What has Biden done for me lately?

Unpacking President Biden’s first 100 days.

This piece was originally published in the April 27, 2021 edition of CAP Action’s newsletter, the Progress Report. Subscribe to the Progress Report here.

“We should audit rich tax cheats more than poor grandmothers who claim a kid as a dependent.”

— Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), applauding Biden’s plan to help the IRS fairly enforce our tax laws rather than disproportionately targeting low-income Americans

It can sometimes feel like nothing gets done in Washington — and when something does get done, that it won’t affect our daily lives.

But the first 100 days of the Biden administration are giving us reason to hope that the government can, in fact, do big things that actually help people.

Last month, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law, sending stimulus checks to millions of Americans. Check out this chart that explains how Biden’s relief bill is already putting money in pockets:

IN THE NEWS

• It’s a busy week in Washington. President Biden is slated to give his first speech to a joint session of Congress tomorrow night. For those of us outside the beltway, this is the same thing as a State of the Union speech — it just has a different name when it happens during the president’s first year in office.
• In tomorrow’s address, Biden is widely expected to announce more details about his upcoming policy priorities, including his highly-anticipated plans to boost child care, paid leave, and health care. This overarching legislative package is also known as the American Families Plan — you can read more about it here.
• After his speech on Wednesday night, Biden will officially mark his first 100 days in office with a Thursday trip to Atlanta, Georgia.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• Biden’s $2+ trillion infrastructure and jobs plan, also known as the American Jobs Plan, is really popular. A new poll out this morning from Invest in America and Data for Progress found that nearly 70% of Americans support Biden’s plan over the woefully insufficient, consumer-funded plan being floated by several Republican senators.
• It’s not surprising when you take a look at what’s in the two proposals. Biden’s plan would invest $2.25 trillion in America’s social and physical infrastructure, to be funded by taxing big corporations. The senators’ counter-offer, on the other hand, is barely a fraction of the size of Biden’s plan, and it would be funded not by corporations, but by working people through “user fees” like tolls and gas taxes.

“We’ve got to ask the wealthy and large corporations to pay their fair share,” Senate Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders said in response to the proposal, “not demand more taxes on the middle class and working families.”

• The CDC announced new guidance today on outdoor mask-wearing, providing some helpful context for the question so many of us have been asking ourselves as we enter our second pandemic summer: Do I need to wear a mask outside? The answer is a bit complicated, but the CDC said that fully vaccinated people can go maskless when walking, exercising, or dining outdoors. Remember, fully vaccinated means it’s been several weeks since your final (or only) dose of the vaccine.
• Because of the low risk of outdoor transmission, the CDC said that unvaccinated people can go maskless when socializing outdoors with members of their households. But they also stressed that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, should continue wearing masks at outdoor sporting events, in crowds, and in any outdoor setting where proper distance can’t be maintained.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Is Chauvin verdict a victory? Not when we are still killed, traumatized daily by Ayanna Pressley (USA Today)
• Biden At 100 Days: By The Numbers by Jason Breslow (NPR)
• Some bad news about our future gives Biden a big opening. Will he seize it? by Greg Sargent (Washington Post)
• C.E.O. Pay Remains Stratospheric, Even at Companies Battered by Pandemic by David Gelles (New York Times)
• When communities try to hold police accountable, law enforcement fights back by Nicole Dungca and Jenn Abelson (Washington Post)