WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Monday criticized Republicans who “fiscally demented” and said the GOP’s top priority legislation would worsen inflation while increasing taxes on the working class and helping the super-wealthy.
“This is how they start their new term,” Biden said during remarks at an event organized by the National Action Network, a civil rights organization. “If any of these bills happen to reach my desk, I will veto them.”
Biden began his comments, delivered on the federal holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, by listing ways he said his administration has helped black Americans, a group crucial to his 2020 run for the White House .But Biden said those achievements must now be defended because Republicans won control of the House in the 2022 midterm elections.
“On this and so much more, I have your back,” said Biden, who is expected to make an announcement in the coming weeks that he is running for a second term in 2024. “We have to stand together.”
Biden’s comments came as he has faced increasing attack from Republicans over his handling of classified documents when he was vice president.
“A lot of questions that need to be asked,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Monday on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.” “At least finally you have someone willing to ask these questions now that the Republicans are in charge of the House to get some accountability and some answers.”
White House spokesman Ian Sams on Monday accused Republicans of being “shamelessly hypocritical” for dismissing concerns about the much larger cache of classified documents held by former President Donald Trump, who resisted giving up on them.
The latest
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Ending 2022 strong: Democrats’ better-than-expected performance in the midterm elections helped Biden finish 2022 with a stack of late-year victories. His approval rating had started ticking up again.
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Early stumbling: But last week’s revelation that classified documents were found in his private office in Washington and a garage at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, is a problem. They have added legitimacy to Republicans’ willingness to investigate Biden.
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Draw a contrast: Biden did not specifically address the documents issue or the Republican investigation in general in Monday’s remarks. Instead, he tried to draw a contrast in politics.
Biden attacks Republicans
Biden delivered what was perhaps his harshest comment Monday, indirectly. He said his administration was able to improve the lives of black Americans and others while being fiscally responsible, touting an increase in the corporate minimum tax and a decrease in the deficit.
“These guys are fiscally demented, I think,” Biden added in an apparent reference to Republicans. “They don’t quite get it.”
Brewing fiscal battles
Biden was more specific when he criticized some of the legislative priorities of House Republicans. He said the bill Republicans passed last week undoing a funding bump for the IRS to hire about 87,000 workers including agents would add $114 billion to the deficit by makes it easier for the wealthy and large companies to cheat on their taxes. Republicans say their bill, which has little chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate, is needed to prevent IRS agents from going after hardworking Americans.
Biden also criticized a GOP plan that has yet to be voted on abolish the IRS and replace the income tax with a consumption tax.
And he accused Republicans of wanting to go after Social Security and Medicare, a potential battle brewing as Republicans vow to rein in federal spending before agreeing to raise the limit on how much the government can borrow.
Defense “awakening”
In addition to fiscal policy, Biden also defended his actions on issues of social justice and the culture war.
Touting civil rights achievements — including making lynching a federal hate crime, establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday and enshrining marriage equality in federal law — Biden said addressing the abuses of the past is “not being ‘woke.’
“It’s being honest,” he said.
Some Republicans have rallied against an “awakening” they say, are thrust upon society as punishment for “past and present alleged sins.”
Why it matters
Biden repeated his frequent claims that he is willing to work with Republicans on “real solutions.” But regulatory gridlock is the more likely outcome in a divided government, especially in today’s polarized political environment.
As he prepares for an expected re-election bid, Biden is taking every opportunity to draw a contrast with the GOP. His address Monday maybe has had the additional goal of firing up a key circle.
Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, introduced Biden by saying that he has always had Black America behind him.
“Over the last two years, we’ve accomplished an incredible amount together,” Biden said. “Then let’s get on with it.”
Do you want to know more? Here’s what you missed
We need to ‘redeem America’s soul’: Biden speaks at Martin Luther King Jr.’s church
Biden documents: Republicans want more information; Democrats say the GOP is defending Trump
Americans don’t expect much: What will happen in Washington in the next 2 years?
“Justice and double standards”: How Biden’s debacle with classified documents could become a political, legal liability
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: In the MLK Day speech, Biden lashes out at Republicans and praises black Americans
