new York It was supposed to be a speech about economic recovery. But in the past few days, the US President had his State of the Union address rewritten as a condemnation of Vladimir Putin. Joe Biden thus addressed the invasion of Ukraine, which Democrats and Republicans alike condemn.
“Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin attempted to shake the foundations of the free world. He thought he could change her with his threats. But he made a serious miscalculation,” he said at the beginning of his speech to the American Congress, to great applause. Many members of Congress wore the colors yellow and blue in solidarity with Ukraine. Several Republicans held Ukrainian flags in their hands. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who has been invited to testify for companies investing billions of dollars in the US, also has a yellow and blue pocket square.
“He thought he could invade Ukraine and the world would let him. Instead, he encountered a resilience he never thought possible,” Biden said of Putin. “He got to know the Ukrainian people.” The invasion would have only brought the West and NATO even closer together.
Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected several diplomatic attempts. “He thought the West and NATO would not react. And, he thought he could divide us,” Putin said. But “Putin was wrong. We are ready!”.
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US Congress shows solidarity with Ukraine
As Biden calls on members of Congress to stand to show their solidarity with Ukraine, the entire room stands and applauds the Ambassador of Ukraine, who is standing in the guest gallery, fighting back tears.
“History has taught us the lesson,” Biden said, “when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they bring more chaos.” They just keep going.” And with that, “the costs and dangers to America and the world continued to mount.”
NATO was founded after World War II to ensure peace and stability in Europe. For months, the US had “forged a coalition of peace-loving nations in Europe, America, Asia and Africa to confront Putin.”
Biden listed the sanctions and plans to hit the oligarchs’ yachts and luxury apartments. “By preventing the Russian central bank from defending the ruble, we are making Putin’s 630 billion ‘war fund’ worthless,” he explains. “We are denying Russia access to technology, which is collapsing Russia’s economic strength and will weaken the Russian military for years to come.”
US soldiers will not fight in Ukraine, but will defend NATO partners
At the same time, he made it clear that American soldiers will not fight in Ukraine, but are ready to defend their NATO allies “should Putin decide to move west”.
With his planned economic package, Biden wants to combat the economic consequences of the invasion of Ukraine – above all in the form of further rising inflation. “We have a choice: One way is to fight inflation by lowering wages and making Americans poorer. I have a better plan,” he announced. “Reduce costs, not your wages,” he promised the Americans. He wants to achieve this by shifting production more to the USA. This is intended to reduce transport costs and reduce independence from uncertain supply chains.
“Economists call it ‘increasing the productive capacity of our economy’. I call it building a better America,” he said, naming Intel, but also General Motors and Ford as laudable examples of companies investing billions in new chip or battery plants.
Biden also promised lower drug prices and invited a 12-year-old boy to testify, paying $300 for each insulin shot. He promised more controls against tax evaders and large companies that have collected pandemic aid for small business owners. He assured middle-class families earning less than $400,000 a year that they would not pay a dollar more in taxes than before.
Biden: “I’m a capitalist. But capitalism without competition is exploitation.”
“For years we’ve been told the wealth of those at the top trickles down,” Biden called out to the room. But that didn’t happen. That’s why he wants to do more for the average American.
He also wants to enforce more competition in various sectors. “I am a capitalist. But capitalism without competition is exploitation.” When there is no competition, corporate profits rise, but so do consumer prices, he explained.
He also earned standing applause from the Republicans when he made it clear that he does not want to take away the money from the police, but instead wants to make more money available for training.
Biden also appealed for unity at the end of his speech. “On this evening, the 245th year as a nation”, he called the State of the Union – “strong because you, the Americans, are strong”.
Today America is stronger than a year ago. Now is the moment to master the challenges. “And we will, as a people. One America. The United States of America.”
More: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock calls for a sharp condemnation of Russia. It is a matter of deciding “between peace and aggression”.