Biden Unveils Plan To Fight Inflation, Revives 'Build Back Better', During First State Of The Union

Coming in at just over an hour (1 hour and 20 seconds, to be exact), President Biden's State of the Union was notably shorter than those of his immediate predecessors - both Barack Obama and President Trump, both of whom regularly delivered SOTUs that were longer than 70 minutes. It was also four minutes shorter than last year's address to a joint session of Congress.

He also concluded with a line that many complained was bizarre, telling his audience to "go get him". Go get who?

Toward the end of the speech, President Biden claimed that he wanted to "hold law enforcement accountable" while also insisting that he wanted to "fund the police". At one point, he even waxed poetic about the two NYPD officers who were recently killed by an unhinged, dangerous criminal.

Toward the end, Biden also urged Congress to 'protect a woman's right to an abortion' as the US Supreme Court is set to rule this year on whether a Mississippi ban on the procedure after 15 weeks can remain.

Meanwhile, check out the reaction in online betting markets to Biden's speech.

Here are the odds of Republicans retaking the House.

And the odds of them retaking the Senate.

Now it's time for the rebuttals.

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Update (1000ET): While pushing Americans to "reset" after the divisiveness of the pandemic, President Biden also pushed for a "reset" of "Build Back Better", the central aspect of his domestic agenda.

Except Biden has a new name for it: instead of "Build Back Better", he's conjured up a proposal he’s calling "Building a Better America."

As BBG described it, it’s pretty much the ideas he proposed before: only messaged as more about deficit reduction and reducing inflation.

It includes much of the old plan, including capping the cost of child care for poor families, but it also includes measures to supposedly boost manufacturing, shore up supply chains, all while "promoting renewable energy".

On the immigration front, Biden called for the US to "revise our laws" and back his immigration reform package to create a guest worker program.

And earlier in his speech, he promised Americans that Pfizer's COVID therapeutic would be available to anyone at any pharmacy.

On the Fed, Biden exhorted the GOP to let his Fed nominees get a vote in the Senate. Biden called on Senate Republicans to stop blocking a vote on his five nominees to the Federal Reserve.

"Confirm my nominees for the Federal Reserve, which plays a critical role in fighting inflation."

Moving on, Biden also proposed a four-part "unity agenda" including measures to combat the opioid epidemic, something that includes going after the traffickers. He also said proposed allocating more resources for addiction treatment and "mental health".

At around 2200, Biden pointed to Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen as he discussed "the harms" caused by social media, before proposing we "ban targeted advertising to children" and "demand tech companies stop collecting data on our children".

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Update (0930ET): Not even a half-hour into his speech, President Biden has defied press reports claiming he would seek to avoid directly referencing America's inflationary issue. During the part of his speech where Biden laid out his policy for combating inflation, Biden spoke the word aloud quite liberally.

By the way, Biden mostly hewed to the vision laid out by his office (via official releases and press leaks), whereby he plans to miraculously cure inflation by pushing American firms to be more competitive on pricing. Biden wants companies to "lower your costs - not your wages."

The only problem with that logic is wages are typically one of the largest financial burdens borne by business owners.

Still, Biden insisted that fighting inflation is his "top priority".

"With all the bright spots in our economy, record job growth and higher wages, too many families are struggling to keep up with the bills, Inflation is robbing them of the gains they might otherwise feel," Biden said in remarks prepared for his State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington Tuesday evening. "I get it. That’s why my top priority is getting prices under control."

"My top priority is getting prices under control," Pres. Biden says. "One way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poor. But I think I have a better idea to fight inflation. Lower your costs—not your wages."

Biden also proposed new minimum corporate tax rates that would affect a large swath of the Fortune 500 (the firms that produce more than half the country's GDP?)