Post Politics Now: ‘No surprise’ that the economy is slowing, country on ‘right path,’ Biden says
Today, President Biden said that it’s “no surprise” that the economy is slowing but that the country is on the “right path,” shortly after a government report was released showing that the economy shrank for a second straight quarter, reviving recession fears. In a statement, Biden argued that the development was not unexpected given “historic” growth in the nation’s gross domestic product last year and efforts by the Federal Reserve to curb inflation.
Meanwhile, the House is poised to pass legislation strongly backed by Biden that would provide $52 billion in subsidies to domestic semiconductor manufacturers and invest billions in science and technology innovation in a bid to strengthen U.S. competitiveness with China and other nations. The Senate passed the “chips bill” Wednesday and is now angling to pass a separate economic package next week that aims to lower health-care costs, combat climate change and reduce the federal deficit. Biden is expected to pitch that legislation during remarks from the White House on Thursday afternoon.
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Analysis: What’s in and what’s out of Manchin’s surprise climate deal
After weeks of on-again, off-again negotiations, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) shocked much of Washington on Wednesday by announcing that he had reached a long-sought agreement with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on significant new spending to combat climate change and bolster clean energy production.
Writing in The Climate 202, The Post’s Maxine Joselow notes that while the agreement, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, would make some concessions to Manchin on fossil fuel production, it still represents the largest piece of climate legislation in the nation’s history. Maxine writes:
The new agreement falls short of the $555 billion in climate spending that Democrats had initially hoped to enact through the budget reconciliation package, formerly known as the Build Back Better Act. And it would mandate new oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska — an apparent concession to Manchin, who has championed an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy policy that includes fossil fuels.Still, the package would cut America’s greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030, according to a one-page summary.
You can read the full analysis here, in which Maxine reviews what’s in the package and what’s out.
