On 1/19/2023, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden Econ plan “working” but Americans poorer now than when Biden took office, “his economic plan for the American people is indeed working. But as President is fighting — as he is fighting to bring costs down more and ensure that middle-class families get a fair shake, House Republicans are advancing an economic plan that will take tax cuts for the rich, higher prices, and cutting social media — pardon me — cutting Social — Social Security …”
Their very first vote of the new Congress was a bill to worsen inflation and tax welfare for the rich. They want to impose an unprecedented tax increase on middle-class families in the form of a 23 percent sales tax in order to provide even more tax giveaways to the super rich and big corporations. They’re going to vote to raise gas prices and deprive Americans of relief at the pump. And they’re threatening to kill millions of jobs and 401(k) plans by trying to hold the debt limit hostage”
Reporter: And on the economy, the President has been, like, quite optimistic in his latest statements about, you know, the possibility of a soft landing for the economy. But at the same time, we also have, like, massive layoff announcements, like Microsoft just today. Is this a matter of concern for the White House?
MS. Jean-Pierre: So that is something, as you know, that we watch closely — anytime there are reports of Americans losing their jobs. President Biden knows firsthand the impact of losing a job and what that can have to your entire family. This is something that he knows and understands very well. I don’t have a comment on specific moves announced by particular companies. As you know, we’re — we’re very careful from here talking about private companies. But more broadly speaking, layoffs remain near record lows according to job openings data.
Reporter: Just a quick follow-up on the economy and job cuts. Amazon announced 18,000 job cuts today. Microsoft announced 10,000 job cuts today. All these thousands of job cuts are coming on top of tens of thousands of jobs being cut across the tech sector and across sectors in corporate America. Obviously, the White House and the administration, like you just pointed out a couple of minutes ago, still believes the economy’s resilient, does not expect it to slip into a recession. But as we talk about mass layoffs and as the White House continues to point to the strong economy and overall recovery in the labor market, how do you expect some of these numbers and some of these statistics to impact that recovery in the coming months?
MS. Jean-Pierre: So, let me just be clear, when you talk about recession and you talk about what we’re seeing currently with the economy, these are the data points — right? — this — the data points are showing that this is not what we see where the economy is currently to pre-recession or recession. I mean, that is what the experts are saying as well, and that’s what the data points are proving. With CPI today, the consumer — not CPI — the PPI today, we’re seeing that inflation is actually indeed moderating. And a lot of that is connected to the President’s economic policies …
Reporter: So no immediate concern from these tens of thousands of layoffs across corporate America?
MS. Jean-Pierre: What I’m saying is we’re going to closely monitor this, or, you know, we are always keeping an eye on these things. But — but these are private — these are private companies that are making decisions, and we’re just not going to comment.
Reporter: On the debt limit: I know that the White House says that you’re not going to negotiate with Republicans on, sort of, you know, concessions or anything tied to it. Does that mean that the White House, the President is dissuading other Democrats on the Hill from engaging in those conversations and those negotiations with Republicans?
MS. Jean-Pierre: What we’ve been very clear about is that in the last administration, the debt ceiling was dealt with three times — three times in a bipartisan way. And so that’s what the President wants to see. That is a — that is a — it is their constitutional duty for Congress to deal with this issue. And, again, it’s been done in a bipartisan way, and we should not put the full faith and credit of — of our country in — take it hostage. Right? We should not do that. And so that’s what we’ve been very clear about. It’s been done in a bipartisan way the last three times under — three times under the last administration. And that’s what we want to see.
Reporter: So just to be clear, if Democrats and Republicans — in a bipartisan way — reach an understanding, reach an agreement as it relates to the debt limit, the President would accept that?
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Debt ceiling, Biden Econ Plan “Working”, Microsoft & Amazon layoffs remain near record lows not pre-recession