Jan. 26 (UPI) — U.S. President Joe Biden touted the country’s economic progress during a speech Thursday in Springfield, Va.
“Just this morning, we got some very good news about the American economy,” Biden told an audience consisting of members of the Steamfitters Union.
Biden was referring to Thursday’s report from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which showed the country’s gross domestic product increased by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, at an annualized pace.
“I’m not sure the news could have been any better — economic growth is up stronger than experts expected, 2.9%,” Biden said.
“I don’t think it’s unfair to say that this is all evidence that the Biden economic plan is actually working.”
The president also took aim at his Republican detractors, defending the economic progress, a week after the federal government hit its national debt limit of $31.4 trillion.
“We’re moving in the right direction. Now we’ve got to protect those gains.” We’ve got to protect those gains that our policies have generated. Protect them from the MAGA Republicans in the House Representatives who are threatening to destroy this progress,” Biden said Thursday.
House Republicans are looking for spending cuts in exchange for supporting an increase to the debt limit.
“This ain’t your father’s Republican Party. This is a different breed of cat, as they say,” Biden said, referring to the party’s contingent of hardline conservatives.
“They’re actually threatening to have us default on the American debt, a debt that has been accumulated over 230 years. We’ve never, ever done that.”
He also touted a Republican plan to slash the IRS and install a national sales tax as “chaos.”
“This one I love. They want to impose a 30% national sales tax on everything from food, clothes, school supplies, housing, cars, the whole deal, 30%.”