaccines, among many other things, Fox News is fixating on something he’s not doing: holding formal news conferences.

While he’s answered questions from reporters in informal settings numerous times and held a CNN town hall, Biden has now gone 50 days without holding a formal news conference. It’d be ideal for him to do one, but there are many good reasons he hasn’t yet — the urgent public health and economic crises he inherited, a pandemic that complicates logistics, and the legacy former President Donald Trump left him of presidential news conferences doubling as hate spectacles.

https://www.vox.com/22325285/biden-press-conference-controversy-explained

A trolling post and several unsourced / unsubstantiated allegation posts have been removed.

 

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Biden ? Isn't he the guy that's appears to have gone AWOL ? What is it now - 50 days without a press conference ? 

Nah. You must be thinking of the former president. Perhaps President Biden feels that he should spend his time as the POTUS actually DOING things than tweeting about it.

There is the daily press briefing you could look at on the news.

Try looking at the majority of news websites on a daily basis and you can see what he has done.

If you are lucky you may find a news website that has something that the former president actually achieved.

2 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

I guess I missed it.  Biden signs—Biden leaves post haste.  50 days with no presser.  Either he simply cannot take questions without a teleprompter or an earplug, or his handlers too afraid of what he’d say.

Or, as is more likely the case, they're just setting an ambush for people who make comments like yours. We've had plenty of evidence of Biden holding extended discussions during interviews where he displayed a far more detailed grasp of facts than his predecessor. Admittedly, that's setting a very low bar.

Two off topic troll posts have been removed

4 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

I guess I missed it.  Biden signs—Biden leaves post haste.  50 days with no presser.  Either he simply cannot take questions without a teleprompter or an earplug, or his handlers too afraid of what he’d say.

Well I guess he’s very busy trying to dig us out of the crater the disgraced ex president left us in but take heart there are daily press briefings were your questions are answered backed by truth and facts btw.not lies and innuendo of the last president 

15 minutes ago, Tug said:

Well I guess he’s very busy trying to dig us out of the crater the disgraced ex president left us in but take heart there are daily press briefings were your questions are answered backed by truth and facts btw.not lies and innuendo of the last president 

Yes, exactly. Also while it may indeed be true that the popular President Biden won't/can't perform optimally in frequent press conferences himself, the last time I checked that wasn't a constitutional duty of the office. Bottom line for Biden is will he get great results turning the U.S. around from the pandemic by actually solving the fundamental problems with it (rather than smoke, mirrors, lies, and spin). So far he appears to be on a likely path of great success with that. Also, one of his stated promises in his campaign was to lower the temperature of the historically severe partisan divide greatly inflamed by the former president guy. In other words, he said he was going to be boring, betting that boring (and of course steady and competent) was exactly what the public wanted. Based on his high approval numbers, higher than the former president guy ever enjoyed during his shambolic reign, he is meeting his promise in that as well.

 

So what if he did a bunch of live press conferences? We know he is a gaffe machine, always has been. That would just serve to fuel the fires of division. Much better that he just actually do his job!

5 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

I guess I missed it.  Biden signs—Biden leaves post haste.  50 days with no presser.  Either he simply cannot take questions without a teleprompter or an earplug, or his handlers too afraid of what he’d say.

At least this guy has handlers unlike trump, who fired/drove away all the grown-ups and thus ensured 4 years of unrestrained mayhem - Lord Of The Flies in the WH.

6 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Biden ? Isn't he the guy that's appears to have gone AWOL ? What is it now - 50 days without a press conference ? 

Yes, isn't it refreshing not to have a president who doesn't spend every waking hour (when not playing golf, of course) sending self-gratifying mentally challenged tweets?

Meanwhile, back on the topic, GOP congress members who voted against it are taking credit

GOP Senator Who Voted Against COVID-19 Relief Already Taking Credit For Bill’s Benefits

Bottoms feeders, a disgrace.

 

9 minutes ago, bendejo said:

Meanwhile, back on the topic, GOP congress members who voted against it are taking credit

GOP Senator Who Voted Against COVID-19 Relief Already Taking Credit For Bill’s Benefits

Bottoms feeders, a disgrace.

 

GOP are all over the place and probably backpedaling on the bipartisan support for the bill. Meanwhile Rick Scott tell his people to reject the bill and return the money. What a jerk who has over 200 million in his portfolio. 

https://news.yahoo.com/florida-sen-rick-scott-implores-135445576.html

Off-topic, troll posts removed.   Continue at your own peril.  

 

This is cash given to the people just so they like him as much as they did president Trump. 

He obviously doesn't care about hyperinflation. Just mark my words, the people will be protesting to get Trump back in a couple of years after Biden has made such a mess of things. 

1 minute ago, Neeranam said:

This is cash given to the people just so they like him as much as they did president Trump. 

He obviously doesn't care about hyperinflation. Just mark my words, the people will be protesting to get Trump back in a couple of years after Biden has made such a mess of things. 

I have indeed marked your words.

On 3/12/2021 at 8:47 AM, webfact said:

He plans to discuss the new law and commemorate the anniversary of the lockdown with a primetime speech at 8 p.m. (0100 GMT Friday) that will pair optimism about the future with a call for Americans to remain vigilant against the highly contagious respiratory virus.

Yes, the speech was written by someone well before it was spoken, so he could read it a few times and not make gaffs like others recently. He actually read it rather well, considering.