President Joe Biden traveled to Milwaukee on Tuesday, visiting a factory that manufactures clean energy and slashing corporate taxes to make his case for investments in US manufacturing.
Biden’s visit was in the US state of Wisconsin, a key battleground in the upcoming election. His focus was to tout the importance of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which the president signed into law last year with great ceremony but polls show many people are not informed on what it does.
The president’s economic agenda had been in contention since Republicans were quick to attack him over inflation hitting a four-decade peak last summer. His ideas have been in opposition to the conservative wing of the party, with Senator Ron Johnson vocally in favor of outsourcing manufacturing jobs.
You go that way, Joe pic.twitter.com/j9fURw7kQu
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 15, 2023
“It’s really kind of basic: we just decided to invest in America again,” Biden said on Tuesday, as he challenged Johnson’s view. “That’s what it’s all about.”
The president toured Ingeteam, a clean energy manufacturer of onshore wind turbine generators in Milwaukee, and spoke on lowered healthcare costs, increased domestic manufacturing, and the taxation of billionaires.
The White House estimates that there has been nearly $500 billion invested in US factories and other facilities under the President’s leadership. According to administration officials, the trip was to recognize the effects of the IRA.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., spoke to the press, highlighting the difference between Republican and Democratic perspectives. “The contrast between Republicans and us is incredible,” he said.
Biden stumbles through an attempt at insulting Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pic.twitter.com/LrQhmHKnSn
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 15, 2023
On the other side of the aisle, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., highlighted that US households are still suffering from the effects of higher prices. “Real wages are down and gas prices are up,” he said. “You are paying the price for failed leadership.”
The former treasury secretary Larry Summers, however, had asserted during a virtual event in July that Biden’s economic agenda was “increasingly dangerous.” According to him, the president had implemented a “doctrine of manufacturing-centered economic nationalism.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and top cabinet officials will be traveling all week across the country to discuss the IRA law, while Biden plans the anniversary event for Wednesday at the White House.
Although the trip was made when Republicans were set to descend at Milwaukee for a presidential debate, Biden did not address former President Donald Trump, who was charged with criminal intent in Georgia on Monday.
Next year will see Wisconsin as a key state in the upcoming presidential race. Democrats are hoping the President’s visit increases support from independents, who make up around 10% of voters in the state.
Charles Franklin, director of Marquette Law School Poll, was quoted saying, “What he really needs to do is get independents in the state to like him a bit better. Coming and talking about his achievements, about factories that are working with American jobs — all of that is a good reason to come to speak to those folks in the state who are not partisans.”
Biden pulls out a giant wad of tissues to blow his nose during his speech, then starts yelling again pic.twitter.com/bkN9V67jzF
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 15, 2023
